Renée Fleming Investigator Award Application Form

The Renée Fleming Foundation in partnership with the NeuroArts Blueprint Initiative is offering year two of the Renée Fleming Neuroarts Investigator Awards. The Awards support innovative and collaborative research by early career researchers, designed to expand the evidence base of the emerging field of neuroarts and further the mission of the NeuroArts Blueprint Initiative. The mission of the NeuroArts Blueprint is to ensure the arts — and their use in all their many forms — become part of mainstream medicine and public health. Each Award is to be jointly presented to (1) an early-career researcher who is affiliated with an academic institution and engaged in a field of basic science related to neuroarts; and (2) an arts practitioner working in an arts-based neuroarts discipline. 

Neuroarts is the study of how the arts measurably change the brain and body and how this knowledge is translated into practices that advance health and wellbeing. This work can help people prevent, manage, and recover from physical and mental challenges across the lifespan. Fields of basic science related to neuroarts include neuroscience, cognitive science, psychology, public health, neurology, complementary medicine, pediatrics, gerontology, and rehabilitation science, and others. Arts-based neuroarts disciplines include visual arts, dance, music, expressive writing, performing arts, digital arts, design, and others. Qualitative and quantitative studies, and studies with human subjects are eligible for an Award.

Applicants may submit one proposal for an Award of up to $25,000. Applications will be reviewed by an external committee of experts in the field of neuroarts. The deadline for submitting proposals is February 1, 2025. Final Award decisions will be made by the NeuroArts Blueprint leadership team in consultation with an independent Applications Review Committee. Awards will be announced on April 15, 2025.

Additional information is provided below. Please direct all questions about the application process to the general inquiry email address for the NeuroArts Blueprint Initiative: info@neuroartsblueprint.org. A webinar to summarize the Investigator Awards and respond to questions about the application process was held on December 5, 2024. Find the recording here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNChOs0nzlI

Guided by the following criteria, the program’s external review committee of experts, including neuroarts researchers and art practitioners, will evaluate proposals for their scientific and artistic merit and potential for expanding the evidence base to build the foundation of the field of neuroarts:

• Leadership: Are the principal co–researchers well qualified in terms of expertise and experience to carry out the project effectively and efficiently?
• Early Career Opportunity: Does the project involve principal researchers whose work has not yet received significant financial support?
• Evidence of Interdisciplinary or Multidisciplinary Approach Involving the Arts and the Sciences: Does the project either integrate knowledge and research methods across disciplines or include experts from different disciplines?
• Advancing the Field: Are the results of the project likely to help advance the field of neuroarts, including the possibility of securing additional research support to build on the results?
• Innovation: Does the project make a novel contribution to the field of neuroarts through innovative concepts, approaches, or methods that will help advance research in the field?
• Timeliness: Can the project be completed within the one-year timeframe allotted under the terms of the Award?
• Diversity: Is the research team diverse in terms of experience, background, and discipline?
• Equity: What are the equitable impacts for the communities who are directly served or could be served by this research in the future?

Application Guidelines

• Applicants must be US citizens or permanent US residents.
• An early career researcher is an individual who has completed their terminal research degree or medical residency — whichever date is later — within the past 10 years.
• If the principal researchers are affiliated with two different institutions, only one institution will be designated the fiduciary agent of the award.
• Members of the Application Review Committee or individuals affiliated with the NeuroArts Blueprint Initiative who are in a decision-making capacity regarding the Awards, as well as staff of the Renée Fleming Foundation, may neither apply for an Award nor participate in the development of an application for an Award or the execution of any Award.
• Awards are for a period of one year, beginning on the date that notification of the Award has been received.
• For projects involving human subjects, approval from the Institutional Review Board (or an equivalent such committee) of the academic or research institution with which an applicant is affiliated  must be secured.
• The proposed project must be designed to expand the science behind neuroarts, i.e., the scientific evidence that demonstrates the power of the arts to measurably change the brain and body in advancing the health and wellbeing of individuals. 
• Proposals must include at least two co-principal investigators. A co-PI may be:
  
  • An early career researcher with an appointment at an academic or research institution and engaged in a field of basic science related to neuroarts. Such researchers may apply as an individual neuroarts-based researcher or to lead a team of researchers.
  • An individual engaged in an arts-based, performance, or other neuroarts-related discipline. Such individuals may apply as an individual practicing within a discipline of arts-based neuroarts and/or as an individual affiliated with an organization engaged in an arts-based neuroarts discipline.
  • An individual with an appointment at an academic or research institution engaged in both a field of basic science related to neuroarts and an arts-related neuroarts discipline.
• Supported Activities: Funding may be requested to support staff, research supplies, imaging techniques, computers, and other items and activities related to carrying out the project.
• Reports: A brief interim progress report is required mid-year. A written final report, required at the completion of the project, should summarize the results of the project as well as the prospects for securing additional funding based upon the work produced through the project. Photographic and/or video documentation of the work, adhering to best practices for privacy protection, may be included.

BEGIN APPLICATION

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PROJECT LONG DESCRIPTION (500 words maximum)

Be sure to address each of the following questions in your text. 

Project goal and objectives 

1. What neuroarts research questions does the project attempt to answer?
2. How will it contribute to building the field of neuroarts and why is such contribution significant? 
3. Roles and responsibilities of each principal investigator and other senior staff. 
4. How will the principal investigators ensure that the proposed project will be carried out in a collaborative manner? 

Methodology: What research methods and techniques will be used to carry out the proposed project?

Equity: How does the project intend to advance the neuroarts principle of diversity, equity, and inclusion?

Anticipated outcomes

1. What results or lessons learned are expected to emerge from the proposed project?
2. How might the results of this project position the work for future funding and other support?

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