Boettcher Foundation Webb-Waring Biomedical Research Awards Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

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1 Eligibility: Bettcher Fundatin Webb-Waring Bimedical Research Awards Frequently Asked Questins (FAQs) Q. Which faculty titles are eligible t apply? A. University f Clrad Qualifying Titles: Investigatrs within ten years f cmpleting their medical residency can nw apply. In additin t tenure-track appintments, nn-tenure track research and clinical faculty are eligible t apply, assuming they meet all ther eligibility requirements. Qualified career-track academic appintments based n the faculty titles: Tenure and Tenure Track: Assistant Prfessr Nn-tenure Track: Instructr, Senir Instructr Clinical Teaching Track: Instructr, Senir Instructr, Assistant Prfessr Clinical Faculty: Assistant Prfessr Research Faculty: [Research Prfessr Series] Assistant Prfessr, Senir Instructr, Instructr Research Faculty: [Research Assciate Series] Research Assciate, Senir Research Assciate, Faculty Research Assciate Q. Is eligibility related t independent grants at the time f submissin? A. A majr independent award greater than $125,000 received after applicatin submissin but has a May 1, 2019, r earlier award funding date wuld impact eligibility. If the award funding date is after May 1, 2019, then eligibility is nt impacted. Q. Are there any exceptins t having received a terminal degree r cmpleted medical residency within the 10 years preceding the applicatin? A. Individual institutins can accmmdate exceptins n a case-by-case basis fllwing review and cnsultatin (if needed) with the Bettcher Fundatin. Hwever, dcumentatin t make r supprt any exceptin wuld be required. Fr example: explanatins fr any time taken ff fr family cmmitments, maternity, wrking utside f academia r research, part-time wrk, etc. Q. Is it pssible t submit, in advance, infrmatin t CU internal reviewers abut a previusly received research grant award t see if it qualifies as "independent" level fr purpses f eligibility fr this Webb-Waring pprtunity? A. If the campus can t decide n independence, we can review with Bettcher. Q. Is a tenure-track early career investigatr mre likely t get the award than a nn-tenure research track early career investigatr? A. N. Criteria t be cnsidered by the review cmmittee include, but are nt limited t: The scientific merit f the prpsed wrk. 1

2 The extent t which the research has the prmise t cntribute directly t imprving human health. The preparatin f the ECI and his/her ability t cnduct independent research. The likelihd that the ECI will be mre cmpetitive and mve int an independent research career after cnclusin f the grant. The likelihd that the ECI will prduce publicatins, be prmted r cntribute new technlgy disclsures will be cnsidered. The reasnableness f the budget and the apprpriateness f the timeframe prpsed fr the prject. Additinally, ther criteria develped by the review cmmittee that are cmmnly applied in a peer review prcess. Q. Can the specific aims fr the Bettcher Webb-Waring grant be similar t nes submitted during this NIH review cycle? A. Yes. Q. If a researcher applies and des nt get the Bettcher Webb-Waring grant, can that researcher apply in a subsequent year with a revised prpsal r a different prpsal altgether? A. Yes, yu are allwed t reapply as lng as yu meet the eligibility criteria. Q. In the research prpsal, d figures cunt tward the page limit? A. Yes. Figures and tables. One shuld therefre, nt avid putting figures in but yu als shuld nt shrink the figures and tables t the pint where they are unreadable. Q. Where are the applicatin frms and templates lcated? A. Here is the link t the applicatin cmpnents page which includes the bisketch template: Reference Letters: Q. What is the length maximum n reference letters? A. There is n limit. Hwever, any letter ver 2 pages starts getting t be a bit lng. It s recmmended keeping letters at 2 pages althugh there is n max. Q. Fr the reference letters utside my institutin, des the referee need t knw me persnally? A. They d nt need t knw yu persnally. It s ging t be easier fr them t write a strng letter if they are familiar with yu. It s nt a requirement. Q. Shuld these letters fcus n the science r the applicant? 2

