VBRN Awards

Faculty Support

VBRN has three funding mechanisms, described below, to support faculty research: Project Awards, Pilot Awards and Exploratory Awards. Faculty who receive VBRN funding are required to have a science mentor. See this page for Science Mentor and Mentee Expectations

Eligibility:

Faculty members who are full-time tenure track at one of our Baccalaureate Partner Institutions are eligible to apply for all VBRN funding opportunities. Full-time non-tenure track faculty are eligible to apply for Exploratory Awards only. Priority will be given to early career faculty. NIH funding doesn’t preclude further VBRN support, but in our mission supporting early investigators with no NIH history is a priority.

2024-2025 Faculty Funding Timeline:

The VBRN Grant Writing Workshop (GWW) will be held on Friday September 29. Attendance at this workshop will be required for all faculty intending to apply for Exploratory or Pilot Award funding for June 1, 2024-May 31, 2025 or a Project Award funding for June 1, 2024-May 31, 2026. Details on the program can be found here. A timeline for applying for 2024-2025 VBRN funds is as follows:

  • August 2023: VBRN Exploratory, Pilot and Project Award Requests for Applications released
  • September 1, 2023: RSVP for the GWW to your BPI Coordinator
  • September 15, 2023: Pitch paper due (email to your BPI Coordinator, mandatory requirement to participate in the GWW)
  • September 29, 2023: Grant Writing Workshop
  • November 1, 2023: Letter of Intent due (template will be distributed to GWW attendees)
  • January 12, 2024: VBRN Award applications due (must be submitted electronically by the PI)
  • End of March 2024: VBRN Award funding decisions made
Funding Limits:

There is a limit to the number of years of VBRN funding an investigator may receive. Eligible faculty may receive up to four years of funding (exclusive of the INBRE 3 Small Award category). VBRN recognizes that the BPIs are at different stages in developing and sustaining their cultures of research and will accept requests for a fifth year of funding for compliant faculty. These requests will be reviewed on an individual basis, and will involve input from the science mentor and the BPI coordinator, and supporting documentation that includes reviews from extramural grant proposals. Progress toward extramural funding must be demonstrated in order to be eligible for a fifth year of VBRN funding.

Review of VBRN Award Applications:

The review of Project Award applications begins with the assignment of the application to at least two outside reviewers. The reviewers are given the Request For Applications (RFA) and are asked to score the application based on the NIH review criteria used for the R15 AREA grant, which includes Significance, Investigator, Innovation, Approach and Environment. The NIH utilizes a 9-point rating scale (1 = exceptional; 9 = poor) for all applications; the same scale is used for criterion scores and for the overall impact score.

VBRN will assess applications with respect to alignment with VBRN strategic objectives and mission. For this cycle we are particularly interested in applications that foster inter-institutional collaborations and include a data science component. NIGMS would like to see INBRE Programs encourage the utilization of large, publicly available datasets, e.g., phenotypes of human populations, in research by INBRE-supported faculty members.

Other data (publication record, compliance with VBRN requirements for funding, advisor reports, and the critiques of proposals submitted to federal agencies) are also considered when making the final decisions about funding.

VBRN’s goal is to fund as many Awards as possible, but fund only meritorious applications.

Policy on Sharing Grant Reviews:

VBRN funded faculty are encouraged to share any extramural grant reviews with their science mentor, BPI Coordinator and VBRN’s Director. Sharing your reviews with your mentors will allow them to more efficiently support your career development and progress to independent support. These reviews will be kept confidential.

Accessing the Application Site

In 2022, VBRN updated the award application site. Directions for accessing the new site are below.

 How to Access Application Site

 

VBRN Project Awards for 2024

Call for Proposals for:

New or Renewal Project Research Awards for Tenure-track Faculty at Baccalaureate Partner Institutions
Application Deadline: January 12, 2024 by 4:00 pm
Funding Dates: June 1, 2024 – May 31, 2026

VBRN Pilot Awards for 2024

Call for Proposals for:

New or Renewal Pilot Research Awards for Tenure-track Faculty at Baccalaureate Partner Institutions
Application Deadline: January 12, 2024 by 4:00 pm

Funding Dates: June 1, 2024 – May 31, 2025

VBRN Exploratory Awards for 2024

Call for Proposals for:

New or Renewal Exploratory Research Awards for Tenure-track and non-tenure-track Faculty at Baccalaureate Partner Institutions
Application Deadline: January 12, 2024 by 4:00 pm

Funding Dates: June 1, 2024 – May 31, 2025

Student Internships

Call for Proposals for:

VBRN Undergraduate Student Summer Internships 2024

A paid internship to conduct summer research in UVM and Vermont area biotechnology industry labs in Summer 2024. Application deadline: Friday, February 9, 2024.

Two Scheduled Information Sessions are available (via Zoom)

Session 1: Wednesday, January 17, 2024, 12PM – 1PM

Session 2: Wednesday, January 24, 2024, 12PM – 1PM

Undergraduate students from these programs and institutions are eligible to apply: Vermont State University (Castleton, Lyndon, Johnson, Randolph, and Williston campuses), Champlain College, Community College of Vermont, Landmark College, Middlebury College, Norwich University, Saint Michael’s College as well as Northeast Regional INBRE Programs (DE-INBRE, ME-INBRE, NH-INBRE, RI-INBRE, and the Biomedical Sciences Career Program (BSCP).

Click here for the Request for Application
Click here for the Online Application Form
How to Access the Application Site