Bridge Grants Application Receipt Dates: Rolling

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Pierce Walton
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1 Funding Opportunity Announcement (Revised 10/7/2015) Bridge Grants Application Receipt Dates: Rolling To strengthen the competitive position of meritorious but unfunded grant applications, Principal Investigators may request support for Bridge Grants as outlined below. Potential applicants should recognize that the resources available to support Bridge Grants are limited and funding will be given to only the most promising highly meritorious applications. Nevertheless, all PIs who apply will receive written critiques. Eligibility Criteria: 1. The Principal Investigator must have his or her primary academic appointment in the College of Medicine at the rank of Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, or Professor. In addition to the basic science faculty, virtually all physicians employed by The Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center have a primary academic appointment in the College of Medicine and are therefore eligible to apply. 2. The individual research grant application must have been reviewed during the last 12 months by NIH (with a grant numbered in the R series, such as an R01 or R21), NSF, or other government agency, or a major voluntary health agency (such as ACS) that uses a peer review system and provides written critiques to applicants; the critique must be for a full proposal. In addition, the proposed research should be performed at a College of Medicine campus. 3. The critique and score of the external application should suggest that it is a meritorious proposal but is unlikely to be funded without revision. NIH applications that were scored by the Center for Scientific Review or an institute-specific review committee will generally be considered meritorious. Documentation of an equivalent level of excellence will be required to establish eligibility for applications submitted to sponsors that use a different scoring system. 4. The Principal Investigator must be planning to a) acquire additional preliminary data that will strengthen the proposal; and b) submit a revised application to an appropriate external sponsor within the coming year. 5. The PI s department must commit to supporting 50% of the direct costs of the Bridge Grant. 6. Particular attention to the quality of grantsmanship in preparation of the application is strongly encouraged as revised versions of Bridge or Resubmission Grant applications that were previously reviewed and not funded are not eligible for submission in response to this RFA unless the revision is specifically invited. 7. Applications that propose new experimentation to bridge a line of research for which a Bridge or Resubmission Grant was previously reviewed and not funded, are NOT eligible for submission. 8. Projects that have received previous support from a Resubmission, Bridge or Development Grant during the past four years are NOT eligible for additional support from this program. Program Guidelines: 1. Bridge Grants are intended to support the acquisition of additional preliminary data that will help the project become more competitive for external support in the near future and to help maintain research momentum. * Please note that if a revised application is submitted to the external sponsor before or soon after the Bridge Grant application is submitted, and if that external grant is identified 1

2 for funding before or during the Bridge Grant funding period, the PI must promptly notify ORA and Research Development who may ask the PI to relinquish all unobligated funds. 2. Bridge Grant applicants may request up to 50% of the project s recommended annual direct cost funding, not to exceed $100,000 direct costs plus applicable indirect costs, for up to a 12 month period. 3. Bridge Grants may be used to support salaries and fringe benefits for the PI and other faculty and staff, student stipends, supplies, equipment, publication costs, expenses related to the use of human subjects, and domestic travel expenses directly related to the conduct of the research project. 4. Although it is anticipated that PIs would generally not request more than 5% effort on a Bridge Grant project, applicants are reminded that the committed effort must be appropriate for the scope of the project and the work to be performed by the PI. 5. The Principal Investigator of each Bridge Grant award will be required to submit several detailed progress reports and related information to comply with requirements of the Pennsylvania Department of Health (see examples of the PA-DOH Annual Report and Final Report guidelines at Preliminary Review to Determine Eligibility: Prospective applicants should forward 1) a copy of the Summary Statement, including the priority/percentile scores for the last unfunded full application, 2) For unfunded A1 applications, a copy of the Summary Statement for the unfunded A0 application, 3) any relevant correspondence from the sponsor regarding their decision not to fund the application, and 3) a current NIH Biosketch, all in a single PDF file, to Research Development for a determination of eligibility. PIs of eligible applications will be invited to submit a Bridge Grant application for a specified Receipt Date. PIs who are invited to submit an application should then consult with their Department Chair to confirm that the Department will commit the required matching funds. Submission Instructions for Invited Applications: STEP 1 - Prepare the Bridge Grant as a single PDF. The final PDF should include all of the information listed below in the order indicated: 1. Cover Page: Please use the Cover Page template posted on the Research Development website at 2. Table of Contents: Include page numbers starting with the cover page and numbering all pages consecutively. 3. Letter from the PI: a. Provide a brief overview of the history of the project, including any previous internal or external funding. For applications that are related to unfunded competing renewals, include the current balance of funds in the grant account and plans for their expenditure. b. Specify the deadline and sponsor for the planned submission of the revised or new application to the external sponsor. If the deadline is within the next 6 months, please clarify the extent to which you expect to include data obtained with the proposed Bridge Grant in the revised or new external application. c. If you are bridging an A1 to an A0, NIH will reject applications that in any way reference a previous A1 application or summary statement. However, for the purposes of the Scientific Review Committee only, address the comments from the summary statement of the previous A1 submission, and describe what changes are anticipated for the A0 application. d. Please explain specifically 1) how the proposed Bridge Grant will help strengthen the revised application to be resubmitted, and 2) how the Bridge Grant will help maintain the momentum of the project during the development and review of the resubmitted (A1 or A0) application. 4. Request a letter of support for your application from your Department Chair. The Chair s letter should document his or her agreement to fund 50% of the direct costs of the proposed Bridge Grant and to support any other departmental resources that are committed to the 2