3 A. If they are familiar with yur science and they dn t knw yu persnally and yu re asking them t write a letter that supprts the science, that s prbably just fine but they have t be familiar with the science and/r yu, hpefully bth. Q. Fr letters f recmmendatin, what if yur divisin chief is als yur mentr? D yu recmmend getting tw letters, cmbining the letters, r getting a letter frm the department head? A. It s recmmended getting a letter frm the department head plus yur divisin chief mentr. That s t yur advantage. Q. Can yu have previusly published with the peple frm utside the institutin wh are writing yur letters? A. Yes, if yu have previusly published with an expert in yur field frm utside f the institutin and that persn was able t explain yur abilities and yur research in their letter, it might be beneficial fr yu. N limitatin n that. Frmer mentrs and cllabratrs can certainly write yu letters. Q. Can the mentr be utside f the institutin? A. Yes. Budget: Q. D yu expect mentrs t be included in the budget? A. N, since this is cnsidered an independent grant. Hwever, it is nt precluded if it is needed t advance the research prject. Q. When budgeting, shuld yu use the NIH salary cap? A. There is nt a salary cap fr this grant; hwever, it may pse cncerns t the review cmmittee if the entire grant was utilized fr salary. General: Q. Des this award fund the investigatr r fund the research? What is mre imprtant - yur research plan r ptential fr future career in investigative research? A. Bth are true. The review panel takes a very clse lk at yur research prpsal fr its impact and fr its ptential t lead t future research. We als very carefully lk at the ptential f each individual, we g ver the bisketches very thrughly, we actually read every line f every letter and this gives us an impressin f the ptential f the individual, because the Bettcher Fundatin is really interested in funding the leaders f the future in bimedical research. Bth cmpnents f the grant, the infrmatin abut yu as a yung investigatr, and the 3

4 infrmatin abut the research plan are equally imprtant and yu shuld spend a fair amunt f time perfecting bth f thse. Q. Are the CU awards assigned t specific campuses r culd all f them g t the same campus? A. We d nt assign awards t campuses. We take int cnsideratin what campus the individual is n mre s in regard t the facility, the cllabratin, and expertise f the campus but there is n restrictin t hw many awards g t any f the CU campuses. Q. After reading thrugh the applicatin materials, I am unsure if I can list clleagues wh will cntribute t the prject as c-investigatrs. Can yu help t clarify the rle f c-investigatrs? A. The purpse f the grant is t prvide a nn-mentred pprtunity fr an early career investigatr (ECI). A c-investigatr wh des nt als qualify under the grant requirements is discuraged. Tw investigatrs wh bth qualify as an ECI may cllabrate n ne applicatin; hwever, the review cmmittee will be left with the task f assessing the value f the prpsed research as it advances bth careers, which culd place the prpsal at sme disadvantage. The best ptin is fr ne ECI t apply and include services (salary expense) frm the secnd investigatr in yur budget. Q. Is this grant mechanistic and hypthesis-based like NIH, r is it meant t be mre high-risk and innvative? A. Thse tw shuld nt be mutually exclusive. Mst f the grants that we receive are hypthesisbased. Mst f the grants tend t be hypthesis-based. That desn t mean that we are nt pen t assessing grants and t supprting grants that are nt hypthesis-based. We are interested in funding innvative research that is ging t mve the field frward. We wuld like it t have innvatin. If it is nt innvative, it is unlikely t d very well. If it is innvative, it culd still have a clear hypthesis; but hypthesis-driven research is nt abslutely required and we d supprt discvery-based type research as well. Q. Hw much f preliminary data is welcmed? A. This is really like any ther grant. If yu re prviding s much preliminary data that the reviewer thinks that yu ve actually answered the questin, it can eventually wrk against yu; but unless yu re ging that far, preliminary data establishes feasibility and establishes a reasnableness f what yu re trying t d will almst always be helpful. Q. With the relatively new NIH fcus n rigr and reprducibility, d yu suggest including that sectin in the applicatin? A. Explaining hw yur research wuld be dne in a rigrus fashin and will lead t reprducible results wuld be helpful. If yu can fit it in, it definitely wuld nt be a bad idea t d s. Q. Is there any preference regarding basic science vs clinical studies? A. There is n specific preference; but if it s basic science - yu need t clearly link it t human health. Mst investigatrs that are invlved in basic science nw a day have translatinal 4

5 cmpnents t their research but yu have t make it clear that it des link t human disease r human health. Mst f the investigatrs wh have been funded are actually ding labratry research that is clsely linked t human health in sme way. We wuldn t discurage any investigatr frm basic t clinical research frm applying. 5