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Updated 12.16.09

CBC Lever Award

Request for Applications

Eligibility:

  • Applicants must be tenured or tenure-eligible faculty with strong research programs at University of Chicago, Northwestern University, or University of Illinois at Chicago who will jointly engage in collaborative research addressing questions in Systems Biology with a focus on the technologies of proteomics, informatics, or imaging.
  • Applicants must be preparing a large-scale, multi-institutional proposal for submission to an external funding agency which can be strengthened by a commitment for exceptional institutional support.
  • Proposals must have at least one Principal Investigator from each of the three CBC universities.
  • There may be multiple applications from each institution.
  • There is no expectation that Lever Awards will be distributed evenly among the CBC institutions.

Available Funding:

  • Approximately $10,000,000 available for commitment during 2006-10.
  • Maximum is $1,000,000 per year for three years.
  • Payment of award is conditional on approval of program proposal by external funding agency and host universities.

Key Dates:

  • Ongoing review.
  • Application for Lever Awards must be made at least five weeks in advance of submission to an external agency in order to obtain a letter of commitment from the CBC to be enclosed with the proposal.
  • There will be no post hoc allocation of CBC funds for Levers.

Funding Opportunity Description:

The Chicago Biomedical Consortium (CBC), launched with impetus and support from The Searle Funds at The Chicago Community Trust, seeks to stimulate collaborative research and training in the field of Systems Biology among scientists at the University of Chicago, Northwestern University and the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Beyond offering the opportunity to greatly leverage CBC funding, the structure of the Lever Awards is specifically intended to take advantage of the peer-review process that guides federal and other national funding programs. This allows us to avoid any possibility that CBC support will be awarded by any criteria other than scientific merit. Making the Lever Awards contingent on approval by the independent external review process serves as a means of validating the proposed scientific research. The structure also assures that there will be no allocations based on politics among the three CBC institutions and that the CBC program will be driven by the merit of the science rather than by other institutional considerations.

Lever funds should ideally be used to establish transformative infrastructure that can be made broadly available to the Chicago scientific community.

Application Process:

  • Scientists interested in applying for Lever funds should discuss their projects with the CBC Scientific Director on their campus before proceeding with an application. See below for contact information.
  • Application and review will be ongoing, adaptable to the schedules set by external funding agencies.
  • CBC review of proposals must be completed before submission to external agency. Allow a minimum of three weeks for review. There will be no post hoc allocation of Lever funds.
  • CBC scientists engaged in a collaborative, multi-institutional application of appropriate scope and focus should consult with the CBC Executive Director or Scientific Director on their campuses to confirm the eligibility of the project.
  • Principal Investigators of eligible projects should prepare their proposals according to the guidelines provided below and e-mail the resulting PDF to Kathryn Stallcup (k-stallcup at northwestern dot edu), Executive Director of the CBC.
  • The agency application or available portions thereof may also be provided as needed.


Application Guidelines:
[print application guidelines only]

  • Page 1: Title page
    • Project Title
    • For each Principal Investigator (one at each of the three CBC Universities):
      Name; Academic title; Mailing address; Telephone; Email address
    • Lever funding: Dollars requested of CBC; Dollars requested of external agency
    • External Agency & Specific Program being approached; Date of submission to external agency; Date of expected decision by external agency; Dates of proposed project
  • Pages 2-4: Project Description
    • 3 pages maximum length, using 1 inch margins and 12-point font.
      Statement must include description of the award that the Lever will match; summary of the proposed research or other activity; specification of how additional Lever funds will be used to enhance the mission and efforts of the CBC as well as the proposed research; and nature of the
      inter-institutional collaboration. If extensive references are required, ONLY one extra page may be added at the end of the proposal (see below).
  • Pages 5-10: Project Budgets
  • Page 11: Budget justification
  • Page 12 and beyond:
    • Biosketches (NIH format) of Principal Investigator for each involved institution.
  • Final page:
    • Optional extra references, if needed.
  • Draft NIH project budget can be included as an appendix.
  • Additional information:
    • By previous agreement with Sponsored Research administration offices at Northwestern, UIC, and U Chicago, it is not necessary to have sponsored research approval prior to submission of Lever applications for consideration by the CBC Scientific Review Board. However, once an application is approved for funding by the CBC Board, it is the responsibility of principal investigators to obtain and provide the CBC with all necessary institutional approvals before funding will be initiated.
    • If the CBC Scientific Review Board approves an application for a Lever Award, a letter of commitment for inclusion as part of the application to the external funding agency will be provided. Actual funding of a CBC Lever award is dependent upon receipt of a copy of an award letter from the external agency.

Selection Criteria:

  • Effectiveness of the proposed project for attaining the goals of the CBC.
  • Essential elements are:
    • Inter-institutional collaboration: The research program or project must involve Principal Investigators from each of the CBC universities. All applicants must be tenured or tenure-eligible faculty with strong research programs.
    • Scientific focus: Systems Biology, with emphasis on either proteomics, informatics, or imaging.
    • Scientific merit.
    • Appropriateness of proposed budget.

Selection Process:

• The CBC Scientific Review Board, composed of three scientists from each of the CBC universities, plus external reviewers as deemed necessary, will review applications and recommend awards.

• For approved Levers, the CBC will provide a letter of commitment to be submitted as part of the application to the funding agency.

• When the external proposal is approved through that agency’s peer-reviewed process, the CBC will provide payment of the Lever Award to the research group through standard university award mechanisms.

Reporting Process:

• Each Lever Award will require an annual written report (narrative and financial) on the use of those funds to be submitted to the Executive Director of the CBC.

• In addition, the CBC should receive a copy of all reports submitted to the external funding agency for the full course of that project.

• All publicity regarding a Lever Award and publications that result from the funded work must include the following exact acknowledgment: "This work was funded by the Chicago Biomedical Consortium with support from The Searle Funds at The Chicago Community Trust."



Questions? Contact the CBC Scientific Director on your campus:

UC: Jonathan Silverstein jcs at uchicago dot edu
NU: Richard Morimoto r-morimoto at northwestern dot edu
UIC: Brenda Russell Russell at uic dot edu

Or

Kathryn Stallcup, CBC Executive Director, k-stallcup at northwestern dot edu