Apply for Intramural Funds through UCSF's Resource Allocation Program
UCSF's Resource Allocation Program (RAP), which offers a single online application process for a wide variety of intramural grant offerings, is now inviting applications for the Spring 2015 cycle.
- The electronic submission deadline is Monday, February 23, at 2 p.m
- Upgrades to the online application to improve the user experience are in progress, and the form will be available February 17
New Funding Opportunities
The Academic Senate and the Research Evaluation & Allocation Committee (REAC) of the School of Medicine are sponsoring a new grant mechanism called "Independence Support Award" supporting investigators who have not yet succeeded in getting an NIH R01 or similar funding. The purpose of the Independence Support Award is to support investigators who currently have or have completed an NIH career development program award (K series) or another extramural career development grant, and have submitted an NIH R01 (or equivalent) application that was not funded. This award will provide bridge funding to support research costs to address inadequacies of the unsuccessful R01-like proposal and support either on-going or new research.
The Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center (HDFCCC) is partnering with Kure It Cancer Research to provide a “Grant for Underfunded Cancer Research”. Funds are provided by a $100,000 donation from Kure It Cancer Research, and will be matched with $100,000 by the HDFCCC for a single two-year award of $200,000. Kure It Cancer Research was established in 2010 with the goal of being the leader in granting funds to kidney and other cancer researchers conducting innovative research projects to better treat and ultimately cure kidney and other rare cancers.
The Post-childbearing award program is now called “New Child Leave Award” and is now available to male investigators and adoptive parents, as well as to childbearing women.
RAP has decided to invest in updated technology to both strengthen and ease the submission and review processes. The RAP electronic application form has been completely redesigned and will offer new benefits and ease of use to the applicants. With a simple log in, applicants will be able to create an account and view the status of their submissions through a personal dashboard. The new application will automatically save work in progress and allow for a stepwise submission. The system will alert applicants of missing application components and applicants will be able to independently edit their submissions until the competition is closed. The new system will be implemented in phases, beginning with the development of this new electronic application form, and ending with the launch of a robust online review process. While the user interface will be much improved and have a totally new look and feel, the substantive information required by applicants will be the same as in the past. This will allow for a smooth transition, particularly for investigators who have previously submitted to RAP.
A Lifeline in the Current Funding Environment
RAP is a campus-wide program with the aim of coordinating intramural research funding opportunities for the UCSF campus, while allowing the participating funding agencies to maintain full autonomy over their funding mechanisms and awardees. Through this collaborative effort, RAP facilitates the dissemination, submission, review and award of intramural research funding opportunities at UCSF. The program, administered by the Executive Vice Chancellor & Provost's office, is managed by Emanuela Volpe and resides within the Research Development Office (RDO), led by Dr. Gretchen Kiser. According to Dr. Paul Volberding, the newly appointed RAP Chairman and one of the original participants in the RAP consortium “RAP, as always, aims to support UCSF faculty careers as effectively as possible. We are especially excited to be moving to an all online submission and review process for RAP grants. RAP is also strengthening our career development support recognizing the challenging research funding environment affecting so many promising investigators.”
During the Fall 2014 cycle RAP reviewed 162 applications and made 69 awards; 43 percent of the grants reviewed were awarded. Thanks to the combined efforts of multiple funding agencies, a total of $2,495,767 was distributed to UCSF researchers. The relative high funding rate is largely due to the unique RAP process: although applicants choose the most appropriate grant mechanism for submission through RAP, each application is considered simultaneously by multiple funding agencies, thus enhancing the likelihood of support for a proposal. The funding agencies have a shared goal of supporting as much good science as possible.
Read what the most recent awardees have to say about their exciting research projects. Maybe you will find your next collaborator here.
All programs on campus are welcome to use RAP to coordinate their funding competitions and we invite all faculty members to become reviewers and offer their skills to boost the review process and improve research efforts.
Spring 2015 RAP Funding Agencies
- AIDS Research Institute at the University of California San Francisco (ARI)
- Cancer Center - Cancer Center Support Grant (CC-CCSG)
- Cancer Center - Mount Zion Health Fund (MZHF)
- Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education (CTCRE)
- Clinical & Translational Science Institute-Catalyst Awards for the Development of Diagnostics, Devices, Therapeutics and Digital Health (CTSI-Catalyst)
- Clinical & Translational Science Institute-Strategic Opportunities Support Center (CTSI-SOS)
- National Center of Excellence in Women's Health (NCOEWH)
- Osher Center for Integrative Medicine-Mt. Zion Health Fund (OCIM-MZHF)
- Research Evaluation & Allocation Committee (REAC), School of Medicine
- UCSF Academic Senate
- UCSF Center for AIDS Prevention Studies (CAPS)
- UCSF Diabetes Research Center (DRC)
- UCSF Gladstone Institute of Virology & Immunology Center for AIDS Research (CFAR)
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