Title: Visiting Fellowship Program Series: Solicitation Author: National Institute of Justice Published: November 2002 Subject: Grants and funding 11 pages 22,748 bytes ------------------------------ To view this document in its original format, download the Adobe Acrobat graphic file available from this Web site or order a print copy from NCJRS at 800-851-3420 (877-712-9279 For TTY users). ------------------------------ Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs National Institute of Justice National Institute of Justice Solicitation Sarah V. Hart, Director November 2002 Visiting Fellowship Program Notice: NIJ continues to experience delays in delivery of U.S. mail. If you are sending time-sensitive materials to NIJ, and in particular proposals responding to NIJ solicitations, we recommend that you use an alternative to the U.S. Postal Service. For delivery by commercial carriers and courier services, our ZIP Code is 20001. APPLICATION DEADLINE: January 27, 2003 ------------------------------ U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs 810 Seventh Street, NW Washington, DC 20531 John D. Ashcroft Attorney General Deborah J. Daniels Assistant Attorney General Sarah V. Hart Director National Institute of Justice For grant and funding information, contact: Department of Justice Response Center 800-421-6770 Office of Justice Programs National Institute of Justice Web Site: http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/nij ------------------------------ Visiting Fellowship Program I. Introduction and Background The National Institute of Justice (NIJ) is a component of the Department of Justice's (DOJ) Office of Justice Programs (OJP). NIJ's Visiting Fellowship Program offers criminal justice researchers, scholars, and practitioners, both international and domestic, the opportunity to undertake research and development projects of interest to NIJ and of substantial benefit to the administration of justice in the United States as well as to the international community. NIJ's Visiting Fellowship Program supports the investigation, analysis, and development of innovative approaches that enhance justice and advance public policy decisionmaking on issues related to crime, violence, and substance abuse. Through the program, Fellows may investigate new methods for resolving operational problems and become involved in NIJ's national criminal justice research program. Visiting Fellows study topics of mutual interest to the Fellow and the Institute while in residence at NIJ for 12 to 24 months. Fellows are expected to prepare reports, suitable for publication by NIJ, summarizing the results and policy implications of their research. Specific products in the award package will be negotiated with Fellows during the pre-award period. Fellows also may be asked to: o Participate in developing plans for nationally significant criminal justice research programs relating to the Fellow's proposed research and field of expertise. o Collaborate with Institute staff and other Fellows. o Develop and make presentations to inform and involve the Institute's research and develop-ment community and program partners in discussion and interpretation of research findings and policy implications. o Assist NIJ in the development of informational materials for new or current projects. o Provide technical assistance in specific program areas. II. Researcher Visiting Fellowship Program NIJ solicits applications from candidates with extensive experience in criminal justice research. These applicants may be currently employed in research settings, such as colleges and universities, private nonprofit research institutions, or State and local research agencies. Research topics have focused on improving the working assumptions and tools on which criminal justice operations are based and on improving field and investigative operations. NIJ is particularly interested in applications from candidates working in areas related to the long-range goals of the Institute's research, evaluation, and science and technology programs, including forensic science. III. Practitioner Visiting Fellowship Program NIJ seeks research-oriented practitioners at the middle and upper levels of the justice profession. These applicants, with experience in all aspects of criminal justice, will have demonstrated their leadership ability and a particular field-based expertise that they wish to enhance through the Fellowship program. Previous practitioner visiting fellow studies have focused on policy issues that may require technical design input from NIJ professional staff. There also is an opportunity to address the application of science and technology within criminal justice. Priority Areas for Researcher and Practitioner Visiting Fellowship Programs In evaluating concept papers submitted for consideration for the Researcher and Practitioner Visiting Fellowship Programs, NIJ will give preference to proposals in the following high-priority areas: Law enforcement/policing: identify ways that police and law enforcement agencies can improve their effectiveness, efficiency, and productivity; enhance officer safety while minimizing unnecessary risks to suspects and others; improve the ability of police organizations to collect, analyze, disseminate, and use information effectively and to communicate reliably and securely; identify procedures, policies, technologies, and basic knowledge that will maximize appropriate and lawful police actions; enhance local investigative resources by identifying