Deadline:  July 8, 2019

Nebraska will submit its next Research Infrastructure Improvement (RII) grant proposal to the National Science Foundation (NSF) in July 2020. The RII grant is a joint investment of the state, participating universities, and NSF. The funding period for this $20 million grant, if funded, will be August 1, 2021, to July 31, 2026. This five-year grant will assist Nebraska EPSCoR in fulfilling its mission of enhancing the state’s research competitiveness while broadening the diversity and participation of underrepresented groups. 

In preparation for this planned RII grant submission, Nebraska EPSCoR seeks pre-proposals for research clusters from faculty groups in Nebraska research institutions that could become one of two possible research components of the next Nebraska RII grant proposal. A proposed research cluster must be congruent with at least one of NSF’s ten big ideas. NSF's 10 Big Ideas web site will provide more information about these. 

A pre-proposal must be multi-institutional and focus on a research “cluster” that has an integrated scientific theme. The research team must be led by a senior faculty member at one of Nebraska’s research universities and the team must position itself to submit at least one large grant proposal to the NSF no later than the third year of the RII grant. The cluster team members may include out-of-state researchers but no EPSCoR funds may be spent for their activities. 

Nebraska EPSCoR encourages partnerships and alliances with Nebraska research and/or technology-based businesses to increase the competitiveness of the state’s science and technology talent in competition for federal Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) grants.

Selection process: Pre-proposals will be evaluated on their scientific merits by a grant subcommittee of experts. Nebraska’s State EPSCoR Committee, by considering the recommendations of the grant subcommittee, will select the research components of the new RII proposal. 

Evaluation criteria: Pre-proposals will be evaluated based on the following criteria: 

1. How important is the proposed activity to advancing knowledge and understanding within its own field and across different fields? 
2. To what extent does the proposed activity suggest and explore creative and original concepts? 
3. How well-qualified is the cluster team to conduct the project?
4. What is the potential of the cluster team in obtaining a major NSF grant within three years of the proposed project’s start date?
5. What is the potential economic impact of the proposed research (patents, partnership with current state companies, spin-off companies)?

Download the RFA for full description including eligibility requirements, funding limits, and required forms.

The Great Plains IDeA-CTR is soliciting applications from clinical and translational researchers for vouchers to be used to access core facilities and/or fee-for-service resources to augment their current research, or to prepare pilot data for research applications. Applications for vouchers will require an abstract of the proposed project, information on the relevance of the request to the project, and a detailed budget. Awards are anticipated to range between $4,000 and $10,000 per application. A total of approximately $20,000 will be granted to investigators for this fiscal year which ends on June 30, 2019.

Deadlines

Due February 4, 2019; Review: February 5, 2019

Due March 4, 2019; Review: March 5, 2019

Due April 1, 2019; Review: April 2, 2019

Due May 6, 2018; Review: May 7, 2019

Eligibility

Full-time faculty members from UNMC, UNL, UNK, UNO, Boys Town National Research Hospital, University of South Dakota, University of North Dakota or North Dakota State University may apply. The funds cannot be used to replace costs included in existing grants, and proposals must indicate how the results will be used to support new grant applications. The application form is attached. All applications must also be signed by the core director/service provider to indicate that the protocol has been reviewed and/or usage is feasible. Applicants are also required to submit a current NIH biosketch, a description of the relevance of the project to clinical and translational research and a description of the project that includes methods, measures and outcomes (maximum 2 pages). As part of the outcome, information on sustainability of the research (e.g. support of grant submissions, please indicate type and agency) is expected.

All funds must be expended by June 30, 2019.

Post Award Reporting: The PI will be required to submit a brief impact report by June 30, 2019, to include information on core facility use and grants/publications submitted, and general impact of the project on the PI’s research. These grants/publications must acknowledge support from the Great Plains IDeA-CTR (unless the award letter indicates funding from an alternate source or the grant application/publication does not allow such acknowledgements). Campus research offices will be responsible for providing any requested financial data; core facilities will report use-data in conjunction with their normal reporting cycle.

To apply, please click the request form.

