Limited and External Funding Opportunities

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  • Email LSO@vanderbilt.edu if you are interested in an opportunity not listed below or have questions regarding the LSO submission process.
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Have you been awarded a Limited Submission recognition?

Please let us know at LSO@vanderbilt.edu

Active Internal Calls Banner

Internal review process required to choose institutional nominees

Limited Submission Eligibility Guidelines

The following tags serve as a guide for submission instructions.

 Vanderbilt (VU + VUMC):  

  • VU and VUMC submit collaboratively to this LSO. ALL investigators should follow the guidelines posted on this site.

S-

 VUMC :

  • VU and VUMC submit separately to this LSO. VUMC investigators should follow the guidelines posted on this site. VU investigators should apply through InfoReady and address any questions to VU-LSO@vanderbilt.edu.

FEATURED OPPORTUNITY

  • High-profile or prestigious awards of particular interest to Vanderbilt investigators

Full internal call

  • Click on "View Full Internal Call" at end of each LSO description to access PDF with internal submission instructions 

Burroughs Wellcome Fund: Climate + Health Excellence (CHEX) Centers

Applications due November 21, 2024

VUMC: These instructions are for VUMC investigators. VU investigatorsshould apply through InfoReady and address any questions to VU-LSO@vanderbilt.edu.

Overview

VUMC may submit one proposal to the Burroughs Wellcome Fund: Climate + Health Excellence (CHEX) Centers fundingopportunity.

This is a new institutional research and training opportunity that will help institutions bridge the gaps between fields that will have important roles to play in understanding the impacts of climate change on human health and diminishing their effects. This grant will support new discovery toward defining the health impacts of climate change, developing potential interventions, translating discovery science into practical application, and outward-facing work that can help public understanding of Climate + Health or strengthen connections between research and communities whose health has been harmed by climate change. The goal of the sponsor is to help these Centers of Excellence achieve their strategic goals by supporting activities that help build stable collaborations between people, departments, and institutions.  The CHEX awards will provide up to $2,000,000 a year for five years. The sponsor anticipates that up to three awards will be made over two rounds of applications.

NSF Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (S-STEM) Program

Applications due December 3, 2024

Vanderbilt (VU + VUMC):  This is a joint competition for VU and VUMC investigators. All investigators should follow these instructions.

Vanderbilt University may submit no more than two proposals (either as a single institution or as subawardee or a member of an inter-institutional consortia project) to the NSF Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Program (S-STEM). 

The main goal of the S-STEM program is to enable low-income students with academic ability, talent or potential to pursue successful careers in promising STEM fields. Recognizing that financial aid alone cannot increase retention and graduation in STEM, the program provides awards to institutions of higher education (IHEs) not only to fund scholarships, but also to adapt, implement, and study evidence-based curricular and co-curricular activities that have been shown to be effective supporting recruitment, retention, transfer (if appropriate), student success, academic/career pathways, and graduation in STEM.

CDC Epilepsy Incidence Among Children in the United States

Applications are due December 3, 2024

VUMC:  These instructions are for VUMC investigators. VU investigators should apply through InfoReady and address any questions to VU-LSO@vanderbilt.edu.

VUMC may submit one (1) application to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s 2025 Epilepsy Incidence Among Children in the United States funding opportunity. 

Children represent one of the largest populations with newly diagnosed epilepsy. Epilepsy incidence among children is highest in their first year of life and declines by the end of their first decade. In the U.S. general population, studies of pediatric epilepsy incidence and prevalence rates are scant, and less is known about pediatric epilepsy risk factors. Only a few population-based estimates of epilepsy incidence among children in the United States exist, and these are also outdated. Research on risk factors that may affect the development of pediatric epilepsy is also scant. 

The purpose of this NOFO is to use standardized definitions of epilepsies and validated methods to:  

  1. Estimate overall epilepsy incidence among U.S. children 0 - 17 years of age.
  2. Examine potential disparities in incidence rates of epilepsy stratified by demographic, geographical, social determinants of health, and other characteristics. 
  3. Identify factors that contribute to the risk of developing epilepsy, as well as examine the association between these risk factors and incidence.

Mary Kay Ash Foundation Innovative/Translational Cancer Research Grant

Applications due December 4, 2024

Vanderbilt (VU + VUMC): This is a joint competition for VU and VUMC investigators. All investigators should follow these instructions.

VU and VUMC may each nominate one candidate for the Mary Kay Foundation Innovative/Translational Cancer Research Grant program for 2025. These awards provide $100,000 over two years to support innovative translational research for cancers affecting women, including but not limited to breast, cervical, endometrial, ovarian, uterine, or cancers predominantly affecting women.

The Foundation seeks to fund innovative research that will provide a scientific link between laboratory research and the clinic. Ultimately, such research would lead to improvement in the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, or treatment of cancer.

Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU) Innovation Partnerships Program

Applications due December 5, 2024

Vanderbilt (VU + VUMC): This is a joint competition for VU and VUMC investigators. All investigators should follow these instructions.

Overview

Vanderbilt (VU+VUMC, collaboratively) may submit 2 applications to the Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU) Innovation Partnerships Program. The Innovation Partnerships Program is structured to build stronger relationships between university members and ORAU collaborators by focusing on research and education topics that align well with ORAU’s expertise and current priorities. Innovation Partnerships grants provide up to $4,000 (indirect costs not allowed) to support an in-person or virtual event that involves participants from more than one ORAU member institution, including students. 

Applications should focus on focused workshops/conferences that highlight Vanderbilt University’s strategic STEM research and education growth areas, and where collaborations with other member universities would add value.  Such events may include visits to an ORAU institution by a renowned speaker, conferences or workshops with a focused theme, or a technology transfer/business plan competition. ORAU is specifically interested in events that can bring more thought leadership in building a national strategy for STEM education and workforce capacity building. Member universities are encouraged to collaborate around this topic in anticipation of federal funding initiatives. 

Mathers Foundation Grant Program: Spring 2025

Applications due December 10, 2024

VUMC:  These instructions are for VUMC investigators. VU investigators should apply through InfoReady and address any questions to VU-LSO@vanderbilt.edu. 

 

VUMC may submit up to three letters of intent for the Spring 2025 cycle of the Mathers Foundation grant program. The mission of The G. Harold and Leila Y. Mathers Foundation is to advance knowledge in the life sciences by sponsoring scientific research that will benefit mankind. The Foundation’s grants program seeks to support innovative, potentially transformative basic science projects in fields including immunology, microbiome, structural biology, cellular physiology, cancer biology, genetics, genomics, microbiology and infectious disease, stem cell biology, and neuroscience. The grant duration is three years and requested budgets should be realistic for the project (consider the type of investigation, models used, supply requirements, size of the team, etc.)  Grant budgets cannot exceed $600-$750k (including indirect costs capped at 10%) over three years.

 

Active External Non-Limited Calls

Internal review process NOT required- Submit directly to Sponsor​

The VUMC Corporate & Foundation Relations team provides hands-on proposal development assistance for non-federal awards. Contact cfr@vumc.org for more information.

The Mark Foundation for Cancer Research Drug Discovery Award

Interested applicants are strongly encouraged to contact Sue Reeves, Foundation Relations (sue.reeves@vumc.org or 615-936-2964) before starting an application

Concept Letters due by November 11

Overview:

The Mark Foundation for Cancer Research is dedicated to accelerating exciting academic discoveries into new therapies and platforms that will substantially improve outcomes for cancer patients. Currently, there are few options for academic scientists to obtain the resources and know-how to advance drug discovery efforts for promising new cancer targets.

To stem this gap, the Mark Foundation has established the Drug Discovery Award program. Through this program, the Mark Foundation aligns with investigators working to discover and progress a new therapeutic agent into preclinical development providing not only resources to support post-target validation through early lead development but also the expertise of seasoned biopharma R&D scientists who will advise on activities on the critical path to developing a new therapeutic agent.

Chan Zuckerberg Initiative Science Diversity Leadership Award

Interested applicants are strongly encouraged to contact Sue Reeves, Foundation Relations (sue.reeves@vumc.org or 615-936-2964) before starting an application

LOIs due December 3

Overview

The Science Diversity Leadership Award (SDLA) from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI) will support Principal Investigators who are outstanding early- to mid-career biomedical researchers at US universities, medical schools, or nonprofit research institutes who - through their outreach, mentoring, teaching, and leadership - have a record of promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in their scientific communities. They will have made significant research contributions to the biomedical sciences, show promise for continuing scientific achievement, and demonstrate leadership in efforts to diversify the sciences. CZI is committed to supporting representative science, which ensures universal benefits from scientific advances, such as studies of diseases that adversely affect underserved populations from specific ancestries, and promotes diversity among researchers toward more inclusive and comprehensive outcomes.

Each award consists of a $1.15M grant distributed over five years ($230,000 total costs per year, including 15% for indirect costs).

Simons Foundation Fellows-to-Faculty Award

Interested applicants are strongly encouraged to contact Sue Reeves, Foundation Relations (sue.reeves@vumc.org or 615-936-2964) before starting an application

Applications due January 14

Overview

The Fellows-to-Faculty Award is a new iteration of the previously offered Simons Foundation Independence Awards. The award supports talented early career scientists and their research vision as they transition into tenure-track or equivalent faculty positions. Fellows engage in a lively, interdisciplinary community and participate in scientific and career development activities.

The 2025 RFA is intended for senior postdoctoral scholars or equivalent researchers whose backgrounds and experiences are underrepresented in science and whose future research program advances the mission of either the Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative (SFARI) or Simons Collaboration on Plasticity and the Aging Brain (SCPAB).