Applications for this grant are no longer being accepted.

Mass General Neuroscience Transformative Scholar Awards 2024

Request for Proposals

Application Deadline: Friday, February 16, 2024

Thanks to generous philanthropic donations, Mass General Neuroscience (MGN) will provide up to seven (7) Neuroscience Awards.

With these awards, we want to encourage and support young investigators in conducting laboratory and/or clinical research in Neuroscience and Brain Health, Tinnitus, Neurodegeneration, and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (new this year). The award will be offered to junior investigators at the level of Instructor or Assistant Professor with an MD and/or PhD (see award descriptions for specific eligibility criteria). Each award will consist of a commitment of $150,000 total costs ($75K annually total costs for two years, inclusive of 20% indirect costs) intended to support salary and/or research expenses of the junior investigator during a two-year period at Mass General (or Mass Eye and Ear, in the case of the Seth Robbins Mass General Neuroscience Transformative Scholar in Tinnitus Award).

Interdisciplinary research across 2 or more of the 4 departments representing Neurosciences is encouraged but not required. The hope is to catalyze additional cross-disciplinary work in these thematic areas while providing the junior investigator with an opportunity to grow their program.

 

How to Apply

  1. Review Application and eligibility requirements.
  2. Submit an application online by clicking on the "Apply" button at the bottom of the page.
  3. Complete your application online by February 16.

 

Award details (applicants can choose multiple thematic areas from the seven awards listed)

☐     James L. and Elisabeth C. Gamble Endowed Fund for Neuroscience Research: This fund is dedicated to bolstering outstanding junior investigators in neuroscience. A special priority in consideration is given to supporting research by those underrepresented in neuroscience, including those from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups, those with disabilities, individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds, and women in neuroscience, in line with NIH guidelines: NIH's Diversity Matters.

☐   Mass General Neuroscience Transformative Scholar Program: To support an outstanding junior investigator in neuroscience.

☐   Mass General Hospital Neuroscience Transformative Scholar in Brain Health: To support an outstanding junior investigator’s work focused on brain health.

​☐​   Seth Robbins Mass General Neuroscience Transformative Scholar in Tinnitus: To support an outstanding junior investigator’s projects on tinnitus or related disorders. 

​☐   Mass General Hospital Neuroscience Transformative Scholar in Neurodegeneration: To support an outstanding junior investigator’s work focused on neurodegeneration.
 

☐   Mass General Hospital Neuroscience Transformative Scholar in Neurodegeneration: To support an outstanding junior investigator’s work focused on amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

☐   Chen Institute Neuroscience Transformative Scholar Program: To support an outstanding physician investigator in neuroscience. Applicant must have a medical degree (MD) or MD/PhD to be eligible.

Mass General Neuroscience will select three finalists for the Chen Institute Mass General Neuroscience Transformative Scholars award. Finalists will participate in a 30-minute interview with representatives from the Tianqiao and Chrissy Chen Institute (Chen Institute). In this interview, finalists will provide a brief overview of their research and answer any questions from the Chen Institute. 

The selected recipient of the Chen Institute Mass General Neuroscience Transformative Scholars award will join the Chen Scholar Program, a program run by the Chen Institute. The Chen Scholar Program engages researchers at Mass General and four other leading research institutions in the US – UCSF and the Mayo Clinic have recently been named official partners, two additional partners will be announced in 2024 – with the goal of creating an environment for scientists to share knowledge, collaborate and make meaningful discoveries. 

In addition to the funding and support received by all Mass General Neuroscience Transformative Scholars, the Chen Institute Mass General Neuroscience Transformative Scholar will participate in the Chen Scholars community and will have access to special opportunities, including:

  • Collaboration Grant funding from the Chen Institute to support Chen Scholar collaboration across institutions
  • Financial support to attend select conferences, workshops and courses, with the potential to extend this benefit to lab colleagues
  • Media features and coverage in Chen Institute media outlets
  • Opportunities to serve as speakers at Chen Institute programs
  • Annual gathering(s) of the Chen Scholar community to connect and share progress, hosted by one of the five partner sites
  • When Mass General Neuroscience Transformative Scholars funding concludes, continuing access to an alumni network and resources

 

Important Dates

February 16, 2024: Application deadline for all documents, including letter from mentor(s).

June 15, 2024: Notification to recipients.

July 1, 2024: Funding begins.

