Formulaic Bridge Funding Support (FY17-2)

 Applications Due: 7th day of each month

*If the 7th falls on a weekend, we will accept applications the following Monday

DESCRIPTION OF THE AWARD

The Executive Committee on Research (ECOR) offers Formulaic Bridge Funding Support to assist MGH Principal Investigators (PIs) during a lapse or delay in their research funding from the NIH.  To be eligible for Formulaic Bridge Funding, applicants must have applied as a PI for an R01 or R21 NIH grant to support an independent, long-term research program. The Formulaic Bridge process is open to:

1. Investigators whose grants received a score < or = 20th percentile and have received written communication from the NIH that the grant will not be funded.
2. Requests for funding may be submitted no more than two months before the nominal start date that is listed on the NIH Summary Statement.
3. Investigators whose grants received a fundable score (< or = 20th percentile), but are three months past the nominal start date of their NIH grant. NOTE: written communication from the NIH that the grant will not be funded is not necessary. We will not accept requests for funding if the grant is more than six months past the nominal start date.

AWARD EXPENDITURES AND START DATE

• Formulaic Bridge Funding will be effective no earlier than the nominal start date of the unfunded application.
• The awards are unrestricted to the area of study.
• R01 awards are for $75,000 direct costs, plus 15% indirect costs ($86,250 total award costs).
• R21 awards are $37,500 direct costs, plus 15% indirect costs ($43,125 total award costs). 
• The awards are not transferable to any other institution. 
• The funds are to be used for research performed at MGH, but you may also use some of these funds to cover research expenses that fall under the category of “outside services” (e.g. sequencing, creation of mouse models, etc).
• This award is to be used only for the specific studies cited in the budget.  These funds are not to be treated as an unrestricted sundry fund.
• 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, capital and non-capital, may not be purchased with Formulaic award funds.  This includes the purchase of computing devices and peripherals, i.e. laptops, computers, printers, etc.
• These funds cannot be used to cover the purchase of and monthly service charges for cellular phones.
• ECOR funds may not be used to cover food, parking and travel expenses. Exceptions require prior written approval from ECOR.
• ECOR funds may not be used to support salary over the NIH Salary Cap.
• ISF funds may not be used to cover the 15% IDC floor minimum on another grant.

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 submit multiple applications, however, there should be no duplication of effort, budget or specific aims in applications submitted by an investigator for this funding.
• If a PI has already received either Formulaic or Deliberative Support, they may apply for a second round of ECOR funding after the resubmission to the NIH, but only through the Deliberative Interim Support Funding (ISF) process.
• PIs with Program Project Grants must apply through the Deliberative Interim Support Funding (ISF) process for interim support, and are therefore not eligible for Formulaic Bridge Support Funding
• A PI from a multi PI grant is eligible to apply. A letter must accompany the application stating that all MGH PIs agree to the submission and proposed budget. This letter must be signed by all MGH PI's. The PI must also provide the MGH portion of the budget (SF424 form).
• Subcontracts to MGH are not eligible for ISF.
• Upon receipt of alternative funding for the research project supported by this award, investigators must notify ECOR and must return the unspent portion of the Formulaic Bridge Funding award.

FORMULAIC REVIEW PROCESS

Applications are reviewed by ECOR Leadership monthly and confirmation of Formulaic Bridge funding will be sent by email after this review.

SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS

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

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

2. Indicate whether the NIH application was a multi-PI grant. If yes, please provide the MGH portion of the proposed budget (SF424 Form).

3.  Status of Project, please include the following:

• NIH face page from the submitted application.
• NIH summary statement (pink sheet) with percentile indicated.

4. Written documentation from the NIH (e.g., an e-mail) that the grant will not be funded on the nominal start date. NOTE: this requirement is not necessary for applicants who are three months past the nominal start date of their NIH grant that received a score of < or = 20th percentile.

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
•  Assign a delegate to submit an application to ECOR on behalf of the applicant (optional)
• 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.  Limit characters to A-Z, a-z and 0-9 when naming PDF documents. Do not use periods, commas or dashes in the file name.
• 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.