The Office of Foundations Relations is pleased to share this open call for funding from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative.
UCSC Contact: Samantha Forde | forde@ucsc.edu
Funder: Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI)
Program: Collaborative Pairs Pilot Project Awards
Informational Webinar: May 24, 2023, 9-9:50 am PT. Register here.
LOIs due: June 22, 2023, 5:00 am PT
Overview
The Collaborative Pairs Pilot Project Awards support pairs of investigators and their teams to explore innovative, interdisciplinary approaches to address critical challenges in the fields of neurodegenerative disease and fundamental neuroscience.
CZI invites applications for a new Request for Applications (RFA) that supports Cycle 2 of the Collaborative Pairs Pilot Project Awards. The Neurodegeneration Challenge Network (NDCN) will support investigations into areas of fundamental neuroscience beyond neurodegenerative disease, in particular in areas where there is potential for complementarity or synergy with their existing work in the NDCN and/or other CZScience program areas. This RFA scope includes basic investigations into the cellular, molecular and circuit mechanisms of memory and cognition and the neuroscience of sleep.
The Collaborative Pairs Pilot Project is intended to catalyze new collaborations and scientific partnerships and springboard early-stage projects that are bold, creative and “out-of-the-box.” The Collaborative Pairs mechanism focuses specifically on pairs of investigators.
Learn about previous grantees and view the previous Cycle 1 RFA.
Please see full opportunity description and guidelines here.
Funding Level
$200,000 (inclusive of up to 15% indirect costs) total costs per collaborating pair for a period of 18 months, after which successful projects will be eligible to apply for additional four-year acceleration grants that build on pilot phase studies.
Eligibility
- Collaborations should include two principal investigators (PIs).
- All applicants must hold a Ph.D., MD, or equivalent degree and have an academic faculty position or equivalent independent investigator status at a college, university, medical school, or other research facility.
- While it is permissible for applicants to have previously worked together, the pair cannot have received joint funding for either this or any other project.
- At least one of the applicants must be an early-career investigator or a mid-career investigator in an independent academic faculty position or equivalent.
- An early-career investigator is defined as an individual who has been in their independent academic faculty role for zero to six years at the time of the Letter of Intent due date, i.e. have started their first independent position between June 22, 2017 and June 22, 2023.
- A mid-career investigator is defined as in their faculty role for more than six years but not more than 10 years at the time of the Letter of Intent due date, i.e. have started a first independent position between June 22, 2013 and June 21, 2017.
Full eligibility requirements can be found in the applications and instructions document.
Timeline
- May 24, 2023 Informational Webinar, 9-9:50 am PT. Register and submit questions here.
- June 22, 2023 LOIs due by 5:00 pm PT
- August 3, 2023 LOI decisions announced; Full application portal opens
- September 14, 2023 Applications due by 5:00 pm. PT
- January 2024 Earliest notification of decisions
- March 1, 2024 Expected start date of award period
Special Instructions
Please notify the Office of Foundation Relations if you are interested in applying to this opportunity (cfr@ucsc.edu). For support developing your LOI, please contact the Research Development Specialist (RDS) assigned to your unit or send a request to resdev@ucsc.edu. If invited to submit a full proposal, please submit a proposal intake form prior to UCSC’s internal Institutional Deadlines. Your RDS can also help you develop your proposal.
The Office of Foundation Relations is a unit of University Relations. The FR team creates and maintains mutually beneficial, long-term relationships with private organizations, matching grant initiatives with educational and research programs and centers. FR supports faculty and staff to identify and approach these and other private foundations and corporations for funding, to assist in strategic positioning of the grant application, and to facilitate funder campus visits.
For a list of recent funding opportunities, please visit the FR website. FR Calls for Funding