Bridge Funding Request Form |
At a time when minimal NIH budget growth continues to challenge the continuation of successful research programs, the CCOM has revisited the guidelines for bridge funding.
The purpose of bridge funding is to allow continuation of a focused research program that: (a) has recently lost, or is about to lose, extramural funding despite efforts by the applicant to renew or replace this funding; (b) has a strong likelihood of being refunded. Financial support by CCOM is provided in collaboration with the faculty member’s department and the VPR’s office.
Deadlines: August 1, December 1, April 1
Guidelines
The applicant:
1) must be a CCOM faculty member. In most cases, the applicant should be on the tenure track. Those on other tracks should communicate with the Dean’s office to confirm eligibility.
2) principal investigator (PI) on the grant to be bridged.
3) should have no other unrestricted resources available (e.g., residual start-up, discretionary funds, or foundation accounts). PIs with extramural support for other research programs can submit a bridging request for consideration, provided the grant to be bridged meets the eligibility guidelines below.
4) must have submitted a grant to renew or replace the grant to be bridged. The submitted grant must have undergone internal or external review prior to submission, and have undergone review by the sponsoring agency within 90 days of the bridging request. PIs that have received R56 funding from the NIH to bridge a grant near the payline are eligible for support provided the revised application was submitted during the period of R56 support, and has undergone peer review.
5) who has assembled a mentoring committee that attests to having reviewed previous submissions will be afforded higher priority for bridge funding decisions.
Grants eligible for bridging:
1) provide significant funding for research (e.g., NIH R01 or R21, K-awards, or subprojects on U- and P-series; DoD; VA). T32 series are not eligible.
2) may be competing renewals or new grants.
3) have ended, are active (but close to termination), or are in no-cost extension. Bridging requests can be submitted in advance of the depletion of funds (i.e. during the latter part of the final budget period or during a no cost extension period). No bridging funds will be disbursed until unrestricted resources are exhausted.
4) should have a strong likelihood of being refunded or replaced with new funding, based on the critiques in the summary statement of the non-funded grant and a detailed plan for measures the PI will take for a successful revised or new grant application. The past productivity and current progress of the PI will also be considered.
Budget:
1) Applicants can request up to the following amounts for 12 months of support:
• $100,000 per request for R01 and R21s
• $250,000 for program project grants on which the overall PI is a University of Iowa faculty member; otherwise bridging will be limited to $100,000 for a component project conducted at the University of Iowa
• $50,000 for a K award transitioning to an R award
2) Allowable budget items include
a) salary support for graduate students and/or P&S employees who have been paid from the grant to be bridged and are included on the budget for the grant(s) to be submitted.
b) limited animal costs
c) limited supplies.
Items not allowed include:
a) faculty salaries
b) tuition for graduate students
c) stipends for undergraduate students
d) equipment
e) travel
f) stipends/salaries for the addition of new personnel to a research program. A research program should not expand during the bridging period.
g) compensation for past deficit spending
Application
• A letter of recommendation from the DEO including Department’s commitment to at least 1/3 of the budget. The DEO or a designee (e.g., division director and/or center director) is expected to critically evaluate the merit of the bridging request prior to submitting a recommendation.
• A summary letter from the applicant addressing need and eligibility for the bridging request
• Letters from the applicants mentoring committee indicating willingness to aid in internal review of the applicant’s planned grant prior to submission
• The applicant’s CCOM-formatted CV
• List of all grants submitted (funded or not) during the past 10 years. Include grant number, agency, title, role, and total direct costs. Indicate funding or pending status and impact/percentile scores.
• A list of funds available in existing research accounts, including University of Iowa Foundation accounts or institutional research funds committed to the principal investigator.
• A list of all current personnel, including graduate students and postdoctoral fellows, in the requestor’s program, and their sources of funding.
• A detailed budget for the bridge period. Include full name and employee ID of key personnel to be supported.
• The face page, abstract, specific aims, and summary statement of the grant that was submitted to replace the one to be bridged.
• A description of how the submitted grant was reviewed either departmentally or externally prior to submission. Include names of the reviewers and departmental/institutional affiliation.
• A detailed description of the applicant’s plans to increase the likelihood of regaining funding. Include efforts to address the concerns raised in the summary statement, or any other measures to increase competitiveness for funding.
Review process:
An advisory committee of 7 CCOM faculty members will evaluate the bridge request and make recommendations for funding. Any member of the committee that has a conflict (collaborators or members of the same department) with the bridge applicant will recuse themselves from the evaluation. The committee will meet three times each year (August, December, and April) to review requests. Recommendations of the committee for bridge funding will be considered by the Executive Associate Dean and Dean of the CCOM. Those deemed meritorious will be forwarded to the Vice President for Research for further consideration. The applicant and DEO of the applicant’s department will be notified of the funding decision.
Award process:
Bridging funds will be available in three allotments to ensure adequate resources throughout the year.
Recipients of bridge funding are required to provide annual progress reports to the CCOM listing grants received and publications resulting from bridging support for 5 years post-award.