• CICADA Request for Applications

    Applications are being accepted for 1-year Pilot-Project Awards of up to $50,000 for the project period 07/01/2025- 06/30/2026

  • Penn’s Center for Improving Care Delivery for the Aging (CICADA) is seeking applications for the 2025-2026 cohort of CICADA Scientists. In collaboration with Penn’s Leonard Davis Institute for Health Economics (LDI), CICADA seeks to enhance the diversity of the aging research workforce by mentoring promising scientists from under-represented backgrounds interested in a career focused on improving health equity and health care delivery for older adults.

    The deadline for submitting applciations is 11:59pm ET on January 17, 2025. 

    To review the full request for applications, including available resources, review criteria, and the application timeline, please click here.

    For application questions, please contact CICADA@pennmedicine.upenn.edu.

    • Principal Investigator 
    •  -
    • Proposal 

    • Applicants must complete and submit the following required documents by 11:59pm ET on January 17, 2025. 

      Proposal Requirements

      1.    Cover page including Project Title, Principal Investigator, Mentor(s), and Abstract (not to exceed 250 words)

      2.    Project Description (up to five pages, single-spaced, 11-point font minimum one-inch margins) which contains the following sections:

      a. Specific aim(s) and significance (with specific hypotheses) (~1 page)

      b. Research plan and methodology (~2.5 pages)

      i. Should include a description of the data to be used or how the data will be collected; key variables and how they will be measured or defined; and a detailed analysis plan.

      c. Timeline for project completion (e.g., Gantt chart) (~0.5 pages)

      i. Milestones should be identified along the 1-year timeline. Milestones should be well described, quantifiable, and scientifically justified benchmarks at critical junctures. This section may also include alternative strategies should any component efforts fail to perform as expected

      d. How this proposal is related to CICADA’s focus (~1 page)

      i. How this project is related to CICADA’s research focus on focused on improving health care delivery for older adults, particularly minority older adults

      ii. How the proposed research project will inform the applicant’s future research and how it will lead to larger funding by the NIH/NIA or another agency

      iii.  A description of the applicant including career objectives and how CICADA support would help achieve those objectives

      iv. Proposed mentor(s) and a statement about their involvement and the role they will play in conducting the research project and supporting the applicant’s career objectives. Applicants without mentors who have a potential project should email CICADA at CICADA@pennmedicine.upenn.edu for assistance in identifying a mentor in advance of the application deadline

      3.    Project Budget

      a. Proposals must include an itemized budget of up to $50,000.

      b. An accompanying budget justification should clearly describe and justify the specific items to be funded by the grant.

      c. A budget template can be accessed here.

      4.    Applicant’s current Curriculum Vitae (CV)

      5.    Mentors’ abbreviated Biosketch(es) with selected relevant experience and publications (not to exceed 2 pages)

    • Browse Files
      Cancelof

    • Demographic Data for NIH Diversity Programs and Reporting Purposes

      The National Institute of Health (NIH) encourages institutions to diversify their student and faculty populations to enhance the participation of individuals from groups identified as nationally underrepresented in the biomedical, clinical, behavioral and social sciences. These groups include: individuals from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups, individuals with disabilities, individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds and women at senior faculty levels in biomedical-relevant disciplines.

      NIH collects racial and ethnic data on appointment forms, and using other formats (certification letters, training tables, etc.). These data do not affect consideration of an application. Declining to provide racial and ethnic information does not affect consideration of an application; however, NIH programs designed to enhance the participation of individuals who have been determined to be underrepresented in health-related sciences on a national basis require such information.

      For more information, please review the full Notice of NIH's Interest in Diversity.


      For NIH reporting purposes, please complete the following information. This information will be collected and stored separately from the application and will not be viewed or considered in the review of applications.

    • Were you or are you currently homeless, as defined by the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (Definition: https://nche.ed.gov/mckinney-vento/)?

    • Were you or are you currently in the foster care system, as defined by the Administration for Children and Families (Definition: https://www.acf.hhs.gov/cb/focus-areas/foster-care)?

    • Did you have/had no parents or legal guardians who completed a bachelor’s degree (see https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2018/2018009.pdf)?

    • Were you or are you currently eligible for Federal Pell grants ((Definition: https://www2.ed.gov/programs/fpg/eligibility.html)?

    • Did you receive support from the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) as a parent or child (Definition: https://www.fns.usda.gov/wic/wic-eligibility-requirements)?

    • Did you grow up in one of the following areas: a) a U.S. rural area, as designated by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Rural Health Grants Eligibility Analyzer (https://data.hrsa.gov/tools/rural-health), or b) a Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services-designated Low-Income and Health Professional Shortage Areas?

    • Should be Empty: