Environmental Health Science Pilot Grants Program

The Mission of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), an NIH Institute, is to discover how the environment affects people in order to promote healthier lives. To fulfill this mission the NIEHS wants to recruit the best and brightest investigators to perform environmental health science research. The Southwest Environmental Health Sciences Center (SWEHSC), an NIEHS funded Center at the University of Arizona, is promoting the mission of NIEHS through the availability of Pilot Project awards up to $40,000.

Have you ever considered research in environmental health sciences? The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) "strives to conduct and support the very best environmental health sciences in alignment with real-world public health needs, and to translate science findings into knowledge that can inform real-life individual and public health outcomes" (https://www.niehs.nih.gov/about/strategicplan). Pilot projects are designed to provide support for obtaining preliminary data that can be used in developing major proposals for submission to extramural funding agencies. We, the investigators and administration of the SWEHSC, want you to be successful and are here to help you in the development of your Pilot Project applications.

At least one pilot grant is designated per year to support proposals related to unique populations, including rural communities and Native American and Latinx peoples residing in arid lands.

Application Process

Step 1 - Initial Consultation

We encourage applicants to begin the process by consulting with the Pilot Program Director, Dr. Xinxin Ding (xding@arizona.edu). He can assure that your research is related to the goals of the Center and NIEHS, make some preliminary suggestions on potential collaborators within the SWEHSC and suggest potential facility cores that might be useful in your proposed research.

Step 2 - Preliminary Application

Next, you will prepare a preliminary application using Arizona Cultivate. The opportunity documentation there has contact information if you have any questions regarding this process.

Step 3 - Presentation and Feedback

Once you've completed the preliminary application, we will schedule a meeting with the appropriate Research Focus Group, in which you will give a brief (5 minute) presentation of your project. The Research Focus Group (RFG) most aligned with your pilot project’s area of research will review your preliminary application, hear your presentation, and provide feedback on how to hone your final application.

Our three Research Focus Groups are designed to promote collaborations and are as follows:

Step 4 - Final Application