Innovation Grants: Call for Proposals

2026 Innovation Grants Call for NIH P30 Pilot Project Proposals

Proposal Submission Deadline: May 15, 2026
Expected Date of Award Notification: Summer, 2026
Expected Start date: September 1, 2026

Description of Innovation Program

The Center for Aging Families (CAF) Innovation Program invites applications for our 2026 Innovation Grants. Up to $20,000 in direct costs will be awarded for each selected project. The 2026 award runs for a one-year period, from September 1, 2026 through August 31, 2027.

The CAF Innovation Program supports scholars at all career stages in collecting and analyzing new data or applying and testing innovative methods on existing data with the expressed aim to provide preliminary data and analyses to support a submission of a NIA R- or K-series proposal. These grants are intended to advance innovative, interdisciplinary research on aging families by supporting data collection and analysis in the family aging field and by generating preliminary data that will strengthen future NIA applications.

Eligible Candidates

Tenured or tenure-track faculty and research scientists at any career stage with principal investigator eligibility at Bowling Green State University, Ohio State University, or Purdue University (i.e., CAF institutions). Priority will be given to CAF affiliates and to researchers who have not previously received an Innovation Grant or other CAF funding. Applications involving investigators from more than one of the above-listed CAF institutions are especially encouraged. Due to current NIH rules, we are unable to fund research activities that take place outside the United States. Research using secondary data collected internationally is eligible as long as all funds are spent in the U.S.

Scholars considering a submission to the Innovation grant program are strongly encouraged to reach out to the CAF co-directors Cathy Liu (liu3839@purdue.edu) and Rin Reczek (Reczek.2@osu.edu) before applying to ensure that their proposal fits within CAF priorities.  

Required Application Materials

1. Pilot project proposal (up to 6 pages, single-spaced, excluding references). Pilot projects should align with at least one of CAF’s three core themes: 1) Aging Family Demography: aging family structure and aging family dynamics that speak to demographic issues, broadly defined; 2) Aging Family Health: how family structure and dynamics shape any aspect of aging health; and  3) Aging Health Disparities in Families: how aging family health is conditional on a variety of structural, cultural, behavioral, genetic, and other social factors that create health disparities across populations. The proposal should include the following information:
   • Project title, Investigators, and affiliations
   • CAF Theme(s) this project addresses
   • Specific Aims (up to 1 page), Innovative pilot projects should include aim(s) that test a novel method or technique not already widely used in the field and/or conduct primary data collection within the scope of CAF research themes.
   • Significance and Innovation. 
   • Approach
   • Outcomes and Next Steps
   • References (not included in the 6-page limit)
2. Budget justification. Proposed projects may be funded up to the amount of $20,000 (direct costs) for one year. Allowable costs include faculty salary (less than 50% of the total budget), graduate research assistants, purchasing of data or data access, collection of novel data, travel to the annual meeting of the Population Association of America or to a relevant training, and other expenses related to the proposed study that fall within guidelines for federally allowable expenses.
3. NIH biosketches (following NIH guidelines) for all investigators

Note that projects involving human subjects will require IRB approval if selected for the award; this is not required at the time of application.  At the time of the award, CAF will also request a letter confirming approval of terms and conditions from the Innovation Grant PI’s chair/head/director.

The award will include indirect costs to the investigators’ institutions at the rate of 8% of direct costs, as required by the CAF parent grant.  

Submit required application and materials using this Qualtrics link

Award Terms and Conditions

The Innovation program is a one-year program. All awardees will be encouraged to:

• Engage in CAF grant writing trainings (summer and academic year), the annual meeting of the Population Association of America, and other CAF activities.
• Make regular progress with the proposed project and promptly report any obstacles or challenges to CAF leadership.
• Use the pilot data to support a subsequent NIA proposal. At the completion of the pilot grant, the PI will meet with the CAF directors Reczek and Liu regarding their plan for NIA submission.

All institutional policies for human subjects research, research ethics, and research expenditures apply to these awards. In addition, awardees are required to follow NIH public access policies for manuscripts and data produced as part of the award.

All publications and presentations resulting from the award should acknowledge CAF and its funding from the National Institute on Aging (P30AG096979). At the time of submission of the external proposal resulting from the Innovation award, CAF should be included in any distribution of indirect costs associated with the external award – please contact the CAF directors for guidance.

More About the CAF

CAF is a collaboration among scholars at Bowling Green State University, Ohio State University, and Purdue University, supported by a P30 center grant from the National Institute on Aging (NIA). The Center for Aging Families advances research and scholarship on the multifaceted experiences of aging families. We are particularly focused on fostering innovative and interdisciplinary approaches to understanding the dynamics, challenges, and opportunities that aging families encounter—including family demography, health and well-being, and caregiving. As part of our mission, we are committed to supporting the next generation of scholars who are dedicated to this important field of study.  

Questions? Email agingfamilies@bgsu.edu