We are writing today with exciting news about the evolution of our seed grant program. These past programs have focused on identifying and supporting collaborative teams that could help build toward large-scale, collaborative grants. Now, we believe several of these teams and likely others from among our members are ready to focus attention on center-grant funding or other multi-investigator opportunities (e.g., NSF MRSEC, NSF BII, DoD MURI, NIH P01). In conversations with Syracuse University’s Office of Research, we have advocated for concrete ways to support teams working on these types of funding opportunities to maintain the growth of the Institute and the University’s research community.
We now expect the Office of Research to very soon launch a standing program designed to facilitate team science and to support faculty pursuing funding opportunities that require a collaborative approach. In anticipation of this imminent program, the Institute is soliciting letters of intent (LOIs) on a rolling basis for teams to describe their existing collaborations and their broader vision for the work and to identify gaps in the team. After interviews with applicants, we will work with teams to develop applications to the team science program from the Office of Research.
Proposer Teams: Consistent with the framework of interdisciplinary research groups, which require diverse expertise and push disciplinary boundaries, we seek to support teams with at least two and up to seven co-PIs in addition to the lead PI (teams of 3-8). There are no constraints on the departments or fields for the PIs. The LOI must describe a coherent collaborative research theme that moves the team and/or the Institute toward a successful, multi-investigator award.
Possible Activities: Resources available to teams may include, but are not limited to: course buy-out, project management, red team and external reviews, external consultants, graphic and figure support, facilitated team building, community assessments, travel, and/or prototyping to enable the next extramural proposal from the team. The program will not support research activity, for example graduate student effort or equipment. However, we do expect the Office of Research to soon reinstate a version of the previous Good to Great program to provide this type of support.
Letter of Intent: An individual BioInspired member may serve as the PI on only one LOI but may also serve as a co-PI on one additional LOI/grant if there is no overlap in project theme. A LOI must include a lead PI and two to seven co-PIs.
Content and Format: 1 page, in Arial, Calibri, or Times New Roman with a size of 11+ points.
- The Team: describe the team, your history of collaboration, and your existing scholarly, educational, and funded activities (e.g., papers, patents, co-mentored students, grants)
- Research Theme: describe the research theme, including your vision of how it fits into the research ecosystem of BioInspired and/or expected opportunities from specific funders.
- Next Steps: describe the perceived needs of the team to move forward with your next steps. What do you need to achieve your goals?
Questions and Submission: Contact us at bioinspired@syr.edu and we will respond promptly.