Fund to Sustain Research Excellence

Overview

The Brigham Research Institute has developed the Fund to Sustain Research Excellence designed to offer interim support to independent investigators who submitted a non-mentored NIH grant application that was reviewed but missed the funding payline. Recipients will be chosen based on need and merit.  Applications from investigators with little or no additional support outside of BWH will take precedence over established investigators with significant other support. Priority will be given to investigators judged most likely to obtain NIH funding on resubmission. Bridge funds from the BRI are not expected to be sufficient to fully support the applicant.  Therefore, the applicant’s Department Chair or Division Chief must provide a Nomination Form indicating their commitment to provide sufficient support, beyond the BRI Fund to Sustain Research Excellence award, to allow the candidate’s research program to remain functional. Women and under-represented minorities are encouraged to apply.

 

The BRI Fund to Sustain Research Excellence is proud to have provided 170 investigators with more than 9.2 million dollars of interim support.

 

Award Amounts
  • Individual awards of $50K (plus 15% IDC) for one year will be available to qualified, eligible applicants.

Guidelines/Eligibility Criteria
  • Investigators that have recently submitted a non-mentored NIH grant application that was scored (un-scored applications will not be accepted), but missed the pay line, are eligible to apply for funding.
  • Applicants must be in need of support and have a potentially fundable R01 or similar non-mentored NIH grant. R03, R21, F32 and ARRA Grants will not be eligible.  PPG/P50 projects that have not been separately submitted as an R01 will be considered on a case by case basis with preference given to those in the fundable range.
  • The investigator must document the need for bridge support (see Applications for required documentation).
  • Criteria for selection will include both financial need and scientific merit. Scientific merit will be inferred from the NIH peer-review summary statement, priority score, and other application materials.
  • Individual PIs are only eligible to receive for up to $115K (two full awards plus IDC) within any 10 year window.

Periodicity
  • The application process occurs three times a year. Applicants may re-apply for the BRI Fund to Sustain Research Excellence in the event that they do not receive funding the first time.
    Upcoming BRI Fund to Sustain Research Excellence Deadlines

    • First Monday in April, August and December

Applications

Instructions for applying through Insight and the required application materials:

  1. Through Insight, please select, at creation, the Internal Award option under Research Management.
  2. On the Sponsor Details page, select “Brigham Research Institute (BRI)”.  Then select “Fund to Sustain Research Excellence” and attach the following required documents:
  • A cover letter of no more than two pages outlining:
    • The investigator’s situation, inclusive of a statement of need.
    • The size of the research group supported by the applicant
    • How the investigator will use FSRE funds to improve re-submission
    • Details of how reviewer concerns will be addressed
  • Nomination Form from Department Chair or Division Chief (you MUST submit the BRI Nomination form provided; no exceptions)
  • Letter of support from Department Chair or Division Chief (optional, but strongly recommended). This is in additional to the nomination form.
  • NIH review summary statement (including the score and percentile)
  • NIH Other support pages
  • Investigator’s NIH bio-sketch
Requests for a Second Year of Funding

Applicants should submit electronic versions of their applications to bwhbri@partners.org

If, and only if, and individual has not yet resubmitted the R01 on which the original FSRE award was based, he or she may apply for a second year of funding. In order to so do,  applicants must submit a status report that includes the following information:

  • A report of how the first year funds were used, what progress has been made toward grant resubmission, and how a second year of funding would be used
  • Updated financial information, including an Insight statement
  • A letter of continued support from Department or Division chair

Applicants will be considered for a second year of support based on the review of the status report. The deadline for the submission of second-year requests is 2 months prior to the end of the first-year funding period.

 

 

Received your Funding?

Upon receipt of alternative funding for the research project supported by the BRI Fund to Sustain Research Excellence award, investigators must return the unspent portion of the award to the BRI Fund to Sustain Research Excellence, enabling the Fund to support other members of the BWH research community who are in more immediate need of support. Bridge fund awards will be pro-rated based on the effective date of the alternative funding. Please send an email to BWHBRI@partners.org to notify the BRI if you’ve received your grant.

 


Award recipients are encouraged to work with a mentor through a BRI Center on their re-submission. Assistance in identification of a BRI mentor will be provided on request. Email BWHBRI@partners.org or call 617 525 7287.