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OoR Funding

Funds Administered by the OoR

Please click on a heading below to explore funding opportunities within the SOM Office of Research.

 

“FORWARD TOGETHER” INITIATIVE TO SUPPORT CLINICIAN SCIENTISTS

In an effort to bolster the engagement of clinician scientists in research, the School of Medicine Strategic Plan created and supports the SOM wide Physician Scientist Training Program.  The PSTP supports Physician-Scientists at two stages: the resident/fellowship level and early-stage faculty level. For both stages, the program partners with the trainees’ home departments and provide funding for two years to support their research efforts. In addition to receiving monetary support, trainees enter a career development program with peer-level physician scientists across multiple clinical disciplines.

Nominations of eligible applicants from UNC SOM clinical departments are requested annually in the spring for support to begin in July for the academic year. Each clinical department may nominate up to two eligible Physician-Scientist candidates for each award.

Please contact the PSTP Director Alex Duncan with any questions: joseph_duncan@med.unc.edu.

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“PROMOTING HEALTH ACCESS RESEARCH AND CLINICAL RESEARCH IN SOUTHEASTERN NC AWARDS”

The partnership between Novant Health, UNC Health, and the UNC School of Medicine was established to support medical education, research, and clinical services to Novant Health facilities as well as bring better health care solutions and care to rural areas. The Promoting Health Equity and Clinical Research in Southeastern NC Awards supports this partnership and is sponsored by the Research Advisory Council, and this research pilot award program supports research in two areas: clinical and health access.

More information about the pilot awards, including the most recent RFAs, can be found here.

A list of awarded teams is linked here.

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FACULTY COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH CHAT AWARDS

The Faculty Collaborative Research Chat Awards fund meetings to help departments and centers initiate new interdisciplinary collaborations. The intent of the award is to enable the exchange of ideas and expertise between faculty members that will lead to novel and innovative research endeavors. A secondary goal of this award is to encourage collaboration between basic and clinical scientists, as well as conversations between new and established faculty at UNC.

Recipients will be given $300 dollars which will cover expenses for meetings (over 6-10 months) between the requesting unit, collaborators, and other key players from different areas necessary to initiate a new collaborative research project. The topic of the collaboration should not be limited to an existing project or mission of the department or center, but instead should expand the research areas and/or boundaries of the unit.

Only one proposal per department or center will be considered. For clinical departments with multiple divisions, one proposal per division will be reviewed.

To apply for the award, those interested in applying should develop a project title/meeting topic and a brief description (up to 1,000 characters) outlining the following:

  1. The purpose of the meetings (research goal)
  2. How different groups will be involved and timing of the meetings
  3. Include a list of names of the collaborators and their affiliations. Proposals should involve a combination of scientists from basic science and clinical departments as well as new and established faculty.

Applicants must also include a brief endorsement and sign off from the Department Chair or Center Director (to ensure submission of one proposal per unit). Please use the template of this endorsement that can be found here.

A list of awarded collaborations is linked.

The deadline for applications is to be determined. To submit an application, please email the project title, brief description, and endorsement from the Department Chair or Center Director to Janelle Cross at OoR_Submissions@med.unc.edu.

If you do not receive an email confirmation within 24 hours, please call Janelle at 919-966-4287.

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TRANSLATIONAL TEAM SCIENCE AWARDS

The School of Medicine’s Strategic Plan supports the annual Translational Team Science (TTS) Award, which is aimed at capitalizing on the “culture of collaboration” at UNC Chapel Hill to foster new synergistic interdisciplinary teams of basic science and clinical investigators. The award is not restricted to human subjects and tissues, and proposals may include research using cellular and animal model systems; however the project should translate across basic and clinical disciplines.

If awarded, TTS Phase I Feasibility grants will provide a 12-month period to begin to fully engage team members in the development of a competitive continuation proposal for TTS Phase II ( 12 months). Advancement to the next award stage is contingent on the merit of the proposed plan and progress in the prior period. The expectation is that these awards will provide the planning time and initial funds to support early-stage denovo research teams that would otherwise not be possible. This would ultimately lead to submission of novel interdisciplinary program project grants and multiple PI R01s by UNC SOM investigators.

