Instruction
ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH PILOT RESEARCH PROPOSAL
1.Background (~0.5 page):
2,. Provide an overarching hypothesis and two Specific Aims that will be tested
directly through your experiments (~0.25 page).
Present a testable prediction that you can address directly with your experiments.
Each of the two specific aims should have a stated objective and address two distinct
levels of biological organization (biochemical, molecular, physiological, individual).
3. Experimental Approach (~0.75 page): Describe two experiments (related to your
two Specific Aims) that you will conduct to test your central hypothesis. Each
description should include the items listed below:
-Question being asked by experiment.
-Identification of variables in your study – what will you measure, what will you
manipulate and how are these things related?
-Methods/tools being employed to carry out these experiments and collect data. This
should include a brief description of each method/tool and how you will use it. Be sure to
include reference(s) to a paper that previously employed the method/tool to ask a similar
question.
4. Anticipated Results and Alternatives (~0.5 page): In this section you will present the
anticipated results for each of your two specific aims. You should also address possible
experimental pitfalls and how you plan to overcome them, if encountered. Write this
section by addressing the questions below for each of the two experiments (specific
aims).
-Provide an interpretation of results from the two separate experiments that would
support your hypothesis.
-Provide an interpretation of results from the two separate experiments that do not
support your hypothesis.
-What is an alternative approach(es) that you may employ if your experiment does not
yield anticipated results? This should include a brief description of the methods/tools
that you plan to use in this alternative approach.