Description of Institutional Research Grants

An Institutional Research Grant (IRG) is a block award to an institution that enables it to give "seed money" grants of up to $20,000 each for one year to beginning investigators who have no national competitive research grant support, with the goal of attracting them into cancer research.

Applying for Seed Grants from OUHSC IRG

Investigators from all colleges and departments of the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center including those on the Tulsa Campus, The University of Oklahoma in Norman and all programs at the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation (OMRF) are eligible to apply. Funds from the OUHSC IRG will be used to support promising new cancer-related projects by junior faculty members (or their equivalents), so they can obtain preliminary results that will enable them to compete successfully for national research grants. IRGs are intended to support independent, self-directed investigators early in their careers, for whom the institution must provide research facilities. Applicants for the individual awards must be within six years of their first independent research or faculty appointment. Support of senior investigators, postdoctoral fellows, or junior investigators who have received prior support from the IRG is not permitted.  To be considered eligible for this award, one must be an investigator who is eligible to apply for independent national competitive research grants, but who do not currently hold such a grant.

Beginning investigators who have funding from local sources such as Oklahoma Center for the Advancement of Science and Technology (OCAST) and Presbyterian Health Foundation (PHF) are eligible to apply if the ACS-IRG application is for a project that is different from the one currently funded. Investigators whose research is funded by a COBRE or INBRE grant are not eligible to apply.  Beginning investigators who have had national competitive research grant support in the past are eligible to apply for the ASC-IRG funds if they do not have research support from a national source at the time of the ASC-IRG application.   

Recipients of IRG sub-awards must be, at the time of the application, citizens or non-citizen nationals of the United States or its possessions and territories, or must have been lawfully admitted to the United States for permanent residence at the time of application. Permanent residents must submit, with the sub-award application, notarized evidence indicating that the candidate is in possession of an Alien Registration Receipt Card or has been approved for the issuance of such card as evidenced by an official passport stamp of the United States Immigration Service and that the form number of the card is I-551. Non-citizen nationals are persons, who, although not citizens of the United States, owe permanent allegiance to the U.S. They are generally persons born in outlying possessions of the United States (e.g., America Samoa and Swains Island).

Application Form (click here to download Word doc)

Application Instructions and Rules (click here to download Word doc)

Budget

All grants are for a maximum of 1 year.  Maximum budget is $20,000. Budget page must include budget justification. Effective with grants awarded in January 2007, an individual may receive a second pilot project grant for the same project.  For a second year of funding the local IRG committee requires a new application submitted by the annual deadline. Applications for a second year of funding will be considered with all new applications.   

Allowed Expenditures

• Research supplies and animal maintenance
• Technical assistance
• Domestic travel when necessary to carry out the proposed research program
• Publication costs, including reprints
• Special fees (pathology, photography, etc.)
• Stipends for graduate students and postdoctoral assistants if their role is to promote and sustain the project presented by the junior faculty member
• Equipment costing less than $2,000. (Special justification is necessary for items exceeding this amount)
• Registration fees at scientific meetings
• Costs of computer time (OUHSC does not allow computer time to be requested)

Expenditures Not Allowed

• Secretarial/administrative personnel
• Salary of principal investigator (IRG Chairman or individual awardee)
• Tuition
• Foreign travel; special consideration will be given for attendance at scientific meetings held in Canada
• Honoraria and travel expenses for visiting lecturers
• Per Diem charges for hospital beds
• Non-medical services to patients
• Construction or building maintenance
• Purchasing and binding of periodicals and books
• Office and laboratory furniture
• Office equipment and supplies
• Rental of office or laboratory space
• Recruiting and relocation expenses
• Dues and membership fees in scientific societies
• No indirect costs are allowed

Publications

Publications resulting from research supported by the American Cancer Society must contain the acknowledgment "Supported by The American Cancer Society Institutional Research Grant to the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center ACS- IRG-05-066-01."

Deadline

The application deadline is February 22, 2008.  One copy of the application should first be routed through your institution. Your submission copies should be made after the application has routed.

Each application must include:

1. Completed OUHSC Routing Form signed by ORA or Signed Letter from OU Norman Proposal Services or OMRF Office of Research Administration.
2. All necessary IRB and/or IACUC approval.
3. Completed applicatoin form: Cover page, Budget, Cancer Relevance Page and Project Description.
4. P.I. Biosketch on NIH PSH398 biosketch form (4 page format including all research support).

Submit the original and 9 copies to:
The OUHSC Office of Research Administration before 5:00 pm CST on February 22, 2008:

            OUHSC
            Office of Research Administration
            1000 Stanton L. Young Blvd., LIB-121
            Oklahoma City, OK  73117