1 FULL PROPOSAL GUIDELINES For invited investigators only

FULL PROPOSAL GUIDELINES
For invited investigators only
2016 Innovator Award
The CURE Innovator Award supports the exploration of a highly innovative, often risky new concept or
untested theory that addresses an important problem relevant to epilepsy. The Innovator Award
proposed research must reflect ideas substantially different from those being pursued by anyone in the
epilepsy research field. The program is not intended to support the logical progression of an already
established research project but, instead, allows Principal Investigators (PIs) the opportunity to pursue
radically unconventional, paradigm-shifting hypotheses. This award mechanism supports high-risk
studies that have the potential to reveal entirely new areas of epilepsy research. Research completed
through an Innovator Award must provide sufficient preliminary data to enable the PI to prove or
disprove their groundbreaking, original, and/or unconventional hypothesis and have the potential, if the
scope of work is successful, to move epilepsy research forward by leaps rather than by incremental
steps.
Innovator Award applications will be evaluated based on:
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Importance of the problem
Novelty and innovation of the hypothesis and/or proposed methodology
Magnitude of the potential impact of the work
Logic of the experimental plan and likelihood of some success (some non-zero number)
Preliminary data is not necessary to receive this grant but may be included.
Areas of Interest: This program awards seed grants to researchers submitting innovative proposals that
will provide new directions for epilepsy disease modifying therapies, prevention and, ultimately, a cure.
We specifically encourage studies that may not be currently fundable by other agencies or other
mechanisms because of their preliminary, innovative or unconventional nature.
Eligibility: This award is available to both established and early career investigators*. Researchers who
serve on CURE’s Scientific Advisory Council are ineligible to apply for or sponsor a grant for the duration
of their term. International applicants are welcome. All materials must be submitted in English.
* Generally, early career investigators are university faculty at the assistant professor level (or hold an
equivalent position in a non-university research organization). Established investigators are university
faculty at the associate professor level or above. Post-doctoral fellows may not apply for this award.
Budget: Requests may be made for up to $50,000 for one year. Indirect costs are not supported.
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2016 CYCLE 2 FUNDING CYCLE
Full Application Deadline
Anticipated Award Announcement
Anticipated Project Start Date
Cycle 2
June 15, 2016 – 9pm ET
October 2016
January 2017
Invited full proposals must be submitted through proposalCENTRAL (https://proposalcentral.altum.com)
by Wednesday, June 15, 2016 at 9:00pm, ET. Please fill in all required fields in the online application
form.
To access your application, log in to proposalCENTRAL and go to your Manage Proposals tab. If you click
on “edit” next to your approved LOI, you will be taken into the full proposal application.
Instructions for each section of the online application:
1) Title Page: Enter proposal title (maximum 150 characters, including spaces).
2) Download Templates & Instructions: Access a copy of these guidelines and download a biosketch
template if you do not already have one completed.
3) Enable Other Users to Access this Proposal: Use this optional section to grant access to other
individuals. This is particularly useful if there is a co-investigator who needs to enter certain
information for the application.
4) Applicant/PI: This section should auto-populate from your professional profile. Double-check
that the information is complete and correct. If it is not, click Edit Professional Profile to update
the information. Indicate whether you are an early career or established investigator.
5) Institution & Contacts: Information should auto-populate from your profile.
6) Collaborators/Co-Investigators: Enter contact information for co-PIs and/or collaborators.
Typically, co-investigators are co-funded by the grant, collaborators are not.
7) Letters of Reference: Submit up to 3 letters of recommendation from mentors, department
heads, or collaborators. Letters of support are only required if the PI is an early career
investigator. Letters of support from collaborators can be requested here or uploaded in the
attachments section.
8) Abstract: Answer the questions in each box according to the instructions below:
a. Lay Summary: Your lay summary will be reviewed by CURE’s Lay Review Council. Please
take special care to describe the proposed work and its potential impact on the field of
epilepsy in language appropriate for a nonscientific audience. Include the following:
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i. Project Goals: Bulleted list of the goal(s) of the project.
ii. Aims: Bulleted list of how those goals will be tested.
iii. Deliverables: Bulleted list of tangible deliverables to result from this work if
successful.
iv. Impact: Briefly explain how the project, if successful, will transform the field of
epilepsy and contribute to improved treatment, prevention, and cures.
b. Scientific Summary: Please provide a scientific abstract for your project.
