Applications for this grant are no longer being accepted.

Deliberative Interim Support Funding (14-1)

 

Deadline: Monday, December 2, 2013 - 9:00 PM

DESCRIPTION OF THE AWARD

The Executive Committee on Research (ECOR) is now accepting applications for Deliberative Interim Support Funding (ISF).  This is open to Principal Investigators during a lapse or delay in their research funding from the NIH or another Federal agency (e.g., the National Science Foundation, the Department of Defense).  Investigators must have applied for independent, long-term support (R01, R21, U01 and P01).  The Deliberative Interim Support process is open to:

  1. Investigators whose grants were not scored or whose scores were not transferred into a percentile ranking.
  2. Investigators whose grants received scores >20th percentile.
  3. Investigators who were awarded Formulaic Bridge Funding (grants with scores < or = 20th percentile), and are now requesting additional financial support (in excess of $75,000 for RO1s, and $37,500 for R21s).
  4. A PI who has already received Formulaic Bridge Funding or Deliberative Interim Support on their A0 grant application must apply through the Deliberative Interim Support process for their A1 resubmission regardless of the score they received on their A1.

AWARD EXPENDITURES AND START DATE

  • The awards are not transferable to any other institution.
  • The funds may be used for salaries and fringe benefits for Principal Investigators and/or their key laboratory  personnel, supplies, and other essential items for the project. 
  • Equipment may not be purchased with the award funds.
  • Deliberative ISF awards will be effective no earlier than the nominal start date of the unfunded application.
  • The awards are unrestricted as to area of study.
  • The nominal start date of the unfunded application must be within six months of this Deliberative ISF application deadline; i.e. the nominal start date of the unfunded application must fall between June 2, 2013 – June 2, 2014.
  • R01 awards or equivalent are for $75,000 direct costs, plus 15% indirect costs ($86,250 total award costs).
  • R21 awards are for $37,500 direct costs, plus 15% indirect costs ($43,125 total award costs).

ELIGIBILITY

  • PIs pursuing either basic or clinical research are eligible.
  • Applicants must have a full-time MGH appointment at the time of application and during the entire award period.
  • New award applications and competing award applications (both A0 and A1) are eligible.
  • A PI can only submit one application per review cycle.
  • Program Project Grant (PPG) applications are eligible. The number of awards that can be made in the Program Project Grant history cannot exceed 50% (e.g. a PPG with four projects cannot get Deliberative ISF for more than two Projects ever). 
  • Upon receipt of alternative funding for the research project supported by this award, PIs must notify ECOR and return the unspent portion of the Deliberative ISF award.
  • If a PI applied for interim support during the last cycle and did not receive an ISF award, the PI may resubmit the same application in this cycle if s/he has not yet received external funding and the nominal start date falls within the eligible range. 

GUIDE FOR ADDITIONAL FUNDS REQUEST

PIs can request additional funds on top of the base amount. All additional fund requests must be sourced 50:50 with the department and approved in advance by the PI’s Departmental Chief and documented on the Chief’s Letter of Support and Cost Sharing Authorization Form for ECOR Funding.  A maximum of $150,000 in total extra funds may be requested (i.e., for R01s or equivalent a $225,000 maximum when the initial $75,000 is included and for R21s a $112,500 maximum when the initial $37,500 is included). Please note:  a request for additional funds does not guarantee that the additional funds will be awarded.

All requests for additional funding require a full application via the deliberative process. The process is as follows:

  1. For those applicants whose R01 or R21 grant applications scored < or = 20th percentile, they should apply through the regular formulaic process for the initial $75,000 and then apply through the deliberative process for the additional requested funds.
  2. For those applicants whose R01 or R21 grant applications scored >20th percentile or were un-scored, they should apply for the total requested amount via the deliberative process.

DELIBERATIVE ISF REVIEW PROCESS

The ECOR Subcommittee on Review of Research Proposals (SRRP) will consider how the PI has responded or intends to respond to the review and the likelihood that NIH (or other agency) will eventually fund the research.  With the growing number of applications, the Committee also considers other resources available to the applicant.  Due to the number of applications received, PIs will not be provided with written or oral critiques of their applications.

SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS

The application process requires the following seven items to be submitted:

1. Partners Research Proposal Coversheet with original signatures. Please click here to download the form.

2. The Chief’s Letter of Support and Cost Sharing Authorization Form for ECOR Funding from Chief of Service (Departmental Chief, not Unit Chief) (and Center Director, if applicable). Click here for the required template.

3. Status of Project, please include the following:

  • Summary statement (pink sheet), critique or other written information from federal agency program staff.
  • Summary of applicant’s response to the review, including the “Introduction to the Resubmission”, responding to reviewer critiques, for a planned resubmission.   If this ISF application is based on an unfunded A1 submission, please describe your plan for this research project going forward, e.g., respond to reviewer critiques and describe how you will re-organize the work for a new grant submission (1-page limit).

4. Summary of the Revised Research Plan (3-page limit, excluding references), include:

  • Specific Aims
  • Background, significance and report of recent progress
  • Description of key personnel

5. Biosketch of applicant in NIH format. Be sure to list all current   and pending research support with funding amounts, including previous interim support from ECOR with dates.

6. Proposed use of Deliberative ISF Funds.

7. Anticipated Impact of Deliberative ISF Funding (1-2 pages).

  • Description of applicant’s plans for requested salary support if Deliberative ISF support is not approved.
  • Description of applicant’s plans regarding his/her research program if the pending application for long term support is not funded.

HOW TO APPLY

ECOR is now accepting applications online via the ECOR Online Grant Management Portal. This user-friendly system will allow MGH researchers to submit electronic applications to ECOR. The system has been designed to allow users to:

  • Create a personal profile which will auto populate your future ECOR applications
  • View current calls and apply to open opportunities
  • Save and edit current applications in progress
  • Submit completed applications
  • View all your ECOR applications that have been submitted via the online grants system

Instructions for Applying Online

  1. Create your account: Login using your Partners credentials and fill-out the profile information.
  2. Complete the application: once your profile is complete, you will automatically progress through the online application. If you cannot complete the application at one time, “save” the application and return to it at a later time to finish. Before submitting your application, you will have the ability to make changes to the application.
  3. Submit your application: once you have completed the application click on the “submit” button at the bottom of the page. Once you submit it, you will not be able to make further changes unless you send a request to ECOR (note that once the deadline passes, request to make changes will not be accepted).

Useful tips:

  • To avoid losing your work, remember to save frequently
  • You can only upload PDF documents
  • If you previously created a profile, please ensure your information is current

Click 'Apply' below to begin the application.

QUESTIONS

Please submit your questions via e-mail to ECOR.

For frequently asked questions, click here.