Grants to Promote Collaborative and Translational Research (GCAT)

NOTICE OF FUNDING OPPORTUNITY (NOFO)

GRANTS TO PROMOTE COLLABORATIVE AND TRANSLATIONAL RESEARCH (GCAT)

OFFICE OF THE DEAN OF THE SCHOOL OF MEDICINE

2027

Purposes:

• Develop insights and approaches to clinically relevant issues that have the potential to make a difference in the lives of patients
• Promote collaborations between clinical and basic scientists within the School of Medicine
• Develop grant preparation skills and generate preliminary data for subsequent extramural peer-reviewed proposals
   

Phase I:

Goal: To gather the preliminary data needed to compete for a Foundation, R03 or R21 grant (or equivalent)

Indicators of success:

• Publication of one or more peer-reviewed manuscripts
• Submission of one or more applications for a Foundation, R03, R21 or R01 grant (or equivalent)

Description:

• Maximum award:                                                               $75,000
• Term of award:                                                                   24 months
• Start date:                                                                           April 2027
• Number of awards for 2027:                                              Up to 2

New Applications:

• Letters of Intent must be submitted no later than:             Friday, November 6, 2026 
• Deadline for submission:                                                    Friday, December 18, 2026 
• Application pre-review date:                                               Monday, January 4, 2027
• Anticipated date of award announcement:                        March 2027
• Earliest start date                                                               April 1, 2027

Letters of Intent and Application Process: Intent to submit a GCAT application must be indicated by completing the Letter of Intent form, including the signatures of both PIs, and submitting it to Research Affairs via email [email protected]. Your LOI will be used to create your LLeRA record for uploading your application documents. Questions should be directed to the Pre-Award team https://researchaffairs.llu.edu/pre-post-award/contacts. 

Eligibility:

• The project must be co-directed by two faculty members, both of whom meet the requirements of the PI Eligibility policy. Both must have primary appointments within the LLU School of Medicine, and the two Principle Investigators must have their primary appointments in two different departments. Additional individuals can provide letters of support as co-investigators, but no more than two Principle Investigators may be named on an application.
• One member must be a clinician, with a primary appointment in one of the clinical departments of LLU, and the other must be a full-time basic scientist with a primary or secondary appointment in one of the basic science departments (Department of Basic Science or the Department of Pathology and Human Anatomy). 
• At least one co-PI must have received less than $100,000 in direct support for their research activities during the 12 months preceding the deadline for applications. There are no financial restrictions on the funding that has been available to the other co-PI. 
• Publication of a minimum of one peer-reviewed manuscript during the past year [to be included in the biosketch(es)] is required for eligibility. This publication can be authored by either member of the team.
• Individuals who have received prior awards through the GCAT mechanism may reapply for GCAT support provided that for each prior GCAT award one or both of the PIs have met the indicators of success noted above, where both the manuscript submission(s) and the grant application(s) must have occurred after receiving the prior GCAT award. This requirement applies regardless of whether the proposed partnership is the same as previously or represents a new team. Additional details are noted in the section below.
• Teams that submitted applications that were not funded in a previous round may be invited to resubmit a revised application. The application should be preceded by an “Introduction to the Revised Application”, of up to one page, that describes the changes made to the proposal.
• Only studies conducted at facilities within the School of Medicine will be considered, though supplies, services or reagents from other facilities are allowed. 
• While an individual or a team may submit more than one application per cycle, no more than one award will be made to any investigator. For example, if a clinician submits two applications, each of which represents a partnership with a different basic scientist, only one would be eligible for an award. Individuals can serve as the PI on only one active GCAT award at a time.

Eligibility for previous GCAT recipients (one page per previous awardee): If one or both of the applicants is a previous GCAT recipient, provide the following for each previous GCAT award.

1. Extramural grant applications:

• LLeRA number
  • Principal Investigator
  • Title
  • Sponsor name
  • Date of submission
  • Amount
  • Current status (i.e., funded, pending, scored, not discussed, etc.)

2. Peer-reviewed and published papers:

• Citations for one or more articles that were published or accepted subsequent to the previous GCAT award and that acknowledge GCAT funding support from LLU. 
  • PDF of or hyperlink to the article(s).

Application pre-review: To ensure that a quality application has been submitted, an administrative/scientific merit review will be conducted by Research Affairs. Administrators will decide which application(s) should move forward for reviewer assignment and consideration for funding. This review will include a rigorous evaluation of the formatting and science to determine if NIH standards are met. Administrators will decide and communicate directly with PIs if edits will be allowed or if the application will be withdrawn.

Criteria for Evaluation: Applications will be evaluated using a review framework modeled after the NIH Simplified Review Framework. Reviewers will consider three factors in determining the overall impact and merit of the proposed project. 

Factor 1: Importance of the Research – significance, innovation, and potential impact of the proposed work. 

Factor 2: Rigor and Feasibility – quality of the scientific premise, study design, methods, analyses, and likelihood of successfully completing the project. 

Factor 3: Expertise and Resources – adequacy of the investigative team, collaborative partnership, institutional environment, and available resources. 

In addition to these factors, reviewers will consider the strength of the interdisciplinary collaboration, the PI leadership plan, alignment with institutional priorities, and the appropriateness of the proposed budget. 

