Awards are intended to support early-stage research, proof-of-concept, and other activities that (if successful) would establish a basis for a subsequent proposal for funding by public or private agencies, other institutional sources, or potentially industry. Within established budgetary parameters, projects will be funded at the level deemed necessary to achieve the proposed research objectives.
Applicants may submit proposals for one of two types of awards:
Pilot Awards
Pilot awards will be funded at a level of up to $100,000 (direct costs) over a period of up to one (1) year. Pilot awards will typically be used to support performance of a critical experiment or set of experiments to validate a therapeutics-related concept that may provide the basis for later-stage funding or for direct commercialization opportunities. For example, target validation studies or development and validation of an assay that would be used later for screening would both be in scope. Mechanistic inquiry aimed at identification of new targets is typically not in scope. PIs are encouraged to contact the Senior Director to help them design in-scope pilot projects.
Development Awards
Projects at a more advanced stage of development will be funded at a level of up to $300,000 (direct costs) over a period of up to two (2) years. The goal of the Development Awards would be to deliver tangible results which provide a clear path to clinical or commerical development and increase confidence in the success of such development. As examples, in therapeutic development this might be done by developing chemical or biological hits with activity in validated pre-clinical models.