Emory+Children’s Pediatric Center – Seed Grant Program

Post-award Management of Seed Grants

Terms and Conditions for Funded Grants

September 12, 2013, N.A. McCarty, Ph.D., Scientific Director, Seed Grant Program

A. Limitations on use of funds.

The maximum amount for each seed grant will be $50,000 of direct costs, up to $25,000 of which may be used for the PI’s salary and fringe benefits to enable more research time, with the remainder used for other non-faculty salaries, supplies, or small equipment items. Computers may not be purchased with these funds. Equipment purchases in aggregate cannot exceed $10,000 and the equipment must be directly related to the proposed project. Up to $1,000 may be used for travel for the PI for research-related purposes such as presentation of the results of the funded work at scientific meetings.

B. Requirements for submission of an extramural grant proposal related to the funded seed grant.

Acceptance of funding via the Pediatric Center Seed Grant mechanism comes with a requirement that the PI will submit an extramural grant proposal related to the goals of the funded seed grant. The extramural proposal must be submitted within one year of the END of the seed grant budget period. That means that for grants funded Jan 1 2014, the Principal Investigator would have until December 31, 2015, to have the extramural proposal submitted. Failure to submit this extramural proposal in a timely manner will result in a requirement that the funds be reimbursed to the Pediatric Center (likely from the PI’s academic Division).

C. Requirements for request of a no-cost-extension after the end of the funded budget period.

Seed Grant funds remaining at the end of the funded calendar year will be returned to the Pediatric Center. However, the Seed Grant Program may grant a no-cost-extension upon receipt of a request from the PI to the Scientific Director. The deadline for requesting a no-cost-extension is December 1 of the original funded budget year. That means that for grants funded Jan 1, 2014, the Principal Investigator will have until December 1, 2014 to request a no cost extension. The request should include justification of the need for the extension, including provision of a plan for how the remaining funds will be spent. No-cost-extensions will be for up to six months. Investigators interested in a NCE should obtain the NCE request form from the Scientific Director.

D. Requirements for timely engagement in the research project to include initiation of spending the funds.

It is often the case that funded investigators fail to start spending their awards until very late in the year. While there are bound to be cases where this is due to extenuating circumstances, such as delay in getting approval by the IRB or IACUC, etc., this may represent inefficient use of the Seed Grant funds. The Seed Grant Program expects that the project will begin immediately; if funds are not being spent by July 1, which represents half of the funded budget period, then the second half of the funding would not be made available unless: (1) the PI submits a letter justifying the slow start; or (2) the PI submits a detailed action plan for initiating the project immediately which, if approved, would extend the deadline for initiation of spending to August 1 of the same year.

E. Other Terms and Conditions associated with acceptance of Pediatric Center Seed Grant funding.

(1): The PI will be eligible for concurrent funding by other Children’s-funded pilot or seed grant mechanisms including the research Center-based Pilot Projects, but not for projects that have significant scientific or budgetary overlap with the funded Seed Grant project.

(2): Acknowledgement of support by the Emory+Children’s Pediatric Center Seed Grant Program must be included in all publications arising from Seed Grant support.

(3): If awarded, intellectual property that is a direct result of this funding will be subject to the Children’s/Emory Intellectual Property Agreement.

(4): Funded investigators must submit a Progress Report, due by December 1 of the funded budget year. Progress reports will be no more than three pages in length, and will include the following information.

  • An overview of the progress toward completion of the funded aims in the prior year, including a statement of how the Seed Grant funding contributed to the Principal Investigator’s career progress and ability to apply for extramural funding of this project. The Progress Report should include a brief presentation of the accomplishments on the research project during the funding period, in language understandable to a biomedical scientist who may not be a specialist in the field of the research project. The style used in Scientific American articles would be appropriate. Abbreviations and language that may not be known to the broader scientific community should be avoided unless clearly defined.
  • A list of barriers to accomplishment of the funded aims, if any were experienced.
  • A list of extramural grant proposals related to the funded Seed Grant that have been submitted thus far, those planned,and a detailed description of grants that were funded as a results of the Seed Grant project.
  • A list of manuscripts submitted and/or published as an outcome of the funded Seed Grant.
  • A list of intellectual property that has resulted from the funded Seed Grant, and a statement as to whether a disclosure related to this intellectual property has been (or will be) filed.
  • Indication of whether a no-cost-extension has been requested, and if so, through what date.

(5): Funded investigators also must submit a Final Report, due by December 31 one year following the end of the funded budget year. This will include the same list of information as for the Progress Report.
(6): It is expected that the Principal Investigator agrees to provide updated information related to that included in the Final Report when requested by Pediatric Center Seed Grant Program Administration.

Pediatric Center Seed Grant Terms & Conditions (September 2013)Page 1