North Carolina Center for Health and Wellness

2010 Wellness Scholar Awards

Request for Proposals

Purpose
To encourage and support undergraduate research on health promotion, the North Carolina Center for Health and Wellness (NCCHW) will again be awarding one-year grants to students conducting independent projects on health-oriented topics.  We are especially interested in applied research focused on obesity prevention, workplace wellness, or healthy aging.  However, we welcome applications for projects in any area of health promotion (e.g., smoking cessation, exercise motivation, health education, health marketing, environmental health, disease prevention economics).  Information about previous Wellness Scholar Award projects can be found on line at the NCCHW webpage: http://www.unca.edu/ncwell/index.html

Eligibility
Wellness Scholar applicants should be currently enrolled juniors or seniors at UNCA with an expected graduation date no sooner than May, 2010.  Students from any discipline are encouraged to apply, but applicants must have a faculty advisor willing to oversee their project.  Applicants cannot simultaneously receive financial support for research from any other campus program (e.g., the Wellness Starter Grant Program, the Undergraduate Research Program).

Funds Available
Wellness Scholar recipients will receive a research award of $1000.  In addition, applicants can request funding for equipment or supplies (up to $500) and travel to a regional or national conference to present research findings (up to $400).  The grant funding period will begin as soon as decisions are made (no later than the start of the 2010 spring semester), and can extend through December, 2010.

Application

1. Cover page: (a) project title; (b) applicant name, address, phone, email address, and expected date of graduation; and (c) faculty advisor name, department, phone, and email address.

2. Project description (maximum of 1000 words), including each of the following sections:

• Background and literature review: Explain the problem or issue you will be studying, being sure to use language that can be easily grasped by reviewers from any academic department.  Support the need for or importance of your project by providing a brief review of relevant literature.  (Include references to studies you cite at the end of your proposal.) 
• Specific goals or objectives: What specific outcomes do you hope to achieve?
• Research design and methods: Who will be the participants in your study?  Describe their characteristics and how you will recruit them, the procedures involved in your study, and the measures or methods of evaluation you will be using.  Be as specific as possible, noting whether the project has already been submitted for IRB approval.
• Timeline for completion: Explain what you hope to accomplish in each semester of the project’s duration, including when you will present and ideally publish the research.

3. Budget.  Provide a description and estimated cost of supplies for which you are requesting funding ($500 maximum).  If applying for travel funds, give as much information as possible about the conference at which you anticipate presenting (e.g., date, place, likelihood of acceptance).  Travel money ($400 maximum) can be used for hotel costs, conference fees, meals, and mileage or airfare.

4. Faculty advisor letter of support.  Ask your research advisor to submit a statement (up to 350 words) describing your project as it relates to the evaluation criteria described below.  Faculty should also comment on the time they expect to be able to contribute to supervising your project, e.g., how often you will meet and the specific help that will be provided.  If more than one faculty member is involved in the project, please note which faculty member is the primary advisor (and note that this is the advisor who should write the letter of support).  Support letters should be mailed electronically, by the deadline, to himelein@unca.edu.

Submission
The deadline for proposal submission is Thursday, November 19th (5:00 p.m.).  Please send your proposal electronically to Dr. Melissa Himelein (himelein@unca.edu). 

Review Procedures
Proposals will be reviewed by the Undergraduate Research Program Advisory Council (URPAC).  The Committee will notify applicants of their decisions prior to the end of the fall, 2010, semester.

Proposals will be evaluated according to the following criteria:

• Contribution the proposed research makes to an important issue in health promotion or disease prevention
• Feasibility of successful completion of the research project
• Probability of the research resulting in a refereed presentation or publication
• Completeness and specificity of the research proposal

Terms of Award
All Wellness Scholars are required to present a paper at UNCA’s Spring (April 22, 2010) or Fall (November, 2010) Undergraduate Research Symposium.  Wellness Scholars are also encouraged to submit their work for presentation at a regional or national conference, or to publish their writing in an appropriate academic journal.  Copies of your final presentation(s) or publication should be submitted electronically to Dr. Himelein, ideally within a week of their completion.  

Equipment or travel money that is not used during the grant period will revert to UNC Asheville.  If necessary, extensions may be granted for travel funding to be used after the grant year has ended.

For More Information
Please feel free to contact Dr. Melissa Himelein (himelein@unca.edu), Department of Psychology, with questions about any aspect of the Wellness Scholars Program.