and disseminating investigative best practices and by developing technologies and techniques that help locate suspects and establish guilt. Justice systems (sentencing, courts, prosecution, defense): develop sophisticated understanding about trial court organization, structure, and leadership to improve the fairness, effectiveness, and efficiency of trial courts; evaluate specialized courts and specialized prosecution strategies; create knowledge about sentencing strategies, plea bargaining, time served, and specialty courts so that the public is protected, offender criminality is reduced, and system costs are most effectively managed; evaluate court services for litigants and other participants with special needs; improve understanding of how the introduction of new, sophisticated scientific evidence into court systems is affecting the system. Corrections: create knowledge and develop technologies on how prisons, jails, and community corrections can be better managed to provide safe, secure, and cost-effective operations; create knowledge on how best to assess and manage special offender populations in prisons, jails, and in the community; develop knowledge as to the causes of prison sexual assault and factors that may deter the reporting of such assaults, and/or evaluate strategies, practices, and policies designed to prevent it; develop effective treatment/intervention strategies that enhance public safety by maximizing the successful re-entry of offenders into communities. Investigative and forensic sciences, including DNA: develop DNA and forensic technologies, tools, and information that reliably identify criminal offenders; validate and demonstrate the effectiveness and reliability of existing forensic sciences techniques for use in the criminal justice system; develop strategies to enhance the capacities of State and local governments to effectively use forensic evidence to solve crimes. Counterterrorism/critical incidents: synthesize existing knowledge about terrorist groups, their structures, motives, finances, and similar elements; develop knowledge and tools that help prevent, deter, or apprehend terrorists, including improving intelligence gathering, information sharing, risk assessment, target hardening, surveillance, and detection; improve the tools and techniques available to first responders in a critical incident; evaluate and refine technologies, practices, and procedures to minimize harm to persons, property, and communities from terrorism. Crime prevention/causes of crime: increase the practical knowledge of those factors (individual, peer, community, and societal) that may lead to delinquent/criminal behavior; develop knowledge of programs, interventions, and strategies that prevent crime by at-risk populations; improve the ability to prevent crime in specific contexts, including schools, using selected physical design, access control strategies, and technologies; develop know-ledge relevant to community-based and faith-based approaches that prevent crime; improve the understanding of deterrence mechanisms that prevent crime. Violence and victimization, including violent crimes: develop knowledge of strategies to prevent sexual assaults and victimization of children; develop knowledge of practical approaches to reduce domestic and intimate partner violence; identify ways to prevent repeat victimization; expand knowledge on the nature of white collar crime, identity theft, and elder fraud and strategies to prevent victimization; develop practical knowledge of approaches to reduce community violence; evaluate policies and interventions to address crime victims' needs. Drugs, alcohol, and crime: increase understanding of relationships between drugs, alcohol, and crime; identify ways to disrupt/deter drug markets and drug sales; develop strategies to prevent or detect drug or alcohol-related crime; evaluate strategies to reduce drug dependency among offenders, including drug courts and drug treatment in correctional settings. Interoperability, spatial information, and automated systems: develop and demonstrate advanced interoperability communications and information-sharing technologies for public safety; identify and develop open architecture standards for voice, data, image, and video communication systems for the public safety community; research, develop, and evaluate spatial information systems--including their social, economic, and legal impacts--that increase data sharing between agencies, integrate disparate data sets, and enhance decisionmaking processes; develop and demonstrate advanced technologies and standards for public safety applications, including biometrics, smart sensing systems, data mining and analysis, tools for learning, and command and control systems; develop advanced technology tools and standards for State and local governments to prevent and investigate electronic crime, leveraging the capabilities of other agencies. Program evaluation: develop the capacity to conduct cost-effectiveness evaluations of criminal justice programs and technologies; improve the quality and cost-effectiveness of NIJ evaluations; improve the utility of evaluation results for policy, practice, and program development in part through interim reporting and timely reporting of final results. IV. International Visiting Fellowship Program NIJ seeks criminal justice professionals and researchers who propose to undertake research and development projects of interest to NIJ and valuable to the administration of justice in the United