2023-11-09
UBHEART can provide the following in support of grant proposals and funded projects:
- Shared resources: Most importantly, we can provide commonly needed resources. A list of these resources will be made available and updated over time, but the general goal is to provide a well-equipped space to complete the work, with adequate support to facilitate rapid and reliable use of the available resources.
- Space: At present, the primary resource is space. This space (on the 3rd floor of Diefendorf Hall) has secure swipe card access. We have a variety of spaces, including observation suites (two will soon have Noldus behavioral observation hardware, software) for individual participants, dyads, or small groups (such as focus groups), an exam room, waiting room, kitchen, meeting rooms, and space for project staff (mostly in the form of cubicles). UBHEART spaces typically include a telephone and basic computer. Two rooms include equipment for assessing height and weight, and we have several portable breath CO and blood pressure units. Spaces can be configured to suit research needs, within reason, but project-specific supplies, specialized software and hardware will generally need to be provided by the project.
- Project manager (PM): The UBHEART PM will assist with onboarding new faculty/staff and coordinate the use and upkeep of shared resources. The PM is not a project coordinator for a particular research project.
- Technician: At present, we have one technician who can train new users with onboarding to the space, scheduling procedures, use of the behavior observation suites, etc., as well as maintain the space.
- Facilities and resources document: We have standard information to document space, computing resources, observation suites, etc. that will can be tailored for individual proposals.
- Letter of support: We can document that the needed resources will be prioritized for your project and indicate that you are an affiliate scientist (making it a bit more official).
Initial consultation and proposal information: If you are interested in running a project in UBHEART, it is important that we have an initial consultation during the proposal development. To plan for this consultation, please provide the following at least 6 weeks before the grant submission deadline:
- Resources you need: We anticipate being able to provide many basic resources without the need for you to explicitly budget for them in your proposal. That’s the beauty of a shared-resource environment. However, if you are requesting resources beyond those available, we will need to discuss how best to budget for those additional resources. We of course need to know what those resources are, as well as a bit more about your proposal. When requesting UBHEART support for a proposal, please provide the following in an email to ubheart@buffalo.edu, CCing Co-Directors Rebecca Ashare and Larry Hawk as well as Pre-Award Specialist Melissa Miller:
- Name of grant
- Funding mechanism and agency
- Submission date
- When you will know if funded
- Proposed start date
- What you will need for your project:
- Type and amount of space
- number and age range of ppts
- number and duration of visits for each ppt
- Total duration of data collection
- If behavioral observation suite space is needed:
- Type (fixed lens, pan-tilt-zoom), number of cameras
- # participants per observation session (e.g., individual, dyad)
- General information on type of behavioral coding you will perform and whether you need any special Noldus modules or integrations (e.g., with psychophysiology, eprime)?
- UBHEART support plan: As noted above, we will not ask you to budget for each room, computer, camera, Noldus license or software upgrade, piece of furniture, etc. that your project requires. However, for UBHEART to be a sustainable shared resource, it is important that all proposals include some support for UBHEART. Ideally, each proposal would include:
- UBHEART Technician effort: We anticipate that a typical proposal would budget effort for the Technician (typically 1.2 calendar months per year; may be more/less depending on project needs).
- Include academic year effort for at least one UB Psychology faculty member (typically the PI/PD): In most cases, this effort should be in the form of 1 course buyout per year. The department will then use the IFR from that course buyout to support UBHEART infrastructure and resources. If the budget cannot support this amount of effort, we will seek a compromise during the consultation process (approval of the department chair will be required).
- All plans will be finalized during pre- and post-award meetings with our Pre- and Post-Award Specialists (Melissa and Laurie) and one of the Co-Directors of UBHEART.
In closing, please note that this is a starting point. We hope that UBHEART will become a valuable shared resource that provides great service in support of faculty research. The goal is not for UBHEART to ‘turn a profit’. Indeed, if UBHEART runs a surplus, we can begin to provide support for select pilot/unfunded projects, support a speaker series, and/or reduce the amount of support requested of faculty grants. We also welcome your ongoing feedback and suggestions.