Seed Grants

The Seed Grant Application consists of the following.  Grants failing to adhere to the instructions below will not be reviewed.

1. The project title.
2. The team members (PI, co-PI, other collaborators, postdocs, students).
3. An abstract (in lay terms) of the project (<250 words) explicitly stating its broader impact.
4. A project description (≤2500 words) that includes:
   1. A statement of the scientific question or problem to be addressed.
   2. A paragraph describing the background of the question or problem and its significance.
   3. The specific aims of the project, including both scientific aims and an explicit indication of how this funding will result in a successful application for extramural funding.
   4.  A brief summary of methodological approaches to those aims.

NOTE:  Project descriptions should be written in such a manner that reviewers outside of the applicants’ primary discipline will be able to comprehend it. Project descriptions that are not readily understandable by the reviewers will not be scored.

1. A budget description that itemizes the expected costs for the July 1 – June 30 period.  Awarded funds cannot be carried beyond that date. Academic year salary buyout is allowed with B&B funds, for a maximum of two course buyouts per grant. All course buyout requests must be approved by the department chairs of PI’s and co-PI’s who are making such requests.  Course buyouts are at the chair’s discretion. The budget should reflect the actual replacement cost for the department to which the investigator(s) belong. A budget justification should be included for each budgeted item, and it should include a description of the responsibilities of each team member involved in the project.  NOTE: Chairs signature is now required on all submitted grants.
2. Permissions/approvals for the care and use of vertebrate non-human animals, or human subjects and other compliance necessities.
3. Identification of the 'seed' aspect of the grant.  Explicitly state how funding of this seed grant will lead to the generation of external funding, including a detailed timeline and preliminary data requirements.
4. Identification of the relevance of the grant to neuroscience understood from the variety of perspectives encompassed by the departments in the Brains & Behavior Program
5. Collaborative proposals with non-GSU scientists should make clear that all Seed Grant dollars will be spent by GSU personnel.  If a proposal hinges on work done by non-GSU scientists, evidence that that work is supported should be provided. This should be by letter from the collaborator accompanied by a declared source of funds (e.g. NIH/NSF/other grant number).

10-14: THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION MUST BE PROVIDED FOR PI’S, CO-PI’S AND ANYONE ELSE WHO RECEIVES A SALARY FROM THE PROJECT:

1. Bio-sketch (max 4 single-spaced pages per person) either in NSF format or NIH format.
2. Previous participation in the Brains & Behavior Program (e.g. attending seminars and/or retreat, mentoring a fellow, participating in the seed grant review process).
3. List all external grants submitted within the past 5 years (including title, agency, amount and date) and report on their funding status (funded, non funded, under review).
4. Fill in the information in the table below for any B&B seed grants you have received within the past 3 years.
5. The signature of the department or unit head of all PIs and co-PIs verifying that they have seen and approve the submission and budget/faculty effort distribution.
6. You have the option of identifying up to 3 faculty members qualified to review your application, and up to 3 faculty members that should be excluded from the review process due to a conflict of interest. Although efforts will be made to accommodate these preferences, there is no guarantee that they will be.

APPLICATIONS MUST BE SUBMITTED to Liz Weaver by submitting the form above by 5:00 pm, FEBRUARY 19, 2024. Applications failing to adhere to all instructions will not be reviewed. Within one year of the end of a Seed Grant, PIs are required to prepare a final report that describes any research accomplishments resulting from the award of this seed grant. If you have any questions regarding your submission, please email Liz Weaver.

Schedule:

February 19:     Proposals submitted to Liz Weaver by submitting the form above.

Early May:        Awards announced

July 1:               Funds available

Review Process:

• The chair of the ad hoc committee responsible for reviewing B&B seed grants is appointed by Nancy Forger, Ph.D. Director of the NI.
• The number and identity of members of the ad hoc committee will depend on the number and type of seed grants submitted. The chair of the ad hoc committee, in consultation with the IDC, will select a minimum of six members, making sure that none of them has a B&B seed grant under submission, that every department submitting a B&B seed grant has at least one member on the ad hoc committee, and that members of the ad hoc committee have the required expertise to evaluate the grants and experience with grant reviewing.
• The voting process will follow the grant review format used by NIH, which is designed to maximize the chances that grants are uniformly evaluated.
• All members of the ad hoc committee will participate to the entire panel discussion
• Three reviewers are assigned to each grant; each writes a review and assigns a preliminary overall score
• Reviews and scores are available to all ad hoc committee members 3-4 days before the meeting.
• At the meeting, reviewers state their preliminary scores.
• The three reviewers present their review to the panel and briefly discuss it among themselves. The rest of the panel can then ask questions to clarify points as needed. Reviewers then give their final scores.
• Every member of the panel independently and confidentially enters a score as well. The score should be within the range of the highest and lowest reviewer score, although panel members can say that they are voting outside the range and do so, in which case they are asked to explain why.
• The average of the scores from all panel members will be taken as the score for the proposal
• At the end of the review meeting the scoring will be discussed by the committee to ensure consistency of reviews across proposals and modified if necessary.

Review Criteria:

All proposals will be evaluated by three reviewers according to the following six criteria (Seed Capability is the criterion that will be given the most weight):

1. ‘Seed’ capability:  The degree to which the proposed research will facilitate future extramural funding.  Include a detailed plan regarding timeline and preliminary data requirements. Applicants should explicitly discuss how the seed grant will increase the likelihood of new extramural funding.  This will be the primary criterion for funding.
2. Scientific Merit: The importance of the project’s aims for advancing knowledge and understanding in the neurosciences and the likelihood that those aims can be achieved in a timely fashion with B&B support. Proposals will be judged in terms of their potential research novelty and impact, and for the quality of their conception, organization, and fit as a grant application.
3. Relevance to neuroscience: The degree to which the proposed research is relevant for neuroscience understood from the variety of perspectives encompassed by the departments in the Brains & Behavior Program.
4. Accomplishments achieved under earlier Seed Grant support. Applicants must have completed project reports for all previous Seed Grants submitted before this proposal can be considered, including grants that were submitted, even if not funded.
5. Productivity of PIs within the past 5 years: (grants, relevant publications only). Early career faculty should be judged accordingly and their previous grant history should not be directly compared to senior faculty.
6. Participation in previous B&B activities: including attending seminars, mentoring fellows, reviewing seed grants.

Budget criteria and required information

The budget tables provided in the application are to help the PIs plan their request so that it is realistic within the time- and budgetary-constraints placed on Seed Grants.  The biggest constraint is that the funds must be expended entirely by the end of the relevant fiscal year.  Problems in this regard can occur if delays occur in filling budgeted personnel positions on the project, or if work is delayed because permissions are not obtained promptly.  Please try to plan your project with these circumstances in mind.

Personnel (Please provide the information requested in the budget)

1. Faculty:  At most, 2 class buy-outs per grant plus 1 month summer salary support for each investigator, at the chair’s discretion.
2. Postdoctoral associates
3. Graduate students: B&B Fellows are ineligible.  Seed grant funds may supplement existing departmental support to a level that does not exceed that received by B&B Fellows ($1833.33 per month) and cannot replace existing departmental support.
4. Undergraduates:  Compensation at $10/hr for at most 20hrs/week during the academic year and 40hrs/weekduring the summer.
5. Technician

Non-Personnel

1. Equipment: No restrictions
2. Supplies: No restrictions
3. Travel: Travel costs are allowable for research purposes only. Funding for travel to scientific meetings is not allowed.