Submission Deadline: March 1, 2020

The Center of Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE) Nebraska Center for Nanomedicine (NCN) invites investigators at the University of Nebraska to submit an application for pilot research projects consistent with the research objective of this Center. The principal intent of the announced Pilot Project Program is to provide support to the most promising and novel nanomedicine-related research projects and help investigators obtain preliminary data necessary for successful grant applications to external agencies.

The applications are solicited from individual investigators or teams of investigators in three major categories:

Forward-Path Pilots (up to $10,000)
Discovery Path Pilots (up to $50,000)
Catalyst Path Pilots (up to $75,000)

Funds Available and Allowed Expenses

• A total of up to $225,000 funding will be available for this RFA. 
• The funding will be available for the period from July 01, 2020 to May 31, 2021 with an option of renewal for an additional year of funding in the next cycle in applicable categories of pilot grants contingent on satisfactory progress and subject to full review. Carry forward is not allowed. The Center Administrator will set up spending accounts.
• The applicants may request a budget for direct costs that may include funds for supplies, core facilities fees and other appropriate costs directly related to the project. Faculty salary support is not allowed. Travel costs are not supported except those essential to perform the proposed research.

Eligibility and Format requirements can be found in the RFA.

Please direct all questions to Tatiana Bronich, email or 402-559-9351, or David Oupicky, email or 402-559-9363. All applications must be submitted as pdf files via email to Tammy Slachetka (email) no later than 4:00 PM, March 1, 2020.

LOI Deadline:  7/6/2020
Full Proposals Deadline: 8/21/2020

The Central States Center of Agricultural Safety and Health (CS-CASH) has announced a call for proposals for their Pilot/Feasibility Projects Program. The program goal is to enable investigators to collect preliminary data to support submission of grant applications for independent, longer-term, larger projects related to agricultural safety and health. The central hypothesis of this program is that pilot and/or feasibility projects funded from this Center will result in subsequent grant submissions to NIOSH or other funding agencies to advance agricultural health and safety research. A maximum $20,000 is available for awarded projects.

Contact Ellen Duysen for questions regarding the application process.

The Center for Patient, Family, and Community Engagement in Chronic Care Management is pleased to announce an opportunity for pilot funding. Successful applicants will receive up to $50,000 for one year.  CENTRIC pilot grant applications will have scheduled dates for LOIs and applications. Applications will be accepted as funding is available. Below is a chart of deadlines for pilot grant timelines through the end of the fiscal year.

Competitive Applications will address at least one of these priorities for this Funding Announcement:

1.  Develop biobehavioral interventions for use in varied clinical and community settings that pilot test a self-management intervention for multiple chronic conditions to reduce burden and disability, improve functioning and health related quality of life, strengthen patient activation and participation in health care, and prevent illness and
2. Design novel interventions, technologies, and social media that assist in monitoring symptom status, promoting health behavior modifications, and accessing/imparting health information to improve health and self-management outcomes in chronic
3. Develop self-management studies using technology to monitor outcomes for self-management of chronic conditions in individuals, families and communities.

Preference will be given to proposals that provide preliminary data to a program of research that is ready to be submitted for major funding after the completion of the project.  

For more information contact:  Laura Robbins, Project Coordinator (email) or Ann Berger (email)  The complete RFA can be found at: https://www.unmc.edu/centric/scientific-advancement/available_funds.html

Deadline: May 15, 2020
Amount: varies

The Cognitive Neuroscience of Development and Aging (CONDA) Center is pleased to announce two opportunities
for research funding through an NIH/NIGMS mechanism. The CONDA Center is a new Center of Biomedical
Research Excellence (CoBRE) that focuses on the cognitive neuroscience of lifespan development and strives
to support and develop all neuroimaging and human neuroscience research in the region.

Pilot Grant Applications. The goal of the Pilot Projects Program is to provide support to emerging scholars in this area by enabling them to pursue promising new research directions and acquire the preliminary data necessary to apply for and obtain external federal funding. Successful applicants will receive up to $50,000 in direct costs per year for 1-2 years, as well as access to the resources and equipment of the Center for professional development and project support. We anticipate funding several Pilot Projects through this RFA in 2020-2021.

Mini Grant Applications. The goal of the Mini Grants Program is to provide support to promising research projects led by graduate students and post-doctoral research associates. These projects can be largely independent from the mentor’s ongoing projects, or can substantially build on the same theme. Acceptable examples would include adding a study group (e.g., un-medicated patients) to an ongoing study of several patient groups, adding a new measure (e.g., MRI or blood test) to an ongoing study, adding an additional follow-up visit, or similar scenarios. The main goals of the program are to enhance graduate student and postdoctoral research projects across the Omaha academic community. Total budgets should range from $5,000 to a maximum of $20,000 and we anticipate funding several mini grants in 2020. Note that the project period should be less than one year and that the average budget is expected to be about $10,000. Successful applicants will also receive access to resources of the Center for professional development and project support.

For questions pertaining to whether your research would qualify for Center support, please contact Melissa Welch-Lazoritz, email.

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: February 15, May 15, August 15, November 15

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.

Deadline: CLOSED

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)

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

Application Deadline: 2019 Call for applications 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 $35,000 for a one-year period (November 1, 2019 to October 31, 2020)

• Indirect costs are not allowed
• Faculty salary is not allowed
• Three proposals will most likely be funded

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 13, 2019 ……… Applications due to SPAdmin no later than 5pm                                   

Friday, November 1, 2019……...Award announced by Review Committee

For more information:

• Edna Ittner 2019 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 laura.wise@unmc.edu.

Application Deadline: 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 up to two grants of up to $90,000 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, 1/2018 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, 9/2017 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 October 31, 2020 for later presentation to the Otis Glebe Medical Research Foundation.

Deadline

Monday, November 4, 2019……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.