Bridge Funding Program

The Provost's Office will provide bridge funding to support faculty to span the gap in critical research programs. The University of Washington ranks among the top research institutions in the world and has a budget of over $1 billion in research grants and contracts. The UW and the region depend on the discoveries that come from our research programs. Several pressing issues face us during the next few years: (1) NIH funding, which accounts for about half of our research funding, is flat; (2) starting and more established faculty face increased competition for limited federal and non-federal research funds; (3) investigators may face loss of key personnel or key research resources.

Eligibility

1. Faculty with a strong track record of extramural funding who have lost all of their research support at the time of the Bridge application, or who will lose all of their research support within six months of the Bridge application deadline. Exceptions will be made for faculty who have lost or will lose 50% or more of their salary support. Such faculty are eligible for Bridge funding even though they have existing funding. (Revised 11/3/08). (Bridge funds from the Provost cannot be used for salary; matching funds only can be used for salary.) In addition, faculty members who have a grant that is restricted to pay only their salary (such as some NIH K awards) are eligible if they have no other research funding.
2. Junior faculty with a record of productivity who have exhausted their startup funds, but who have not yet obtained their first extramurally funded grant.
3. A facility providing a key resource to multiple faculty that has lost extramural support. One faculty member should submit the proposal on behalf of the team.
4. Faculty members who have received a Royalty Research Fund grant from the University are not eligible until the RRF grant is within six months of ending.

In all cases, evidence must be provided to demonstrate efforts to establish or re-establish funding. Evidence such as grant reviews with priority scores will be used to evaluate these efforts.

Note: the Bridge award program is not a seed project program. The University program for seed project funding is the RRF program.

Application contents and submission process

Applications from faculty should be submitted to the applicant's department chair, who should prioritize requests before forwarding them to the dean of the college/school. In non-departmentalized colleges/schools, applications should be submitted to the dean or his/her designee. Electronic applications are preferred, but for hard copy, please submit only one copy. You do not need an e-GC1 for bridge funding. The following material must be included in the application.

Your submitted application should include the following five required sections in the order listed:

1. Curriculum vitae, including record of funding for the past 5 years with dollar amounts and funding periods listed for each grant (maximum of 4 pages combined). You may list either direct costs only, or direct + indirect, but indicate which is listed.
2. Demonstration of attempts to obtain funding (e.g. abstracts of submitted grants, panel summaries, priority scores or other evaluations and comments; do not send complete grant applications).
3. Description of proposed research (maximum of 5 pages including the bibliography). The abstract of a submitted grant is sufficient, if it is appropriate.
4. Budget and justification, including the match commitment (see below).
5. Statement of how this funding will increase chances of future funding.

Submit all application materials to:

• Linda Kelley
  Assistant to the Vice Provost for Research, Office of Research
  Telephone: +1 206 685-7641
  UW Box Number: 351202
  Email: lmkelley@u.wa

Budget Information:

Maximum award from the Provost: $50,000

Given for one year or until extramural funding is re-established. Can include supplies, equipment, lab personnel (technicians, students, fellows), travel and other research expenses. Salary requests must include benefits. Provost funding cannot be used for the salaries of faculty.

Matching requirement: All funding requests must be matched 1:1 by the applicant's college/school.

Matching can be in any category that supports the research, including faculty salary, providing it is not currently being supplied. Faculty with 11-month appointments cannot use departmental salary as matching. The match must occur in the same time period that the research is carried out. Matching funds must be a new commitment. It cannot be funding that was in place before the faculty member started to lose their funding.

Documentation of the matching commitment and a budget for the match must be included with the request. The matching commitment should be confirmed by the chair or dean who provides the funds. An email confirmation is sufficient.

Submit the budget for the matching amount from the department. If all costs will be split 50:50, just state that under the budget.

Funding Established or Re-established

At the time funding is established or re-established, unspent funds will be returned to the bridge program so that others can benefit.

Deadline and Notification of Award

Deadline for the proposals will be twice each year, December 1 and May 1. If the due date falls on a Saturday or Sunday, the proposals will be accepted through the following Monday. Proposals will be reviewed by a committee in the Office of Research and recommendations will be made to the Provost. Notification of award will be made within 1 month of submission. A total of $500,000 is available for each round of awards.

Post-Award Process

Once the award period is complete and/or outside funding is received, unspent funds will be returned to the Office of the Provost. The financial office of the Office of Research will assist with these transactions.

A report will be requested at the end of the funding period with the following information: final accounting of the funds that were spent from the provost and matching fund sources, respectively, a summary of the research that was carried out, any publications that resulted, and any grants that were awarded or are pending.