Applications for this grant are no longer being accepted.

Deliberative Interim Support Funding (17-3)

  

Application Deadline: Tuesday, August 1, 2017 – 5:00 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 have already received Formulaic Bridge Funding or Deliberative Interim Support for a previous submission of this grant and are now requesting support for the resubmission of the same grant.  Investigators in this category must apply through the Deliberative Interim Support process for this application regardless of the score they received.
  4. New! - Investigators who have received either Formulaic Bridge Funding or Deliberative Interim Support in the past 24 months for any grant must submit all interim support requests (regardless of percentile) through the Deliberative Interim Support process. The 24 month window begins upon the start date of the most recent Formulaic or Deliberative award.

 

AWARD EXPENDITURES AND START DATE

  • The funds are to be used for research performed at MGH. The purchase of consulting services requires prior written approval from ECOR.
  • The award is not transferable to any other institution.
  • The awards are unrestricted as to area of study.
  • This award is to be used only for the specific purposes cited in the budget of your NIH application or research needed to respond to reviewer critiques in the NIH summary statement. All other expenses are not allowed.  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. 
  • ECOR funds may not be used to support salary over the NIH salary cap.
  • Funds cannot be used to cover the 15% IDC minimum on another grant.
  • Funds cannot be used to clear a deficit incurred on another grant.
  • Equipment, capital and non-capital, may not be purchased with the award funds. The purchase of computing devices, it laptops, computers, and printers require prior written approval from ECOR.
  • Recipients are encouraged, but not required, to reference ECOR ISF funding in research publications, presentations, etc.
  • 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 February 2017 - February 2018 
  • Deliberative ISF awards will be effective no earlier than the nominal start date of the unfunded application. 
  • 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 fundamental (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.
  • Investigators who have received ECOR bridge funding (either Formulaic or Deliberative) in the past 24 months must submit all interim support requests (regardless of percentile) through the Deliberative process. The 24 month window begins upon the start date of the most recent Formulaic or Deliberative award.
  • 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.)   Cores within a PPG are not eligible for ISF. 
  • 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
  • Subcontracts to MGH are not eligible for ISF.
  • Priority will be given to applicants who would not have overlapping ECOR funding.
  • If you receive your NIH funding or alternate funds for the same work covered by this ISF award, PIs or department administrators must notify ECOR (ecor@mgh.harvard.edu) and work with our office to return the balance of the ISF award.  This program operates with limited funding, and the return of unspent funds allows us to support more awards in the future.
  • 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.  


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 federal 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 twelve items to be submitted:

  1. Partners Research Proposal Coversheet with signatures. Please click here to download the form. Use the "Requested Start" date from the pink sheet for the "Project Start Date" on the MGH coversheet.
  2. Project Title
  3. Application Type. Please provide the following:
  • Please indicate whether the NIH application was a multi-PI grant
  • Type of Application (R01, R21, etc)     
  • Grant Percentile.  Select the option that best describes your unfunded application.
  • NIH Institution (if applicable)

         - My application received a Percentile.  (Provide the Percentile)  

         - My application received an Impact score only.  It did not receive a Percentile.  (Enter "Impact Score Only")

         - My application was not discussed, did not receive a Percentile and did not receive an Impact score.  (Enter "Not discussed")  

          - None of the scenarios above apply to my unfunded application.  (Enter "n/a" and explain)

  • Type of Submission  to NIH (New, Competing Renewal, Resubmission)   
  • InfoEd Number of the unfunded application
  • NIH Grant Number (if applicable) of the unfunded application
  1. Previous ECOR Interim Support Funding.  

4a. If you have previously applied for ECOR Interim Support Funding (Formulaic or Deliberative) for this grant, please indicate below and whether the application was funded.

4b. Please list all ECOR Interim Support (Formulaic and Deliberative) that you previously received between 2011 and 2017. Please provide the type of application (R01, R21, etc.), Interim Support Dates, Project title and briefly describe the impact these ISF funds had (for example, did this grant lead to renewed external funding?)

  1. Other Previous ECOR Support.  List any previous support from ECOR with dates (i.e. Claflin Distinguished Scholar Awards, MGH Research Scholars Program, etc.)
  1. Status of Project. 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 A0 or 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 resubmission or new grant submission (1-page limit).
  • If you are using references, list all reference in section 8, "Summary of the Revised Research Plan"
  1. Summary of the Revised Research Plan. (3-page limit, excluding references)  Include the following:
  • Specific Aims
  • Background, significance and report of recent progress
  • Description of key personnel
  1. Biosketch of applicant in NIH format, including a full bibliography.
  1. Other Support. Include the following:
  • List all current and pending research support using the NIH format (click here) including annual funding amounts available to the PI, funding period and effort.
  • List any sundry accounts as well as any limitations on these sundry funds. If you are still in a period of a startup package please list any funds remaining.  Include the project start date, initial balance and current balance. 
  • Do not list ECOR support in this section.  ECOR support should be included in section 3 and 4.   
  1. Proposed Use of Deliberative Interim Support Funding (ISF). Include a Budget Justification. If the NIH application was a multi PI grant and MGH is not the primary institution, you must also submit the MGH portion of the proposed budget submitted to NIH for year 1 only.
  2. Anticipated Impact of Deliberative Interim Support Funding (ISF) (1-2 pages). Include the following:
  • 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
  1.  Letter of Support. The letter of support must be from the Division/Unit Chief or Thematic Center Director (signature from the Chief of Service is not required). The Letter of Support must address the questions listed below.  Division/Unit Chief or Thematic Center Directors who are co-investigators in the grant, should not write the letter of support.  You may also click here to download the list of questions.  
    • Please comment on the potential consequences of the specific cutbacks (i.e., non-salary and salary effects; for salary effects, please detail how many lab members are affected and how essential they are to the project).
    • How will the funds be used? (Salary support for PI and/or other staff; assist with experiments essential to resubmission of the application).
    • How and why is this research important to the department and/or the thematic center (the merit/value to the department/center/hospital)?
    • Please discuss the PI’s career trajectory and his/her importance to the institution (including if this project or resource is a critical aspect of a collaborative research effort). For investigators transitioning from K awards or other mentored awards, please also discuss independence.
    • Please detail current financial resources available to the PI for this project. In addition, please clarify the following possible alternative sources of support:
    •         - Does the PI have his/her own funding (include startup money and/or sundry funds?

            - What other resources does the PI have access to (including departmental funds)?

HOW TO APPLY

ECOR accepts all applications online via the ECOR Online Grant Management Portal.

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 visit the ECOR website http://ecor.mgh.harvard.edu/ and specifically the FAQ page for Deliberative ISF under the Awards and Grants tab of the site.  Please visit this link to find suggested guidelines for a successful ISF application.

If you still have questions remaining, please submit your questions via e-mail to ECOR.