“Investigating Mechanisms for Spatial and Temporal Control of Kinesin Motors”
2023-10-10 11:30 - 12:30 (America/New_York)
UVM Cellular and Molecular Biology (CMB) Seminar Series
11:30 AM-12:30 PM – Join online or in person in the Davis Auditorium, UVM
“Investigating Mechanisms for Spatial and Temporal Control of Kinesin Motors”
Sarah-Catherine Paschall, Doctoral candidate, Dr. Jason Stumpff’s Lab, Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics
University of Vermont

“The Next Pediatric Vital Sign? School Attendance and the Link to Health”
2023-10-11 08:00 - 09:00
UVM Pediatric Grand Rounds
8:00-9:00 AM – Join online (Passcode: [REDACTED] or in person in the Davis Auditorium, UVM campus
“The Next Pediatric Vital Sign? School Attendance and the Link to Health”
Heidi Schumacher, M.D., FAAP, Assistant Professor, Departments of Pediatrics
Vermont Child Health Improvement Program (VCHIP), UVM Larner College of Medicine
Primary Care Pediatrician, UVM Children’s Hospital

"The impact of Miro1-mediated mitochondrial positioning on subcellular signaling"
2023-10-11 11:00 - 12:00
UVM Redox Biology and Pathology Program Seminar
11:00 AM – 12:00 PM – Join the seminar online , Meeting ID: 959 9166 6098, Passcode: [REDACTED] or in-person in HSRF 300, UVM campus
“The impact of Miro1-mediated mitochondrial positioning on subcellular signaling”
Nathaniel Shannon, CMB doctoral candidate, Cunniff Lab, Larner College of Medicine
University of Vermont

"To Oklahoma and Beyond: How to turn my preliminary data into an R01”
2023-10-12 09:00 - 10:00
UVM Vermont Center for Immunology and Infectious Disease (VCIID) Research-in-Progress Meeting
9:00-10:00 AM – Join the meeting or in-person in HSRF 300, UVM campus
“To Oklahoma and Beyond: How to turn my preliminary data into an R01”
Robyn Kent PhD, Postdoc, Ward lab, Larner College of Medicine
University of Vermont

UVM Translational Global Infectious Disease Research (TGIR) Workshop
2023-10-12 10:00 - 11:30
10:00-11:30 AM – in-person in HSRF 400, UVM campus
“TBD”
David Bernstein, UVM

“Desire, Pleasure, and Addiction in the Brain”
2023-10-12 13:15 - 14:15
Dartmouth College Psychological and Brain Sciences Colloquium
1:15-2:15 PM – In-person in Filene Auditorium, Moore Hall B03, Dartmouth College campus
“Desire, Pleasure, and Addiction in the Brain”
Kent Berridge, PhD, James Olds Distinguished University Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience
University of Michigan

"The 25x5 Initiative to Reduce Clinical Documentation Burden"
2023-10-13 08:00 - 09:00
UVM Department of Medicine Grand Rounds Seminar
8:00-9:00 AM – Join the seminar online (Passcode: [REDACTED] Meeting ID: 878 850 0732)
“The 25×5 Initiative to Reduce Clinical Documentation Burden”
Trent Rosenbloom, M.D., MPH, FACMI, FAMIA, FAAP
Professor in Biomedical Informatics, Clinical Nursing,
Pediatrics, and Medicine, Vanderbilt University School of
Medicine (SOM) and Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC)
Director, My Health at Vanderbilt, VUMC
Vice Chair of Faculty Affairs, Department of Biomedical Informatics, VUMC
Director, Clinical Effectiveness Research, Vanderbilt Health Affiliate Network
Associate Director, Medical Innovators Development Program, Vanderbilt University SOM

