Funding Opportunities


The BSD Nomination Process
 Internal Funding Opportunities  External Nonfederal Agencies
Bulletins

Nomination Process

Nomination Process begins with special announcements or Bulletins from the Faculty Awards Committee and an invitation to the chairmen to submit a nomination for consideration. Some departments announce a competitive process for deciding their nominations for limited opportunities. As particular nominations are being planned within the department, chairmen, nominees and administrators may call Cyndie Shannon at 834-2182 or Aparna Menon at 834-8173 to receive tailored instructions and special materials required for the nomination packet. Chairs can also review the planning material provided to them in the notebook, Faculty Awards Committee Nominations Guide, which also includes the following steps to nomination.

  1. Use the "Overview of Limited Opportunities" for annual or periodic planning of Departmental submissions to the Faculty Awards Committee.

 

  1. Review the Bulletin for updates on special eligibility information or areas of program interest.

 

  1. Confirm deadlines and program information:

If you would like to nominate a candidate, please call Cyndie Shannon at 834-2182 or Aparna Menon at 834-8173 to receive the agency's guidelines and a description of the specific scientific proposal and other materials preferred by the review committee for the particular limited opportunity of interest.
 

  1. Nomination packet: To be considered complete, proposals must include the following items:
    • Letter of nomination from the department chairperson 
    • Letter of support from the applicant's senior faculty sponsor
    • Scientific proposal, written toward program's stated mission (length will vary depending on agency)
    • Candidate's current curriculum vitae
    • Listing of other funding sources [active, pending, and planned]
    • Other materials as are required by agency

 

  1. Number of copies: Nominees should submit a proposal (pdf format) to Aparna Menon via email to amenon@bsd.uchicago.edu , by the internal deadline.

 

  1. Notification of selection outcome:

Nominees and chairs will be notified in writing of the disposition of candidacies. The selected candidates will be contacted as soon as possible to receive original program forms for preparing the final proposal to the funding agency.
 

  1. Preparation of proposal to funding agency:

During the drafting of the final proposal to the agency, the selected applicant is encouraged to seek the editorial assistance of the director and staff of the BSD Office of Research Services, in addition to a scientific review by the chair and/or senior faculty sponsor. Upon completion, proposals must be routed as usual for institutional endorsement. Several competitions fund a sufficiently broad range of disciplines that more than one Division may have eligible faculty. In such cases, the office of the Vice President for Research will review and choose from among the Divisions, and the BSD internal deadline is set accordingly to accommodate this additional step. Please see ORS Review Procedures for the procedures to submit the final proposal.

Internal Funding

The University and the Division of the Biological Sciences administer a number of internal grant programs to provide seed grants, study specific fields in biology and medicine, and encourage collaborative research. Each program is administered by a specific department, center, or office with its own application procedures, support categories, and contact person.

University Programs:  The University of Chicago offers a number of internal awards to support a variety of undertakings. Announcements are usually sent directly to eligible faculty. Below is a representative listing of University opportunities:
BSD ProgramsThe Biological Sciences Division is fortunate to have a number of special opportunities available to its faculty. Many provide seed funds for new projects, while others are specifically for junior faculty. Some are funded by center grants in specific topical areas; others are supported from divisional funds and are more broadly defined. 

AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY INSTITUTIONAL RESEARCH GRANT

Applications are being accepted for $20,000 awards from the University of Chicago American Cancer Society Institutional Research Grant.  The one-year awards provide seed money to junior faculty so they can obtain preliminary results from cancer-related research that will enable them to compete for national peer-reviewed research grants. Only individuals who are University of Chicago junior faculty without other peer-reviewed funding are eligible to apply. Five projects will be funded. There are specific funds set aside for at least one of these to be in the area of population sciences research (e.g., cancer prevention or control, epidemiology, health services research). Previous awardees (investigators) are now eligible to apply for a second IRG pilot project award for the same project.

The deadline for applications is Thursday, November 1, 2007.

Contact: Lee Baksas, Program Administrator, University of Chicago Cancer Research Center at 4-3091  or by E-mail: lbaksas@medicine.bsd.uchicago.edu

CLINICAL RESEARCH CENTER (COMBINED ADULT AND PEDIATRIC)

The General Clinical Research Center (CRC) at the University of Chicago provides the means for faculty to conduct clinical research of the highest scientific merit. The CRC, which is supported by a grant from the National Center for Research Resources of the NIH, is directed by Dr. Roy Weiss. The facility includes a dedicated eight-bed inpatient, three-bed outpatient unit and nursing, technical, and administrative staff experienced in the conduct of clinical protocols. The CRC may also support the cost of bed days and ancillary services. As part of its educational mission, through the parent grant, young faculty investigators may apply for a Clinical Associate Physician (CAP) or Minority Clinical Associate Physician (MCAP) award that provides three years salary support plus supplies and travel. The CRC can match funds from the Dean's office to support medical students working on summer projects with CRC investigators and sponsors a postgraduate biomedical research symposium each spring at which graduate students and fellows present the results of their work. Each year the CRC biostatistician offers a 10-week mini-course in the use of statistics in biomedical research.

Clinical research proposals are reviewed on a monthly basis by the CRC's standing Scientific Advisory Committee. Institutional Review Board (IRB) review may be conducted simultaneously; full IRB approval is required before study subjects can be enrolled in any protocol. Post-doctoral fellows, graduate students, nurses, and other professionals may conduct CRC research under a faculty member's oversight.

Contact: Bushra Rehman, Administrative Director, at 702-6980, or by E-mail: brehman@bsd.uchicago.edu

DIABETES RESEARCH CENTER PILOT AND FEASIBILITY STUDIES

The Diabetes Research and Training Center is a NIH-funded program that supports research and training activities related to diabetes. The center, one of six across the country, supports four multi-user core laboratories and offers funds for research grants called Pilot and Feasibility Studies.

Pilot and Feasibility Studies fall into three categories: 1) attracting junior members of the faculty into the multiple areas of diabetes research and training; 2) allowing established faculty members who are not currently engaged in diabetes research to extend their studies into an important area of diabetes investigation; and 3) encouraging all faculty members, including those who are established in diabetes research, to test a novel diabetes-related hypothesis that might not yet meet NIH requirements for funding.

Research topics cover many aspects of basic and clinical biomedical research, of educational development and testing, and of psychosocial investigation. Funds may be requested for personnel, equipment, supplies, service or other costs; applications simply involving requests for items of equipment are not appropriate. Awards are granted from one to two years and are limited to a maximum of $40,000 per year.

Contact: Dr. Donald Steiner, Director, MC1028, at 702-1334, or by E-mail: dfsteine@uchicago.edu

External Funding to Nonfederal Private Agencies

Nonfederal Private (Includes foundations, corporate contribution programs, associations, societies, and all other nonfederal private agencies.)

Note that some foundations are considered "sensitive", and proposals to these sponsors must be cleared by the Office of Foundation Relations. The Office publishes a list of sensitive foundations each year.


 

Bulletins