Core Exploratory Awards (New)

Project Award Amount $500 - $5,000

(Funds will be awarded directly to the core, not to the individual)

The cycle break rule DOES NOT apply to Core Exploratory Awards – there is no limit to the number of applications submitted per PI, per cycle.

Description
UCSF researchers constantly explore novel technologies to remain at the forefront of research. Many of these technologies are best developed within a centralized shared research resource (core) that can then deliver the technologies to the entire UCSF community at a minimal cost through recharges.

The UCSF Research Resource Program (RRP), in collaboration with CTSI-SOS has created Core Exploratory Awards to enable researchers to use new (to the investigator) technologies or services available in existing core facilities at UCSF and affiliated institutes. Modification of existing core technologies will also be considered. These awards are primarily meant to facilitate the use of key research tools available in cores to develop and maintain high impact, long-term research programs.

Core Exploratory Awards lower financial barriers that impede the adoption of necessary research tools by providing funding for feasibility studies in a core facility. Although the awards are available to all, there will be an emphasis on the research programs of any researcher, particularly junior faculty, seeking to enter an unfamiliar area in which a core can provide the most cost- and time-effective solution for the research. Projects that develop new collaborations between core personnel and researchers are particularly welcome. The expectation is that a successful award will lead to a long-term, funded research program in which continued use of the core facility helps to maintain both the research program and the core.

Awards can be used at a UCSF core to fund:

• Current standard core services
• Pilot work to generate preliminary data
• Development of a new test or service by supporting personnel effort and reagents
• Novel, currently unfunded use of a core for an ongoing project

Awards cannot be used for:

• Payment for services previously utilized by the requestor

Eligibility

Applicant Eligibility:

Any member of the UCSF research community is encouraged to apply. The application must have a PI signature demonstrating potential long-term funding and commitment to use the core. The applicant must be one of the following:

1. A new user to the core
2. An existing user to the core seeking access to a new piece of equipment or proposing a new way in which to use existing core resources
3. An existing user to the core wanting to modify core services or explore advanced services to accommodate cutting-edge research needs

Who's Eligible: Residents, Fellows, Post-Docs, Assistant Professors, Associate Professors, Professors, Specialists, Students, Technicians

Who's Not Eligible: Faculty without Salary (WOS)

Core Facility Eligibility:
Must be a UCSF or Gladstone Core Facility with:

• Established recharge rates
• A defined management structure (Faculty Director, Technical Director, Advisory Committee) and a defined process to manage requests
• An open access policy providing services to the entire UCSF community

For a list of possible cores, please visit: http://rrp.ucsf.edu/rrp/services_and_centers.html

Review Criteria for Applications:
The proposals will be evaluated on the likelihood that the feasibility program will establish an enduring relationship in which a funded research program will continue to use core services after the feasibility funds are completed. Therefore, a plan on how the research will continue if feasibility is established will be a significant component of the evaluation. End-point projects that are completed during the feasibility phase will not be considered.

• Does the request clearly indicate new utilization of the core –either by use of standard services by a new user or development of a new application by a repeat core user?
• How does new access to the technology or expertise advance the progress of the applicant’s research program, increase opportunities for funding, and enhance scientific discovery?
• Does the applicant establish that these studies otherwise could not be completed in the laboratory?
• Does the proposal discuss enduring core use following the establishment of feasibility?
• Is an itemized budget provided including cost per service or hour based on published core fees?
• Because of widely variable costs for different types of core services, each application will be judged primarily on the applicant’s justification of a reasonable amount of core use to establish the feasibility of the research. Applicants should first establish and justify the number of units of core service (e.g. hours on an instrument, volume of reagent, hours of expert assistance) required to establish the feasibility using that core. Those units of service should be multiplied by the accepted recharge rate to arrive at the budget request. As a rough rule, proposals ranging from $500 to $5,000 in core services will be considered.

Other criteria:

• Application must be approved and signed by P.I. confirming the intent to continue the project if successful.
• Core Director must co-sign application indicating agreement of feasibility AND confirming first time use of the core or use of a previously untested application of core services.

Please Note:

• There is no limit to the number of applications submitted per individual but each application must be for a different core.
• Award recipients and proposal title may be posted on the RAP and CTSI-SOS website.

Contact:
Jamie Antonazzo
Administrative Assistant
Ph.: 415-476-9179
E-mail: Jamie.antonazzo@ucsf.edu