Limited Submission Community Innovation Seed Grants (Spring 2024)

The Prevent Gun Violence: Research, Empowerment, Strategies and Solutions (PROGRESS) initiative at the University of Maryland announces limited submission community innovation seed grants to stimulate interdisciplinary, collaborative university-community research (original and translational) to prevent gun violence. Awards can be used to support new ideas related to a currently unfunded project or a partially/fully funded project that could be expanded significantly with additional funds. It is expected that at a later stage recipients will pursue external funding applications in conjunction with PROGRESS.

To learn more and to apply, please visit: https://umd.infoready4.com/#competitionDetail/1939730.

General Purpose

University System of Maryland (USM) tenured/tenure track, professional track (PTK), research, teaching, and clinical faculty are encouraged to apply, as are University of Maryland (UMD) graduate students and community-based organizations (CBOs) located and operating within the National Capital Region (Montgomery and Prince George's Counties in Maryland, the District of Columbia, and Northern Virginia).

In most cases, the maximum award amount will be $50,000 but higher funding requests could be considered.

Topical Scope

In addition to the broad theme of gun violence and/or gun violence reduction, proposals should address at least one of the following topics:

• The role of media (print, broadcast, digital) in accurately and fairly reporting on gun violence;
• The role of advanced technologies—Geographic Information Systems (GIS), Artificial Intelligence (AI), etc.—in integrating gun violence data at local, state, and national levels to help identify and implement promising strategies and solutions for gun violence reduction;
• The role of school safety and safe storage strategies in protecting students, faculty and administration related to potential and active gun violence and exploring best practices related to school safety that are developmentally appropriate and consider student, faculty, administration and community needs;
• The role of Community Violence Intervention (CVI) efforts in addressing gun violence and firearm-related crimes among youth and young adults.

Guidelines

All proposals must include a narrative, a budget, a budget justification which explains the relevance of the proposed costs to the scope of work, and a cover sheet. For proposals internal to the University System of Maryland, the cover sheet must be signed by a Chair and a Director of Administrative Services. For CBOs, the cover sheet should be signed by an authorized signatory of the organization. The period of performance should be 12 months or less and begin on or shortly after July 15, 2024.

All proposals are due to InfoReady by 12pm (noon) on June 14, 2024. Proposals will be considered late if received after this time. No extensions will be granted or late proposals accepted. By 5pm on June 17, 2024 applicants will be sent a notice that their application has been received. Award notices will be made on July 31st or thereabouts.

Questions regarding eligibility, assembly, and submission of proposals—and questions regarding scientific or technical details of proposals—can be directed to PROGRESS at PROGRESS@umd.edu.

Possibility for Additional PROGRESS Funding

Although not expected, following the conclusion of a seed grant-supported project it might be possible for awardees to apply for additional PROGRESS support (such as a PROGRESS Partnership Grant).