Chronic Wasting Disease - Request for Proposals

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and Michigan State University (MSU) Joint Wildlife Disease Initiative leadership team announces a 2020 request for proposals to fund research that addresses high priority concerns related to the management of Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) in Michigan and the Great Lakes region.

This program is a collaborative effort between the DNR and MSU, initiated in response to the line item entitled “Wildlife Management” in Michigan Public Act 207 of 2018.

PROGRAM PRIORITIES

Investigations that clarify the relative importance of various transmission pathways for the prevalence and/or spread of CWD.
Comparative evaluation of management tools, with emphasis on identifying those with the most impact on CWD prevalence and/or spread.
Evaluation of plausible environmental decontamination and/or remediation strategies for CWD contaminated locations.
Evaluation of plausible methods and/or technologies to remotely identify preclinical CWD-infected free-ranging deer.

PROPOSALS MUST:

Articulate the relevance of proposed research to CWD management.
Be concise and employ clear language that is understandable to managers and the general public.
Include plans for dissemination of results to managers and lay stakeholders groups. While dissemination in refereed manuscripts is expected, standard scientific peer-to-peer communication alone will not be considered sufficient.
Focus on CWD as the disease presents itself in free-ranging cervids in Michigan and across the Great Lakes region.

Note: Preference will be shown towards proposals that leverage available data. Failure to address the four requirements above WILL result in the automatic disqualification of proposals from consideration.

PROPOSAL GUIDELINES

Eligibility. There are no restrictions on employment status of project leaders but all projects must include at least one Michigan-based investigator. There are NO restrictions on the employment status of collaborators or other project personnel.
Grant Size. Grant size will be determined by the objectives and duration of the project, with target funding levels to fall between $75-125K per year for up to two years. Exceptions will be considered if justified by the scope of the objectives, personnel, equipment, or other infrastructural needs.
Funding Cycles. Projects will be funded for the first year with second year funding contingent on meeting first year project goals and an annual reporting requirement.
Institutional Overhead/F&A. This program WILL NOT fund institutional overhead/F&A charges. No exceptions will be granted.
Faculty Salaries. The program WILL fund up to one month of summer salary per year for university PI or a Co-PI (combined) per project. Although exceptions may be granted with strong justification, this program will not fund academic year salaries.

2020 PROPOSAL GUIDELINES

Timeline:

March 5, 2020 Call for Proposals;
May 11, 2020 Proposals due by 5:00 pm;
June 15, 2020 Notification of award;
August 7, 2020 Project funds available;
September 1, 2021 Annual/Final report due by 5:00 pm and termination date for 1-year projects;
September 1, 2022 Final report due by 5:00 pm and termination date for 2-year projects.

Proposal Components:

Note items 2-7 cannot exceed three pages in length.

Cover page using template provided below (first page of whole proposal; proposal summary must be in lay terms appropriate for stakeholder audience)
Problem statement and relevance to stakeholder priorities
Objectives
Approach and feasibility
Anticipated results and impact
Stakeholder partnering (include cost share) and scope
Timeline
Budget (see attached budget form)
Brief budget justification
Literature cited
Team qualifications (one-page vitae for each project member outlining qualifications to complete proposed research or extension activity)

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

MSU researchers should submit their proposals electronically, through MSU’s Research Administration system. A Proposal Development (PD) document is required for each proposal using Sponsor Code: 107048 MSU MDNR.

MSU employees go to ebs.msu.edu and log in using your MSU Net Id and password.
Click on Research Administration, then “Create Proposal”. Work with your research administrator or department contact to complete your PD document.
Upload final proposal documents to the Internal Attachments tab in the PD.

All other researchers should submit their completed proposals in pdf file format via email to: hillann@msu.edu.