Funding

SIU System Collaborative Grant

Purpose/Program Overview

The goal of the SIU System Collaborative Grant program is to promote new biomedical research collaborations and foster receipt of extramural funding for research projects between faculty at the various SIU campuses, including the School of Medicine, Edwardsville, and Carbondale. Thus, projects considered for funding should represent pilot studies for obtaining preliminary data for larger collaborative projects to be submitted for external funding.

Definition of Research

Research is broadly defined as all creative, critical, scholarly, and/or empirical activity that expands, clarifies, reorganizes, or develops knowledge or artistic perception. This definition of research includes the demonstration, implementation, application, and dissemination of research results and those grants designated as research by the granting agency. This definition of research does not include departmental curriculum development, faculty development (learning an established technique, a language, or a methodology; dissertation research), institutional research (studies related directly to the operation of the University), and public service and consulting activities. 

Eligibility

To qualify as a new team (Co-PIs), faculty may not have previously published together as co-authors or worked together previously on an internal or external grants submission. 

Faculty from at least two campuses must be represented on the team, but applications from all three campuses are also eligible. Each faculty member must have a well-defined and significant role on the project.

Previous SIU System Collaborative Grant recipients must have submitted an external funding proposal related to their work on the grant. Recipients who have failed to meet this condition are ineligible for this grant program until this requirement is met.

Award Description

Total available funding is $20,000, if two campuses are represented, and $30,000, if three campuses are represented.

Award period is expected to run for 12 months during the calendar year immediately following the award decision.

Terms and Conditions of Award

Successful teams will be expected to: 1) submit close-out reports to each campus within 90 days of the end of the award period; and  2) submit to an external sponsor a competitive, joint proposal that meets the parameters of the funding guidelines and is related to the topic of the award within one year of the end of the award period.

 Failure to meet the terms and conditions may results in loss of eligibility for other internal funding opportunities.

Timeline/Dates

Applications are due annually by 4:30pm on the second Monday of September to the SIUE Office of Research and Projects. In fairness to all, late applications will not be accepted.

 Award decisions expected by the end of November.

Application/Nomination Process

All applications must be submitted via the application form in Kuali Build. 

Note: all applications must be completed in one session; you will be unable to save and return later. Click here to preview the full application form. Instructions on completing the application form are available here.

All qualified candidates are encouraged to apply, including minorities, women, persons with disabilities, and protected veterans.  Faculty with disabilities desiring accommodations in the application process should contact the Office of Equal Opportunity and Access at (618) 650-2333.

Complete the Kuali Build application form. The following attachments are to be uploaded as a single PDF file in the order indicated below. If any documents are missing or in the wrong order, the application will be returned. Applicants will have two business days to address any deficiencies in their application materials.

 Use the following format when naming your PDF: "SSCG_PILastNames".

 For all sections, use 11-point Arial font, single-spaced. 1" margins.

 Application Attachments:

1. Cover Page (1 page)
   • Include: 1) SIU System Collaborative Grant 2) Project Title; 3) Names of Principal Investigators and campus/departmental affiliations.
2. Project Abstract and Health relevance (1-page limit)
3. Specific Aim(s) (1-page limit)
4. Research Plan (6-page limit)
   • • Significance
       • Realistically describe the effect of these studies on the concepts, methods, technologies, treatments, services, or preventative interventions that drive this field.
       • Delineate how scientific knowledge, technical capability, and/or clinical practice will be improved through completion of the project aims.
       • Address an important problem or a critical barrier to progress in the field.
     • Innovation
       • Provide a compelling scientific premise for your hypothesis or research question.
       • Detail original and innovative aspects of the project. For example:  Does the project challenge current research or seek to shift clinical practice paradigms; address an innovative hypothesis or critical barrier to progress in the field?
       • Describe the novel concepts, approaches, or methodologies, tools, or technologies that will be developed by, or employed in the project.
     • Approach
       • Describe the research framework, design, methods, and data analysis as adequately developed, well-integrated, well-reasoned, and appropriate to the aims of the project.
       • Include rigor and reproducibility requirements for this application.
       • Acknowledge potential problem areas and provide alternative strategies.
5. Budget Justification (1-page limit)
6. Budget (link to required template)
   • • Provide a 1-year itemized budget using the Excel Budget template.  Each campus has a tab and a cumulative budget tab.
     • Budgets must be appropriate for the scope of work being proposed for the 1-year timeline.  Budgets may be administratively reduced by the respective Deans of Research.
     • Budgets should reflect the purpose of the SIU System Collaborative Grant program to provide seed support for larger, more ambitious, collaborative projects that will seek extramural funding in the future.
     • A maximum of $10,000 can be requested for each campus.
     • Budgets for each campus need not be identical, but must be tailored to the scope of work being performed on each campus.
     • Faculty salary support is NOT allowed.  Student support and technical support salaries allowed, if justified.
     • Major equipment (>$2,000) is NOT allowed.
     • Travel expenses to conferences are NOT permitted.  Travel expenses between campuses to perform tasks directly relevant to the project are allowed, if justified.
     • Contractual Costs are limited to $2,000/service.
7. Facilities and Resources (1-page limit)
8. References Cited (no page limit, but be succinct)
9. Biosketch (link to NIH template or SciENcv creation tool) 5-page limit per Investigator)

Appendices are not allowed.

Selection Criteria

SIU System Collaborative Grant applications are reviewed by ad-hoc committees from the three system campuses, utilizing a process modeled on the NIH scoring system. The seven review criteria (Significance; Investigators; Innovation; Approach; Environment; Potential for external funding; and Fits with the intent of the funding program) are assigned an impact score between 1 and 9, with 1 considered “Exceptional” and 9 considered “Poor”.

Other Resources

For assistance in finding potential collaborators on another campus, please contact: 

SIUSOM: Grants and Contracts Office (grants@siumed.edu)
SIUE: Dr. Diane Cox, Director of Grant Development (diacox@siue.edu)
SIUC: Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research (OVCR) (ovcr@siu.edu)

Any questions concerning this program may be directed to the SIUE Graduate School's Office of Research and Projects at siueresearch@siue.edu. 

Previous Awardees

• FY2024
  • “Electrically-Polarized Nanoscale Metallic Coatings for Deactivation of Antimicrobial Resistance Bacteria” - Michael Olson, PhD, Medical Microbiology, Immunology and Cell Biology, Southern Illinois University School of Medicine; and Punit Kohli, PhD, Chemistry and Biochemistry, Southern Illinois University Carbondale.
  • “Investigating D-methionine Modulation of Piezo Channels for Novel Alzheimer's Disease Therapy” - Kevin Hascup, PhD, Neurology and Alzheimer Center, Southern Illinois University School of Medicine; and Chilman Bae, PhD, Electrical, Computer, Biomedical Engineering, Southern Illinois University Carbondale