A PROGRAM OF THE GORDON AND BETTY MOORE FOUNDATION
MGH Internal Call for Pre-Proposals
Internal Deadline: Thursday, October 10, 2019 – 5:00 PM
DESCRIPTION OF THE AWARD
With the creation of the Moore Inventor Fellows, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation seeks to support early-career scientist-inventors who create new tools, technologies, processes, or approaches with a high potential to accelerate progress in the foundation’s three main areas of interest: scientific research, environmental conservation and patient care.
The Moore Foundation aims to support inventions at an early stage that could lead to proof-of-concept work on an invention or advance an existing prototype that tackles an important problem. They seek innovations with the promise of making a long-lasting impact by addressing underlying problems in their field, but a clear path toward commercialization is not a requirement.
The Moore Foundation recognizes that real invention can take surprising turns, so they seek creative individuals who have big ideas, deep knowledge and the courage to take smart risks. The foundation also recognizes that inventors and innovators come from a diversity of backgrounds, disciplines and experiences, and seek creative individuals across a broad array of academic programs and research departments. Examples of such programs include, but are not limited to environmental science and conservation, oceanography, biology, engineering, physics, chemistry, materials science, neuroscience, public health and gerontology.
MGH is eligible to nominate two candidates. Pre-proposals will be reviewed and assessed by the ECOR Subcommittee on Review of Research Proposals (SRRP).
DEADLINES
MGH Internal Pre-Proposal: Thursday, October 10, 2019
Submit Basic Nominee Information to Foundation: Friday, November 15, 2019, 5pm (PT)
Full Application Deadline: Friday, December 13, 2019 at 5:00pm (PT)
AWARD AMOUNT
The foundation plans to allocate nearly $34 million through 2026 to support 50 Moore Inventor Fellows. Each fellow will receive funding for three years at a level of $200,000 per year from the foundation. In addition, the foundation will provide the host institution with $25,000 each year to cover costs associated with administering the grant award, resulting in a total three-year award amount of $675,000.
The mentor and or department/unit will be required to contribute $50,000 in annual direct support of the inventor’s work. This can be “in kind” as released time or access to special facilities for which there is normally a charge. The foundation expects each fellow will be personally engaged in pursuing their invention and they require each fellow to devote at least 25% of their own time to their invention. Fellows may use the grant funds to support their own salary to create this opportunity. They may also hire undergraduates, graduate assistants or postdoctoral scholars and purchase services, equipment, or supplies.
This funding opportunity is not exempt from the 15% indirect cost (IDC) floor minimum. However, ECOR policy states that for MGH investigators selected through a competitive process as the institutional nominee for the Moore Inventor Fellows, in which the grant will bring in less than 15% indirect cost (IDC), ECOR will cover the IDC gap up to a maximum of $50,000 per year. In this case, the IDC gap for the Moore Inventor Fellows will be about $5,000 per year.
ELIGIBILITY
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Applicants must have a full-time appointment at MGH at the time of application.
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Candidates must be no more than 10 years past receiving the terminal advanced degree in their field (MS, PhD, or MD).
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Postdocs and junior faculty who fit within the ten year time frame may apply.
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Proposed projects do not need to fall within the foundation's current funding priorities but should be broadly within the program areas of foundation interest (science, environmental conservation and patient care). The exception is for nominees proposing ideas and inventions that target patient care.
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Within the area of patient care, the foundation seeks overlap with their current emphasis on improving the experience and outcomes of patients, including solutions in the areas of diagnostic excellence, medication safety in the community and community-based serious illness care.
SPONSOR EVALUATION CRITERIA
All applications will be evaluated with the following criteria:
Inventor
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Demonstrated creative potential
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Strong technical ability for the proposed line of work
Invention
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Importance of the invention in areas of interest to the Moore Foundation - science, environmental conservation or patient care
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Invention at an early stage that requires this funding for rapid progress
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Plausibility of this invention to achieve the stated impact
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Ability of dedicated funding and time to propel this innovation to the next stage of development; commercialization is not a requirement
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Strength of the institution’s commitment to the applicant’s invention activities
PRE-PROPOSAL REQUIREMENTS
The MGH pre-proposal must include the following 8 items (PDF documents only):
1. Project Title
2. Terminal Advanced Degree. List the month and year that you received your terminal advanced degree. Candidates must be no more than 10 years past receiving the terminal advanced degree in their field (MS, PhD, or MD).
3. Statement of Invention (2 pages maximum, including citations) including:
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Description of invention, the problem it seeks to address and its potential impact
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Importance to science and patient care
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Stage of invention
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Current funding
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Feasibility
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Approach for measuring progress during the grant term
4. A Current Biosketch in the NIH Format. Please include the month and year of all faculty appointment(s) and completion of post doc training. Click here for the NIH format.
5. Funding Support including all current and pending support with dates and dollar amounts. The NIH formatted Other Support is required. Click here for the NIH Format.
6. Budget Narrative (1 page maximum) Outline how the grant funds will be used
7. Signed Department/Mentor Contribution Form. Please assure that the nominee has at least 25 percent of their time to devote to their invention and $50,000 in annual direct support of the inventor's work. Describe how the $50,000 in annual direct support will be used. Please click here to access the form.
8. One Letter of Reference from a mentor or department/unit chief (2 pages maximum). The letter should address the promise of the applicant and the invention.
HOW TO APPLY
ECOR accepts all applications online via the MGRI 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:
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Create a personal profile, which will auto-populate your future ECOR applications
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Assign a delegate to submit an application to ECOR on behalf of the applicant (optional)
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View current calls and apply to open opportunities
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Save and edit current applications in progress
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Submit completed applications to ECOR
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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, requests to make changes will not be accepted).
Useful tips:
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To avoid losing your work, remember to save frequently
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You can only upload PDF documents
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If you previously created a profile, please ensure your information is current
Click 'Apply' below to begin the application.
QUESTIONS
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For further information, click here for the Gordon and Betty Moore website
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To view the application guidelines, click here.
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To view the FAQ page, click here.
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To see a list of previous recipients, click here.
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Any questions regarding the internal submission and process please email ECOR.