For additional information contact:

Pamela Laws 
402-559-4749 
email

The Center for Neurosensory Systems, a Center for Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE) is soliciting applications for vouchers to be used to access core facilities and stimulate new research directions.  Applications can request up to $10,000 to fund projects in one of the core facilities supported by the COBRE. Faculty members from UNMC, Creighton University, or Boys Town National Research Hospital may apply.

Eligible Core Facilities:

Genomics, including DNA and RNA Sequencing (UNMC)

Mouse Genome Engineering (UNMC)

Tissue Science Facility (UNMC)

Integrated Biomedical Imaging Facility (Creighton University)

Auditory Physiology (Creighton and Boys Town) Contact Dr. David He, davidhe@creighton.edu for ABR and DPOAE measurements on mice. Testing for Creighton researchers will be at Creighton, and testing for BTNRH and UNMC researchers will be at BTNRH.

The funds cannot be used to replace costs included in existing grants, and proposals must indicate how the results will be used to support new grant applications.  Download the application form here.  All applications must also be signed by the core director to indicate that the protocol has been reviewed.

Applications will be reviewed monthly in the order in which they are received.  Funds must be billed by December 31^st, 2019.

For additional information please contact:

Shelley D. Smith, Ph.D. 
402-559-5314 
shelley.smith@unmc.edu

This grant program is aimed at encouraging new users to employ NU core facilities in their research. The program is open to all faculty from any of the NU campuses. Awards are intended to be used to gather new or additional data for strengthening a grant proposal (new or resubmission) or for addressing reviewer concerns associated with a peer-reviewed manuscript.

Eligibility: Any faculty member (Assistant, Associate or Full Professors and equivalent-rank researchers) employed by any University of Nebraska campus is eligible to submit funding applications if they (or students/staff within their research group) have not used a specific core facility (or new technology platform within a core) during the last two fiscal years (2016-2017, 2017-2018) and who require these services to generate data to support new/resubmitted grants or resubmitted/revised manuscripts. Existing core users that request the same technologies/services from other cores (for example, standard electron microscopy on a different campus) are not considered new users.

Application Process:  Applications must be submitted electronically via grants-awards.nebraska.edu. Download RFA information, including restrictions, reporting requirements, and detailed application instructions here.

Amount: The maximum request is $5,000 per core facility and a total of $9,000 per new user if more than one core facility is to be used. 

Deadline: Proposals will be reviewed quarterly during the first 3 quarters of the fiscal year (July/August, October/November, and January/February). Please allow 2 – 3 weeks for review and decision on the proposal. Note that funds must be used by June 30, 2019; no new award will be made after March 31, 2019. 

For more information about the campus cores on any campus or applications for this program, please contact your campus' research office.  (UNMC: Paula Turpen, email or 402-559-6162)

The Buffett Cancer Center is pleased to announce a new FPBCC bridge funding program intended to support the research of Cancer Center members who have received encouraging scores that fell below the funding threshold on recent cancer-focused grant applications. The purpose of this program is to support the efforts necessary to produce additional data for promising cancer research projects, in order to strengthen related proposal resubmissions to federal funding agencies. 

The Buffett Cancer Center is primarily seeking to support proposals submitted after February 2017 that fit within the following criteria:

• New (A0) applications that received priority scores outside of the granting agency's current pay line; or
• Grants that have been submitted for competitive renewal and received a competitive but non-fundable score within two years from the expiration of the current award.

Eligibility for bridge funding extends to all Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center Members who are applying for or renewing individual investigator awards, multi-investigator awards, center grants, and program project grants from federal funding agencies and/or nationally peer-reviewed organizations. Funding priority will be given to those who submitted applications to the NCI, followed by those with cancer-focused proposals submitted to other NIH institutes or other federal agencies. 

To be considered for this opportunity, please review the request for applications available at: https://unmc.edu/cancercenter/research/research-funding-opp.html. Applications must be prepared in accordance with the guidelines outlined in the RFA and submitted as a single, complete PDF to both Matt Winfrey (winfreym@unmc.edu) and Kelly Jordan (kjordan@unmc.edu). Proposals requesting bridge funding will be accepted on a rolling basis.

• Application Deadline:  Rolling
• up to $100,000

Bridge Funding is intended to provide critical support to established investigators threatened by an imminent lapse in research funding; both traditional bridge and retooling funding are available.

