The Environmental Health Sciences Research Center (EHSRC) at the University of Iowa is seeking innovative, environmental health-related pilot grant proposals from UI researchers. Funds up to a maximum of $40,000 will be awarded directly to an investigator for domestic or international projects. Proposals will be accepted through Feb. 1, 2014. Full application guidelines are available online.

Investigators and co-investigators of the pilot grants may be UI post-doctoral fellows, post-doctoral scholars, faculty (all ranks), research scientists, research engineers, associate research scientists, and associate research engineers.

The goals of the EHSRC Pilot Grant Program are to provide initial support for junior investigators to establish new lines of environmental health research, provide access to state-of-the-art facilities, facilitate exploration of innovative new directions in environmental health for established investigators, stimulate investigators from other disciplines to apply their expertise to environmental health research, and foster new collaborations.

Areas of interest for funding include, but are not limited to: studies of susceptibility to environmentally induced disease (gene/environment interactions), nanotoxicology, environmental risk factors for disease, fundamental biology with environmental relevance, environmental and mammalian toxicology, occupational and environmental medicine, assessment of exposures to environmental agents, and environmental remediation and control.

Junior investigators, as well as senior investigators who wish to move into new directions or into new collaborations within the environmental health sciences research area, are strongly encouraged to apply. Proposals to conduct community-based research and outreach are encouraged. Also, proposals that make use of the High Throughput Screening Facility for toxicant studies are encouraged.

For more information, contact Nancy Wyland, EHSRC research support specialist, at nancy-wyland@uiowa.edu or 319-335-4756.