WVU HSC Bridge Funding Grants Policy
Bridge Funding Grants (BFGs) through the HSC Office of Research and Graduate Education (ORGE) provide interim research support for HSC investigators who have or will have a gap in funding that will prohibit them from carrying out key experiments for research grant application resubmissions. Principal Investigators (PIs) who request a BFG must have an original independent/individual research grant submission or competing renewal that was scored (but not funded) and a specific resubmission opportunity identified before applying for a BFG. For proposals to funding agencies other than NIH where scores are not provided during review, there must be evidence of peer review noting the highly meritorious nature of the grant and indicate promise of future funding, if resubmitted.
General Guidelines and Restrictions
- A BFG is for one year (12 months) with a budget request of up to $50,000. Applications may be submitted at any time and are reviewed on a rolling basis.
- Research grants with annual total costs no less than $200K, such as NIH R01, R21, R35, U01, and equivalent research grants through other federal funding agencies and non-federal sources are eligible. Fellowships, Career Development Awards, Program Grants, Center Grants, Consortium Grants, and Resource Grants are not eligible. Please email researchgrad@hsc.wvu.edu with questions about eligibility for a particular grant.
- Allowable expenditures include:
- Costs for laboratory supplies, include equipment costing less than $5,000.
- Providing salary support for postdocs and research staff. The names and the positions of any personnel should be included. If the faculty has a Stipend Gap Coverage grant (or is requesting one) for a PhD student working on the same project, requests for supporting additional personnel must be justified.
- Travel costs for research activities directly contribute to supporting the project (not including travel to meetings or conferences.)
- The purchase of equipment worth over $5,000 is not allowable through this mechanism.
- Funds cannot be carried forward after 12 months.
- BGF may not be used to support PI or Co-I salaries or student stipends.
- A PI who received a BFG within the last 24 months is not eligible.
Required Application Components:
Completed applications for SGC must be submitted through the ORGE website through the electronic portal. Please be prepared to provide:
- The scored extramural proposal for which a BFG and the review summary statement of the application.
- A plan detailing the strategy and research activities to address the review critiques. The plan should include the deadline for re-submission, key milestones, and a clear timeline to achieve the milestones. It should not exceed three pages and be in a font size of at least 11.5.
- A detailed budget page. If simultaneous requests for support from a department, center, or institute for the same project are made, they must be disclosed here.
- Updated NIH biosketches of the PI and postdocs or research staff to be supported.
- A Letter of Support from the chairperson of the PI’s primary department that provides the chairperson’s assessments of the PI’s research productivity in the three years before submitting the BFG application and how the BFG will strengthen the resubmission of the grant application. Chairs can submit this LOS directly to Mallory Weaver or can provide to the faculty member to upload with their online submission.
Application components must be submitted electronically through the online system. Apply here.
Review and Funding Decision
- Applications will be reviewed for eligibility and completeness by ORGE staff.
- Applications will be reviewed by a Senior Advisor to the senior AVP for Research and Graduate Education to determine whether they effectively address concerns raised in the summary statement and improve the application.
- Applications will be reviewed by a Senior Advisor to the senior AVP for Research and Graduate Education to determine whether they effectively address concerns raised in the summary statement and improve the application.
- Funding decisions will be conveyed to applicants approximately 4 weeks after application receipt.
Post-award management of BFGs is the responsibility of the faculty member’s home department or other identified source.
This policy will be reviewed annually and updated as needed as the University and HSC’s budget model evolves.
