Internal Research Grant Program

There are two types of awards in this RFA:

1. Faculty awards are for two years with a funding level up to $200,000 per year.
2. Early career awards for Fellows, Postdocs and Instructors up to $100,000 for one year. Grants are eligible for competitive renewal upon reapplication and are contingent on progress the first year.

Funding begins on July 1, 2025.

1. Faculty applicants must be at the Research Assistant Professor level or above.
2. Early career applicants include Fellows, Postdocs and Instructors
3. Only one application will be accepted per investigator. Investigators may not be CO-PI on more than one application.

Instructions:

1. Letters of Intent must be submitted through the online portal.
   • Search for program “Basser Center for BRCA Grants for Penn Investigators”
   • Under the “Basic Info” tab, please provide the information requested. Standard NIH formatted Biosketches are sufficient.
   • In the “Proposal Participants” tab, please provide the name of your Co-PI(s), if applicable.  
     • EACH PI NEEDS TO BE REGISTERED IN THE ONLINE SUBMISSION SYSTEM, OR YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO ENTER THEM INTO THE DATA FIELD.
   • Please designate in the LOI to which of the two types of awards you are applying.
      
2. Please submit a one-page LOI in the “Documents” tab under “Letter of Intent" including:
   • Title of proposed project
   • Award type (select either faculty awards or early career awards) 
   • PI/Co-PI (if applicable) names, degree(s) and position
   • Description of the project including specific aims and relevance to BRCA1/2

The purpose of the LOI is to allow the Basser Center time to assemble appropriate reviewers. It is not to invite grants for full submission. There will be no feedback provided to applicants regarding the LOI and anyone submitting an LOI is welcome to follow through with a full grant application.

The deadline for the mandatory LOI is by 11:00 pm ET on Wednesday, January, 15, 2025.

Instructions:

1. Applications must be prepared using standard word processing software, following the instructions below, and combining all sections into one single PDF for upload/submission.
    
2. Only one application will be accepted per investigator. Investigators may not be Co-PI on more than one application.
    
3. Applications must be submitted through the online portal.
   • Search for program “Basser Center for BRCA Grants for Penn Investigators”
   • Under the “Basic Info” tab, please provide the information requested. Standard NIH formatted Biosketches are sufficient.
   • Please provide the name of your Co-PI(s), if applicable. 
     • EACH PI NEEDS TO BE REGISTERED IN THE ONLINE SUBMISSION SYSTEM, OR YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO ENTER THEM INTO THE DATA FIELD.
   • Under the “Documents” tab, please upload your Research Proposal as one single PDF file.
      
4. Applications must include:
   • Required authorized signatures
     • REQUIRED SIGNATURE INSTRUCTIONS
   • Cover Page; include the following information:
     • Full name(s) and full contact information of PI(s)
     • Project title
     • Award type (select either faculty awards or early career awards)
     • Human Subjects: yes/no, Protocol #, and approval date
     • Vertebrate Animals: yes/no, Protocol #, and approval date
   • Abstract of ~300 words, not to exceed one page
   • Specific aims, not to exceed one page
   • Significance*
   • Background*
   • Research Plan*_⁺
   • References (no page limit)
   • Budget with justification
      
5. Formatting requirements: Arial 11 font, single spaced, no less than ½ inch margins all around.
    
6. Page numbering is recommended, and should use sequential numbers, e.g., do not use 2a and 2b, etc.
    
7. Supplemental/Appendix material is limited to letters of support/collaboration and PDFs of papers in press and not yet publicly available. Any other additional material will be discarded.

The deadline for applications is by 11:00 pm ET on Monday, February 17, 2025.

*Note: Significance, Background and Research Plan must not exceed five total pages.

_⁺Research plan to include the following:

• Clinical impact: How will funding the application accelerate advances in science that have the potential to change the standard of care for BRCA1/2 carriers in the future.
• Approach: Describe the general research strategies that will address the overarching mission of the grant application and show that the proposed research is BRCA1/2 specific.  Specify how Basser Center core resources will be utilized, if appropriate. If gaps in existing facilities or resources are perceived to be a challenge for execution of the proposed research, applicants are encouraged to describe ways that funding could optimize facility services and operations. 
• Metrics of success: Provide a list of no more than six specific metrics that are relevant to you grant application with a short term (e.g. 1-year) and long-term (5-year) timeline. Scientific and clinical metrics should be emphasized, and training metrics may also be included. Potential metrics may relate to novel discoveries based on observational or experimental research, development of new prevention or treatment modalities, advancing innovative clinical trials, and/or improvements in clinical operations. 
• Sustainability: It is recognized that changes in these focus areas may require long-term investment beyond the initial 2-year funding period.  Plans to promote the sustainability of the award beyond the funding period (e.g. SPORE grants, P01s, increased clinical revenues, philanthropy, etc.) should be mentioned.
• Data and Resource Sharing Plan: Please provide a short description of the data sharing plan for this project should final data be obtained, or, if data sharing is not possible, an explanation of why. All funded proposals should strive to create common resources for sharing with other Basser Center funded investigators. Examples include cell lines, plasmids, databases, etc.

The review process will be completed by a committee of outside scientists, which is expected to include a subset of members of the Basser Center External Scientific Advisory Board. Successful applicants will be announced in May 2025. Funding will have a start date of July 1, 2025. 

Applicants must submit a Letter of Intent by January 15, 2025 by 5:00 pm ET. 

The full application must be submitted by February 17, 2025 by 5:00 pm ET. 

Review Criteria will include:

Ongoing Review and Evaluation

Funded awardees will be expected to submit semi-annual progress reports, which will be evaluated by the Basser Center for BRCA leadership and Internal Advisory Board and possibly by outside advisors. Metrics of  success and progress toward achieving scientific goals will be considered. Continuation of funding will depend on progress.