Contact Ken Bayles, PhD for information.
Application information for the Bridge Grant Program.  Applications must include a letter of support from the applicant's dean/director/department or division chair.  Completed applications should be submitted to the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research, attention: Pamela Welch (402-559-4837 or email)

Deadline:  monthly

Amount:  varies

The Research Support Fund is a Nebraska Medicine and UNMC funding mechanism for clinical and translational Pilot Grants.  Approval allows the investigator to waive hospital-based costs of clinical and translational research, such as laboratory or radiologic tests, hospital bed costs or other hospital based services. The Research Support Fund does not provide funds for marketing, patient recruitment costs, or non-hospital testing such as send-out tests. 

Eligibility  

UNMC faculty who need to obtain preliminary data for extramural research applications or who have budget shortfalls for extramurally funded clinical trials are eligible to apply for this program. 

Application Information

(3) weeks prior to the monthly Review Committee meeting (Committee meets on the 2nd Tuesday of the Month)

See the CRC Web site for instructions and application forms. 

Applications are accepted quarterly: March 1, Jun1, September 1, December 1

Eligible applicants must have a faculty appointment at UNMC, but they can be primarily based at Children's Hospital & Medical Center or Creighton University Medical Center. Applicants from non-Pediatric departments who have a primary research commitment to pediatrics are also eligible. UNMC residents, fellows and medical students are encouraged to apply.

Two categories of grant applications will be considered: Pediatric Research Grants and Pediatric Mini-Grants.

• Pediatric Research Grants will be funded for a maximum of $50,000. Applicants must have a faculty level appointment. A clinical division can be awarded no more than one Pediatric Research Grant per year.
• Pediatric Mini-Grants will be funded for a maximum of $5,000. The Mini-Grant is designed for small research studies, exploratory projects, case studies, etc. Applicants may be faculty, residents, fellows or medical students. Applicants in-training are encouraged to apply and must list a faculty mentor who will supervise the project and attest to the applicant's commitment and availability.

Grant awards will be for a period of one year with the option to carry over funds for a second unfunded year, if requested. Unspent funds will revert back to the Pediatric Research Fund after completion of the research period.

Link to Full RFA and Application Forms

The Innovation Micro-Grant is by nature a rarely used program designed to further the development of previously submitted inventions that generate commercial interest. UNeMed initiates and drives the application process for inventions that attract keen interest from investors or industry representatives.

The intent of the awards is to fill small funding gaps to support additional experiments, analysis, rapid prototyping or other developmental steps that a potential commercial partner might require before entering a licensing agreement. A technology’s licensing manager will determine whether an Innovation Micro-Grant is an appropriate course of action.

Contact UNeMED for details.

The purpose of the Proof of Concept (POC) grants is to provide funds for additional development of selected technologies to increase their commercialization potential and value. POC grant funds are provided through the University of Nebraska Central Administration, via the Nebraska Research Initiative, and were initiated in the fall of 2011. It is the intent of the grants to increase the value of a technology beyond the cost of the grant, thereby generating a positive return to fund additional research.

Direct link to RFA

• Alcohol and Addictive Disorders
• Obesity and Type II Diabetes Mellitus
• Rheumatology and Immunology

Additional areas of research include work in Mental Health, Substance Abuse, Liver Disease, Immunology, Endocrine/Diabetes/Obesity, Pulmonary Airway Inflammation and COPD, Rheumatology Arthritis, Infectious Disease, Orthopedic Rehabilitation, GI Physiology (obesity emphasis), Surgical Wound Healing, Cancer Treatment Trails, Reproductive Endocrinology, Video-laryngoscopy and Virtual Perioperative Care, Vascular Diseases/gait, Dental Prosthetics, Quality of Care and Patient Safety.  Conducting research on each of these areas which impact on the health and care of veterans is consistent with the NWIHCS and VA mission.

Contact NWI VAMC Research for current funding opportunities in these areas.

Application Deadline: The 2018 deadline is CLOSED

Program Summary 

The Edna Ittner Pediatric Research Support Fund, which awards grants for the study of diseases and birth defects of children, is now open for applications.

