Research Excellence Program

Research Excellence Fund Support of Biomedical Research is intended as seed money for obtaining external grant support. The biggest factor in funding is a high likelihood that the seed money will lead to an external award, especially an award from the National Institutes of Health. The more evidence you can provide that your application will increase your chance for an NIH or related grant, the better your chances of success.

• Highest preference will be given to support investigators with a record of publication and recent external funding, but who do not have external support currently. Such "bridge funding" allows researchers to remain active and obtain the preliminary data necessary for preparing external proposals.
• Next highest preference is to investigators who have applied for external (primarily NIH) funding but were not funded, and whose scores and reviews suggest that funding of a resubmission is likely with REF support.
• High preference will be given to investigators who (a) are establishing new external collaborations, (b) have unanticipated needs not covered by an external grant, (c) have external support that is insufficient to maintain a research program, (d) plan to pursue translational or commercial applications, or (e) engage in multi-investigator projects that encourage interdisciplinary research, especially across department boundaries.
• Moderate preference will be given to support investigators who have substantial external support but need additional funding.
• Low preference will be given to investigators who propose projects that are unlikely to lead to external grant support, even if they lead to publications.
• No preference will be given to investigators who propose projects that are unlikely to lead to external grant support or publications.

CBR members have a competitive preference for obtaining CBR funding, but this factor is less important than the factors listed above.

REF funds cannot be used for faculty summer salary or academic year graduate student support, but may be used to buy out a course during the academic year or support a graduate student in the summer. Other allowed costs include equipment, supplies, research-related travel, animal care costs, etc. On occasion REF funds have been used to pay salaries for post docs or technicians, but the amount is insufficient for long-term support of such personnel.

The maximum amount that can be requested in one year is $25,000. Most awards will be for significantly less than this amount. A typical award might be for $12,500. All past year award information should be in the annual reports.

REF funding will not normally continue for more than two consecutive years without obtaining external support, or without evidence of a vigorous attempt to obtain external support.