Letter of Intent and Application Instructions

Grant Resubmission
Resubmission of grants is allowed if eligibility requirements are met. Select “yes” to this question even if you have made small changes to the grant or its title. You must provide the original submission year and project title using the following format:

2022, Indoor Air Pollution in Ghana

ATS Membership
To submit a letter of intent, the principal investigator or at least one key personnel must be an ATS member. You will be asked to provide a member ID on the LOI form.

The principal investigator must be an ATS member at the time the grant is awarded.

Faculty Commitment

You will be required to upload a completed copy of the Faculty Employment Certification signed by your department chair.

Applicants must have:

• completed primary research training (PhD or sub-specialty fellowship training) by January 1, 2025, for 2026 grants
• have a firm commitment from their home institution for a faculty position by the grant start date

Diversity Research Grant

Review diversity research grant criteria and indicate whether you meet the criteria and would like to be considered for this award.

Grant Funding (5,000-character limit)

Only list grants for which you are the principal investigator. Provide the following information for each grant: 

• Grant Title
• Funding Agency
• Annual Direct Costs
• Grant Period
• Your Role (and mentor if applicable)
• Your Percent Effort

Example:
Title: Indoor Air Pollution in Ghana
Agency: American Thoracic Society (ATS)
Direct Costs: $40,000/year
Grant Period: 12/15/2018 – 12/15/2019
Role: PI (Mentor Dr. John Smith)
Effort: 50%

Biosketches (five-page limit)

All biosketches must use the template provided and not exceed the five-page limit. Applications with biosketches that do not meet the requirements will be excluded from review. The applicant is required to upload their biosketch and may submit biosketches for a mentor and two co-investigators. 

Completed biosketch example. 

Key Personnel

Key personnel are individuals who have a large collaborative role on your project, including co-investigators, mentors, research assistants, and other consultants.
Include:

1. Name
2. Title (e.g. professor of medicine)
3. Institution
4. Email address
5. Role (mentor, consultant, research technician, etc.)
6. Approximate percent effort that the person will contribute to the project
    

Percent effort may be defined as the percent of participation on the project, salary support, or a combination of both. Make sure to clearly define total effort.

If you have more than three key personnel, attach one PDF file listing the above information in the "Additional Key Personnel" section of the LOI. Do not include biosketches.

Hypothesis (1,500-character limit)

State the major problem to be addressed and the overall hypothesis.

Planned Specific Aims (1,500-character limit)

Detail the planned specific aims for your proposal. These may be modified in the final application.

Experimental Approach (3,500-character limit)

Outline the overall experimental approach by specific aims.

General Audience Summary (1,500-character limit)

Provide a brief summary of your application in language a non-scientist can understand. Specify how your proposal may lead to improvements in patient outcomes.

Resubmission Statement (10,000-character limit)

A resubmission is an application that was reviewed in a previous cycle but was not funded. Please note that an application is not considered a resubmission if it has major changes. Only fill out and upload this form if your application is a resubmission. Applications with resubmission statements that do not meet the requirements will be unsubmitted.
In the resubmission statement you must:

1. Explain how you addressed the scientific critiques of the original application.
2. Explain how the application has been strengthened and modified since the original submission.  

Key Personnel and Biosketches

Key personnel are individuals who have a large collaborative role on your project, including co-investigators, mentors, and other consultants.
For each key personnel you must include:

1. Name
2. Title (e.g. professor of medicine)
3. Institution
4. Email address
5. Role (mentor, consultant, research technician, etc.)
6. Approximate percent effort that the person will contribute to the project
   
   Percent effort may be defined as the percent of participation on the project, salary support, or a combination of both. Make sure to clearly define total effort.

Biosketches (five-page limit)

All biosketches must use the template provided and not exceed the five-page limit. Applications with biosketches that do not meet the requirements will be unsubmitted. The applicant is required to upload their biosketch and may submit biosketches for a mentor and two co-investigators.

Completed biosketch example. 

Faculty Commitment

You will be required to upload a completed copy of the Faculty Employment Certification signed by your department chair.

Applicants must have:

• completed primary research training (PhD or sub-specialty fellowship training) by January 1, 2025, for 2026 grants
• have a firm commitment from their home institution for a faculty position by the grant start date

Institutional Assurances

You will be required to provide information on whether your research involves clinical trials, human subjects, and/or animals along with the status of IRB and/or IACUC approvals.

