Request for Proposals
2017 Collaborative Pilot/Seed Grant
Application Due: May 24th, 5 p.m. CDT
Purpose and Program Scope:
The purpose of this program is to promote interdisciplinary, collaborative and/or translational research between members of the Institute for Molecular Medicine (IMM) and the local community. Research proposals submitted under this RFP program must belong to areas of research interest to the IMM and include a collaborator. Collaborations may be with colleagues in the same or a different Center within the IMM, or with members of another institute/department or school. Interactions between IMM faculty and practitioner?s in area healthcare facilities (e.g.: JPS, Cook Children?s, etc) are also encouraged. However, approved MOUs, or demonstrated feasibility of obtaining all necessary MOUs in a timely manner is required. Please note that while pre-existing collaborations are allowed, novel interactions are encouraged and will receive prioritization. In all cases, the PI must be a faculty member of the IMM. A faculty member may serve as a Co-I on multiple applications, but can only be PI on one submission.
The goal of this program is to enable faculty to perform pilot studies that will lead to multi-PI follow-on funding applications. Proposals will be evaluated according to the program priorities: collaborative, translational, and clinical research, with emphasis on those with potential for extramural funding. It is anticipated that up to six such seed grants will be awarded at $20,000 per award.
Grant Budgets:
Expenditures will be restricted by state regulations. Funds may be utilized for direct expenditures beneficial to the research in the following categories under this program:
1. Personnel Support: Funds can be used for Post-doctoral, graduate and undergraduate student assistantships, as well as for technical staff.
2. Fringe Benefits as they pertain to the type of appointment listed in personnel support.
3. Expendable scientific items, services, equipment and equipment maintenance needed for the execution of the proposed research project.
4. Equipment: modest amounts may be considered
5. Core facility charges.
Funds may not be budgeted or used for the following: Faculty salaries; Building construction, alteration, renovation, rent, or utilities; Student tuition, fees, scholarships or fellowships; Membership dues; Overhead; Non-UNTHSC personnel; or Travel.
Grantee Requirements:
The PI on the proposal will be responsible for monitoring the research progress and providing a final research report. The IMM should be acknowledged on any publications resulting from this support. The final report requires a statement of the research objective, a brief report on the research progress made under the grant, a list of publications resulting from the grant, and a list of potential sponsors to whom grant requests were or will be submitted (PIs, amount, duration, etc.). The final report is due to the IMM Executive Directors Office within 60 days after the termination of the grant.
Submission Deadline:
Only electronically submitted proposals in Adobe PDF format will be accepted. The Principal Investigator must email the proposal to Ms. Deanna Ranker (Deanna.Ranker@unthsc.edu). Proposals must be received by 5 PM local time on May 24, 2017 for a July 1, 2017 start date. An email confirming receipt of the proposal will be sent to the submitting PI only. All awarded funds will be available for a period of 12 months (7/1/2017-6/30/2018). No grant funds will be distributed to investigators until all UNTHSC regulatory requirements have been fulfilled (IRB approval, IACUC approved protocols, RCOI Training and Annual Disclosure documents, biosafety review, safety training, MOUs for external collaborators, etc.).
Copyrights and Patent Rights:
All intellectual property developed during the course of a funded project will be governed by the policies of UNTHSC.
Grant Application:
The application should use Arial, Times New Roman, or Calibri 12 pt. fonts. Margins should be set at narrow (0.5? top, bottom, left and right). Applications text should be single spaced. The following components should be included in the application:
a) Summary/Abstract (1 page)
b) Specific Aims (1 page)
c) Research Strategy (3 pages, including topical headings of ?Significance? and ?Innovation?)
d) Sustainability plan (1 page) (An explanation of how the results from the proposed project will facilitate development and funding of an extramurally funded program or study.
e) References (no page limit)
f) Budget (maximum of $20,000, 1 page)
g) Budget justification (1 page, include other funding sources that enhance feasibility)
h) Statement of available resources (1 page)
i) NIH-style Biosketches of all key personnel
Review Procedures and Evaluation Criteria:
Proposals submitted to this program will be reviewed by the IMM Executive Committee. Executive Committee members involved in any of the submitted proposals, or with any real or perceived conflict-of-interest, will recuse themselves from discussion of that proposal. The review will utilize criteria that address the program priorities as detailed above.
Questions should be directed to Bob Barber (Robert.Barber@unthsc.edu)