“E-Cigarettes and Smoking Cessation: A New Twist on a Familiar Question”
2023-10-13 10:30 - 23:45
UVM Department of Psychiatry Grand Rounds Seminar
10:30-11:45 AM – Join online Meeting ID: 913 3058 6982, Passcode: [REDACTED] or in person in the David Auditorium, UVM campus
“E-Cigarettes and Smoking Cessation: A New Twist on a Familiar Question”
Matthew Carpenter, PhD, Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Medical University of South Carolina

VBRN Professional Development Seminar
2024-01-27 09:00 - 13:00 | 85 South Prospect St. Burlington VT 05401, 85 South Prospect St., Burlington, VT, 05405, United States
Please save the date for the VBRN professional development seminar on Saturday, January 27, 2024 from 9:00 AM -1:00 PM. The event will be held at UVM Memorial Lounge, 85 South Prospect Street, Burlington in the Waterman building. Breakfast will be available beginning at 9am. The session will take place from 10am-12noon.
Porter Knight https://productivityvermont.com/ is our guest speaker for this year’s session.
Please note that this is a required event for all funded faculty and that a remote option will not be offered.
More details to follow.

Introductory Software Carpentries Workshop: Unix & R for Reproducible Data Analysis - Workshop #1
2024-03-14 - 2024-03-15
Thursday March 14 – Friday March 15, 2024 –> in person only
9:00 AM – 4:30 PM each day
University of Vermont campus here
Register for the in-person workshop
Maximum is 25 participants
What You’ll Learn:
Coding essentials: Learners will gain confidence in using the Unix shell and command-line to navigate their file structure and work with files on their computer, culminating in writing custom scripts to automate repetitive analyses that will save you time.
Data manipulation, analysis, and visualization in R: 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 learners to RStudio and strategies for getting help.
Two Software Carpentries instructors and helpers will be available to address your questions throughout the each workshop.
Who Should Attend:
Researchers from various fields with limited experience in command line computing
Why Attend:
Increase the efficiency and accuracy of data analysis
Improve the reproducibility of your research
Take your first steps in analyzing big data
Enhance your ability to collaborate with programmers and data scientists
Cost:
The workshop is free for participants
Requirements:
No prior coding experience is required
Bring a laptop that can load required software (Mac or PC)
Contact Information:
For inquiries or additional information, please contact Heather Driscoll (hdriscol@norwich.edu)
Register today to reserve a spot in one of the workshops!
VBRN Data Science Core

VBRN Career Day
2024-04-18 13:00 - 19:00 | DoubleTree Hilton Hotel, 870 Williston Rd, South Burlington, VT, 05403, United States
VBRN Student Career Day, our annual student research symposium, is rescheduled to be held on Thursday, April 18, 2024 at the DoubleTree Hotel. This is an afternoon and evening event where our VBRN interns will present a poster on the research they conducted.
Please confirm that you will be attending this rescheduled event. See the Event Confirmation link.
Agenda

1:00-2:30
Optional UVM lab tours*

2:30-3:00
Registration and poster set-up

3:00-4:00
Student poster session 1 (even)

4:00-5:00
Student poster session 2 (odd)

5:00-6:00
Dinner

6:00-7:00
Networking sessions: 1) student career paths session & 2) faculty thematic interest group session

This year at Career Day, VBRN will be judging student posters and will honor a student with a travel award to attend the National IDeA Symposium of Biomedical Research Excellent (NISBRE) Conference in Washington, D.C. from June 16-19, 2024! Selection for this award will be completed by VBRN appointed judges.
During the networking portion of the event from 6:00-7:00, students can network with invited speakers who are professionals from a variety of STEM disciplines and medicine. During this same time, faculty will have an opportunity connect with faculty researchers during the VBRN Thematic Interest Group (TIG) Networking event. In this faculty session you may learn about the VBRN Thematic Interest Groups, their research and related activities, and network with TIG members from our baccalaureate partner institutions and UVM. We hope that you will join us!
*Optional tours of the Center for Biomedical Shared Resources core labs in the Firestone Biomedical Research Building, UVM. Meet outside of the main entrance to the Firestone Biomedical Research Building next to the water tower.–VBRN Proteomics Core Facility (https://vbrn.org/proteomics/)–Vermont Integrated Genomics Resource (https://www.med.uvm.edu/vigr/home)–Microscopy Core Facility (https://www.med.uvm.edu/mic/home)–Flow Cytometry and Cell Sorting Facility (https://www.med.uvm.edu/flowcytometry/home)
More information on the CBSR.

