Bridge Grants offer support for meritorious unfunded grant applications

• The principal investigator must have their primary academic appointment in the College of Medicine at the rank of assistant professor, associate professor or professor.
• Bridge Grant projects must include an unfunded, individual research grant application that was reviewed in the last 24 months by the NIH (“R” series grants, such as an R01 or R21), NSF, other government agency, or major voluntary health agency (such as the American Cancer Society) that uses a peer review system and provides written critiques to applicants. The critique must be for a full proposal and the score should suggest that it is a meritorious proposal and unlikely to be funded without revision.
• The proposed research must be performed at Penn State College of Medicine.
• The PI must be planning to: a) acquire additional preliminary data that will strengthen the proposal, and b) submit a revised application to an appropriate external sponsor within the coming year.
• The PI’s department must commit to supporting 50% of the direct costs of the Bridge Grant.
• Projects that were previously reviewed for a Bridge Grant and not funded are not eligible for submission. Other exclusions may apply.

• Bridge Grant applicants may request funding for up to 50% of the project’s recommended annual direct costs, not to exceed $100,000 direct costs (e.g., $50,000 from OVDRGS funds plus $50,000 from departmental match funds) for a funding period of up to 12 months. The PI’s department must commit to supporting 50% of the direct costs of the Bridge Grant.
• Bridge Grant funds may be used to support salaries and fringe benefits for the PI and other faculty and staff within the College of Medicine, student stipends, supplies, equipment, publication costs, and expenses related to the project.
• Bridge Grant funds may not be used to support the salaries of collaborators from other colleges or institutions.
• Although it is anticipated that PIs would generally not request more than 5% effort on a Bridge Grant project, applicants are reminded that the committed effort must be appropriate for the scope of the project and the work to be performed by the PI. Faculty salaries, whether on the OVDRGS budget or the departmental match budget, should reflect the percentage of the NIH Salary Cap.
• Prior to the start date of the Bridge Grant funding period, if the PI receives notice of award from an external funding sponsor for the same project, the PI must notify Research Development. Research Development reserves the right to rescind a pending Bridge Grant award based on its assessment of funding overlap.
• The PI of each Bridge Grant award will be required to submit a Final Report upon completion and is expected to serve as a reviewer for internal College of Medicine funding opportunities upon request.

Funding priorities for Bridge Grants will be determined by the Vice Dean for Research and Graduate Studies in consultation with Research Development. Applications will be reviewed by non-conflicted Penn State faculty members with appropriate expertise and scored for the scientific merit of the project as indicated by the unfunded external application, the external review (e.g. Summary Statement), and the proposed research plan. Review criteria will include:

• Importance of the research (Significance, Innovation);
• Rigor and feasibility (Approach);
• Expertise and resources (Investigators, Environment);
• Likelihood that the proposed aims will be completed within 12 months with the requested funding and will significantly strengthen a revised application to an external sponsor; and,
• Potential for the proposed Bridge Grant to enhance the competitive position of the previously-unfunded application and to maintain the PI’s research momentum

Applicants will receive written feedback from the review process.

Previous recipients of funding from College of Medicine bridge grants are listed here.