 

 

Eligibility

  1. These awards are for junior investigators interested in an academic career in laboratory or clinically based research in Neuroscience.
  2. Eligibility for this award requires an MD, PhD, or equivalent degree and at least 75% protected total effort (inclusive of this award and others) for clinical or lab-based research. Eligible applicants will be junior investigators (Instructors or Assistant Professors MD or PhD Researcher) who have not received any early federal early career development award before this funding. Applicants who are not yet Instructors, but are expected to be by the July 1, 2024 grant start date will need to provide a brief Chief letter documenting the Instructor start date and confirming that the Instructor position does not depend on the TSA.
  3. Applicants cannot have received K, R level or other similar grants before the award start date, except for the Seth Robbins Mass General Neuroscience Transformative Scholar in Tinnitus Award.  For the Seth Robbins Award, K recipients are eligible to apply. Research fellows are not eligible to apply, but funds can be used to support fellow salary in the candidate’s lab.
  4. Applicants must have full-time primary appointment at MGH during the entire award period, except for the Seth Robbins Mass General Neuroscience Transformative Scholar in Tinnitus Award. Applicants to the Seth Robbins Award can have an appointment at MEEI and do not need an appointment at MGH. 
  5. Applicants pursuing basic and/or clinical research are eligible.

 

Evaluation and Selection

The Mass General Neuroscience review committee will evaluate applications based on the following criteria:

  • Applicant’s ability and promise as a researcher based on prior record of achievement and career plan, mentor letter, and NIH Biosketch.
  • Quality and originality of the research plan.

Applications are reviewed by a committee comprised of the Chiefs and Co-Directors of Mass General Neuroscience and members of the Neuroscience Leadership Council. Updates on the Scholar’s work will be shared with donors and the Mass General Neuroscience community.

 

Once Funded

  • Awards are not transferable to any other institution
  • IRB/IACUC approvals required prior to start of funding
  • The funds may be used at the discretion of the awardees but must include applicable fringe benefits and 20% indirect costs.
  • The PI will submit to the MGN co-directors written progress reports at 12 and 24 months after the start of the award period and will be expected to present their work to the MGN Leadership Council and potentially other venues.
  • Funds shall be spent during the award's budget period unless the applicant requests and justifies an extension prior to the closing date of the award. All requests will be reviewed by Department Leadership.

 

Application Requirements

1.    Thematic Areas. Please select the thematic areas for which you are submitting an application.

2.    Research Mentor(s). Please list your research mentor(s).  

3.    Summary Abstract: Limited to 30 lines of text (emphasizing the question you want to ask, how you will answer it, and why it is significant). The abstract should include: a summary of the research project to be conducted, description of your career development plan, and your career goals.

4.      3-page research plan including:

a.   Specific Aims: A broad view of the significance and general goals of the research, with a focus on experiments that can be completed in a two-year award. 

b.   Research Environment: Brief description of lab or clinic resources available to you and necessary for this project.

c.    Research Strategy.

d.   References cited (not included in the 3-page limit).

5.      Brief description of long-term career plans (no more than 1 page).  Include a statement of why/how this award will contribute to the applicant’s achievement of their career goals.

6.      Budget and Justification: Detailed Budget Page with Justification that includes personnel and non-personnel costs.

7.      NIH bio sketch.

8.      Applicant’s Other Support: a list of other current and pending support sources, with dollar amounts, in the NIH format. This includes both external and internal support.  If the applicant does not have other current or pending support sources, please indicate “none” when applicable.

9.      Senior mentor letter supporting the applicant’s potential for an academic research career and qualifications for the award.

10. If your appointment to Instructor is pending, but is expected to be approved by July 1, 2024, please upload a brief chief letter documenting the start date of your appointment. Please confirm that the position does not depend on the TSA award.

 

 

 

Format Guidelines

  • Use margins of 0.5 inch or greater and 12-point font size.
  • Figures must be included within stated page limits.
  • Application must be submitted online through the MGRI grant management portal

 

Instructions for Applying Online

Mass General Neuroscience is now accepting applications online via the MGRI Online Grant Management Portal. Click "Apply" below to begin the application.

This user-friendly system allows MGH researchers to submit electronic applications. The system has been designed to allow users to:

  • Create a personal profile which will auto populate your future applications
  • View current calls and apply to open opportunities
  • Assign a delegate to submit an application on behalf of the applicant (optional)
  • Save and edit current applications in progress
  • Submit completed applications
  • View all your applications that have been submitted via the online grants system

Creating a new account and submitting an application 

  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

 

 

Contact Information:

Susan Clough                                                                                 

sclough@partners.org