CBSR Research Technologies Seminar Series - Mass Spectrometry: Proteomics Workflow for Low Input and Single-cell Samples
2024-05-08 12:00 - 13:00 | Larner College of Medicine Medical Education Building, 89 Beaumont Ave, Burlington, VT, 05405, United States
Join us Wednesday, May 8th from Noon-1pm. In-person, HSRF 200 (lunch served) or via Zoom, https://uvmcom.zoom.us/j/93484542701?from=addon for this seminar.

Introductory Software Carpentries Workshop: Unix & R for Reproducible Data Analysis - Workshop #2
2024-05-28 - 2024-05-31
Tuesday May 28 – Friday May 31, 2024 –> online only
8:30 AM -12:30 PM each day
Zoom
Register for the online workshop
Maximum is 25 participants
What You’ll Learn:
Coding essentials: Learners will gain confidence in using the Unix shell and command-line to navigate their file structure and work with files on their computer, culminating in writing custom scripts to automate repetitive analyses that will save you time.
Data manipulation, analysis, and visualization in R: 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 learners to RStudio and strategies for getting help.
Two Software Carpentries instructors and helpers will be available to address your questions throughout the each workshop.
Who Should Attend:
Researchers from various fields with limited experience in command line computing
Why Attend:
Increase the efficiency and accuracy of data analysis
Improve the reproducibility of your research
Take your first steps in analyzing big data
Enhance your ability to collaborate with programmers and data scientists
Cost:
The workshop is free for participants
Requirements:
No prior coding experience is required
Bring a laptop that can load required software (Mac or PC)
Contact Information:
For inquiries or additional information, please contact Heather Driscoll (hdriscol@norwich.edu)
Register today to reserve a spot in one of the workshops!
VBRN Data Science Core

2024 Northern New England Microbiome Symposium
2024-06-03 08:00 - 17:30 | UVM Davis Center
The University of Vermont’s Microbiome Interest Group is pleased to invite you to the 2024 Northern New England Microbiome Symposium. This one-day symposium will feature talks on cutting-edge research and applications by national and local speakers. It offers everyone an opportunity to share their work in a community poster session and get to know one another at a microbially-themed social event.
Event site

VBRN Annual Retreat 2024
2024-07-17 09:00 - 15:00 | UVM Davis Center
Date: Wednesday July 17, 2024, 9:00 AM – 3:00 PM
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
Coffee and check in

9:30-9:50
Welcome remarks and VBRN announcements

9:50-10:50
VBRN Research Spotlight I – Lightning talks

10:50-11:00
Break

11:00-12:00
VBRN Research Spotlight II – Poster Presentations A

12:00-1:30
Networking lunch

1:30-2:30
VBRN Research Spotlight III – Poster Presentations B

2:30-3:00
Retreat review and wrap-up

VBRN Grant Writing Workshop 2024
2024-09-27 12:00 - 17:00 | DoubleTree Hilton Hotel, 870 Williston Rd, South Burlington, VT, 05403, United States
The VBRN Grant Writing Workshop will be held from 12:00-5:00 PM Friday, September 27, 2024, at the DoubleTree by Hilton in South Burlington, VT. Attendance at this workshop will be required for all faculty intending to apply for Exploratory or Pilot Award funding from June 1, 2025-May 31, 2026 or Project Award funding for June 1, 2025-May 31, 2027. Attendance is recommended for a faculty who have received VBRN funding in the past and are interested in applying for individual NIH 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, as well as support breakout sessions for completing supplementary documents. Lunch is included prior to the start of the program with some roundtables dedicated to VBRN Thematic Interest Groups. There will be tables for established groups (Disease Ecology, Bioorganic Chemistry, Neuroscience, Health and Movement Science, Data Science) as well as new groups currently in development (e.g. CURE, Environmental Chemistry).
Note the following key dates and information on the pitch paper or draft Specific Aims page.
Key dates for 2025 VBRN applications:

