Last Update:  September 2009

If your institution is located in one of the following states, you are eligible to apply to the Great Rivers Affiliate:  Delaware, Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.

• Begin your application early to allow all parties time to complete the process. 
• The applicant must submit the completed application to the grants officer selected in the application.  It is the applicant's responsibility to contact the grants officer and/or monitor the status of his/her application.
• The grants officer is the only person who can submit an application to the AHA.  Check with your grants officer for his/her internal institutional deadline.  Allow plenty of time for your grants officer to review and reject or submit the application to the AHA. 
• Once the application is submitted to the AHA by the grants officer, it cannot be changed or modified in any way.  It will go to peer review as received unless it is withdrawn.
• Refer to Related Items at right of this screen for useful information.
  

Objectives
The purpose of this undergraduate research training program is to encourage promising students, including women and members of minority groups underrepresented in the sciences, from all disciplines to consider research careers while supporting the highest quality scientific investigation broadly related to cardiovascular disease and stroke.

Funding is available for research broadly related to cardiovascular function and disease, stroke, or to related clinical, basic science, and public health problems, including multidisciplinary efforts.  

The laboratory sponsor and institution are responsible for disclosing the nature of research and activities taking place in the laboratory where the student will be conducting research, and the safety or health-hazards/risks which are known or reasonably likely to be encountered.  Students are responsible for learning and following appropriate safety procedures in the laboratory.

Students will not receive college credit for their summer research activities.  Therefore, participation in the program will not appear on an official transcript from the institution where the student is assigned.

Target Group, Eligibility
This is an institutional award to qualified research institutions, within the affiliate's geographic boundaries, that can offer a meaningful research experience to undergraduate students.

To be eligible for this program, undergraduate students should be currently classified at the junior or senior academic status at the time of award activation.  Students must be enrolled full-time in an undergraduate degree program, at the time of application, in either a four-year college or university, or a two-year institution with plans to transfer to a four-year college or university by the Fall semester immediately following the summer program. 

At the time of application, students must be a United States citizen, or a foreign national holding a student, exchange or permanent resident visa, including an F-1, H1, H1B, J1, PR, TC or TN visa.  Awardees must meet American Heart Association citizenship criteria throughout the duration of the award.

The extent to which the focus of the projects offered to students is related to CVD and/or stroke is an important factor that will be considered.

Applicants are not required to reside in the U.S. for any period of time before applying for American Heart Association funding.

Program Structure
This is an institutional award to qualified research institutions that can offer a meaningful research experience to undergraduate college students.  An institution may only hold one Student Undergraduate Research Fellowship award at any time.  The institution my request support for up to five student fellows per institution, per year. 

Peer Review Criteria

Objective:
The purpose of this undergraduate research training program is to encourage promising students, including women and members of minority groups underrepresented in the sciences, from all disciplines to consider research careers while supporting the highest quality research broadly related to cardiovascular disease and stroke.

Because the fellow receives only a stipend from these awards, additional research support for the proposed project MUST come from the sponsor's laboratory or institution.  The availability of additional funds should be clearly described by the in the application.

In order to judge the merit of the applicant for the award, reviewers must comment on the following criteria.

EVALUATION OF INSTITUTIONAL PROGRAMS

1. Program organization -- selection process and monitoring of student progress
2. Training opportunities for students
3. Scientific and academic qualifications of faculty/leadership for the program
4. Resources and funding available to students
5. History of student research training/ability to attract students

Appropriate Budget Items
Stipend for Undergraduate Summer Fellow.  Faculty mentor and institution assume fiscal responsibility.  Payment will be made to the institution for disbursement to the fellow.  The institution may supplement the award amount.  Direct use of award funds to pay tuition is prohibited. The Association will not pay dependent allowances. The award is for educational purposes and does not constitute an employee-employer relationship between the student and the American Heart Association. 

Students accepted into the program are responsible for arranging housing and transportation.

Award
Individual Stipend: $4,000 per student for the summer research experience. 

Institution: $20,000 maximum per year, $40,000 maximum for two-year award.

Duration
An institutional award for two years to qualified institutions. Individual fellowships are ten weeks in duration, up to five student fellows per institution, per year.

The student and the laboratory supervisor will determine the number of hours and days the student will spend in the laboratory.  The student is expected to devote full time effort (~40 hours per week) for a minimum of ten weeks to laboratory activities. 

Restrictions

• Only one application for up to five fellowships per year per institution will be awarded. 
• New applications are allowed in the final year only. 
• Institutions may hold only one American Heart Association Student Undergraduate Research Fellowship award at any given time. Note: The institutional representative listed as the principal investigator on a Student Undergraduate Research Fellowship award may hold the award and, if eligible, an affiliate or national grant award at the same time. The fellow cannot hold a comparable award as a source of supplementation.
• An applicant may submit only one affiliate application per deadline.
• The same or similar unfunded application submitted for the fourth time will be administratively withdrawn.*

Interim Reporting 
Assessment of final reports from student and sponsor, including research and training accomplishments, abstracts, and publications.

Evaluation
The program will be evaluated by the following measures of success:

• Awardee's decision to enter into an education path leading to a research career. 
• Publications and or presentations resulting from the summer experience.
• Application of techniques/approaches learned to future studies.

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*An applicant who is unsuccessful in a competition may resubmit the same or similar application three times (the original plus two resubmissions).