IDI Trainee Transformative Research Grant Program

Guidelines 

The goal of this funding mechanism is to provide support for small-dollar (up to $2,000), trainee-driven, transformative research grants. Applicants must be trainee members of IDI performing research that aligns with the mission of the IDI. Trainee members include research assistants/associates, graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, research scientists and medical fellows. 

Applicants must identify an aspect of their project that would be enhanced by a collaborator with expertise not currently available in their own laboratory. The applicant must justify how this grant would increase the impact of their study, their ability to publish their research, and/or how the proposed studies might lead to new directions for their project. 

The applicant must identify a PI at Ohio State or Nationwide Children’s Hospital whose group has the necessary expertise. This cannot be a core facility. The PI will connect the applicant with someone in their lab that can provide technical and intellectual input to allow completion of the proposed experiments. This person acts as the co-applicant, with their PI’s approval. The expectation is that the applicant and coapplicant will work together on the proposed experiments. If the experiments are successful, this should result in a publication between the two laboratories. 

Requested funds can be used for reagents, software, animals, computing time, core facility charges, or other appropriate costs, not including salary. If using a core facility or external provider, the data generated must be further utilized by the applicant and co-applicant to advance their joint study. 

The potential range of projects is broad, but to provide some indication of possible collaborations, two examples are provided below. 

1. A trainee has identified a potential glycan receptor for a viral protein using a glycan array. This receptor is not commercially available, but the applicant has identified a lab that synthesizes similar carbohydrate structures and is willing to collaborate to synthesize this structure, which the applicant will use in binding studies. 
2. A laboratory has identified a host molecule, the expression of which is induced during a bacterial infection. The applicant wants to identify specifically which cell type(s) are responding and identified a laboratory that routinely performs similar studies. The applicant’s proposal seeks funds to submit the tissues to a core facility for embedding and slicing and for subsequent analysis in collaboration with the co-applicant by fluorescent staining, microscopy and image analysis. 

Submission and Review Process 

Proposals must be submitted in PDF format and must include the following: 

1. Cover form including PI signatures
2. A description of the project including the proposed experiments, justification of the need for these experiments (including a mention of the trainee’s independent initiation of the project), and justification of collaborating PI and co-applicant
   1. Two-page limit, including figures, tables, and references
   2. Single spaced, one inch margins
3. Applicant’s and co-applicant’s CVs 
4. Detailed budget describing how the funds will be used (no specific format)
5. Budget justification 

Timeline and Funding

Applications are accepted twice per year. Applications must be submitted to as a single PDF by 5:00 PM (ET) on the due date. If the due date falls on a weekend or University holiday, the due date is the next business day.

Proposals fulfilling program requirements will be reviewed by the IDI Education Committee. These reviews will be used to select recipients and will be provided to applicants in order to strengthen future applications. Applications can be resubmitted on one additional occasion.

Application Requirements

1. The applicant and their PI have to be members of IDI prior to the application being submitted. The co-applicant and their PI have to join IDI if the grant is awarded. 
   1. Become an IDI member 
2. Applicants and co-applicants can be named on only one application per cycle. 
3. Applicants are not eligible for a second award within a two-year period. 

Award Requirements

1. The supported experiments must be conducted within six months from the date of the award. 
2. The applicant and co-applicant must attend each other’s laboratory meetings at least once a month for six months, with the aim of identifying other areas of potential synergy and providing an additional educational opportunity. 
3. The applicant will notify IDI of any presentations, abstracts and publications that result from the funding. 
4. The applicant and co-applicant agree to present at an IDI affiliated seminar/work in progress series or the IDI annual scientific meeting. 
5. A one-page summary report must be submitted at the conclusion of the six-month project and must include the following: 
   1. Details re: how the award transformed the project 
   2. Plans for presentations and publications