The inaugural TTSA RFA was issued in October 2013. A summary of the teams and projects awarded are listed here.

Please see the latest  TTSA RFP for a description of the program and guidelines for submission.  The FY26 deadline is January 30, 2026.

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EMERGING CHALLENGES IN BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH (ECBR)

The UNC School of Medicine’s Office of Research (OoR) sponsors an annual pilot program, Emerging Challenges in Biomedical Research (ECBR), to provide support for innovative, early-stage research relevant to external strategic funding priorities.

In response the NIH priority on using New Approach Methodologies/Non-Animal Models (NAMs) and New Approach Technologies (NATs), the Fall 2025 round of ECBR funding is focused on advancing translational biomedical research through the use or development of NAMs and NATS. This pilot program seeks to catalyze the development and validation of technologies such as 3D human-derived organoid models, human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), and in silico/AI modeling to investigate disease mechanisms, test therapeutics and toxicology, and explore organ-specific biology as an alternative to traditional animal models.

Awards will provide up to $50,000 in funding for a 12-month project period.  This funding opportunity is open to faculty with primary appointments in the SOM or faculty whose grants are administered by the SOM.

The latest RFP can be found here.

The slides and presentations for two informational webinars on NAM resources can be found here.

It is anticipated that future funding challenges will be aligned with high profile research objectives such as concept clearances from NIH institutes and the Common Fund. A summary on previous award recipients and their projects are listed here. 

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COLLABORATIVE CROSS PILOT PROGRAM

The Collaborative Cross (CC) is a unique UNC resource consisting of a mouse multiparent population derived from eight inbred strains. High level and uniform distribution of genetic variants genome-wide and the presence of combinations of alleles derived from three different subspecies, found only in this population, make this resource uniquely suited to test and characterize the role of genetic diversity in the etiology of biomedical traits. This resource is maintained and distributed by the Systems Genetics Core Facility at UNC.

Successful pilot projects will have access to 96 CC mice at $42 per mouse (30% of regular cost). The CC strains allocated to each pilot project will be based on availability and researchers cannot select specific strains.

The RFP can be found here. Proposals are accepted on a rolling basis and reviewed at the beginning of each month. 

Please contact Jennifer Brennan in the Office of Research with any questions. Proposals can be emailed directly to Jennifer at oor_submissions@med.unc.edu.

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STARTUP/RETENTION FUNDS

The OoR can assist departments and centers with small contributions to startup and retention packages, but never funds the full package. Chairs and Center Directors should make requests for these funds as early in the process as possible. The OoR’s contribution will be disbursed to the department over 4-5 years. If you need to request startup or retention funds, contact the Vice Dean for Research (Blossom_damania@med.unc.edu).

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BRIDGE FUNDING

Bridge funding applications are typically accepted 3 times during the academic year.  A memo is sent to Department Chairs to share with their faculty giving specific due dates. Bridge funding is a critical resource for SOM faculty, and a high proportion of bridge funding recipients have been successful in renewing their NIH support. Thus, a competitive bridge funding application must demonstrate a high likelihood of receiving NIH funding upon resubmission.

Due dates for Bridge Funding for this fiscal year will be October 17, 2025, January 30, 2026, and May 1, 2026.

The most recent memo can be found here.

Award Information:

Up to $50,000 will be provided to successful applicants to continue support for successful research projects that suffer a lapse in funding.

Eligibility:

  • The grant has been reviewed and received a written critique
  • The PI has no more than 2 active R01s or the equivalent level of funding
  • The PI does not have more than $50k of additional sources of lab support, e.g. trust fund, startup, retention, royalties.
  • If the grant’s NIH number identifies the grant as a ‘new’ grant, the PI must include a cover letter explaining how the new grant is a repackaged version of previously funded research
  • The grant under consideration must be administered in an SOM unit
  • The department/center agrees to match the funding from the Dean’s Office.

