Vermont Biomedical Research Network

VBRN Annual Retreat 2025
2025-07-17 11:00 - 14:00 (America/New_York) | UVM Davis Center, 590 Main Street, Burlington, VT, 05405, United States
VBRN Summer 2025 Retreat – State of our Institutions (UVM and PUIs)
Thursday July 17 from 11:00 AM -2:00 PM
Location: Dudley H. Davis Center; Silver Maple Ballroom, Room 400
Agenda:

11:00 AM
VBRN welcome and announcements

11:10 AM
Sara Helms Cahan, Associate Vice President for Research, UVM

11:30 AM
Discussion session: culture of research across the network: share impacts on campuses (changes for PIs, students, equipment maintenance/acquisition, culture of research, mitigation plans, etc.)

12:30 PM
Lunch and discussion regarding future reporting and RPPRs

1:30 PM
Pursuing industry/academic partnerships

Ideas for Discussion session:
What are the immediate impacts to changes in research funding and higher education on your campuses?
For current PIs and recruitment of PIs
For current students and student enrollment
For equipment maintenance/acquisition
For the culture of research
Is your institution showing resilience to these changes?
Is your administration being proactive about maintaining faculty and student research on campus in the form of bridge funding or other mechanisms?
Are there other ideas/institutional responses/best practices to share?

Grant Writing Workshop 2025
2025-11-07 12:00 - 17:00 | Roy Room, Dion Family Student Center, 94 Place Saint Michel, Colchester, VT, 05439, United States
Saint Michael’s College
Roy Room, Dion Family Student Center
Register for this event
The VBRN Grant Writing Workshop will be held from 12:00-5:00 PM Friday, November 7, 2025, at Saint Michael’s College, Colchester, VT. Attendance at this workshop will be required for all faculty intending to apply for Exploratory or Pilot Award funding from July 1, 2026-June 30, 2027 or Project Award funding for July 1, 2026-June 30, 2028. Attendance is recommended for a faculty who have received VBRN funding in the past and are interested in applying for individual NIH, NSF, or other federal or non-federal grant support in the future.
The program will consist of an informational session followed by small group breakouts to review the submitted pitch papers described below. Lunch is included prior to the start of the program with roundtables dedicated to VBRN Thematic Interest Group networking and VBRN Core Facilities. There will be tables for established thematic groups (Disease Ecology, Bioorganic Chemistry, Neuroscience, Health and Movement Science, Data Science, and Plant Biology) as well as emerging groups currently in development (CURE, Monitoring Indicators for Human Health).
Key dates for 2026 VBRN applications:

Request for Applications (RFA) will be available on the VBRN Awards page in early October
Pitch paper due: Wednesday, October 22, 2025 – Email your pitch paper to your BPI coordinator with a working title for your proposal and 5 key words. This is a mandatory requirement to participate in the grant writing workshop. Also, provide contact information for suggested reviewers if you have them.
Grant Writing Workshop: Friday, November 7, 2025
Letter of Intent due: Monday, December 1, 2025
VBRN Application due: January 30, 2026
VBRN Award funding decisions: end of March 2026

GWW Tentative Agenda:

12:00-1:30
Lunch + TIG meetings + Research Core tables

1:30-1:45
VBRN announcements

1:45-2:45
Informational sessions: “Current national research priorities and trends in the federal funding landscape” with Dr. Jeralyn Haraldsen, Director of Research Development, UVM “NSF EPSCoR state and federal funding opportunities, e.g. EPSCoR Faculty Pilot Awards and Research Fellows” with Dr. Bernard “Chip” Cole, Director, VT EPSCoR, VT Space Grant & NASA EPSCoR, UVM