States and throughout the world. Specifically, NIJ will host foreign scholars and award fellowships to researchers to perform research or program development activities related to international and transnational criminal justice issues. NIJ is particularly interested in issues that have direct implications for crime and justice in the United States. NIJ has sponsored visiting scientists and practitioners from Italy, Israel, Denmark, and the United Kingdom, as well as USIA-sponsored visiting fellows from the New Independent States. A recent recipient was Yuriy A. Voronin, a professor of criminal law from the Urals State Law Academy in Ekaterinburg, Russia, and an expert on Russian organized crime. During the year he was at NIJ, Professor Voronin collected, generated, and analyzed materials on transnational organized crime emanating from the former Soviet Union, a project which had implications in both Russia and the United States. V. Selection Criteria NIJ is firmly committed to a competitive process in making grant awards. External peer review panelists consider both technical and programmatic merits of a proposed topic. Successful applicants must demonstrate to an independent peer review panel that:(1) the gap in knowledge they seek to fill is critical to understanding crime and justice and is policy relevant; (2) the proposed research design is rigorous and appropriate to posited research questions; and (3) the applicant is highly qualified to execute the design within the proposed budget. Institute staff then make recommendations to the NIJ Director based on the results of the independent reviews. The NIJ Director makes final decisions after consultation with Institute staff. NIJ reviews grant applications based upon the following criteria: o Impact of the Project. - Importance of the problem. - Potential for significant advances in the problem area. - Potential for advancement of scientific understanding of the problem area. - Relevance to improving the policy and practice of criminal justice and related agencies and for improving public safety, security, and quality of life. o Quality and Technical Merit. - Awareness of existing research. - Soundness of methodology, analysis, or technical approach. - Innovation and creativity. - Feasibility of proposed project and awareness of pitfalls. o Capabilities demonstrated, productivity, and Experience of Applicants. - Qualifications and experience of personnel to proposed project. - Demonstrated ability to manage proposed effort. - Adequacy of proposed budget including time and personnel. - Past performance on NIJ grants and contracts, if applicable. o Budget Considerations. - Total cost relative to perceived benefit. - Budget appropriate to level of effort. - Use of existing resources to conserve costs. Applicants who submit successful concept papers and who are invited to submit full proposals can anticipate a decision timeframe of up to 3 months from concept paper to grant award. Further guidelines and instructions for grantees on format and paperwork requirements for the submission of complete proposals will be provided to those invited to submit a full proposal. The entire application package is available at: http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/nij/funding_app.htm In item 10 of the application, please include 16.562 as the Catalog for Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number. Indicate the title to be the "Criminal Justice Research and Development--Research Fellowships." VI. How to Apply Individuals interested in submitting a concept paper in response to this solicitation must send the following concept paper package: a letter addressed to the relevant Visiting Fellowship Program, expressing the applicant's interest; a career vitae; a proposed budget; and a brief concept paper (4-5 double-spaced pages) that describes research objectives, how the work would contribute to knowledge and practice, and how the Fellow's residence at NIJ would contribute to the work of the Institute. The Institute will review each concept paper for suitability with current NIJ needs and priorities and selectively invite the development of a full proposal reflecting a scope and work plan of mutual interest. Due date. Five copies of the complete concept paper package must be received by 4:30 p.m. on January 27, 2003. Extensions to this deadline are not permitted. Faxed or electronically transmitted copies will not be accepted. NIJ reserves the right to return incomplete applications, those not responsive to the scope of this solicitation, or those not complying with format requirements. Names and affiliations of the author should be clearly identified. Papers that are incomplete or handwritten may be considered as submitted or, at NIJ's discretion, may be returned without further review. Papers exceeding the page limit will not be reviewed. No additions to the original submission are allowed. Eligibility requirements. NIJ awards grants and cooperative agreements to educational institutions, nonprofit organizations, public agencies, individuals, and profit-making organizations that are willing to waive their fees. For this program, no indirect costs are allowable. Award period. Visiting Fellowships last from 12 to 24 months. The period in residency and starting date at NIJ are negotiable. Award amount. Funding allocations for this program are based on the quality of the proposals received and the extent to which they are related to ongoing research, evaluation, or science and technology