General Audience Summary (2,000-character limit)

Using language a non-scientist can understand, briefly describe what you are investigating, the techniques you will use to support your hypothesis, how your project will contribute to the scientific understanding of your disease of interest and how it may lead to improvements in patient outcomes.
The lay summary will become public information; therefore, do not include proprietary/confidential information.

Technical Summary (5,000-character limit)

Provide a technical summary of your proposal.

Future Plans (1,000-character limit)

Where would you take this research after funding ends, and how will this support contribute to your research career development?

Diversity And Inclusion Summary

The ATS encourages diversity and inclusion on all its committees and projects and has identified several groups that have been historically underrepresented. It may not be possible or needed to include all these groups on this project and there is no expected quota for diversity and inclusion. To facilitate the review of the proposal, please complete this summary of diversity and inclusion, indicating if your proposal includes the following groups: women, underrepresented populations in medicine, international representatives, non-MD/DO representatives, patient/family, and early career representatives.

Diversity, Equity, And Inclusion Statement

Provide a statement describing any efforts to improve diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), if applicable. The statement may relate to how this application addresses DEI, how it includes populations that would benefit from DEI, or how you have otherwise participated or contributed to these areas in research, clinical work, or medical education.

Healthcare Equity (5,000-character limit)

How will your proposal promote healthcare equity?

For example, for clinical studies, please reflect how your patient recruitment strategy is likely to draw participants that reflect the burden of disease in the general population. Thus, for diseases like sarcoidosis, which affects mostly African Americans, the bulk of patients recruited should be African Americans, which will in turn help ensure that any therapeutic advances arising from the studies will be helpful to the ethnic/racial groups most affected.

Research Plan (10-page limit)

The research plan should include sufficient information needed for evaluation of the project. Be specific and informative and avoid redundancies. Use the format below to prepare this section. Applications with research plans that do not meet the requirements will be unsubmitted.

FORMAT

Length: 10-page max, including pictures

Margins: .75 (right and left), .5 (top and bottom)

Font: Arial 11-point  

Spacing: Single line or more

A. STATEMENT OF PROBLEM AND SPECIFIC AIMS 
What do you intend to do?

State the problem concisely and describe the specific aims of the research proposal. What is the hypothesis you will test? What is the experimental paradigm?

B. BACKGROUND AND SIGNIFICANCE 
Why is the work important?

Briefly provide the scientific background leading to the present application. Critically evaluate existing knowledge and identify the scientific gaps that the project is intended to fill. If the aims of the proposal are accomplished, how will this affect the scientific field? Where will these studies lead in developing a larger research program?

C. WORK ACCOMPLISHED AND PRELIMINARY STUDIES 
What has already been done?

Provide an account of the principal investigator’s preliminary studies pertinent to this application. Preliminary data often aid the reviewers in assessing the likelihood of the success of the proposed project. List any publications, manuscripts accepted for publication, patents, or other printed materials that have resulted from preliminary studies.

D. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS 
How are you going to do the work? 

Describe the research design and methods that you will use in the proposed studies. Organize this section by the specific aims of the research proposal. Include how the data will be collected and analyzed and describe potential problems or limitations. Published or commonly used methods do not need to be described in detail. This section must be written so that reviewers can evaluate the scientific questions, the experimental design, and the likelihood that the experiments will produce interpretable results. Include a tentative timetable showing how you will prioritize the work. Clearly identify collaborations with other investigators at the same or other institutions.

Bibliography/Literature Cited

• No page limit
• List citations by number in the order in which they appear in the text.
• Use the format below (“New England Journal of Medicine” style in EndNote and “Annals of Internal Medicine” in Reference Manager).
  1. Kajikawa O, Frevert CW, Lin SM, Goodman RB, Mongovin SM, Wong V, Ballman K, Daubeuf B, Elson G, Martin TR. Gene expression of toll-like receptor-2, toll-like receptor-4 and MD2 is differentially regulated in rabbits with Escherichia coli pneumonia. Gene 2005;3:193-202.
      
  2. Altemeier WA, Matute-Bello G, Frevert CW, Kawata Y, Kajikawa O, Martin TR, Glenny RW. Mechanical ventilation with moderate tidal volumes synergistically increases lung cytokine response to systemic endotoxin. Am J Physiol Lung Cell Mol Physiol 2004;164:1949-1958.

Budget

Complete the budget using the template.

Within this document, provide responses to the following (no page limit):

• Specify how you will use your funds to support expenses related to personnel.
• Specify how you will use your funds to support expenses for non-personnel direct costs.

