Spatial Uncertainty Data, Modeling, and Communication (R01) | Apply Online

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What is the Spatial Uncertainty Data, Modeling, and Communication (R01) funding opportunity?

This opportunity (PA 11-238) is an NIH research grant program using the R01 mechanism that supports research to improve how public health studies handle location-based data when that data is inaccurate, incomplete, intentionally masked, recorded at different spatial scales, or changes over time. The focus is on developing better ways to model, analyze, visualize, and communicate the effects of spatial uncertainty on public health conclusions.

What problem is this FOA trying to solve?

Many public health datasets include geographic information (for example, home address, census tract, clinic location, exposure location, or activity space) that can be wrong or inconsistent. If that uncertainty is ignored, it can distort findings in mapping disease burden, evaluating environmental exposures, analyzing access to care, detecting spatial clusters, and generating risk surfaces or policy-relevant metrics. This FOA supports research that treats spatial uncertainty as a core part of the data and analysis rather than as an afterthought.

What kinds of geographic information does the FOA consider?

The FOA highlights common public health geographies such as residential addresses, census tracts, clinic locations, exposure locations, and activity spaces (how people move through places). It is concerned with the ways these locations can be measured, recorded, transformed, aggregated, or protected in ways that introduce uncertainty.

What does "spatial uncertainty" mean in the context of this program?

Spatial uncertainty refers to imperfections in location-based data, including errors in where a point is placed, ambiguity about the correct spatial unit, changes in relevant location over time, and uncertainty introduced by privacy protections. These issues can affect both analyses and the interpretation of resulting maps and decisions.

What are the main research goals of this FOA?

The FOA emphasizes three linked goals: (1) identifying and characterizing where spatial uncertainty comes from, (2) creating statistical and computational methods that explicitly incorporate that uncertainty rather than ignoring it, and (3) developing improved ways to visualize and communicate what uncertainty means for real-world public health conclusions.

What types of spatial uncertainty sources are specifically mentioned?

The FOA calls out several sources, including measurement error in geocoding (such as an address matched to the wrong parcel or interpolated along a road segment), positional error from GPS or mobile sensors, misclassification from aggregation to administrative units, temporal instability when a person's relevant location changes (moving residences, changing workplaces, daily mobility), and uncertainty deliberately introduced through data protection (for example, geomasking or reporting only coarse geography).

Does the FOA support projects that only describe spatial uncertainty problems?

The FOA is intended to go beyond describing spatial uncertainty. It emphasizes developing models and inferential approaches that propagate spatial uncertainty through to estimates, maps, cluster detection results, risk surfaces, and policy-relevant metrics, so the final conclusions reflect what is known versus what remains uncertain.

What does it mean to "propagate" spatial uncertainty through an analysis?

In this FOA, propagating uncertainty means building methods that carry location uncertainty through the full analytical workflow so it affects (and is reflected in) downstream results such as risk estimates, mapped patterns, detected clusters, and decision metrics. The aim is that outputs do not appear more precise than the underlying location data support.

Why is visualization and communication emphasized?

Spatial analysis often ends in maps, and maps can unintentionally imply a level of precision that the data do not justify. The FOA emphasizes tools and techniques that help researchers, decision-makers, and communities interpret spatial results appropriately by making uncertainty visible and understandable.

What kinds of visualization or communication tools are within scope?

The FOA mentions uncertainty-aware mapping, new visualization techniques, interactive tools, and approaches to summarizing how sensitive results are to different plausible spatial error structures. The emphasis is on helping people understand how uncertainty changes interpretation and decisions.

What types of public health applications are mentioned as being affected by spatial uncertainty?

The FOA notes impacts on studies that map disease burden, evaluate environmental exposures, analyze access to care, and detect spatial clusters. It also references downstream outputs such as estimates, maps, cluster detection results, risk surfaces, and policy-relevant metrics used to allocate resources, identify at-risk areas, or evaluate interventions.

What funding mechanism does this opportunity use?

This FOA uses the NIH R01 mechanism, which typically supports substantial, multi-year research projects.

Is this a mandatory or discretionary grant program?

It is described as a discretionary NIH grant program.

Is cost sharing or matching required?

No. The FOA states there is no cost sharing or matching requirement.

When was this funding opportunity posted and when did it close?

The FOA was posted and created on June 17, 2011. It lists an original and final closing date of September 7, 2014.

Is this opportunity still active?

No. The FOA was archived on October 8, 2014.

Which NIH program areas (CFDA numbers) are associated with this FOA?

The FOA is tied to multiple CFDA program areas across NIH-related health domains, including environmental health (93.113), alcohol research (93.273), drug abuse and addiction (93.279), cancer cause and prevention (93.393), cancer control (93.399), cardiovascular diseases (93.837), allergy and infectious diseases (93.855), microbiology and infectious diseases (93.856), and child health and human development extramural research (93.865).

Does the FOA suggest that spatial uncertainty methods can apply across different health fields?

Yes. By linking to many CFDA areas, the FOA signals that spatial uncertainty issues cut across a wide range of health domains. Projects can be methodologically focused while being motivated by diverse substantive public health applications.

Who is eligible to apply?

Eligibility is broad and includes many organization types capable of carrying out research. Eligible applicants include nonprofit organizations (with or without 501(c)(3) status in the categories specified), public and private institutions of higher education, small businesses, for-profit organizations other than small businesses, and state and local governments (including counties, cities/townships, special districts, and independent school districts).

Are tribal governments and tribal organizations eligible?

Yes. The FOA includes Native American tribal governments and tribal organizations, including federally recognized tribal governments and other tribal entities.

Are public housing authorities eligible?

Yes. Public housing authorities and Indian housing authorities are listed as eligible applicants.

Are U.S. territories or regional organizations eligible?

Yes. The FOA explicitly includes U.S. territories or possessions and regional organizations among eligible groups.

Are foreign organizations eligible to apply?

Yes. The FOA states that foreign organizations are eligible and that foreign components of U.S. organizations are also permitted, which can support work involving global health datasets or international methodological collaborations.

Are minority-serving institutions and community-based organizations included?

Yes. The FOA explicitly includes Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions, Hispanic-Serving Institutions, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs), as well as faith-based or community-based organizations.

Where can applicants find the official FOA announcement?

The official NIH announcement is available at http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PA-11-238.html.

Who should be contacted for technical problems accessing the announcement?

For technical issues accessing the announcement, NIH directs users to contact the NIH Office of Extramural Research (OER) webmaster at FBOWebmaster@OD.NIH.GOV.