Letters of intent are due no later than Dec. 31, 2003. Investigators proposing projects reviewed as falling within funding priorities will be asked to submit a complete application. Awards will be announced in June 2004. The earliest date funding may begin is July 31, 2004.

The purpose of the Association’s peer-review Research Grants Program is to provide financial support for the highest quality pilot CFS research studies and to enable investigators to collect sufficient data to expand their studies with support from government or private funding sources. Since 1987, the Association has provided $3.7 million in grants to CFIDS researchers.

Research grants are generally made to cover the direct costs of such items as salaries for professional and technical personnel, patient costs, equipment, supplies, travel and other miscellaneous items. These projects will have a one-year period of performance, beginning on or after July 31, 2004. Grants typically range from $30,000 to $80,000 per year, including institutional indirect costs not to exceed 10 percent.

Researchers interested in applying for a CFIDS Association Research Grant should submit a pre-application letter of intent to the Association briefly describing the research study, including hypotheses, objectives and goals; methods to be employed; preliminary studies; estimated budget; and qualifications of the principal investigator (and key collaborators, if applicable).

If the research project described in the letter of intent is determined to fall within the funding priorities of the Association’s Research Grants Program, the principal investigator will be invited to submit a Research Grant Application.

All applications are evaluated by a peer-review Scientific Advisory Committee. The Committee assesses each application on the basis of: support for the hypothesis, relevance to CFS, innovation and originality, appropriateness of the budget, expertise and experience of the principal investigator and other staff and overall scientific merit.

Eligibility.
Grants are awarded to non-profit research institutions located primarily within the United States and its territories.

Please see "Guidelines for Conducting CFS Research Studies" at www.cfids.org/profresources/association-grants.asp for recommendations on important factors to consider when writing a CFS research protocol. For more information, contact the Association’s Research Grants Officer, Kristina Hopkins, at e-mail kphopkins@cfids.org   or tel. 704-364-0016, ext. 105.