Request for Applications (RFA) available on the VBRN Awards page: Friday, August 16, 2024
Pitch paper due: Monday, September 9, 2024 –

Email pitch paper to your coordinator with a working title for your proposal and 2-3 key words. Also, provide contact information for any suggested reviewers. This is a mandatory requirement to participate in the grant writing workshop.

Grant Writing Workshop: Friday, September 27, 2024
Letter of Intent due: Friday, November 1, 2024
VBRN Application due: Monday, January 13, 2025
VBRN Award funding decisions: end of March 2025

Tentative program schedule

11:30 AM-12:00 PM
Registration

12:00-1:00 PM
Optional lunch and networking (incl. VBRN Thematic Interest Group tables)

1:00-1:15 PM
Welcome remarks

1:15-1:45 PM
Successful specific aims from former awardees

1:45-2:00 PM
Top ten challenges for VBRN proposals

2:00-4:00 PM
Pitch paper review panel

4:00-5:00 PM
Supplementary document breakout groups

Details on the Pitch Paper (draft Specific Aims page)
Faculty submit a NIH-style proposal to apply for VBRN funding. 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.
For the pitch paper, faculty are asked to include at a minimum Specific Aims of the proposed research (one-page total). Optionally and additionally, faculty may include draft Significance and Innovation components of an AREA R15 application (two-pages total, including the Specific Aims page).
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 when you email your RSVP with pitch paper to 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.
For additional resources on writing a Specific Aims page contact VBRN (vbrn@uvm.edu).
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 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.
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 External Advisory Committee Visit
2024-10-22

The Metagenomics Workshop Incubator Carpentry
2025-01-07 - 2025-01-08
Workshop info:The Metagenomics Workshop Incubator CarpentryTuesday January 7- Wednesday January 8, 2025 –> in person only 9:00 AM – 4:30 PM each dayUniversity of Vermont campusRegister for the in-person workshop Maximum is 25 participants
What You’ll Learn:Project Organization and Management Learn how to structure your metadata, organize and document your metagenomics data and bioinformatics workflow, and access data on the NCBI sequence read archive (SRA) database.
Introduction to the Command Line Learn to navigate your file system, create, copy, move, and remove files and directories, and automate repetitive tasks using scripts and wildcards.
Introduction to R Use R studio to manage several data types and structures.
Data Processing and Visualization for Metagenomics Use command-line tools to perform quality control, metagenomic assembly, metagenomic binning, taxonomic assignment, and diversity exploration.
Who Should Attend:PUI researchers from various fields with interest in metagenomics research
Why Attend:Increase the efficiency and accuracy of data analysisImprove the reproducibility of your researchTake your first steps in analyzing big dataEnhance your ability to collaborate with programmers and data scientists
Cost:The workshop is free for participants
Requirements:No prior coding experience is requiredBring a laptop that can load required software (Mac or PC)
Contact Information:For inquiries or additional information, please contact Heather Driscoll (hdriscol@norwich.edu
VBRN and UVM Data Science Core Team

VBRN Professional Development Workshop 2025
2025-01-25 09:00 - 12:30 | 85 South Prospect St. Burlington VT 05401, 85 South Prospect St., Burlington, VT, 05405, United States
VBRN Annual Professional Development Workshop
Saturday, January 25, 2025 | 9:00 AM – 12:30 PM
Waterman Building, UVM Memorial Lounge (second floor)
85 South Prospect Street
Burlington, VT 05405

If you intend on attending in person you must first register for this event.

