Purpose

In order to fulfill its mission and provide continuing support to the VA research community, VMRF has established a Advisory Research Committee (ARC) to review requests for infrastructure support and recommend to VMRF which requests should be approved.

Overview:

The ARC was created as a subcommittee to the VMRF Board of Directors to review and approve requests for VMRF infrastructure support, to provide advice to the Board and Chief Executive Officer, and to function as an independent review board for research-related operational suggestions. Depending upon the available pool of candidates, the ARC will typically be composed of seven to nine voting members and include at least one representative from each of the three VA services with the highest VMRF funding levels. Additional voting members will include at least one representative from each of the following groups: • Associate Professor and above in academic rank from among VA independent investigators • Below Associate Professor in academic rank but among VA independent investigators • VA Clinical Investigators • VA Basic Science Investigators With the exception of the first two years of its existence, terms on this committee will be for three years. One-third of the committee membership will be rotated annually. The Chairman of the Research and Advisory Committee serves as the non-voting liaison to the VMRF Board of Directors. The VMRF Finance and Audit Committee will quarterly, in advance of the quarterly ARC meeting, determine the amount of funding available for all requests. The funding available each quarter will typically be divided between capital and non-capital expenditures based upon the current and long-term needs of VMRF. Because of these budgetary constraints, not all requests for support may be approved.

Application:

Requested items or services cannot be allocable to a particular project or grant. Requests for support must benefit a group of researchers or the general research community.

1. Requests for infrastructure support should be sent in writing to the Chief Executive Officer of VMRF. Requests can be made at any time but will not be reviewed until the next ARC meeting following submission to the Chief Executive Officer. Requests must include:

a. The requester’s name, title, and VA Service
b. The requester’s list of your funded and proposed VA and VMRF research projects
c. Description and cost of the specific item(s) and service(s) requested
d. Justification why this expense should be approved
e. Description of who will benefit if the expense is approved
f. Signature of co-requesters (if applicable)
g. Cost estimates to detail and support the request

2. Only Principal Investigators who currently have sponsored research administered by VMRF, or have had sponsored research administered by VMRF within the past five years, are eligible for support. Note: This does rule does not apply to new investigators as defined in the “Bid and Proposal Funds Policy.”

3. Requests for support that total less than $50,000 will be reviewed by the ARC. The ARC’s approval/disapproval recommendation will be forwarded for final approval to the President of the VMRF Board of Directors. Requests for support of $50,000 or greater will be reviewed by the ARC and forwarded on to the VMRF Board of Directors for approval or disapproval.

4. Principal Investigators will be notified in writing whether or not their requests for support have been approved or disapproved.

5. If a request for support is denied by the ARC, the Principal Investigator may resubmit the request at a later date so long as it still meets all of the requirements set forth in this policy.

Approved by the VMRF Board of Directors: 11/05/2003