The 15th of February, April, June, August, October, and December. If the 15th is on a weekend, the deadline is on Monday.

If applicable: Your bridging application must be received by BMRC at least two months before you plan to submit your grant application to the sponsor.

All full-time, on-campus instructional, clinical, and research track faculty with primary appointments in the Medical School are eligible to apply.

PLEASE NOTE: Applications from the following are NOT accepted: postdoctoral fellows, projects to be performed while the PI is on sabbatical, visiting or adjunct professors, emeritus faculty, faculty members without evidence of investigative independence, and faculty members whose future work will not continue at the University.

• Applicants must have a prior history of NIH R01 funding.
• Investigators with > $75,000 in discretionary or start-up accounts or ≥ $500,000/year direct costs from all external sponsors are not eligible for Bridging Funding.
• Grants to be bridged must reside in the Medical School.
• Bridging applications must be received by the BMRC at least TWO MONTHS before you submit the grant to NIH.
  • A hallmark of the program is subject matter expert reviews of your application - providing crucial feedback that may impact your submission. Applying to the Bridge Program more than two months prior to your submission date will allow time for review, decision, and consideration of comments to strengthen your R01 application.
• Application for the renewal NIH R01 must be submitted before the end of funding.
• Investigators cannot receive funding in the same 12-month period from more than one of any of the following UMMS programs: BMRC Bridging, Extended Bridging by the Endowment for Basic Sciences (EBS), or Pandemic Research Recovery (PRR)

Grants eligible for Bridging Funding:

1. A previously funded NIH R01 with an unsuccessful A0 or A1 competitive renewal attempt that will be resubmitted. R01-equivalent renewable awards may be considered on a case-by-case basis.
2. A project component of a previously funded Program Project or Center grant with an unsuccessful application that will be submitted as an independent R01 A0 application.

Grants not eligible for Bridging Funding:

1. Non-renewable NIH grants (e.g., R21, R00, K awards)
2. Grants funded by Foundations (e.g., American Heart Association)
3. Internally awarded pilot grants
4. Career Development Awards
5. Fellowship Awards
6. R03s or grants under $100,000/year

BMRC

• Currently up to $150,000 (BMRC bridging funds <$75,000, plus Department's match funds <$75,000) is available to maintain projects for a maximum of 12 months. The funding period cannot overlap with federal grant funding if the grant is ultimately awarded. Awards can start after no-cost extension funds are exhausted and can be paid (within one year) until the start date of the new grant. Unspent bridging funds will be transferred back to the BMRC upon the start date of the new federal award or the end of the 12 months of BMRC funding.

PI's Department Match

• An equal amount of matching funds is REQUIRED from the PI's department. These matching funds may include up to 10% of the PI's salary effort and corresponding fringe benefits within the NIH cap.

BMRC Bridging No-Cost Extensions

• Requests may be considered, but cannot overlap with federal funds. Please contact the BMRC Bridging Support team ([email protected]) regarding extension requests before the end date of the bridge award.

Bridging applications must be received by the BMRC at least TWO MONTHS before you submit the grant to NIH.

Information about the required application materials and the application submission process is through the web-based UMMS Competition Space. On Competition Space, select the open BMRC Bridging Support competition and sign-in with uniqname and Level 1 (Kerberos) password.

• Two to three content experts and the membership of the BMRC will provide applicants with written feedback on the merits of the proposal and the plan to address NIH reviewer critiques.
• · Funding decisions will be made based on the following criteria (in order of priority):
  1. Financial need: Investigators with substantial available funds will need to provide a strong justification on why additional funds are required. Amounts of other support, internal resources, and start-up funds will be considered.
  2. Scientific merit of proposal and impact on the field.
  3. Likelihood that proposed experimental plans will result in a successful grant submission.
• Reviews and funding decisions are completed within 6-8 weeks.
• All applicants receive review comments, regardless of funding decision.