2:45-3:00
Break

3:00-5:00
Panels/pitch paper reviews

Details on the Pitch Paper (draft Specific Aims page)
Faculty interested in VBRN funding will submit a NIH-style proposal. Because our network is comprised of primarily undergraduate institutions, VBRN encourages faculty to submit AREA R15 and R16 grants for extramural funding. Please note that the NIH AREA R15 review criteria are used in the VBRN review process and for the pitch papers. Faculty interested in EPSCoR funding will submit a NSF-style proposal. NSF EPSCoR review criteria are used in the review process and for the pitch papers.
For the pitch paper, faculty are asked to include at a minimum Specific Aims of the proposed research (one-page total). Optionally and additionally, VBRN faculty may include draft Significance and Innovation components of an AREA R15 application (two-pages total, including the Specific Aims page). NSF EPSCoR faculty may include draft Intellectual Merit and Broader Impacts components of an NSF application.
VBRN is currently working to recruit local reviewers to participate in the small group breakouts; typically, these include local experts in areas that are appropriate for the PUI faculty applicants. If you have any suggested reviewers you would like to recommend, please share their contact information with your BPI Coordinator. VBRN will then reach out to any suggested reviewers.
The Specific Aims page:
The Specific Aims page is particularly critical as your “calling card” to your readers. During an actual NIH Study Section, only the three reviewers (Primary, Secondary and Reader) will read your full application closely, but all panelists will typically scan the Specific Aims page during the review to get an overview of the proposal. Hence, your Specific Aims page is critical for selling your application to the whole panel. Most applicants will typically format their Specific Aims page using a standard formal structure. It starts with a short paragraph that will introduce the main scientific question and then present a statement of the central hypothesis that your work will test. Next, write a short paragraph for each of the 2-4 principal objectives (Aims) of the study. Each Aim should include the premise behind the Aim, a description of how the Aim will be achieved, and what the likely impact of successful completion of the Aim will be to the field at large. Some PIs conclude their Specific Aims page with a brief impact statement describing how completion of the research will positively impact on the NIH Mission. A good Specific Aims page convinces the reader of the importance of your question, the logical strength of your central hypothesis, and the strength of your approach in testing this hypothesis.
Significance and Innovation components:
The Significance and Innovation sections function to convince the reader of the overall urgency of your scientific question, and whether you have devised a novel and forward-looking approach to test your main questions. Essentially, a well written significance section answers the why of your grant and convinces the reader that the problem needs further research. It should support your premise for the importance of the question and help frame why your hypothesis is reasonable. The Innovation section is an argument for the novelty of your approach. Typically, novelty is expressed in the form of a novel hypothesis, a new scientific approach or technique, and a novel conceptual framework to study and analysis.
For additional resources on writing Specific Aims as well as Significance and Innovation sections contact VBRN (vbrn@uvm.edu).
An excellent guide for writing NIH grant proposals:
Robertson, John D. et al. The Grant Application Writer’s Workbook: National Institutes of Health Version. January 2019 edition. Buellton, CA: Grant Writers’ Seminars and Workshops, LLC, 2019. Print. For NSF grant proposals reference:
Robertson, J. D., Russell, S. W., & Morrison, D. C. (2018). The grant application writer’s workbook. National Science Foundation, FastLane version. (01/2018 edition.). Grant Writers’ Seminars and Workshops, LLC.
NIH Review Criteria include the following components. Consider these in the preparation of your pitch paper.
Overall Impact
Reviewers will provide an overall impact score to reflect their assessment of the likelihood for the project to make useful scientific contributions to the research field(s) involved, to provide research opportunities to undergraduate students by engaging them in primary research activities, and to strengthen the research environment of the institution, in consideration of the following review criteria and additional review criteria (as applicable for the project proposed).
Significance
Does the project address an important problem or a barrier to progress in the field? Is the prior research that serves as the key support for the proposed project rigorous? If the aims of the project are achieved, will the data be publishable and useful to the field? If funded, will the AREA grant have a substantial effect on the applicant institution in terms of strengthening the research environment and exposing undergraduate students to research?
Innovation
Does the application take advantage of, challenge or build on current research concepts and models or research techniques? Are innovative approaches to engaging undergraduate students in research proposed?
If you have any questions about the workshop, please contact your BPI Coordinator or vbrn@uvm.edu.

VBRN Grant Writing Workshop 2026
2026-01-24 09:00 - 12:30 | Roy Room, Dion Family Student Center, 94 Place Saint Michel, Colchester, VT, 05439, United States
Location
Dion Family Student Center (Roy Room)
94 Place Saint Michel
Colchester, VT 05439

Tentative Program Agenda:
9:00-10:00 AM    Breakfast (hot breakfast will be served)
10:00-12:30 PM   Mentoring the Mentor Workshop (in-person)

The workshop will be led by Dr. Charlie Irvin, Professor of Medicine and Molecular Physiology and Biophysics in the Larner College of Medicine at the University of Vermont. Dr. Irvin has led many “mentoring the mentor” workshops through the years. He will be joined by a panel of experienced mentors from primarily undergraduate institutions in the network who will share their experiences supporting student researchers, including mentoring styles and lessons learned. Attendees will take away ideas for developing their own personalized mentoring plans.

Parking information will be provided next week.

VBRN Career Day 2026
2026-04-01 15:00 - 19:00 | DoubleTree Hilton Hotel, 870 Williston Rd, South Burlington, VT, 05403, United States
VBRN Career Day is an annual undergraduate research symposium and career networking event for VBRN students. Students present their research during the poster sessions and during the networking portion of the event, students can network with professionals from a variety of STEM disciplines and medicine. During this same time, faculty will have an opportunity connect with faculty researchers from across the network.
Registration
If you intend to attend, please register in advance.