Note: ATS grants do not support indirect costs unless stated otherwise. 

The Research Program works with awardees on grant start dates which may vary due to things such as ethics approval. The earliest grant start date would be January 2026. 

Lab Resources and Equipment (two-page limit)

List the resources available to you that will be needed to complete your project. Describe these resources and explain how each will contribute to the successful completion of your project.

This document should be divided into seven sections: 

1. Laboratory
2. Clinical
3. Animal
4. Computer
5. Office
6. Major Equipment
7. Other

Letters of Recommendation

Provide the name and email address of two references who can provide letters of recommendation.

These letters should highlight your accomplishments and describe your potential to become an independent investigator. 

Potential recommenders could be (but are not limited to) a mentor, division director, chair, or dean.

Once you enter the recommender's name and email address in the application, they will receive a Foundant-generated email with a link and instructions on how to submit the letter.

Applicants are strongly encouraged to notify their letter writers to expect an email from @grantinterface.com.

Note that:

• You do not have to supply your recommender with your password for them to be able to attach the letter to your application
• Your recommender will not be able to view your application
• You will not be able to view the letters
• Your recommender can still submit letters after you have submitted the rest of 
  your application
• Letters must be on official institutional letterhead

Letters of recommendation are due at the full application deadline: July 1, 2025 at 11:59 pm ET.

Optional Letters from Collaborators

Applicants may submit letters from collaborators or donors who will provide expertise or reagents necessary to complete the proposed work. Multiple letters may be included; however, all letters must be compiled into a single PDF file and submitted as one attachment.

Disclosure of Conflict of Interests

Many investigators have competing interests that may cause conflicts of interest. Disclosure and review of a potential "conflict of interest" (COI) that might affect an ATS research award doesn't imply that an "outside interest," or a person with such a relationship or interest, is wrong or inappropriate. Nor does it imply criticism of the character or actions of the individual, or of any commercial or non-commercial entities with which an individual may be involved. Rather, ATS COI policies and procedures exist to assure the public of appropriate levels of transparency of the outside interests of participants in official ATS activities, and that official ATS activities are managed in a manner that maintains scientific rigor and independence.

• Disclosure of a real or potential COI will not automatically invalidate an application.

All personal financial relationships with commercial entities (such as pharmaceutical companies and medical device manufacturers), and/or with non-commercial, non-governmental funders (such as private foundations) that are relevant to the application’s subject matter must be disclosed. Such involvement with relevant commercial entities (companies) includes: employment; ownership; consultancy; board or advisory committee service; service on speakers' bureaus or other acceptance of lecture fees directly paid by the company; expert testimony on behalf of the company; research grants; patents received or pending; royalties; and stock ownership or options (excluding mutual funds unless a sector fund concentrated in an industry or industries relevant to the activity).

The ATS "Policy on Tobacco Relationships" requires that individuals with a current tobacco industry relationship not hold certain ATS roles, including that of research awardee. (Note: if the relationship is limited to personal holdings of tobacco stocks or options, divestiture of such holdings would be required for consideration). See the policy for details.

You are required to answer the following questions within the online application.

COI 1A: Within the past 12 months have you had a financial interest in a commercial entity (i.e., a “commercial interest”) that could be considered broadly relevant to the subject matter of this proposal, or do you expect to have one during the duration of the grant award period?

COI 1B: If yes, please provide the company name(s) and the type of relationship.

COI 2A: Within the past 12 months have you received financial support from a non-commercial, non-governmental source (such as a private foundation or other non-profit source) that could be perceived as a real or potential conflict of interest relevant to the subject matter of this proposal, and/or do you expect to receive such before the end of the grant award period?

COI 2B: If yes, please provide the organization name(s) and the type of relationship.

COI 3A: Within the past 12 months have you had any non-financial affiliation or interest (i.e., a personal, professional or other affiliation or interest) that might be perceived to be a real or potential conflict of interest relevant to the subject matter of this proposal, and/or do you expect to receive such before the end of the grant award period?

COI 3B: If yes, please provide the company or organization name(s) and the type of relationship.

COI 4A: Within the past 12 months have you had a professional relationship with a tobacco entity or expect to have one before the end of the grant award period?

COI 4B: If yes, please provide the company or organization name(s) and the type of relationship.

Assurance & Signature Form

Download the assurance & signature form. Both the applicant and an institutional official must sign and date this form. Once complete, upload the form to your application.