NIH Collaborative Program Grant for Multidisciplinary Teams: Harvard University Area Letter of Intent Deadline

NIH Collaborative Program Grant for Multidisciplinary Teams
Harvard University Area (Cambridge Campus) Letter of Intent Deadline: April 8, 2020
Sponsor Deadline: May 27, 2020Award Amount: $1.5M maximum direct costs per year. It is anticipated that most awards will be between $700,000-$900,000 direct costs. An additional $250,000 direct costs per year may be requested for optional exploratory pilot studies for ESIs.

This funding opportunity is designed to support highly integrated research teams of three to six PD/PIs that propose to conduct research to address complex and challenging biomedical problems, important for the mission of NIGMS, through deeply integrated, multidisciplinary research teams. Collaborative program teams are expected to accomplish goals that require considerable synergy and managed team interactions. Project goals should not be achievable with a collection of individual efforts or projects. Teams are encouraged to consider far-reaching objectives that will produce major advances in their fields. Applications should address critical issues and be sufficiently challenging, ambitious, and innovative that objectives could not be achieved by individual investigators.

To be successful, programs of this level of complexity are expected to require significant effort from all PD/PIs involved. The contact PD/PI is required to devote at least 30% of his/her time available for research to this award, while other PD/PIs are required to devote at least 25% of his/her time available for research to this award. The time available for research should be expressed in person-months and should not include time expended toward teaching, administration, and/or clinical duties.

NIGMS intends to fund a limited number of applications. Therefore, consultation with relevant staff is strongly encouraged by NIH and required in order to be considered for the institutional nomination. Once applicants have identified overall program objectives and PD/PI participants, NIGMS staff may be able to advise applicants whether the proposed research strategy meets the goals and mission of the Institute, whether it addresses one or more high priority research areas, and whether it is appropriate for a collaborative team program.

This is a limited submission opportunity and only one application may be put forward from the Harvard University Area (Cambridge campus) per review cycle. Potential applicants from the University Area who wish to apply for the May 27, 2020 NIH deadline must first submit a letter of intent to Erin Hale at erin_hale@fas.harvard.edu no later than April 8, 2020.

Letters of intent should include the following:

1. Proposal Title
2. Names and affiliations of all PIs
3. Confirmation of ability of PI and co-PIs to commit the required effort for this grant: The contact PD/PI is required to devote at least 30% of his/her time available for research to this award, while other PD/PIs are required to devote at least 25% of his/her time available for research to this award. The time available for research should be expressed in person-months and should not include time expended toward teaching, administration, and/or clinical duties. Please confirm that all participants will be able to commit the effort required for this grant.
4. Confirmation that you have communicated with relevant NIGMS staff (include name of program officer/ director). Please note that the solicitation strongly encourages consulting with relevant NIGMS staff to determine whether the proposed research strategy meets the goals and mission of the Institute, whether it addresses one or more high priority research areas, and whether it is appropriate for a collaborative team program. A collaborative program that is closely related to the goal of a PD/PIs' existing NIGMS-funded research might require that funding be relinquished to avoid overlap. Please note if there is any overlap between your proposed project and existing NIGMS funded research.
5. Brief summary of the proposed collaboration
6. CVs of PI and co-PIs
7. Current and Pending Support Documentation for PI and co-PIs