3 project in the application. If the application is subsequently approved for funding, the Chair will need to identify the budget and fund numbers that will be used to support the departmental match. The Department Chair s letter should be addressed to the Vice Dean for Research and Graduate Studies. New Stage Investigator Development Plan: If the PI is a new stage investigator who has not had substantial external funding, and/or is currently being supported on another faculty member s grant, the letter should also include a plan to describe the department s commitment to the PI s further development as an independent investigator. 5. Summary Statement: Include a copy of the entire Summary Statement or other critique for the unfunded application including priority/percentile scores and any relevant correspondence from the sponsor regarding the review and their decision not to fund the application. 6. Response Plan for the Revised External Grant Proposal: This plan will provide the reviewers with more information regarding your approach to obtaining external funding for this project. Assuming the experimentation in the Bridge Grant proposal yields the expected outcomes, provide: a. Specific Aims for the future external proposal (1 page). b. For those seeking to bridge between A0 and A1, an Introduction to the Revised Proposal (1 page). 7. Abstract of the research plan for the Bridge Grant application. 8. NIH Biosketch: Include a current NIH biosketch, using the new 5 page format, for the PI and other key personnel. ( for the PI include an Other Support section with active and pending grant and contract awards. List the sponsor, project title, project period and current year direct costs budget and clearly indicate whether there is or is not any duplication with the studies proposed for support by the Bridge Grant. 9. Research Plan for the proposed Bridge Grant: Describe the studies that will be supported by the Bridge Grant in 4 pages including any figures and tables. Be reminded that a clear distinction should be made between the specific aims proposed for the Bridge funding and those to be proposed for the external application. The same aims may not be used for both. Ensure that the Specific Aims for the proposed studies are achievable within a 12-month period and within the constraints of the funding provided by the Bridge Grant. Any questions regarding this requirement should be discussed with the Director, Research Development (x6949). 10. References 11. Budget Request: Provide a SIMS Budget, per the posted instructions at The SIMS budget will require using the group function to create two components, one for the CURE funds and one for the Department funds. A separate justification page should be provided for both the CURE component and the Department component. For budgets utilizing CURE funds, the total cost of out-of-state personnel, subcontractors and consultants must not exceed 2 percent of the total grant costs. Reviewers will delete any budget items that lack strong justification. 12. Attachments: If the studies proposed in the Bridge Grant application involve collaboration with another investigator(s) or the use of facilities or other resources that are under the purview of another investigator(s), include a letter(s) from that investigator(s) to document their contribution(s) to the proposed research. DO NOT INCLUDE ANY REPRINTS, MANUSCRIPTS, SURVEYS, TESTS, INVENTORIES or other similar attachments. 13. Save: Save the Bridge Grant application in a single PDF file titled as follows: Last name of the PI- BridgeApp-Receipt date (e.g. Jones-BridgeApp ). STEP 2 - Save a copy of the unfunded external application as a single and separate PDF file. 3

