Faculty Facilitator

Topic

Grants

relates to sponsored projects - pre- or post-award

Change What You Can

Academics are the nexus of a university. They interact with other academics at all levels, administration, parents, donors, funding agencies, and corporate partners. These interactions can be helpful and productive, or they can be a source of frustration. While the ability to work with (or around) these groups is a

Types of Research Funding

Academic research is funded through a variety of sources each of which have distinct pros and cons. It's important to understand these, as the funding type determines what it can be spent on and when, and what risks are associated with using it. Many basic biomedical researchers assume

2025 NIH Simplified Review Framework

With the goals of both reducing review burden and broadening the number of individuals and institutions working with the NIH, the NIH is moving to a simplified review framework for all grants submitted on or after January 25, 2025. As of this writing, the outcome of review currently includes 5

Grant Tip - Clearly State Your Expected Results

The Research Strategy of an NIH R01 grant contains descriptions of experiments to be performed in order to achieve the goal of the proposed research. While most people do an excellent job stating the goal of an experiment and describing methodology, many forget to clearly define what they expect to

NIH Letters of Support

A Letter of Support for a grant is a means to convey to reviewers that the PI has in place the expertise and resources to complete the proposed grant aims. The letter should be succinct and tailored for the specific grant that the PI is applying for. Structure of the

NIH URM Eligibility

There are a variety of grants, fellowships, and supplements available to individuals who meet the NIH’s definition of an Underrepresented Population in the US Biomedical, Clinical, Behavioral and Social Sciences Research Enterprise (URM). However, these funding mechanisms are underutilized because the NIH’s definition is rather broad, and many

Sabbatical as a Fiscal Tool

A sabbatical can have many purposes, including a very pragmatic fiscal one. For each unit of time worked, a faculty member earns X many hours of sabbatical time, similar to the way staff accrue vacation time. Then, once a faculty member reaches a minimum amount of accrued time, the faculty

Calculating Indirects as Part of a Total Award Budget

Some funding announcements provide budget information as a maximum allowed total cost along with a rate to budget indirects. The most common error is to calculate the indirect costs off of the total costs. Here's how to do it correctly.

Cost Shares

A cost share is a financial mechanism for interested parties to demonstrate commitment to a project or a plan, and to increase available funds for that project or plan. Cost sharing can be “Voluntary” or “Mandatory”. Mandatory cost sharing is exactly what it sounds like. The cost sharing is required