Funding Announcements

The National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have released a second solicitation for Smart Health and Biomedical Research in the Era of Artificial Intelligence through the Smart and Connected Health (SCH) program. The SCH program supports innovative, high-risk, high-reward research to promote disruptive transformations in biomedical and public health research, drawing from coordinated, convergent, and interdisciplinary approaches from “multiple domains of computer and information science, engineering, mathematical sciences and the biomedical, social, behavioral, and economic sciences.” The solicitation includes participation from the NSF Directorates for Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE), Engineering (ENG), Mathematical and Physical Sciences (MPS), and Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences (SBE) as well as 23 NIH Institutes and Centers.

Proposals may address a wide range of research areas including computational science, algorithmic, cyber-physical systems (CPS) integration, imaging, robotics, and systemic level health disparities and health equity issues in biomedical and public health data science research. Additionally, proposals can address challenges related to the large amounts of multi-level and multi-scale data generated by biomedical and behavioral research. The solicitation states that “traditional disease-centric medical, clinical, pharmacological, biological or physiological studies and evaluations are outside the scope of this solicitation.”

Funding Information: Individual projects will be funded for up to four years for a total of $1.2M ($300,000 per year).

Due Dates: Subsequent due dates for this solicitation are Oct. 3, 2024, and Oct. 3, 2025.

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The Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) has launched the Emerging Health Innovators (EHI) Initiative to engage and fund early career investigators and community innovators, aiming to enhance access to federal funding and address healthcare disparities in the U.S. This collaborative effort with ARPANET-H’s Customer Experience Hub includes a Network Survey to gather insights on relevant research topics and challenges faced by the community.

The survey is open to early-stage researchers (within ten years of their terminal degree), community health workers, and administrators at minority-serving institutions (MSIs) and non-profits, with responses due Oct. 25, 2024 by 11:59 p.m. ET.

EHI plans to utilize survey findings to shape a forthcoming solicitation featuring two funding tracks: the Technology-Driven Innovation Track 1, focusing on innovative health technology development, and the Community-Centered Innovation Track 2, aimed at Community-Engaged Research (CER). Track 1 is for early career investigators, including those at MSIs, while Track 2 is for community innovators such as medical professionals and social workers addressing specific community needs. A detailed solicitation is expected later this year. For more information, visit the ARPA-H website.

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The national chapter of the American Cancer Society has awarded BU a three-year Institutional Research Grant to encourage early-stage investigators by providing pilot funds for cancer research.  These funds will make it possible for investigators to complete promising new projects and/or pursue novel ideas that will provide preliminary data for future grant applications from other agencies and programs.  Research topics may include basic biomedical research, biomedical engineering, translational, clinical, population-based, psychosocial, and epidemiologic cancer research.

Award Amount: Four one-year awards of $50,000 each will be given.

Eligibility:

• Applicants must have an appointment as Instructor or Assistant Professor.
• Applicants must be within the first six years of their independent faculty (or equivalent) appointment.
• Applicants may not have received major national funding including from NIH, NSF, ACS, and DOD. Career development award funding is acceptable (e.g. NIH K award).
• Senior investigators, postdoctoral fellows and research associates are NOT eligible to apply.
• One of the four awards will be reserved for an investigator from an underrepresented minority group.

Priority will be given to applications that demonstrate promise to lead to further funding. Applications for novel clinical projects and community-based projects are encouraged. Cancer-related research will be interpreted using the broadest definition.

Grant Application Deadline: Oct. 31, 2024.

Internal Contact: Erin.McCarthy@bmc.org │ (617) 638-7518.

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The Warren Alpert Foundation Prize, in association with Harvard Medical School, recognizes and honors one or more scientists, physicians and researchers whose scientific achievements have led to the prevention, cure, or treatment of human disorders or for seminal research that holds great promise to change our ability to treat disease.

The prize was established in 1987 by the late philanthropist and businessman, Warren Alpert and the Warren Alpert Foundation. The Warren Alpert Prize is given internationally and since its inception, 10 Nobel Prize winners have received the award. The prize is administered in concert with Harvard Medical School and the Warren Alpert Foundation, in Providence, Rhode Island. An annual scientific symposium is held at Harvard Medical School each fall in honor of the recipient(s).