Eligibility

All UNMC faculty members are eligible to apply. Priority will be given to requests from faculty members in the UNMC Department of Pediatrics if the number of scientifically meritorious requests exceeds available funds.

Award

Up to $45,000 for a one-year period (November 1, 2018 to October 31, 2019)

• Indirect costs are not allowed
• Faculty salary is not allowed
• One award will be made

Application Submission Requirements

The proposal must be submitted in accordance with NIH application standards.  Applications should include:

• Face Page – does not need to be signed (PHS 398 Form Page 1, 01/2018 revision)

• Research Plan (PHS 398 Continuation Format Page, 01/2018 revision)
  • Limited to five pages
  • Specific Aim(s)
  • Rationale
  • Brief Experimental Design
  • References (not included in the five-page limit)
  • Preliminary data is not required and appendices will not be accepted
• Biosketch for Key Personnel (NIH Biographical Sketch Format Page, 09/2017 revision)
  • More information on the current NIH biosketch format can be found here.
• Budget (PHS 398 Form Page 4, 01/2018 revision)

• Budget Justification (PHS 398 Continuation Format Page, 01/2018 revision)

Applications may be submitted to SPAdmin in one of two formats: 1) PDF emailed to spadmin@unmc.edu or 2) one original (unstapled) hard copy.

Timeline

Friday, September 14, 2018 ……… Applications due to SPAdmin no later than 5pm                                   

Thursday, November 1, 2018……...Award announced by Review Committee

For more information:

• Edna Ittner 2018 Program Guidelines
• Scientific questions: please contact Dr. Chris Kratochvil at 402-559-8490 or ckratoch@unmc.edu.
• Administrative questions: please contact Laura Wise at 402-559-2051 or wise@unmc.edu.

Application Deadline: 2018 Competetion has CLOSED

Program Summary

The Otis Glebe Medical Research Foundation, which awards grants to projects focused on translational research, is now open for applications. Projects of particular interest will be those that emphasize the translation of laboratory findings to clinical practice and those that facilitate the application of research findings to the community to enhance the adoption of best practices.

Eligibility

All current UNMC faculty members are eligible to apply. Only one application per faculty member.

Award

The Glebe Foundation anticipates that it will fund one grant of up to $93,330 for a one-year period.

• Indirect costs are unallowable
• Salary for the Principal Investigator is not allowed

Application Submission Requirements

Proposals must be submitted in accordance with NIH application standards and should include:

• Face Page
• Lay Summary - avoid using scientific terms or abbreviations; the Glebe Foundation will rely heavily on this component of the application to finalize its funding decision.
• Research Plan (PHS 398 Continuation Format Page, 3/2016 revision)
  • Specific Aim(s) one page limit
  • Rationale, brief Experimental Design, and future funding plans two page limit
  • References
  • While preliminary data is not required, relevant data can be included within the two page limit
• Appendices will not be accepted
• Biosketch (NIH Biographical Sketch Format Page, 11/2016 revision)
  • Must be submitted for the Principal Investigator
  • More information on the current NIH biosketch format can be found here

Applications may be submitted to SPAdmin as a PDF emailed to spadmin@unmc.edu.

Review Process: Proposals will be submitted to an internal committee of UNMC reviewers for initial consideration. Finalists are expected to prepare and present a brief summary of their proposal to the Otis Glebe Medical Research Foundation who will make the final selection.  Funds will typically be available within one month of award notification.

Progress Report:   

A lay report of activity including any abstracts, manuscripts, patent applications, grant application or awards should be sent to SPAdmin by email no later than September 30, 2019 for later presentation to the Otis Glebe Medical Research Foundation.

Deadline

Monday, October 1, 2018……Applications due to SPAdmin no later than 5pm; a PDF may be emailed to spadmin@unmc.edu.

For more information:

• Otis Glebe Medical Research Foundation Program Guidelines (click here)
• If you have questions, please contact Holly Dunning, Coordinator, Sponsored Programs Administration, at 402-559-7458 or laura.wise@unmc.edu.

