WVU HSC Pilot Grants

Pilot Grants through the HSC Office of Research and Graduate Education (ORGE) provide funding for HSC faculty to explore a new research area and collect preliminary data for a grant submission. Pilot grants should be considered seed funding, and thus there is a clear expectation of conversion to extramural support.

Please ensure that the project is well defined and that all compliance protocols are in place before submission, as readiness of the project will be a funding criterium. Applications may be submitted at any time and are reviewed on a rolling basis.

General Guidelines and Restrictions

Members of the HSC Graduate Faculty with a regular membership and clinical researchers are eligible to apply.
Funding is available for 6 months, with the possibility of a 3-month extension with approval, for a budget request of up to $25,000. Clear justification should be provided for all requests.
Allowable expenditures include:

Costs for laboratory supplies, core facility services, and small equipment costing less than $5,000 that are directly related to the research project.
Salary support for postdocs and research staff. The names & positions of any personnel should be included.
Travel costs for research activities directly contribute to supporting the project (not including travel to meetings or conferences).

Pilot grants may not be used to support PI or Co-I salaries or student stipends.
A PI who received a pilot grant within the last 24 months is not eligible to apply.

Unexpended funds will be returned to the Office of Research and Graduate Education at the end of the funding period in order to help other faculty in need. Residual funds must also be returned if the principal investigator plans to leave WVU during the award period. In such an event, the Office of Research and Graduate Education must be notified immediately by both the investigator and department chair.
A PI is expected to have all IRB, IACUC and IBC protocol approvals in place such that the project is ready to begin immediately after funding is awarded.

Required Application Components:

Completed applications for pilot grants must be submitted through the ORGE website through the electronic portal. Please be prepared to provide:

Specific Aims (1 page): Outline the goals of the project, the hypotheses to be tested, and key aspects of the experimental plan.
Research Plan (2 pages): Description of experimental plan and methods, with a clear indication as to how this project is different from other funded (including start-up funded), ongoing research in the lab; preliminary data can be included. Discuss the goal for a future grant submission.
References (up to 1 page, optional)
A detailed budget page and budget justification. If simultaneous requests for support from a department, center, or institute for the same project are made, they must be disclosed here.
NIH biosketch of the PI.

Application components must be submitted electronically through the online system. Apply here.

Review and Funding Decision

Applications will be screened for eligibility and completeness by ORGE staff.
Applications will be reviewed by the ORGE Senior Advisors; funding decisions will be made by the Senior Associate VP for Research and Graduate Education.
Funding decisions will be conveyed to applicants approximately 4-6 weeks after application receipt.

Post-award management of pilot grants is the responsibility of the faculty member’s home department or other identified source. The ORGE does not provide post-award management for internal grants.

This policy will be reviewed annually and updated as needed as the University and HSC’s budget model evolves.