• The investigator must have an advanced degree (e.g., PhD, MD, PharmD), have an eligible faculty appointment (see below) at UConn Storrs, UConn Health, or one of the regional campuses, and must be eligible to submit external grants through InCHIP or UConn Health.
• Eligible faculty appointments are tenured or tenure-track faculty, in-residence research faculty, clinical faculty, other research faculty, and research scientists/scholars.
• Ineligible faculty appointments are post-doctoral fellows, lecturers, research assistants and research associates, visiting titles, and adjunct faculty.
  Graduate students are not eligible for this opportunity.
• An individual may only submit one proposal for this competition as the Principal Investigator (PI). Multiple PIs are permitted for this seed grant opportunity.

• The proposed research for which an interdisciplinary team is being formed/developed, must focus on human health and be consistent with InCHIP’s mission.
• If funded, late changes to the project’s objectives and budget will require approval from relevant InCHIP staff.
• Any external grant proposal that is written with support from a Rolling Seed Grant must be submitted through InCHIP.

Funds may be used to support expenses such as: workshop expenses including food, room rentals, external speakers fees/travel if justified to move the team forward, and copying of workshop materials; routine research-related expenses such as payment of participants, copying of research material (e.g., questionnaires, consent forms), renting and purchasing of specialized equipment (e.g., digital recorder), or paying research assistants with specialized skills necessary for the proposed project (e.g., fluency in Spanish); publication fees; and other activities to build a new teams.Seed grant funds may not be used for the following:

• Principal Investigator’s, Co-Investigator’s, or any faculty member’s salary.
• Living expenses.
• Service/maintenance contracts on equipment.
• Laboratory renovations or other infrastructure renovations.
• Institutional memberships in professional organizations.
• Indirect costs, including clerical and administrative personnel salaries.
• Investigator training costs, including tuition.
• Routine office equipment (e.g., computers).
• Student tuition and/or fees.

InCHIP may request modifications to the budget during the review process.

• Proposals will be accepted on a rolling basis and reviewed within approximately 3 weeks.
• Proposals should be submitted via email to Greidy Miralles (greidy.miralles@uconn.edu).
• The Rolling Seed Grant application (maximum of 2 single-spaced pages, not including references, timeline, and budget) requires the following information:
  • Contact information (name, degree, department, address, and email) for PI(s)
  • Project Description (2-page limit) :
    • For proposals seeking funding for the development of new interdisciplinary research teams: Describe the planned activities and how these activities will support the development of a new interdisciplinary research team, the types of funding mechanisms the new team might pursue (e.g., R21, R01, Center Grants), and a timeline and budget for the proposed activities. A list of researchers who will participate in the proposed activities should be included (with letters of support), but this list does not need to be exhaustive as one of the goals of the proposal may be to identify new team members.
    • For proposals seeking bridge, matched funding, or project completion funding: Describe the current status of the project, the planned activities this funding would pay for, and how those activities would help meet the aims of your original externally funded proposal.
    • The 2-page limit does not include the reference list, timeline, budget, or any letters of support from participating researchers. Appendices are not permitted.
  • Budgets: Maximum of $5,000 requested. Please articulate how the requested funding connect with the planned activities in your project description.
    
    • For requests for bridge funding and project conclusion funding– budgets must describe other sources of funding and the articulate the financial gap in funding (costs requested through this mechanism cannot exceed 1/3 of the total costs awarded by other sources).
  • Letters of support from co-investigators should include a statement that they will participate in the proposed activities. Letters of support are required for proposals developing new teams.
• Seed grant proposals are not required to be routed through InCHIP or Sponsored Program Services (SPS).
• Investigators will be notified via email whether their proposal has been awarded funding.

Reviews will be conducted by InCHIP leadership upon receipt of the proposal. Funding decisions will be made based will be based on the following review criteria, in no particular order:

• Scientific merit of the research idea.
• Extent to which a successful outcome is considered likely and any risk in outcome is outweighed by the potential benefits of success.
• Extent to which the research area is novel or innovative, especially a proposal testing a new methodology, new theory, or new area in need of pilot data.
• Importance of the potential research question to external funders and the feasibility of plans to submit a subsequent proposal to external funders within 18 months of funding.
• Composition of the research team (preference will be given to interdisciplinary work).
• Relevance to the mission and strategic priorities of InCHIP.

The awarded PIs are responsible for obtaining all required approvals for the research from their relevant IRB(s). Please visit the UConn IRB website for more information on IRB approval for research conducted at the UConn Storrs Campus, the five regional campuses, the School of Law and the School of Social Work. For more information on IRB approval for research conducted at UConn Health, please visit the UConn Health IRB website.Awardees will be required to submit a brief progress report after 6 months, a final report at the conclusion of the project or award period, and periodic check-ins over the following 5 years to track external grant applications/awards stemming from the seed grant. Changes to the project’s objectives, PIs, and budget will require prior approval from InCHIP staff.Detailed awardee instructions/requirements will be distributed to seed grant winners when they are notified of the award decisions. All awardee requirements described above are subject to change in accordance with updated institutional procedures (e.g., routing requirements).