priorities of NIJ. Fellows receive full financial and logistical support from NIJ as well as access to the abundant criminal justice resources of NIJ and the Nation's capital. Awards cover salary, fringe benefits, reasonable costs of relocation, travel expenses essential to the project, and office expenses not provided by NIJ (e.g., computers and research assistants). Applicants should develop a reasonable budget that adequately covers the costs of the proposed project. NIJ recognizes that in extraordinary cases a move to the Washington, D.C., area could impose a financial hardship. Hence, the salary may be adjusted to compensate for differences in costs of living between the applicant's place of residence and Washington, D.C. This differential cannot exceed 20 percent of the applicant's current salary. An allocation for relocation expenses may be approved to supplement the cost of temporary housing in the Washington, D.C., area or commuter travel from the Fellow's permanent residence to Washington, D.C. VII. Performance Guidelines To ensure compliance with the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA), Public Law 103-62, this solicitation notifies successful applicants that they will be required to collect and report information and data that measure the results of the grant. In order to ensure accountability, the following performance standards are established for all NIJ grantees under this solicitation: by the end of the grant period, the grantee will produce a high-quality written product on the subject approved by NIJ that incorporates peer review comments and is suitable for publication by NIJ; and the final product will contain information of relevance to policymakers and/or practitioners in the subject area. Based on the findings revealed during the course of a successful applicant's research, outcome performance measures and supporting data reporting elements should be identified in the event that this research is incorporated into a federally funded program requiring future impact measures. Guidance and information. To obtain further information about the NIJ Visiting Fellowship Program, prospective applicants may contact the Department of Justice Response Center at 800-421-6770 (in the Washington, D.C., area at 202-307-1480). Send the concept paper package to: [Specify program: Researcher, Practitioner, or International Visiting Fellowship] National Institute of Justice 810 Seventh Street N.W., Room 7103 Washington, DC 20531 (use zip code 20001 for commercial carriers and courier services) Note: NIJ continues to experience delays in delivery of U.S. mail. If you are sending time-sensitive materials to NIJ, such as in response to this solicitation, we recommend that you use an alternative to the U.S. Postal Service. For delivery by commercial carriers and courier services, our zip code is 20001. Past Researcher Fellows: Barbara Boland, Senior Researcher and Washington-Based Consultant, Case Studies of Emerging Experiments in Community Prosecution. Carole E. Chaski, former Professor of Linguistics, North Carolina State University and University of South Carolina, Linguistic Methods of Determining Authorship. Todd Clear, Professor of Criminal Justice, Rutgers University, Community Justice--Theory and Practice. James Collins, Senior Program Director, Research Triangle Institute, Linking Domestic Violence and Substance Abuse Services. William McDonald, Professor of Sociology and Deputy Director, Institute of Criminal Law and Procedure, Georgetown University, Emerging Role of Local Law Enforcement in Transnational Crime and Illegal Immigration. Ralph Taylor, Professor of Criminal Justice, Temple University, Influences of Specific Incivilities on Reactions to Crime in Five Cities. Current Practitioner Fellows: B. Michael Dann, former Judge, Superior Court of Maricopa County (Phoenix, AZ), Testing the Effects of Selected Jury Trial Innovations on Juror Comprehension of DNA Evidence. Myra Wall Downing, former Principal Planner, Public Safety Coordinating Council, Lane County Council of Governments (Eugene, OR), Measuring the Impact of Collaboration on Community Safety Problem Solving Initiatives. Past Practitioner Fellow: Thomas Quinn, former Executive Director of the Delaware Criminal Justice Council, Restorative Justice: Research Findings and Program Applications. Current International Fellow: Janine Wedel, Associate Professor, School of Public Policy, George Mason University, Transnational Crime. Past International Fellows: Yuriy Voronin, Distinguished Professor and Director, Organized Crime Center, Urals State Law Academy, Ekaterinburg, Russia, Scope, Character & Impact of the Phenomenon of Transnational Crime. David Bayley, Professor of Criminal Justice, School of Criminal Justice, University at Albany State University of New York, Lessons in Projecting Police Reform Abroad. Gloria Laycock, Home Office (UK), Social Science Research: Getting it Right for Policymakers and Practitioners. R. William Burnham, Professor, Oxford University, University of Huddersfield. Analyzing World Data on Crime and Criminal Justice Systems, 1975 to Present. For more information or answers to questions, contact: National Criminal Justice Reference Service Box 6000 Rockville, MD 20849-6000 800-851-3420 e-mail: askncjrs@ncjrs.org You can view or obtain an electronic version of this document from the NCJRS Justice Information Center Web site (http://www.ncjrs.org) or the NIJ Web site (http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/nij).