Call for Applications

The President’s Intercampus Collaborative Research Stimulation Awards, established by Father Garanzini in 2010, are designed to foster extramurally funded, nationally/internationally recognized, collaborative research projects or programs between investigators at the lakeside and Health Sciences campuses.

General guidelines regarding applications, the selection process and expectations for these awards are listed below:

Applications:

1. Applications require faculty Co-Principal Investigators (Co-PI’s) representing at least two colleges/schools with at least one Co-PI from a Lakeside campus and one from the Health Sciences Campus (HSC), which includes both the Stritch School of Medicine and the Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing.  LUC faculty may participate as Co-PI on more than one application.  Non-LUC investigators may be included as a consultant or a co-investigator on an application, but may not serve as a Co-PI.
2. Applications should delineate the work to be performed at each site.  The relationship of the investigators must be truly collaborative, with each investigator making substantive contributions to the design of the project and the accomplishment of its goals.
3. The application should be submitted in the current format of a nationally peer-reviewed source such as NIH, NSF, etc.  The narrative section (consisting of specific aims, background, preliminary studies, research design, approach and data analysis) should be no more than twelve (12) pages.  Other sections that must be included are: a budget, budget justification, current and pending support, and appropriate biosketches.  Please do not use the grants.gov template.
4. The maximum award is $80,000 total for one year, with a one-year no-cost extension possible upon request and with documentation of adequate progress.  No funds will be carried forward past 24 months.
5. Unless well justified, funds can not be used to pay graduate student salaries/stipends, purchase major equipment, pay for travel to meetings, or support any aspect of any participating PI’s funded grants. Requests for course release during the regular academic year will not be funded because the main activity to be supported by this program (developing an external grant proposal) is considered part of a faculty member’s regular duties. For the same reason, salary support for HSC faculty will not be funded.
6. Applications require letters of support from the chairpersons and deans of all Co-PI’s, providing evidence of release time, the nature of the anticipated outcomes of the award, and any other aspects of how the departments/colleges will nurture the collaborative activity.
7. Applications to augment currently funded (internal or extramural) intercampus collaborative projects will not be accepted.

Selection Process:

1. Applications will be reviewed by a two step process involving outside experts and an Intercampus Research Funding Committee composed of extramurally funded, senior faculty from the lakeside and Health Sciences campuses, with recommendations being forwarded to the President regarding funding and level of support.
2. The review process will be based primarily on the quality of the proposed project, but will also consider the training and productivity of the investigators, and the alignment of the project with potential extramural sources of funding.  The most important sections of the proposal are the research design, approach and data analysis sections.

3. Applications will be strengthened by demonstrating previous productivity in the field by one or more of the investigators, ongoing collaborations among the investigators, and/or prior success by one or more of the investigators in obtaining extramural research funding for other projects.  Evidence of productivity and ongoing collaboration should be demonstrated by preliminary data from the laboratories of the Co-PIs.

Expectations for Funded Projects:

1. Progress reports will be required every six months with an application for nationally reviewed extramural support expected within 18 months of funding. It is expected that this extramural application will include all of the Co-PI’s funded by the President’s Award and be of the scope and level of support warranted by the pilot funding.

2. Postdoctoral research trainees supported by these funds are also expected to submit fellowship applications to extramural funding agencies. 

3. All extramural applications must be submitted through one of the LUC Offices of Research Services.

4. Reports, which should include a brief summary of progress (including abstracts/manuscripts if submitted) and expenditures, will be submitted to the Office of Research Services (ORS) for the Lakeside Campuses for review by the Intercampus Research Funding Committee.  The absence of adequate progress will result in termination of the award.

5. If one of the Co-PI’s leaves LUC, the award will be terminated unless an acceptable alternative Co-PI is identified.

Please contact Drs. Richard Kennedy (6-5139; rkennedy@lumc.edu) or Samuel Attoh (8-8948; sattoh@luc.edu) to discuss potential projects.  If deemed reasonable as a result of these initial discussions, full applications for the initial President’s Intercampus Collaborative Research Stimulation Awards are due [TBD], and should be submitted online through the IPRS system at https://iprs.luc.edu/Login.aspx. 

The grant application should be in the current format of a nationally peer-reviewed source such as NIH, NSF, etc., and must include:

1. A cover page clearly identifying the Co-PI’s and their department and college/school of primary appointment; joint appointments should also be identified. Use the template that is provided here.
2. A narrative section (consisting of specific aims, background, preliminary studies, research design, approach and data analysis) that is no more than twelve (12) pages.
3. Budget (NOTE: salary requests must also carry appropriate fringe benefits at the “operating” rates—see http://www.luc.edu/finance/fbrates.shtml).
4. Budget justification.
5. Current and pending support (both internal and external funding).
6. Appropriate biosketches.
7. Letters of support from chairs and deans of all Co-PI’s.

Award Processing
Awards will be announced in September, usually with a start date of October 1. Each award will be assigned its own “AU” number. Costs incurred at both lakeside and HSC locations can be charged to this AU.