College of Medicine
Dean’s Discovery Grants Program
&
Nationwide/COM
Cross-Campus-Collaborative Pilot Program
Guidelines and Application
April 2015
Introduction
The leadership of The Ohio State University (OSU) College of Medicine (COM) is
dedicated to the success of independent faculty research programs. To enable the
development of novel research ideas, the COM offers a Dean’s Discovery Grants
Program. The goal of this program is to provide sufficient research support to generate
pilot data for extramural grant application(s), specifically funding with full indirect costs,
within one year of the award. This program will enable successful scientists with a track
record of productivity to broaden their research portfolio, or generate new resources or
initiate new collaborative partnerships, striking out in new directions beyond current
research, in areas relevant to the science community at the OSUWMC and of interest to
extramural funding agencies. Funding provided by the COM should be thought of as a
“venture capital initiative,” invested for the purposes of growth and return on investment
(generating indirect dollars on funding that can be used to re-invest in pilot programs).
Applications should provide evidence for the strong probability of success in future
funding applications, increased publication quality, and increased national reputation.
A new pilot program will begin this year, supported by Nationwide Children’s Hospital &
Research Institute and the College of Medicine Office of Research to facilitate
collaborative pilot projects between faculty at the two campuses. These pilots may be
new partnerships or already established partnerships between faculty.
Eligibility (applicants must meet all criteria)
1. Demonstration of Novelty. The application should clearly state how the requested
funds will lead to the pursuit of novel research ideas, how this leads to collaborations
with other investigators at OSUWMC (or Nationwide Children’s Hospital & Research
Institute in the case of the Cross-Campus-Collaborative pilots), or if laboratory
resources (such as a critical equipment) are requested, that the resource will benefit
multiple investigators. Proposals from teams proposing programmatic grants (P01,
U54, U01) or multi-PI R01 grants are particularly encouraged and will receive priority
for funding.
2. Productivity of Research Program. The PI(s) must have an active research
program and demonstrate a recent (within 2 years) history of program productivity.
Examples of these metrics include, but are not limited to or restricted by, PI status
on past and current NIH grants (support at the level of an R21 or R01 in last two
years) and peer reviewed publications (i.e., at least 2 publications per year in
journals with impact factors > 6.).
Updated 3/12/2015
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3. COM Appointment and Protected Time. Only full time faculty from tenure initiating
units (primary home departments) within COM and a rank of at least Assistant
Professor (any track) are eligible for funding. Nationwide Children’s faculty are
eligible only if they are Co-PIs with Wexner Medical Center faculty in the CrossCampus-Collaborative Pilots. Department Chairs and Center/Institute Directors are
not eligible to apply. Applications should state how the pilot study/resource will
facilitate external grant applications that a) return full indirect costs to the COM and
b) provide salary support commensurate with a ≥ 25 percent effort (e.g., NIH RO1,
P01 and U54 applications). Applicants must have a faculty rank of at least an
Assistant Professor level or above (any track).
Questions of eligibility should be
addressed with the Vice Dean for Research’s office in the COM prior to submission.
This office will render a timely decision and sign off on eligibility. All applicants must
demonstrate sufficient protected research time to accomplish the project
(documented by the departmental chair [and division director if applicable]).
Previously funded faculty are permitted to apply once again after 3 years.
4. Competitive Federal Application. The PI must detail how the research will lead to
a competitive federal application with full indirect costs (excludes equipment grant)
within one year of the award start date.
Deadlines
There will be multiple application deadlines per year, with the first occurring on April 30,
2015, the second on August 31, 2015, and the third on December 31, 2015. All
applications are due to the COM Office of Research (comor@osumc.edu) by 5:00
PM on the designated deadline day. If the deadline falls during a weekend, applications
will be accepted the next business day by no later than 5:00 PM.
Review Process
All applications will undergo scientific review by a designated institutional review panel
comprised of senior clinical and basic science investigators at OSU who are currently
funded, and have grant review experience at a national level. These investigators will
serve as primary and secondary reviewers for all proposals. All proposals will receive
an NIH-format scientific priority score with an abbreviated written review that will be
made available to the top eight applicants within 45 days of submission. Standard
conflict of interest criteria will be considered when assigning and reviewing proposals.