Tentative Program Agenda:
9:00-10:00 AM
Optional CURE Breakfast (in-person): Anyone interested in sharing ideas about experiential learning and bringing research into the classroom through Course-based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CURE) are welcome to attend.

10:00-11:00 AM
NSF EPSCoR Research Fellows RII Program presentation (live webinar) and Q&A with Lisa Cliggett, VT EPSCoR Program Officer, and Hongmei Luo, Office of the Director, Office of Integrative Activities, Research Capacity & Competitiveness, U.S. National Science Foundation. The EPSCoR Research Fellows RII program provides awards to build research capacity in institutions and transform the career trajectories of investigators and further develop their individual research potential through collaborations with investigators from the nation’s premier private, governmental, or academic research institutions and/or centers.

11:00 AM-12:30 PM
Strategic Career Planning Workshop (in-person):
The new year is a perfect time for reflection and planning your professional trajectory. In this workshop you will learn about strategic planning and practical tips to manage the research and scholarship, teaching, and service expectations of your appointment. This one-and-a-half-hour interactive workshop led by Jessi Waite and Scott Lewins of UVM’s Research Development office, will help you to align your values with your career goals, set priorities, and build connections. Materials will be targeted for early-career faculty at predominately undergraduate serving institutions, but being proactive in planning is important no matter where you are in your academic career, so all are welcome to join.

Drop-in virtual informational session for the 2025 VBRN Summer Internship Program
2025-01-30 12:00 - 13:00
Drop-in virtual informational session for the 2025 VBRN Summer Internship Program:

Thursday, January 30, 2025 | 12:00-1:00 PM – Zoom link

Summer Internship Drop-in Info Session
2025-02-07 12:00 - 13:00
Drop-in informational session on Friday February 7, 2025 at 12:00 – Zoom link

Genomics Data Carpentry
2025-03-17 - 2025-03-18
Monday March 17 – Tuesday March 18, 2025, from 8:30 AM – 5:00 PM both days
Registration is open!
Workshop website

This online-only workshop is intended for people working with high-throughput sequencing data and focuses on helping them upgrade their workflow from relying on spreadsheets and GUI platforms to using command-line tools and accessing remote computing power. Learners will be introduced to core Bash commands and will learn to write custom Bash scripts to automate an analysis pipeline. They will be introduced to some commonly used command-line bioinformatics tools and file formats. This 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.

VBRN Career Day 2025
2025-04-02 14:30 - 19:00 | 1 College St, Burlington, VT 05401
VBRN Career Day is an annual undergraduate research symposium and career networking event for VBRN students!

Register Now

Agenda
2:30-3:00   Registration and poster set-up
3:00-4:00   Student poster session 1 (even)
4:00-5:00   Student poster session 2 (odd)
5:00-6:00   Dinner
6:00-7:00   Networking sessions: 1) student career paths session & 2) faculty thematic interest groups

During the networking portion of the event from 6:00-7:00, students can network with invited speakers who are professionals from a variety of STEM disciplines and medicine. During this same time, faculty will have an opportunity connect with faculty researchers during the VBRN Thematic Interest Group (TIG) Networking event. In this faculty session you may learn about the VBRN Thematic Interest Groups, their research and related activities, and network with TIG members from our baccalaureate partner institutions and UVM. We hope that you will join us!

Plotting and Programming with Python
2025-05-29 - 2025-05-30
Thursday May 29 – Friday May 30, 2025 – two full days
8:30 AM – 5:00 PM

Registration is open!

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 Bash 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. Additionally, this workshop will cover Python programming basics, focusing on working with core data structures including tabular data, using conditionals and loops, writing custom functions, and creating customized plots. JupyterLab and strategies for getting help will also be introduced. This workshop is appropriate for learners with no previous programming experience.

VBRN Annual Retreat 2025
2025-07-17 11:00 - 14:00 | UVM Davis Center
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

VBRN Personal Development Retreat
2026-07-22 09:00 - 14:00
Save The Date
