Purpose
Recognizing that productive investigators are likely to be “unfunded” for time intervals due to uncertainties in external funding, the purpose of the HSOM Bridge Funding is:
- To improve the success of research faculty by providing some continuing research support.
- To make HSOM an attractive, research-friendly environment for recruitment and retention.
- To strengthen the morale of research faculty.
- To enhance confidence in HSOM administration as “research supportive”.
Duration: 12 months
Funds available from the HSOM: $75,000
Eligibility
- Independent research faculty who serves as a contact Principal Investigator (PI).
- NIH grants (or NSF equivalent) scoring better than the 35th %ile but not funded.
- Priority will be given to those investigators who lead two or fewer NIH R-series or equivalent grants.
- The PI must have less than $25,000 in discretionary accounts.
Eligible Expenses
Funding is intended to provide resources for research faculty actively experiencing a funding gap. HSOM Bridge Funding can be used to:
- Support salaries and benefits (excluding PI), supplies, and other needed direct research related expenses for employees and trainees (MD/PhD, PhD students) who cannot be reassigned to other work. Please note that support for trainees is the first priority for use of bridge funds.
Application Process
- A copy of the original RFA/RFP announcement.
- A copy of the grant application.
- The NIH study section critiques or NSF evaluations.
- A letter co-signed by the faculty and Chair indicating:
- General info that includes
- The specific consequences to the research program and laboratory personnel of loss of research support.
- Identification of other sources of salary support and research support.
- Budget justification for use of bridge funds.
- Plans for resubmission that includes
- A 1-page response to major criticisms of the grant.
- A brief description of the steps that will be taken to increase the competitiveness of the resubmitted application, including (as examples) internal faculty panels to strategize and provide feedback in developing the resubmission, commissioning external reviewers for the resubmitted application, grantsmanship training where appropriate, etc.
Submission Process
- All applications, approved and supported by the Chair, will be submitted using the “Upload Application Documents” link located at the top and bottom of this page.
- Applications must be submitted by the Department Chair or Department Administrator.
Awards
- Bridge awards depend on the availability of funds and are made at the discretion of the Senior Vice Dean, up to a maximum of $75,000.
- The department will create an account specifically titled “HSOM Bridge Award-Traditional [Faculty Last Name, First Name]” and the HSOM funds will be transferred to this account.
- The Bridge Award setup form should be submitted to initiate the Bridge Award.
- If funding is restored and is retroactive, repayment of funds is required. If grant is funded, any unused funds committed by the HSOM must be returned.
For questions related to the Bridge Award process, please email SOMresearch@uab.edu.
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