Funding is targeted to begin approximately 30 days after application approval.
Applications will be prioritized by COM leadership based on the score and review of the
Scientific Review Committee. The funding priority will be reduced for applicants that
have received intramural pilot funding within the last three years from the College of
Medicine, COM Departments, and Office of Heath Sciences centers and institutes.
Such examples include the Pelotonia, CCTS, or Neurosciences pilot programs. The
major criterion for priority will be the realistic expectation of successful grant awards to
the applicant within 1-2 years. Other factors are the track record of the PI, the scientific
merit of the proposal, and the quality of the investigative team and environment.
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Matching funds by a department, Center, or program will be considered strong evidence
of broad support but are not required.
Funding
Funding will be limited to one-time support for the project identified in the pilot funding
application. Awards are limited up to $25,000 for single investigator projects and up to
$50,000 for larger team projects. Funds are intended to primarily support laboratory
personnel, supplies and other required expenses (e.g., cores). Funds will not support
salary for the PI or any travel except when travel is required to improve the
competitiveness of the grant (e.g., invited presentation to the NIH for a P01). Specific
budget line items may be cut based on available funding and/or inadequate justification.
This program is not intended to support faculty retention. Funds not utilized by end of
the twelve month award period need to be spent within the next 6 months.
All supported faculty will be reviewed over the 12 months following support. Success on
the acquisition of extramural grants will be noted and considered for future funding
decisions for PIs.
Instructions and application for the Discovery Grant & Cross-CampusCollaborative Program :
Instructions: (1 inch margins, 11 Arial font) and append as a single PDF file.
1. Cover Letter (1 page limit) Provide a summary of research program, funding/NIH
application status, lab productivity, and specific use for pilot funding.
2. Cover Page Form (see page 4)
3. Detailed Budget: Use the form page provided on page 5.
4. NIH Biosketch. Include a four page biosketch for the PI and Co-Is. List the current,
pending and recent past funding (2 yrs.) available to each applicant. List all
publications (published or in press only) in the past five years.
5. Research Plan (limit 3 pages excluding references). Include a Specific Aims page,
statements of significance and impact, brief research strategy providing an overall
rationale for the experimental approaches proposed (avoiding highly specific details
regarding scientific methods), and a clear statement of how pilot funding will help
achieve a high priority score on a future submission.
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College of Medicine
Dean’s Discovery Grants Program & Nationwide/COM Cross-CampusCollaborative Pilot Program
P.I.
Department
Dept. ORG Number
Fiscal Administrative Contact
Project Title:
Has this or a similar application been submitted to or funded by other OSU pilot
programs? YES / NO (circle). Please list them here:
Total Budget Requested $_______________________
 The PI has other forms of internal (e.g. start-up funding) and external funding (with
the exception of fellow or student funding) but no resource to initiate a novel project.
 The PI will have sufficient protected research time to accomplish the project.
 For mixed split appointees, the PI’s non-COM department chair has agreed to cost
share the funding based on percent appointment.
 Appropriate Department/Division/Institute Faculty Panel has pre-reviewed
submission.
I am in agreement with the above stated conditions of this COM proposal.
Signature _______________________________________________________ Date: ______________
Department Chair/Institute Director/non-COM TIU Chair*
Signature ________________________________________________________ Date: _____________
Division Director (if applicable)
Signature ________________________________________________________ Date: _____________
Department/Institute Administrator/Fiscal Officer
*When applicable, funds will split proportionately between COM and non-COM department chair based
on MOU.
Signature Principal Investigator:____________________________________
Date:______________
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COM Dean’s Discovery Grants Program & Nationwide/COM Cross-CampusCollaborative Pilot Program
Detailed Budget
Principal Investigator Name:
Co-Investigator Name:
Title of Project:
Start Date:
YEAR
1
End Date:
Personnel Costs
Name
% Effort
12 month
Salary
Benefits*
Total
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
Personnel Total:
Supplies and Other (itemize)
$0.00
Other Costs (Core services, statistical services, patient care costs etc)
$0.00
Equipment
$0.00
Total $ Request
$0.00
OSU Benefit Rates: Faculty 29.6%; Postdoctoral Researcher & A&P Staff 35.2%
Updated 3/12/2015
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