Please direct questions to Janelle Cross at OoR_Submissions@med.unc.edu.

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PARACHUTE FUND

The School of Medicine is committed to supporting SOM labs that have been impacted by recent delays in the NIH grant pipeline. To assist with this temporary need, the SOM will administer the Parachute Fund (PF). The fund is targeted for R01/R35, U, and P competitive renewals which received highly fundable scores in study section (within institute paylines) but have not yet received a Notice of Award (NOA) due to the current delay in council meetings. In keeping with the principle of putting people first, the PF program will help support lab personnel as research labs await an NOA.

The Parachute Fund memo can be found here. 

Award Information:

Proposals for up to $75,000 and up to a two-month period can be requested to support lab personnel costs, including salaries and associated fringe benefits, for staff and faculty directly impacted by the funding lapse.

Applications will currently be accepted on a rolling basis.

Please direct questions to Janelle Cross at OoR_Submissions@med.unc.edu.

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SUNSET FUND

The School of Medicine (SOM) is committed to supporting SOM labs that have been impacted by recent terminations of existing grants in the recent months following the executive orders and subsequent changes at the NIH and other federal agencies. To assist with this critical need and support the people in our research labs, the SOM will administer the Sunset Fund (SF). The SF is targeted to terminated grants (not Stop Work orders).

The Sunset Fund memo can be found here. 

Award Information:

We will provide up to $50,000 for previously funded R01/R35/R00, U, and P grants (or similar) that were terminated unexpectedly in mid-cycle since January 2025.

We will provide up to $30,000 for R21 grants and independent K01/K08/K22/K23 (or similar) grants.

Applications will currently be accepted on a rolling basis.

Please direct questions to Janelle Cross at OoR_Submissions@med.unc.edu.

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BOOST FUNDING

UNC School of Medicine (SOM) faculty are extremely successful in their efforts to obtain funding for their research, although the SOM recognizes that it often takes multiple submissions and additional experimental data to get a new project funded, particularly as a new investigator, or with a more complex, multi-PI project. In support of these efforts, the SOM Office of Research typically accepts boost funding applications twice a year. These awards are designed to boost the chances of funding for an NIH grant (or similar) that has been reviewed favorably but needs additional revisions and preliminary data in order to be funded on resubmission. Please note that Boost awards are distinct from the OoR bridge funding program, which provides funds for bridging A1 renewal applications for ongoing, not new, projects.

Due dates for Boost Funding for this fiscal year will be October 17, 2025 and May 1, 2026.

The most recent memo can be found here.

Award Information:

Up to $25,000 will be provided to successful applicants for lab supplies, animal expenses, core services, and salary for research support personnel for up to a 12-month period during the preparation of a revised proposal.

Eligibility:

  • Funding must be requested for a new NIH R01 or equivalent that has been reviewed previously within the last 12 months.
  • The proposal must have been administratively routed through the SOM.
  • Applicant/PI must have no more than 2 R01s (or equivalent) of funding.
  • Applicant/PI must have no more than $50k of startup, retention, or other similar funding available to offset project costs.
  • Although all eligible applicants are welcome, priority will be given to K to R01 transitions, early stage investigators, and multi-PI team projects.

Please direct questions to Janelle Cross at OoR_Submissions@med.unc.edu.

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CORE FACILITIES

The Core Facilities Advocacy Committee [CFAC] is responsible for disbursing emergency and equipment funds for Core Facilities. Emergency funds can be used for assistance with salaries and service contracts, purchase of small equipment needs [~$5-25K] and methodology development. Equipment funds can be used for the purchase of instruments ranging from $30-100K and for cost-share amounts in conjunction with instrumentation grants. The CFAC generally issues requests for funding applications (RFAs) twice a year. Emergency requests are considered throughout the year as funds allow.

Please contact Kara Clissold (kara_clissold@med.unc.edu) for more information.

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OTHER INTERNAL FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES

A short description of the internal research funding opportunities available to faculty and their deadlines can be found here.

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