4 STEP 3 - Submit both PDFs electronically, following the instructions below, to the Research Development Dropbox. Please save your word documents as PDFs rather than scan them. 1. Navigate to the Research Development Dropbox website ( and use your Penn State Access ID to login 2. Upload your Bridge Grant application as a single PDF file. 3. In the title box, label your submission as follows: Last name of the PI-BridgeApp-Receipt date (e.g. Jones-BridgeApp ). Please do not put the title of your application in this box. Upload your unfunded application as a single and separate PDF. In the title box label your submission as follows: Last name of the PI-UnfundedApp-Receipt Date (e.g. Jones-UnfundedApp ). Please DO NOT put the title of your application in this box. REVIEW and SELECTION PROCESS 1. Applications for Bridge Grants will be evaluated by members of the College of Medicine Scientific Review Committee (SRC) who will consider: Scientific merit of the project as indicated by the original application, the external review, and the proposed experimentation. Likelihood that the proposed aims will be completed within 12 months with the requested funding and significantly strengthen a new application to an external sponsor. Potential for the proposed Bridge Grant to enhance the competitive position of the previouslyunfunded application, maintain the momentum of a previously funded project during the review of the new external application, provide salary support for critical employees which would be jeopardized by a lapse in funding. 2. The assigned reviewers will develop written recommendations that will be returned to the PI at the conclusion of the review process. 3. Funding recommendations for Bridge Grants will be developed by the Vice Dean for Research and Graduate Studies in consultation with the Director, Research Development who will consider both the recommendations of the reviewers and the availability of funding from the CURE Program**. 4. Priority will be given to proposals that: are recommended as most highly meritorious by the SRC. are submitted by tenured or tenure-track investigators who do not currently have substantial external funding and/or recent internal grant awards supported by CURE funds. support the acquisition of preliminary data that will strengthen larger external proposals which will further strengthen the research environment at Penn State Hershey (R01 or R21). **It is anticipated that these Bridge Grants will be supported in part by funds that the University will receive from the Commonwealth Universal Research Enrichment (CURE) Program of the Pennsylvania Department of Health and in part by funds that departments receive from other sources. Please note that CURE Funds are limited and only the most highly meritorious applications will be recommended for funding. Awards: The PI of a Bridge Grant application recommended for funding will be invited to develop a Strategic Plan for final approval by the PA Dept of Health prior to the issuance of a Bridge Grant award. If the proposed research involves human subjects, IRB approval must be obtained before the application can be forwarded to PA-DOH. At the time an application is prepared for submission to PA-DOH, PIs will need to submit other related documents including the PSU Proposal Internal Approval Form (epiaf) and the Pennsylvania Department of Health Certification Form. Evaluation Process for funded Bridge Grants: 4

5 PIs will be required to submit a brief initial progress report approximately 6 months following initiation of the Bridge Grant award, detailed Annual Reports in June of each year, and a comprehensive Final Report in December following the completion of their project. Subsequently, the PA-DOH will arrange an evaluation of the project by at least 3 independent experts in the field who will review the Strategic Plan, the Annual Reports, and the Final Report and rate the project as Outstanding, Favorable, or Unfavorable. The PI and the Institution will then be asked to respond to each of the critiques and all this information will be posted on the PA-DOH website and made available to members of the Legislature. It is therefore essential that PIs who accept support from the CURE Program make every effort to achieve the stated aims of their project and that they commit to complying with the detailed reporting requirements of this program. In addition, PIs of funded Bridge Grants will be expected to serve on the College of Medicine Scientific Review Committee for a two-year period, upon request. Questions regarding the eligibility of a proposal for submission in response to this Announcement, the application process, or any issues related to the review process should be directed to Research Development (x6949; researchdevelopment@hmc.psu.edu). 5

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS THE ROSE HILLS FOUNDATION INNOVATOR GRANT PROGRAM RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP APPLICATION

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