ELIGIBILITY: Up to five nominees may be co-nominated in one nomination. Multiple nominations from an institution are permitted. Nominations are accepted from physicians and scientists from around the world. U.S. and non-U.S. citizens are eligible to be nominated.

NOMINATION PROCESS: Awards include $500,000 (to be split equally if more than one recipient is selected), a citation and plaque. Nominations are submitted through an online form. Nominations must include:

• Contact information for the nominee and nominator.
• Optional additional nominees (if applicable).
• A suggested citation for the award (maximum fifty words).
• Description of the nominee’s research as it relates to the nomination. Include the top five bibliographical references related to the nominations.
• Brief explanation of why you are nominating this person or group over others who have made significant contributions in the same area of research.
  • If nominating an individual, comment on whether it is appropriate to share this prize. If so, please describe their contributions.
• Two letters of support.
• CV of the nominee(s).

DEADLINE: Nominations Due by Friday, Nov. 8, 2024

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The National Science Foundation (NSF) released the solicitation for the Mid-Scale Research Infrastructure-1 (Mid-scale RI-1) program. NSF defines Research Infrastructure (RI) as “any combination of facilities, equipment, instrumentation, computational hardware or software, and the necessary human capital in support of the same.” Project proposals should involve the training of a diverse workforce engaged in STEM research infrastructure, well-conceived technical and management plans, and may also include upgrades to existing research infrastructure. Through the solicitation, NSF plans to support instrumentation and infrastructure projects in two tracks:

Implementation track (e.g., acquisition and/or construction).

Design track is intended to facilitate progress toward readiness for a mid-scale range implementation project.

Mid-Scale RI-1 projects should fulfill research community-defined needs such as those identified in National Academies reports and decadal surveys, through research community planning and prioritizing exercises, or in other national priorities. NSF is especially interested in infrastructure projects that provide more advanced research capabilities relative to what is generally available to the U.S. research community. Mid-Scale RI-1 is the smaller component of NSF’s Mid-Scale Research Infrastructure program and will support projects with total costs from $4M up to, but not including, $20M for implementation projects and $400,000 up to, but not including, $20M for design activities meant to inform a future Mid-Scale RI-1 or larger Mid-Scale RI-2 proposal.

The Mid-scale RI-1 Program seeks to broaden the representation of PIs and institutions in its award portfolio, including a geographically diverse set of institutions (especially those in EPSCoR jurisdictions) and PIs who are women, early-career researchers, persons with disabilities, or members of other groups underrepresented in STEM. This solicitation for Mid-scale RI-1 is very similar to previous solicitations, but additionally encourages PIs to incorporate accessibility as part of any Mid-scale RI-1 design activity or implementation project.

Please find a summary of prior Mid-Scale RI-1 awards.

Eligibility: While there are no limits on who may serve as a PI and the number of proposals per organization, individuals may only serve as a PI or co-PI for no more than one proposal.

Award Information: NSF expects to make five to 10 awards totaling $100M, with $50M in each fiscal year, subject to appropriations.

NSF Due Dates: Preliminary proposals are due to NSF on Nov. 18, 2024. | Full proposals are due to NSF on March 19, 2025, by 5 p.m. at the submitting organization’s local time.

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The Albert Einstein World Award of Science was created as a means of recognition and encouragement for scientific and technological research and development. It takes into special consideration research which has brought true benefit and wellbeing to humankind. The World Award of Science recognizes these individuals for their exceptional contributions to the advancement of science, emphasizing their impact on both their specific field and the broader scientific community.

Winners are characterized by several key attributes listed below:

• Groundbreaking scientific contributions
• International recognition and influence
• Advancement of knowledge
• Interdisciplinary impact
• Leadership in the scientific community
• Contributions to solving global challenges
• Sustained excellence in research
• Educational contributions
• Promotion of scientific collaboration
• Innovation and creativity

Award Information: The award consists of a diploma, a commemorative medal and an award cheque.

For more information about the nomination process, please consult the award website.

Nomination Deadline: Friday, Nov. 29, 2024 by 11:59 p.m. Central European Time.

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