Closed - October 13, 2011 at 3:00 p.m., EDT

Assuring the Future of Public Health Services & Systems Research
2011 Call for Proposals
Dissertation and Junior Faculty Awards

Public health services and systems research (PHSSR) is an emerging field of inquiry dedicated to analysis of the organization, financing and delivery of public health services in various communities, and examining the effect these services have on population health status.  The field of PHSSR will inform and impact how public health will be delivered in the future.  It is imperative to encourage junior investigators to pursue research careers in PHSSR and ensure that this promising field continues to grow.  The National Coordinating Center (NCC) for PHSSR aims to address this need for more junior investigators via this award opportunity.  Support for this awards program was provided by a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Up to 10 awards of $10,000 will be given to junior researchers through this program.  All applicants must apply online using the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Application and Review system. 

Key Dates & Information
This award program will be open to PHSSR junior investigators who are either 1) doctoral candidates or 2) junior faculty who received their initial appointment within the past 3 years.  Key dates and deadlines for Round V of the "Assuring the Future of Public Health Services and Systems Research" award program are listed below:

• September 8, 2011 Call for Proposals release date
• September 28, 2011 Applicant web conference with NCC and RWJF staff. Click here to view the webinar.
• October 13, 2011 Proposals due
• January 1, 2012 Anticipated award start date
• April 17-19, 2012 Keeneland PHSSR Conference
• July 2, 2012 Due date for Phase One deliverables

The upcoming Call for Proposals has been designed to encourage junior investigators to develop research questions related to the PHSSR Research Agenda.  The agenda addresses questions in the following areas of public health infrastructure:

• Workforce - Defining, educating and training the public health workforce
• Technology, Data and Methods - Technologies and outcomes, performance methods and health outcomes, data availability, dissemination and utility
• Financing - Public health financing and payment mechanisms, costs, performance and outcomes
• Structure and Organization - Public health systems dimensions, key elements and characteristics, performance management and outcomes

A list of PHSSR published articles is also provided for applicants.  Applicants are encouraged to address these research questions using datasets contained in the Public Health Systems Research (PHSR) subset of the National Library of Medicine's (NLM) Health Services Research Resources (HSRR) database.