Field Initiated Projects Program: Minority-Serving Institution (MSI) -Research

The purpose of the Field Initiated (FI) Projects program is to develop knowledge, methods, procedures, and rehabilitation technology that maximize the full inclusion and integration into society, employment, independent living, family support, and economic and social self-sufficiency of individuals with disabilities, especially those with the highest support needs. Another purpose of the FI Projects program is to improve the effectiveness of services authorized under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended (Act).The purpose of this competition is to improve the capacity of minority entities to conduct high-quality disability and rehabilitation research. NIDILRR will accomplish this by limiting eligibility for this competition to minority entities and Indian tribes in a manner consistent with section 21(b)(2)(A) of the Act, which authorizes NIDILRR to make awards to minority entities and Indian tribes to carry out activities authorized under Title II of the Act. NIDILRR makes two types of awards under the FI Projects program: research grants and development grants. In carrying out a research activity under a FI Projects research grant, a grantee must identify one or more hypotheses or research questions and, based on the hypotheses or research questions identified, perform an intensive, systematic study directed toward producing (1) new scientific knowledge or (2) better understanding of the subject, problem studied, or body of knowledge.NIDILRR plans to make four MSI FI awards. NIDILRR's MSI FI awards may be research projects or development projects, depending on the ranking of applications provided by the peer review panel.Note: An applicant should consult NIDILRR’s Long-Range Plan for Fiscal Years 2018-2023 (the Plan), when preparing its application. The Plan is organized around the following outcome domains: (1) community living and participation; (2) health and function; and (3) employment. Applicants for FI projects must specify in their abstract and project narrative which major outcome domain their proposed project will focus on. Although applicants may propose projects that address more than one domain, they should select the primary domain addressed in their proposed project.An applicant must demonstrate, in its original application, that people with disabilities from diverse racial and ethnic communities will be included in proposed samples in sufficient numbers to generate knowledge and products that are relevant to the racial and ethnic diversity of the population of people with disabilities being studied. The applicant must describe and justify, in its original application, the planned racial and ethnic distribution of people with disabilities who will participate in the proposed research or development activities.Applicants must ensure that all materials, websites and information technology tools and products that they plan to develop or maintain are accessible, and that electronic materials are produced in full compliance with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act (29 U.S.C. 794d). For websites this compliance currently requires meeting Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0/2.1 AA success criteria. Applications must demonstrate an ability to meet these requirements.Invitational Priority: In FY 2024, there are seven invitational priorities of interest to the agency (see below). NIDILRR does not give applications that address these invitational priorities a competitive or absolute preference over other applications.Research or development projects that address the needs, experiences, or outcomes of people with disabilities from underserved communities. People with disabilities from underserved communities include those from communities or populations defined in Section 2 of the Executive Order on Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government, including: people with disabilities who are racial and ethnic minorities; people with disabilities who are members of religious minorities; people with disabilities who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer; people with disabilities who live in rural areas; or people with disabilities otherwise adversely affected by persistent poverty or inequality.Research or development projects to explore or address the relationship between climate change and the needs, experiences, and outcomes of people with disabilities.Research or development projects related to oral health among people with disabilities.Research or development projects that focus on making airline travel accessible for people with disabilities.Research or development projects that focus on improving the extent to which emergency and disaster preparedness plans and systems are accessible to, and responsive to the needs of, people with disabilities.Research or development projects that focus on improving the experience and outcomes of people with disabilities as they interact with one or more components of the criminal justice system (e.g., police, courts, jails and prisons).Research or development projects that focus on services, supports, or interventions for people with disabilities who experience Long COVID.FI Projects research applicants must define the stage or stages of research that they propose to conduct. Any rigorous quantitative, qualitative, or mixed-methods research can be appropriate, depending on the hypothesis or research question being addressed by the applicant. NIDILRR does not have an absolute preference for one methodological approach or research stage. If the FI Projects grant is to conduct research that can be categorized under more than one stage including research that progresses from one stage to another, those stages must be clearly specified. These stages: exploration and discovery, intervention development, intervention efficacy, and scale-up evaluation, are defined in this funding opportunity announcement.(a) Exploration and discovery means the stage of research that generates hypotheses or theories through new and refined analyses of data, producing observational findings and creating other sources of research-based information. This research stage may include identifying or describing the barriers to and facilitators of improved outcomes of individuals with disabilities, as well as identifying or describing existing practices, programs, or policies that are associated with important aspects of the lives of individuals with disabilities. Results achieved under this stage of research may inform the development of interventions or lead to evaluations of interventions or policies. The results of the exploration and discovery stage of research may also be used to inform decisions or priorities;(b) Intervention development means the stage of research that focuses on generating and testing interventions that have the potential to improve outcomes for individuals with disabilities. Intervention development involves determining the active components of possible interventions, developing measures that would be required to illustrate outcomes, specifying target populations, conducting field tests, and assessing the feasibility of conducting a well-designed intervention study. Results from this stage of research may be used to inform the design of a study to test the efficacy of an intervention;(c) Intervention efficacy means the stage of research during which a project evaluates and tests whether an intervention is feasible, practical, and has the potential to yield positive outcomes for individuals with disabilities. Efficacy research may assess the strength of the relationships between an intervention and outcomes and may identify factors or individual characteristics that affect the relationship between the intervention and outcomes. Efficacy research can inform decisions about whether there is sufficient evidence to support “scaling-up” an intervention to other sites and contexts. This stage of research may include assessing the training needed for wide-scale implementation of the intervention and approaches to evaluation of the intervention in real-world applications; and(d) Scale-up evaluation means the stage of research during which a project analyzes whether an intervention is effective in producing improved outcomes for individuals with disabilities when implemented in a real-world setting. During this stage of research, a project tests the outcomes of an evidence-based intervention in different settings. The project examines the challenges to successful replication of the intervention and the circumstances and activities that contribute to successful adoption of the intervention in real-world settings. This stage of research may also include well-designed studies of an intervention that has been widely adopted in practice, but lacks a sufficient evidence base to demonstrate its effectiveness.