9) Budget Period Detail: Provide a detailed budget. The budget maximum for this program is
$50,000 for 1 year. This should include an itemized list of how funds will be used (i.e. materials,
animals, salary, fringe benefits, disposables, maintenance, travel*). Please note that indirect
costs and institutional overhead are not provided, and funds cannot be used to purchase
equipment. Additionally, while stipend support can be provided for graduate students, tuition is
not an allowable expense. All expenses must be converted to U.S. dollars (USD).
*Note that there is a travel cap of $1,500 for international applicants and $1,000 for U.S.
applicants per year, which can be budgeted for a maximum of 2 investigators (the PI and Co-PI).
If awarded, CURE encourages all grantees to attend the annual AES meeting. Additional funds
outside the grant award will not be given to attend this event.
10) Budget Summary and Justification: Review the summarized budget to make sure that details
have been entered correctly. Provide budget justification statement. The budget justification
should clearly detail how and where the funds will be used and why these expenditures are
critical to the success of the proposed research. Specifically justify any equipment purchase that
is to be made with this award.
11) Current and Pending Support: Enter current and pending support for all PIs on the proposal.
12) Organization Assurances: Answer the questions regarding intended use of human subjects,
animals, recombinant DNA, and the possession of a Schedule 1 license.
13) Proposal Narrative and Other Attachments: Upload the following documents.
a. Proposal Narrative according to the instructions below.
b. Biosketch for each PI on the application.
c. Facilities/Institutional Assurances (do not exceed ½ page): If an institution does not
have an official assurance document, please provide in writing assurances from the
department chairperson or practice colleagues confirming the applicant’s time, facilities,
and future position if research is funded. Include a description of the facilities available.
Please submit facilities/institutional assurances for each PI.
d. Collaborator Letter of Support: Upload letters from collaborators indicating their
support of the proposed work, if applicable.
e. Signed signature pages: Upload signed signature pages which are generated in Step 15
of the application.
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14) Validate: The system will check for required components that have not been completed.
Applicants will not be able to submit until all required components are completed.
15) Signature Page(s): Click “print signature page” to obtain a PDF of the document that needs to be
signed by you (the submitting PI) and an institutional representative. After signatures have been
collected, scan the signature page and upload to section 13.
16) Submit: Please make sure to hit submit once your application has been validated by the system.
Proposal Narrative Instructions (5-page limit*): Presentation of preliminary data is not required to
receive this grant. However, applicants must demonstrate logical reasoning and a rationale for the
work proposed.
Innovation: Innovation should be the primary feature of the proposed study. Proposals must describe
how the new concept could create an entirely new avenue for investigation and how it is relevant to
epilepsy.
Hypothesis and Rationale: State the hypothesis to be tested and rationale for the proposed research.
Do not include preliminary data.
Objectives: State clearly and concisely the specific aims and research strategy of the study. Do not
request funding as part of a larger study.
Research Strategy: Describe the experimental design, methods, and analyses, including appropriate
controls, in sufficient detail for analysis. Address potential problem areas and present alternative
methods and approaches.
Impact: Provide a brief statement in non-technical terms regarding the potential impact of this work on
epilepsy. Describe how the project will lead to an original and important contribution to the goal of
advancing basic, translational, or clinical epilepsy research, and specifically how the research will lead to
a better understanding of the mechanism(s) of epilepsy and will lead to a cure.
References: Please include all literature cited within the proposal, but note that there is no page limit
for this section.
* The 5-page limit of the Proposal Narrative is inclusive of any figures, tables, graphs, photographs,
diagrams, chemical structures, pictures, pictorials, cartoons, and other relevant information needed to
judge the proposal.
Note: Applications are evaluated for innovation, feasibility, scientific merit, relevance to grant
mechanism, relevance to CURE’s mission, and potential to be transformative.
Formatting Requirements:
Font: Use an Arial, Helvetica, Palatino Linotype or Georgia typeface, a black font color, and a font size of
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11 points or larger.
Figures, Graphs, Diagrams, Charts, Tables, Figure Legends, and Footnotes: You may use a smaller type
size but it must be in a black font color, readily legible, and follow the font typeface requirement. Color
can be used in figures; however, all text must be in a black font color, clear and legible.
Spacing: Single-spaced between lines of text, no more than five lines of type within a vertical inch.
Margins: Minimum of 0.5-inch top, bottom, right, and 1-inch left.
Inquiries: Questions regarding these guidelines are welcome and should be directed to Liz Higgins,
Research Administrator, at Liz@CUREepilepsy.org or 312-255-1801.
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