Guidelines for School of Medicine Bridge Funding for Dean’s Office Direct Reports

Date: March 1, 2016

Contact Office:
Assistant Dean for Research
Dean’s Office, School of Medicine
Office for Research
PO Box 800793
Charlottesville, VA 22908
phone: 434-243-7088

Oversight Executive:
Senior Associate Dean for Research
PO Box 800793
Charlottesville, VA 22908
phone: 434-243-7088

Applies to:
All direct reports to the dean’s office, including but not limited to department chairs and School of Medicine (SOM) center directors.

Reason for Guidelines:
Due to real or perceived conflicts of interest, department chairs and other individuals who report directly to the dean’s office cannot seek research bridge funding from their home department or unit. This policy establishes consistency in who may request bridge funds, how often requests may be made, and the length of time these funds may be used to support an investigator’s laboratory.

Guidelines Statement:
A direct report to the SOMdean’s office may seek bridge funding from the senior associate dean (SAD) for research to support his/her laboratory and research operation while seeking external grant awards. These funds will be designated from SOM funds.

Bridge funding is a temporary mechanism to help reestablish extramural funding. Bridge funding requests may be for a maximum period of twelve months. The request may not exceed $100,000 and an individual cannot receive bridge funds from the SAD for research more than three times within a five-year period (regardless of the amount awarded in each instance). Research bridge funding for direct reports to the dean’s office are awarded twice per year: January 1 and July 1.

The SAD for research funding decision will take into consideration the investigator’s record of past productivity, level of aggressiveness in submitting grant proposals, study section feedback on prior proposals, prior funding from other institutional programs, and other criteria as deemed appropriate.

Definition of Terms:
Bridge funding is support provided to an investigator to maintain a laboratory, research staff, or a specific project in the absence of external funding, while such funding is being sought through the submission of grant proposals.

Dean’s office direct report is an individual who reports directly to the dean, a senior associate dean, or the COO, and who does not hold an appointment at the assistant or associate dean level.

Procedures:

Applicants submit a bridge proposal to the SAD for research.
1. The bridge proposal contains the following

• a brief summary of research (1-2 paragraphs);
• five-year funding history, plus all current peer-reviewed external grant support and the timeline for expiration of each;
• pending applications, scores,and reviewer’s comments (include all available summary statements) from most recent submitted applications;
• timeline for future grant applications, including review and start dates;
• previous, current, and planned laboratory staffing expenses for the project for which bridge funding is being requested;
• previous, current, and planned supply expenses for the project for which bridge funding is being requested;
• special circumstances, if any;
• budget request. If this project is funded externally before its end date, any remaining funds must be returned to dean’s office.It is anticipated that the expenditure burn rate will be relatively constant across the project period; and
• current CV or biosketch that lists submitted manuscripts.

2. Applicants who have received bridge funding from any source in the last six months should also provide a progress report that details expenses incurred during the time period and a one-page summary of what the bridge helped them to accomplish.

Submit documents electronically to the SAD for research not later than May 1 for bridge funding to begin July 1 and not later than November 1 for bridge funding to begin January 1.

Related Policy or Guidelines:
See both:

VPR Bridge Funding Guidelines and Application Form
http://www.virginia.edu/vpr/docs/Interim_Lab_Revised_Dec_2008.pdf

UVA Interim Funding for Research Programs: SOM Implementation
https://med.virginia.edu/office-for-research/wp-content/uploads/sites/279/2015/11/SOM-interim-support-guidelines1.pdf

Next Scheduled Review: February 2019

Revision history: This is the first version of these guidelines.

Approved by:

David S. Wilkes, MD
Dean, UVA School of Medicine