Tentative Schedule of Events:

3:00-3:30
Registration and poster set-up

3:30-4:15
Poster session (even)

4:15-5:00
Poster session (odd)

5:00-5:15
Buffet Dinner starts

5:15-6:45
Networking (two concurrent sessions): 1) Student career paths roundtables & 2) Faculty networking

6:45-7:00
VBRN Awards

VBRN EAC Meeting
2026-05-12

Data Carpentry: Introductory Genomics Workshop
2026-05-27 09:00 - 2026-05-28 16:30
Data Carpentry: Introductory Genomics Workshop
Wednesday May 27 – Thursday May 28, 2026 – two full days
In-person only (UVM campus) | 9:00 AM – 4:30 PM
Maximum is 25 participants – Faculty and their student researchers are welcome!
Registration link

Genomics workshop description:
The Genomics Carpentries workshop teaches data management and analysis for genomics research, including best practices for organization of bioinformatics projects and data, use of command-line utilities, use of command-line tools to analyze sequence quality and perform variant calling and connecting to and using cloud computing. The workshop does not cover individual methods for working with RNA-seq, ChIP-seq, or other specialized datasets, but instead focuses on core principles for efficient and reproducible research with sequencing data. This workshop is designed to be taught over two full days of instruction. Register for the workshop using this registration link. If you have questions or would like additional information email hdriscol@norwich.edu.

Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experience (CURE) Workshop
2026-06-02 09:00 - 17:00 | Norwich University, Milano Ballroom, 612 S Main St, Northfield, VT, 05663, United States
Workshop leaders: Lawrence Blumer, Ph.D. (Morehouse College) and Christopher Beck, Ph.D (Emory University)
Registration link

CURE workshop description:
CUREs are high impact learning-teaching activities in which students conduct authentic science investigations in the context of a lecture or laboratory course. Participants in this workshop will begin developing a CURE activity that they will implement at their home institution and potentially conduct education research on their CURE implementation. We invite faculty to join us as a team of 1 or more. Working with a partner from your institution is not required, but can be helpful for planning how to address institutional specific barriers and after the workshop when participants are implementing the plans they made at the workshop. The new CURE activity may be in any area of STEM and at least one of the faculty on your team should be directly involved in developing and teaching the new CURE. Participants in this interactive workshop will be guided by the workshop facilitators (Drs. Christopher Beck, Emory University, and Lawrence Blumer, Morehouse College) to create a step-by-step plan to develop and implement a CURE activity. Participants will leave with a concrete plan for moving forward with implementation. Register for the workshop using this registration link. If you have questions about the workshop, please email hdriscol@norwich.edu.

2nd Northern New England Microbiome Symposium at the University of Maine
2026-06-11 - 2026-06-12 | 160 College Ave, Orono, ME 04473, 160 College Ave, Orono, ME, 04473, United States
Buchanan Alumni House, 160 College Ave, Orono, ME 04473 (Free visitor parking on-site)
Registration is open and free!

On June 11, 2026, there will be a full day of presentations and posters. On June 12, 2026, a data analysis workshop will be held in the morning. The full agenda is here, including speaker info, vendor info, and accommodation recommendations in Orono.

Learn about microbial communities in the environment, agriculture, aquaculture, health, pathogen surveillance, computational approaches, bioengineering, and more!
Share your work as a talk or at the student poster competition!
Network with colleagues from across New England!
Plan your next project with university research facilities or industry vendors for sequencing, microscopy, biochemistry, computation, and more!

Questions about this event? Email vbrn@uvm.edu.

Introductory Software Carpentries Workshop: Unix, Git & R for Reproducible Data Analysis
2026-06-23 - 2026-06-24
In-person only (UVM campus) | 9:00 AM – 4:30 PM
Maximum is 25 participants
Registration and workshop website coming soon

Workshop Description:
In this workshop, learners will gain confidence in using the command-line to navigate their file structure and work with files on their computer, write custom scripts to automate repetitive analyses, learn the core concepts of version control and be able to implement a simple Git workflow for tracking their own work. Learners will work with tabular data and other core data structures, use conditionals and loops, write custom functions, and learn to create publication-quality graphics to communicate your research findings effectively. This workshop also introduces RStudio and strategies for getting help. This workshop is appropriate for learners with no previous programming experience. If you have questions or would like additional information, email hdriscol@norwich.edu.

VBRN Faculty Retreat 2026
2026-07-22 09:00 - 15:30 | UVM Davis Center, 590 Main Street, Burlington, VT, 05405, United States
Please note that if you were VBRN funded this year (2025-2026) or will be funded next year (2026-2027), your attendance at this event is mandatory.
Register for this event here
Location: Dudley H. Davis Center, 4th floor, Silver Maple Ballroom on the UVM campus (590 Main St. Burlington, VT 05405)

Tentative Program

9:00 – 9:30 AM

Registration and coffee

9:30 – 10:00 AM

Welcome remarks from VBRN Director, Dr. Chris Francklyn, and program announcements

10:00 – 11:30 AM

VBRN Research Spotlight I: Oral presentations

11:30 AM -12:00 PM

VBRN Research Spotlight II: Poster presentations (even + odd sessions 30 min)

12:00 – 12:15 PM

Remarks from Dr. Kirk Dombrowski, UVM Vice President for Research

12:00 – 1:00 PM

Networking lunch

1:00 – 2:00 PM

Discovering Night Science (Dr. Oliver Bogler)

2:00 – 3:00 PM

Navigating the publishing landscape (Dr. Gary Ward, UVM)

3:00 – 3:30 PM

Retreat review/comments and wrap-up
