Research, Discovery & Innovation

BRI Pilot Funding Awards

Deadline: June 3, 2024 10:59 pm

Apply Online

Amount: $50,000.00

IDC Rate: 20%

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Background

The Brigham Research Institute (BRI) has made funds (up to $100,000) available in FY2024 to support basic, clinical, and translational projects/activities related to any scientific theme with the goal of obtaining preliminary data that will be used to apply for new, external funding from the National Institutes of Health, other federal and state grantors, foundations, industry, or other granting agencies.

Process

  • Applicant must identify the funding opportunity for which they will apply. Grants with full IDC rates will be given priority. Identification of multiple funding opportunities may be advantageous
  • Requests of any amount up to $50,000 in direct costs will be considered; projected return on investment must be 10x total award amount (for example, a $25K request should be applying for a grant worth >$250,000 total costs)
  • Applicant must outline a timeline including a specific start date and discrete milestones (spanning no more than one year) leading up to and culminating in the submission of a specific external grant based on the preliminary data that will be generated with the funds requested
  • Funds will be awarded on a competitive basis
  • Applications will be evaluated and prioritized by an internal faculty review committee and BRI leadership
  • The BRI is under no obligation to spend any or all the funds available to this mechanism and projects may be partially funded
  • No-cost extensions may be permitted under extenuating circumstances; unused funds will be returned to the BRI
June 3, 2024 Letter of Intent due
July 12, 2024 Full applications invited
August 5, 2024 Full applications due
September 20, 2024 Award notice issued
September 30, 2024 Funding start date

Eligibility

  • All members of the BWH research community are invited to apply. Junior faculty holding a rank of Assistant Professor and below will be given priority
  • Individuals may serve as the PI of only one proposal but may be co-Is on multiple proposals
  • Recipient must remain at BWH for duration of the award, award may otherwise be forfeited
  • No-cost extensions require special permission; such requests must present a credible plan for submittinga follow-up proposal

Review Criteria

  • Applications can request funding for feasibility studies, secondary data analysis, development of new research methodology/technology or other purposes if they directly serve the goal of obtaining preliminary data that will in turn be used to apply for larger external grants/awards.
  • Applications should be focused on clear, discrete project/plan to obtain preliminary data
  • Applications will be evaluated based on:
    • The feasibility of the proposed project achieving its end goal within the period proposed
    • The likelihood of the proposed project to obtain follow on external grants/awards
    • Strength of team/investigator
  • Allowable expenses include (but are not limited to) salary, equipment time, reagents, pre-clinical models, data sets, data analysis etc. Equipment purchases must be approved by the BRI prior to submitting applying (contact jtoombs@bwh.harvard.edu for approval)
  • Collaborations are encouraged; external collaborations are welcomed
  • Priority may be given to applications applying for grants with full overhead

 

NOTE: The Brigham Research Institute reserves the right to apply criteria (such as those related to equity and diversity and other institutional values) other than the ones listed above during the review.

Reciprocity

  • Recipients will do a quarterly check in with the BRI staff member to update on progress
  • Recipients must provide a six month and one year report of activity to the BRI and an oral presentation to the BRI ROC at the end of the funding period
  • Recipients must notify the BRI at the time of the external submission and subsequently at the time a decision is received
  • Recipients must acknowledge the BRI in publications (posters, journal articles and grants) resulting from this support and must notify the BRI when such papers have been

Submission Requirements

LOI Process:

Letter of Intent (due June 3, 2024 at 11:59pm) through this link: https://form.jotform.com/241014334664146

 

This step is mandatory, and applicants will need to provide:

1.     Title of research project

2.     Scientific Abstract – limit 300 words (no figures)

3.     List of anticipated Co-I’s or collaborators, if any

4.     External grant(s) for which the data generated in the proposed project will be applied.

 

Application Process:

Full Applications (due June 24, 2024 at 11:59 pm) should be submitted electronically via INSIGHT. Through Insight, please select, at creation, the Internal Award option under Research Management. On the Sponsor Details page, select “Brigham Research Institute (BRI)”. Then select “Pilot Awards” and attach the following required documents AS A SINGLE PDF file in the sequence below:

  1. COVER PAGE with basic information, including:
    • Applicant’s Name, Department and Division, BWH and HMS professional appointments, telephone number and e-mail address
    • Title of project
    • Abstract or proposal summary – limit 300 words
  1. PROPOSAL (2-page limit, excluding references) detailing the following:
    • Introduction/Background
    • Approach/strategy – experimental details, contribution of each team member
    • Timeline including specific start date and discrete milestones (spanning no more than 1 year) leading up to the submission of an external grant based on the preliminary data that will be generated with the funds requested
    • Defense of feasibility – arguments/facts to support that the proposed project is most likely to result in the submission of an external grant at the one-year mark or earlier. Letters of support can be included as a separate document
    • A brief explanation for why such an external application will most likely be approved/awarded
  1. BIOSKETCHES of Principal Investigator, co-investigators and significant key personnel in NIH format
  2. BUDGET for one year for a maximum of $50,000 direct costs (smaller requests are welcome) plus 20% indirect costs. Budget template provided here is REQUIRED: https://www.discoverbrigham.org/budget-template/

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