RFPs: Rehabilitation Engineering Research Centers Program 2025 (US)

Deadline: 24 January 2025

The United States Department of Health and Human Services is seeking applications for Rehabilitation Engineering Research Centers Program 2025.

Purpose

The purpose of the Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center (RERC) program is to improve the effectiveness of services authorized under the Rehabilitation Act by conducting advanced engineering research on and development of innovative technologies designed to solve rehabilitation problems or remove environmental barriers for people with disabilities.

Priority Areas

Have the capability to design, build, and test prototype devices and assist in the technology transfer and knowledge translation of successful solutions to relevant production and service delivery settings;
Evaluate the efficacy and safety of its new products, instrumentation, or assistive devices;
Provide as part of its proposal, and then implement, a plan that describes how it will include, as appropriate, people with disabilities or their representatives in all phases of its activities, including research, development, training, dissemination, and evaluation;
Provide as part of its proposal, and then implement, in consultation with the NIDILRR funded Center on Knowledge Translation for Disability and Rehabilitation Research, a plan to disseminate its research results to people with disabilities and their representatives, disability organizations, service providers, professional journals, manufacturers, and other interested parties;
Conduct a state-of-the-science conference on its designated priority research area in the fourth year of the project period, and publish a comprehensive report on the final outcomes of the conference at the beginning of the fifth year of the project period;
Coordinate research projects of mutual interest with relevant NIDILRR-funded projects, as identified through consultation with the NIDILRR project officer;
Specify the stage or stages of research projects that they are proposing. If the applicant proposes to conduct research that can be categorized under more than one stage, including research that progresses from one stage to another, those stages must be clearly specified. These stages (exploration and discovery, intervention development, intervention efficacy, and scale-up evaluation)
Specify the stage or stages of development of the development projects that they are proposing. If the applicant proposes to conduct development that can be categorized under more than one stage, those stages must be clearly specified.

Funding Information

Estimated Total Program Funding: $ 975,000
Award Ceiling: $975,000
Award Floor: $970,000

Expected Outcomes

An RERC established under the proposed priority in this notice must be designed to contribute to the following outcomes:
- Increased technical and scientific knowledge relevant to its designated priority research area. The RERC must contribute to this outcome by conducting high-quality, rigorous research projects. The RERC must use appropriate engineering knowledge and techniques to collect, analyze, and synthesize research data.
- Increased innovation in technologies, products, environments, performance guidelines, or monitoring and assessment tools applicable to its designated priority research area. The RERC must contribute to this outcome through the development and testing of these innovations. The RERC must apply appropriate engineering knowledge and techniques to achieve development objectives.
- Improved research capacity in its designated priority research area. The RERC must contribute to this outcome by collaborating with relevant industry groups, professional associations, institutions of higher education, health care providers, or educators, as appropriate, to train research and development professionals in its designated priority research area.
- Improved awareness and understanding of cutting-edge developments in technologies within its designated priority research area. The RERC must contribute to this outcome by communicating with NIDILRR, people with disabilities and their representatives, disability organizations, service providers, developers, manufacturers, architects, designers, city and regional planners, professional journals, State Assistive Technology Act Programs, and other interested parties about trends and evolving product concepts related to its designated priority research area.
- Increased impact of research and development in the designated priority research area. The RERC must contribute to this outcome by providing technical assistance to relevant public and private organizations, people with disabilities, employers, and schools on policies, guidelines, and standards related to its designated priority research area.
- Increased transfer of RERC-developed technologies to the marketplace. The RERC must contribute to this outcome by developing and implementing a plan for ensuring that all technologies developed by the RERC are made available to the public. The technology transfer plan must be developed in the first year of the project period in consultation with the NIDILRR-funded Initiative to Mobilize Partnerships for Successful Assistive Technology Transfer (IMPACT) Center.
- Improved usability and accessibility of products and environments in the RERC’s designated priority research area. The RERC must contribute to this outcome by emphasizing the principles and goals of universal design in its product research, development, and evaluation.

Eligibility Criteria

For profit organizations other than small businesses
Native American tribal governments
County governments
Others
Native American tribal organizations
Special district governments
Private institutions of higher education
Small businesses
Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education
Public and State controlled institutions of higher education
City or township governments
State governments
Nonprofits that do not have a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education