Research
CIMR Pilot Grant
Overview
The Center for Immunology and Microbial Research (CIMR) will support two investigators collaborating on a one-year interdisciplinary pilot project. The project should bridge areas in immunology, microbial pathogenesis, and infectious diseases and address scientific questions important to human health. Funding will be limited to $40,000 for one year.
Objectives
The purpose of the pilot grant is to initiate new research and help investigators generate data that will enhance their competitiveness for extramural funding. It is expected that the funded investigators will submit a collaborative extramural grant proposal within two years of receiving the award. Therefore, a major review criterion of these applications will be their potential to secure external funding.
Eligibility
Applicants (PIs) are limited to investigators who are full-time UMMC faculty. At least one applicant must be an active CIMR member. The project should align with the goals of CIMR and focus on areas, including but not limited to microbial pathogenesis, infectious diseases, or immunology, to improve human health.
Application Submission
Applications must be submitted online via the IRSP REDCap portal on the UMMC Research Intranet. Instructions on how to apply will be available on the UMMC Research intranet and the CIMR website.
All page limits described in the CIMR Pilot Grant Application Guide must be followed.
CIMR Pilot Grants are made for a one-year period. The deadline for application submission is May 1st.
Restrictions on the use of funds
No awards will be made for faculty salary, travel, or consultant expenses. Funds for other personnel, supplies, equipment, and other costs will be allowable. Facilities and Administrative Costs (F&A) are not allowable.
Review and Selection Process
The Chair of the Review Committee will assign Primary and Secondary reviewers for each application, which will not include anyone associated with a submitted pilot project. Members of the Review Committee will independently evaluate the applications’ scientific merit and consider each of the review criteria: Significance, Investigator, Innovation, Approach, Environment, and Potential for Securing Extramural Funding. The NIH scoring scale from 1(exceptional) to 9 (poor) will be used. As a part of the scientific evaluation process, the reviewers will also assess the involvement of human subjects, live vertebrate animals, and evaluate whether materials or procedures pose potential hazards to research personnel and/or the environment, and determine if adequate protective measures are proposed.
The Review Committee Chair will compile scores, including the overall impact scores for each application. At a general meeting of the Review Committee, recommendations and comments will be discussed, finalized, and forwarded to the CIMR Director. The recommended applications will receive a second level of review by the CIMR Executive Committee for the decision about funding the top-rated application. Any CIMR Executive Committee members associated with a submitted pilot project will not be involved in this decision. Successful applicants will be notified in July 2025
Monitoring of expenditures
The CIMR Executive Committee reserves the right to revoke any award if sufficient progress is not demonstrated or if overlapping funding for the project is received from other sources. Investigators are required to report any overlap funding promptly and must relinquish Pilot Grant funds upon securing alternative funding.
Extension of time or funds of the original award will generally not be considered. Requests for such extensions under the most extenuating circumstances should be anticipated and submitted at least two weeks prior to the termination date of the award.
Mandatory reports
A final report of research findings and plans for submission of an application for extramural funding will be required 30 days following the end of the funding period. This report should include the awardees' progress, publications, pending requests, and awards received from other sources. In addition, a follow-up report will be requested approximately 2 years after the initiation of the award. This report will be important in considering any subsequent request by an award recipient for further support. Instructions for completing these reports will be sent to the grant recipients. Any invention resulting from a Pilot Grant must be reported to the CIMR Director.
Acknowledge Support
All publications and abstracts resulting from research supported either directly or indirectly by a CIMR pilot grant should acknowledge the support with the following statement: "Research reported in this publication was supported by a pilot grant from the UMMC Center for Immunology and Microbial Research.”