Pilot Projects Program

Our Center offers pilot project grants to its members that support new environmental health science research ideas and provide priority access to Core services.

PPP grants provide short-term investments to:

• Generate preliminary data to support competitive external funding.
• Test the feasibility of new ideas, methods, or approaches.
• Launch new research directions or pivot existing work into environmental health.
• Build new or strengthen existing partnerships across disciplines, with external partners, or with community groups that advance environmental health research or support research translation.
• Support early-stage investigators and researchers new to the field.
• Strengthen alignment with the Center’s scientific priorities and the NIEHS mission.

Pre-Application Requirements 

Core Service Approval

If you intend to use a Center Core, you must contact the Core Director to discuss your proposed research and associated budgetary needs prior to submission.

Budget Approval

You must submit your budget to Lisa Shepherd for review and approval to ensure compliance with program requirements.

We support two pilot award types

Just In Time Funds

Just In Time Fund applications may be submitted at any time and are designed to support time-sensitive, high-impact opportunities that require rapid response.

Appropriate uses include:

• Emerging public health threats or policy changes.
• Sudden events, disasters, or natural experiments.
• Rapidly evolving or urgent scientific questions.
• Time-sensitive data collection or analysis that cannot be delayed.

These awards are intended to enable investigators to act quickly when critical opportunities arise that align with the Center’s mission and cannot be addressed through standard funding timelines.

Vanguard Award

The Vanguard Award is an investigator-initiated pilot funding mechanism designed to support innovative, mission-aligned research in environmental health sciences. Proposed projects must align with the mission of our Center and the mission of NIEHS.

Competitive applications will clearly demonstrate how the proposed work will:

• Advance methodology or theoretical frameworks in environmental health.
• Establish or strengthen interdisciplinary collaborations or partnerships with external organizations that will accelerate EHS research or EHS research translation.
• Test a novel intervention or approach in real-world settings.
• Demonstrate feasibility within the pilot project period (<12 months).
• Articulate a strong and credible pathway to external funding or scaling up.
• Be feasible within a short-term pilot timeframe and designed to generate a clear next step, such as preliminary data, a new collaboration, or a translational product.
• Benefit from priority access to a Core service.

If you have questions about time sensitive funding and/or are unsure which award to apply for, contact the PPP administrators Dr. Molly Kile or Dr. Thomas Sharpton

Application Details

Application Deadline: Applications for 2026 are open (pending confirmation of Center funding).
Budget and core approval must be secured by June 30.
Pilot grant application must be submitted by July 20.

Eligibility: The proposal Primary Investigator must be a Pacific Northwest Center for Translational Environmental Health Research Center Member. We encourage researchers to join the Center.

Budget: Applicants can request up to $30,000 with an additional $10,000 to cover EHSC Facility Core Services (if needed) for a total of $40,000. Center Cores are described below. 

Budget Form: When you submit your application use the budget form available here. The budget must be submitted to [email protected] for approval before submitting your proposal.

F&A Waiver: EHSC Pilot Grants cannot support institutional overhead, including at non-OSU institutions. No funds will be awarded to support: 

• Salaries for faculty members, administrative staff, or graduate research assistants.
• Fixed-asset equipment (single item $5K or greater).

Any request for salary for personnel categories other than those listed above must be clearly justified in the context of the pilot project. We encourage proposals from non-OSU institutions, though note that the institution will need to waive F&A costs to ensure eligibility. A letter from a program administrator with authority to waive F&A costs should be included in the proposal submission.

Project Period/Timeline: Ability to execute the project in a timely manner will be a review criterion. Pilot projects must be completed within 9 months, with the option to request a 3-month extension.

We recognize that projects requiring human subjects approval, animal use approval, or MOUs with external partners may take longer. If this applies to your proposal, organize your project into two stages—Stage 1 (securing approvals) and Stage 2 (post-approval work)—with clear budget needs for each stage and a timeline that may extend beyond 9 months but must not exceed two years. Proposals seeking more than one year of funding due to such compliance requirements must obtain written consent from the PPP administrators prior to submission.

Core Usage: Applicants are encouraged to use one or more of the Cores to achieve their research goals. As you prepare your application, you should be in consultation with the Core directors to ensure the viability of your project. Core directors will provide you with a letter that will need to be attached to your Judgify application.

• Community Engagement Core
  Facilitates collaboration with communities and partners to address environmental public health questions.
• Chemical Exposure Core
  Provides passive sampling devices and analytic services for measuring environmental toxins.
• Translational Research Support Core
  Provides consultations, services and resources to establish translational team collaborations.
• Zebrafish Biomedical Research Core
  Provides support for use of aquatic models in environmental health research.

Core Approval Required (if using a Center Core): Applicants must contact the Core Directors prior to submitting your proposal if you seek core services. This will ensure that your application has accurate information regarding methodology, prices, etc.

Application Review Process: All proposals will undergo peer review by a panel of scientists with the goal of selecting the most meritorious proposals for funding. Proposals that utilize Center Core facilities and services will have access to additional funds and expertise, and are encouraged. However, you are not required to use the Center’s Core facilities and services if they are not necessary for your proposal.

Features of Strong Pilot Projects

A compelling pilot application will include:

• Clearly defined, time-bounded scope that is feasible within pilot funding scope.
• A specific and credible next step (e.g., grant submission, publication, implementation).
• Strong alignment with Center and NIEHS mission, and ideally the shared resources available in the Center Cores.
• Demonstrated potential for high impact or innovation.
• Serving as a launch mechanism for larger, sustained research programs.

What pilot projects are not intended to support:

• Ongoing or fully developed projects better suited for larger grants.
• Dissertation or thesis research as the primary aim.
• Projects without a clear next step or pathway to impact.
• Work that cannot be completed within a short-term timeframe.

All proposals should:

• Have a clear plan for future actions and funding that will build on the preliminary data to be collected.
• Clearly articulate how the proposed study and future action(s) will advance discovery of how the environment affects human biology and health, and/or can inform prevention and intervention strategies that can improve the health of individuals, communities, and populations.

Expectations for Awardees

In addition to completing their pilot project studies, award recipients will be expected to:

• Undergo an on-boarding session that will explain their roles and responsibilities as an NIEHS P30 Center funded PI.
• Complete the Center’s Project Execution Plan and Discovery Index and/or Community Engagement Plan.
• Provide an oral interim progress report after 6 months.
• Submit a 500 word progress report after 12 months that will be included in the Center’s formal NIEHS annual report.
• Complete an annual electronic survey for 5 consecutive years to track outcomes from the pilot project.

Ready to Apply?

Click here to initiate and complete the submission form.

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