Assistance to Firefighters Grants Program Frequently Asked Questions

Generally, scientists who take the lead in R&D Activity projects in the clinical category are trained in an area(s) of specialization that is specific to the project topic. Examples include physicians or toxicologists in toxicology research, occupational epidemiologists in injury research, clinical or social psychologists in behavioral and mental health areas, and sociologists or behavioral scientists in social or cultural areas. Scientists and engineers that take the lead in R&D Activity studies in the technology and product development category should also be trained in an area(s) of specialization that is specific to the study topics, such as combustion scientists leading projects of toxic gas exposures, textile engineers for development of better fabric for advanced turnout gear and protective shelters, and fire protection engineers to address fire dynamics in structural firefighting. In some cases, physicians and engineers team up to investigate topics of heat stress and work effort needed to accomplish routine firefighting tasks to better define expectations for safe work on the fire ground. Also, scientists and engineers with relevant expertise may have many other specializations such as anthropology, behavioral sciences, biostatistics, chemical engineering, codes and standards, computer sciences, economics, electrical engineering, emergency medicine, epidemiology, fire modeling, geophysical sciences, health behavior, kinesiology, mechanical engineering, neural science, nutrition, physics, physiology, and public health.

Information from databases can inform the fire service about where there are challenges, and what specific factors influence firefighter safety, health, and well-being. For example, a database system may be developed to identify firefighters’ use of hospital emergency departments nationwide. Such epidemiologic information potentially could result in changes to fire service programs, policies, and products, leading to reduced fatal and non-fatal injuries nationwide. Researchers who apply for funding in this category also should consider resources and strategies for continued support and maintenance of the database system after the initial one to three-year funding period. These grants should be considered as start-up and demonstration funding only.

Note: If you intend to develop a dataset as a function of your specific research study, without data collection with the same participants post-study, then your proposal likely fits the clinical or technology category rather than the database systems category.

Preliminary studies of one-year duration may be proposed to obtain a sufficient amount of evidence to justify a future larger, more comprehensive project. The preliminary study category supports researchers' need to answer questions or establish methods prior to determining the need for a larger comprehensive research investigation. This is particularly true when there is little evidence already available in the literature or from other sources to support an idea. For example, when little or no research existed on women firefighters, a preliminary project established the need for specific areas of research, such as reproductive health. Data from preliminary work likely would strengthen a subsequent application for a larger (clinical or technology) study.

In another example, this category was used effectively to gain support for evaluation of advanced sensors that could be candidates for building a practical gas and particulate hazard warning system. The preliminary study allowed the researchers to identify and eliminate risks associated with sensor performance so that the follow-on major proposal was able to build and test a practical new product for deployment.

Note: If an application could be competitive without the results of a preliminary study (such as when adequate information and methods are already established with prior research in this area), then the clinical or technology category should be used.

This project category is intended to promote the development of new principal investigators who wish to engage in research to improve firefighter safety, health, and well-being. This category is reserved for projects led by a principal investigator who received a Ph.D. or equivalent advanced level research degree no more than five years prior to the opening date of the application period. As the development of new research talent through mentoring is a focus of these awards, projects that are affiliated with larger ongoing fire service research efforts are encouraged.

Description of the research project as well as the mentoring plan must be included in the Narrative. Applicants should identify how the project will support the development of the principal investigator within the field of firefighter research. The applicant’s institution must be the sponsoring institution because individuals are not eligible to receive an award under this program. All proposed projects must have at least one fire service partner. These projects are limited to a maximum $200,000 federal share per project year. The mentor must provide a signed letter of support and commitment of their mentoring role along with a biosketch to include in the Appendix. Early career applicants will receive unique scoring in the science review process to include a score for the mentoring plan.

It is not required to indicate a project is a resubmission. However, applicants can address in the Appendix how they adapted the proposal to address reviewer comments from a previous year. This information is generally helpful to the reviewers. Both review panels are able to view these comments in the Appendix.

It is critical that the application addresses each of the evaluation criteria as thoroughly as possible. Project evaluation total scores are rank ordered from the fire service review with the highest-scoring projects going forward for additional science review. The projects are then ranked according to the highest science panel evaluation scores. FEMA makes awards based on this final ranking from the science panel.