2025-2026 Request for Applications

Guidelines

1. Partners.  Proposals should represent a new partnership for the principal investigator that will provide preliminary data needed to seek outside funding. This award is not intended to support new research directions for investigators who already have an established partnership. New partnerships between senior investigators and junior colleagues will be viewed favorably. We are particularly interested in projects that forge new partnerships between investigators in different disciplines, although this will be considered in balance with scientific merit when evaluating proposals. Interinstitutional partnerships are encouraged. ITHS faculty or staff may be listed as active research contributors on a case-by-case basis. Please consult with ITHS prior to application submission if your proposal includes ITHS faculty or staff.

2. Support.  This award provides up to $50,000 for 1 year of funding.  The period of performance coincides with the ITHS fiscal year from March 1 to February 28/29.  All grant funds must be expended before the grant expires at the end of the fiscal year. No-cost extensions to allow use of funds that have not been expended by the end of the fiscal year will not be allowed.

NIAP awards also provide ITHS in-kind resources and training opportunities.

3. Review Considerations.  Applications should describe a trajectory of past progress, current specific aims and milestones that are feasible within the funding limits, a vision for how attainment of the proposed milestones will enable future work, and the potential scope and impact of future work if the current project is successful.

Successful applications will help reviewers determine whether the project should and could be done.

• Describe how this project involves a new partnership that builds on the complementary expertise and the intellectual and creative strengths of the partners.
• Describe how this project will address a critical translational transition along the path from basic laboratory research to a disseminated diagnostic or therapeutic use.
• Describe how the pivotal data will support the project in an outstanding future application for NIH or other external funding.

We have high interest in new and innovative generalizable solutions for common and persistent challenges in the conduct and outcomes of translational research through development of new methods, approaches, platforms, or tools that

• Increase efficiency
• Accelerate progress
• Improve rigor and reproducibility
• Increase the depth of impact
• Extend the reach of impact.

See https://ncats.nih.gov/about/about-translational-science/principles for details.

Application Process

A. Letter of Intent

The letter of intent form must be submitted through the ITHS website before submission of the application. The form includes information on the applicant and any Co-Investigators, project title, and abstract addressing the 6 questions (up to 200 words each). Investigators who are invited to submit a full application will receive notice within 3 weeks of the letter of intent deadline.

Application

The application must be submitted through the ITHS website.

Applications will follow National Institutes of Health (NIH) formatting guidelines (see FAQ) and include:

[prettyfilelink size=”138 KB” src=”https://www.iths.org/wp-content/uploads/Cover-Page-Pilot-Awards.2021b.pdf” type=”pdf”]1) Cover Page[/prettyfilelink]

[prettyfilelink size=”57 KB” src=”https://www.iths.org/wp-content/uploads/Pilot-Proposal-Timeline-Template.2018.docx” type=”doc”]9) Project Timeline – 1-page[/prettyfilelink]

[prettyfilelink size=”28 KB” src=”https://www.iths.org/wp-content/uploads/biosketch-blank-format-rev-12-2020-exp-02-28-2023.docx” type=”doc”]12) NIH format Biosketches for all investigators (senior/key personnel)[/prettyfilelink]

Not included in the above document:

Suggested Reviewers – You will also be asked to provide five suggested reviewers, including the following information for each: 1) Name, 2) Title, 3) Institution/Organization, and  4) Email Address. Reviewers are not required to be within the University of Washington.
A general note about conflict of interest: Reviewers have a conflict of interest if they are the applicant’s mentor, department chair, spouse, or close relative; or if they currently work together on manuscripts, grants, or business ventures. Simply being in the same department or division is not, in and of itself, a conflict of interest.

C. Timeline

ITHS is funded through a CTSA grant from NIH’s National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS). NCATS requires the review and approval of all pilot grants involving human subjects research before funds are released. Therefore, if your proposal is awarded funding and involves human subjects research, additional documentation will be required. NCATS review and IRB review can be concurrent, but final NCATS approval is contingent upon IRB approval.