Rice University and McGovern Medical School at UTHealth
Neuro-Related Joint Seed Grant Program

Proposal timeline for the 2019-2020 academic year:

  • Rice University and the McGovern Medical School at UTHealth announce a joint neuro seed grant program
  • Applications are due April 15, 2019

Fund Information

  • It is expected that 3 new seed grants will be awarded in 2019 depending on the quality of the proposals. The awards are expected to be announced by May 15, 2019. The awards will start on June 15, 2019 and end on June 14, 2020, with a project report due date of August 15, 2020.
  • The total amount requested in a given proposal cannot exceed $60,000 in direct costs. Facilities and administrative costs (F&A) are not permitted to be charged to the Fund. All proposals must have a planned duration not to exceed twelve months (June 15, 2019 – June 14, 2020).

Eligibility

  • The Program aims to promote excellent collaborative and interdisciplinary research programs among faculty members at Rice and researchers and clinicians from the McGovern Medical School at UTHealth. Emphasis of the program is placed on developing new collaborations between Rice and UTHealth but proposals for existing collaborations will also be considered.
  • The Seed Grants should lead to self-sustaining, nationally competitive research programs that will address critically important neuro-related health problems. It is expected that recipients of the seed grants will submit an extramural grant application related to the seed grant and present at a joint Rice-UTHealth Symposium.
  • Each submitting team must have at least one principal investigator, PI, from Rice University and one PI from the McGovern Medical School at UTHealth. Lead investigators should be eligible PIs at their respective institutions.
  • Each application must propose innovative research in a neuro-related area that is best done across institutional boundaries.
  • Proposals must have strong potential for sustainability beyond the duration of the seed grant via competitive funding sources.

Review criteria

Review of proposals to the Neuro Seed Fund will be conducted by a Review Panel which will evaluate proposals based on: scientific merit, the strength of interdisciplinary interaction and collaboration, and probability of sustaining the collaboration through subsequent competitive, peer-reviewed funding.

How to apply

  • Applications should be single-spaced, with Arial 11 pt font and 1” margins all the way around. the proposal should include: 1) specific aims (maximum one page); 2) research strategy (maximum three pages); 3) collaboration and interaction plan (maximum one page); and 4) extramural funding plan (maximum one page). References cited do not count against the above page limits.
  • Proposals must include a face page containing the title of the proposal, names of the co-PIs and their affiliations, and two abstracts (each with a 250-word limit). One abstract should represent a standard technical abstract that would normally accompany an NIH or NSF grant. The other abstract should be written for a “lay person” and should clearly describe, with minimal use of scientific/technical jargon, the health problem(s) being investigated, the methodological approaches that will be pursued, and the potential outcomes of the research.
  • Abbreviated CVs (maximum five pages) or standard NIH or NSF Biosketches should be included for the co-PIs.
  • A line item budget and budget justification should be included, with total direct costs of up to $60,000 ($30,000 direct cost for Rice faculty and $30,000 direct cost for UTHealth faculty). No indirect costs (i.e., F&A) are allowed.
  • While requests for salary for the Rice faculty are not permitted, co-PIs at the McGovern Medical School at UTHealth may request up to $10K for salary support.
  • Applications are due April 15, 2019 and should be submitted as a single pdf file, via email, to Stacey Kalovidouris (sk7@rice.edu) with the subject line: 2019 Neuro Seed Fund Application.
  • For questions, please contact Stacey Kalovidouris (sk7@rice.edu).