• Internal Deadline: CLOSED January 16, 2019
• Amount: $5,000 - $15,000 for equipment
• Request for Proposals released January 3, 2019
• Download: Application Guideline

The Banker's grant program is intended to support equipment for research or research education activities that will impact a large number of individuals. Proposals that have the potential to leverage existing resources for the greatest impact will be given priority. Past Award Recipients

Applications are due to the Vice Chancellor for Research Office by noon, January 16, 2019, addressed to Deborah Hawkins. 

Application Form *adobe plugins must be enabled in your browser and you may need to download the form in order to view it.

If you experience difficulty opening the application form try right-clicking on the link and choose download to open in Adobe Reader or Acrobat. Still having difficulty? Contact Linda Wilkie, 402-559-7649 or email

Deadline:  2019 CLOSED

The Nebraska Center for Nanomedicine, a Center for Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE) is soliciting applications for vouchers to be used to access core facilities supported by the Center.

The goals of this voucher program are to encourage and support usage of the various imaging modalities and nanomaterial characterization methods by investigators for projects to help acquire preliminary data for external grant applications that would use the core facilities and to promote utilization of imaging methods in their research by users who are new to the technology.

Supported Core Facilities

• Bioimaging (small animal MRI)
• Ultrasound/Photoacoustic Imaging
• Intravital Microscopy
• Nanomaterial Characterization

Description

Vouchers in amounts up to $5,000 per project will be made on a competitive basis. Funds must be billed by December 31st, 2019. These funds will not be allocated directly to the investigators’ laboratories but would instead be held in an account by the Core Facility to be expended as needed to subsidize usage fees for the Cores for the applicable projects.

Download the RFA for proposal requirements and eligibility.

Deadline for receipt of proposals:  March 1, 2019.  All applications must be submitted as pdf files via email to Tammy Slachetka (email).  Earliest possible date vouchers would be available: March 15, 2019.

Internal Deadline:  2019 CLOSED

Program Summary & Background

In 2008, the Nebraska State Legislature adopted the Stem Cell Research Act (LB 606), which established a Stem Cell Research Advisory Committee to facilitate the awarding of grants to Nebraska institutions or researchers for conducting stem cell research that does not use human embryonic stem cells. 

UNMC is allowed to submit five applications to NE DHHS so Principal Investigators (PI’s) who are interested in submitting applications must first participate in UNMC’s internal screening process by submitting a one-page project description and biosketch.  A total of approximately $436,500 is available for the 2019 competition.

UNMC Internal Review Process

Applicants must email the following to Deborah Hawkins at deb.hawkins@unmc.edu by April 24th:

• One page project description in PDF format
• Biosketch in PDF format

An internal review committee will evaluate the project descriptions based on the selection criteria in the linked RFA and invite five investigators to submit full applications to NE DHHS.  Based on previous reviews of the full applications, it is recommended that special emphasis be placed on the translational merits of the proposed projects.  Thus, the internal review committee will be asked to evaluate the therapeutic potential associated with each proposed project, in addition to the “Selection Criteria” indicated in the RFA.   

Award

Up to $110,000 for a 12 month period (July 1, 2019 to June 30, 2020)

• Indirect cost requests are not allowed
• Salary support for the PI, doctoral level co-investigators, and administrative or clerical assistance is unallowable

Eligibility

• A proposal may not be an extension of a project previously funded by LB606; it should be substantially different enough to be clearly a new project
• Renewals of existing projects are not allowed
• There is no prohibition for a current grantee to apply for the new RFA

2019 Timeline

Wednesday, April 24……..One-page Project Description & Biosketch (PDF only) due to Deb Hawkins (deb.hawkins@unmc.edu)

Wednesday, May 1………Five (5) UNMC Applicants announced by Review Committee   

Wednesday, May 15……..Full applications due to SPAdmin by 5:00 pm to allow for processing                                                               
Monday, May 20………….Signed applications submitted to NE DHHS by SPAdmin via PDF

Late June……………..........Selection of awards by NE DHHS

July 1………………..……….Grant period begins  

For more information:

• Click here for the Stem Cell Research Project 2019 RFA (click here for the Word version)
• UNMC Internal Screening: contact Dr. Ken Bayles at kbayles@unmc.edu or 9-4945
• Contact your Sponsored Programs Grants & Contracts Specialist