 Review Factors

1. Importance of the Research
   Evaluation: Score 1–9
2. Rigor and Feasibility
   Evaluation: Score 1–9
3. Expertise and Resources
   Evaluation: Sufficient / Additional Resources or Expertise Needed
4. Overall Impact
   Evaluation: Score 1–9

Application Format: Text must be 11 point or larger with six lines per inch and margins of at least one-half inch. Headers and footers should not be used. The sections identified below may not exceed their indicated page limits, and appendices are not allowed. The following headings are expected.

Title Page (one page): Include the title of the project, names of both principle investigators, their contact information (including (as applicable) institutional e-mail, phone numbers, WhatsApp ID, Skype ID, Zoom ID, ORCID ID, name of department and/or center and any collaborating institution(s)), a list of all key personnel involved in the project, and total dollars requested.

Abstract and Key Words (up to 30 lines of text): The project summary/abstract is a succinct and accurate description of the proposed work and should be able to stand on its own (separate from the application). This section should be informative to other persons working in the same or related fields and understandable to a scientifically literate reader. Please be concise. State the application's broad, long-term objectives and specific aims, making reference to the health relatedness of the project. Describe the research design and methods for achieving the stated goals. Be sure that the project summary reflects the key focus of the proposed project. Four to six key words are required to identify the general area of research and the principal elements of the study. 

Biographical Sketches (up to five pages per investigator) (SciENcv optional for 2027): Provide NIH-format biosketches for the co-PIs and key personnel (Other Significant Contributors). Use of SciENcv is encouraged for the 2027 competition and will be required beginning with the next GCAT funding cycle. Additional information is available at: https://grants.nih.gov/grants/forms/biosketch.htm. 

Budget: Design a complete budget for up to 24 months of support. Identify amounts for each co-PI, expenditures for salaries, supplies, and miscellaneous costs. GCAT awards may not be used for equipment costing $5,000 or more, travel expenses, or indirect costs. No more than $50,000 may be used to pay for services from a non-LLU supplier (i.e., transgenic mouse generation, device prototype, training, etc.) The total budget may not exceed $75,000. Only non-faculty salaries and wages are permitted, however, c/o-PIs are expected to commit a minimum of 10% effort to the project. All other Key-Personnel should be listed as “Other Significant Contributors,” (OSC); no internal consultants or co-investigators should be listed on the application. OSCs are individuals who have committed to contribute to the scientific development or execution of the project, but are not committing any specified measurable effort (i.e., person months) to the project and will not receive a salary. LLU core facilities must be utilized whenever possible. In the event that LLU does not have the resource on campus, contact your Pre Award team member ([email protected]; X55160) to discuss an alternative.  

Budget Justification (one page): Indicate the purpose of supplies, support personnel and other costs. Indicate how the total budget will be split between the two investigators and which costs will be carried by which co-PI. For example, a team may wish to divide up the funds into two accounts covering different types of expenses, with one co-PI responsible for each account, or they may wish to consolidate funds into one account with one co-PI serving as the point of contact for all financial matters.

Resources and Environment: Describe facilities and other resources available to complete your project, both that LLU and at the partner institution. Also state how the scientific environment in which the research will be done contributes to the probability of success. Note major items of equipment already available for your project, including those available in core facilities.

Research Plan: Prepare the Research Plan using the sections below. Use the bolded headings and subheadings as the outline for your Research Plan. This structure is intended to align the GCAT application with the NIH Simplified Review Framework and support future conversion to an NIH R03, R21, or other research project grant application. 

1. Specific Aims (one page): State the goals of the proposed research and summarize the expected outcomes and potential impact. Clearly identify the specific objectives of the project and the questions or hypotheses the proposed research will address. 
2. Research Strategy (limited to six pages): Organize the Research Strategy using the three factors and bolded subheadings below. 

• Factor 1: Importance of the Research (one to one-half pages) 
• Significance: Describe the importance of the proposed research in the context of current scientific challenges and opportunities. Identify the important gap in knowledge, critical problem, or conceptual or technical need the project will address. Explain the scientific rationale for the study and summarize the prior literature and/or preliminary data that support the proposed work. 
• Innovation: Describe how innovation contributes to the importance of the proposed research. Explain whether the project applies novel concepts, methods, or technologies, or uses existing concepts, methods, or technologies in new ways. If the project is not highly innovative, explain why the proposed work is nevertheless important to the field. 
• Factor 2: Rigor and Feasibility (three and a half to four pages) 
• Approach: Describe the overall research strategy, study design, methods, and analytical approach that will be used to accomplish the Specific Aims. Include appropriate controls, sample-size justification, plans for analysis and interpretation, and relevant biological variables, as applicable. For studies involving human subjects or vertebrate animals, address the study design considerations necessary to support rigorous and meaningful results. 
• Rigor and Feasibility: Explain how the proposed design and methods will produce unbiased, reproducible, and robust results and demonstrate that the work can be completed within the proposed project period. Discuss potential problems or new challenges, alternative strategies, and benchmarks for success. When applicable, describe recruitment and retention plans, enrollment feasibility, study timelines, and milestones. 
• Factor 3: Expertise and Resources (one half page to one page) 
• Investigator(s) and Leadership Plan: Describe the background, training, experience, and complementary expertise of the co-PIs and key personnel and explain how the team is qualified to conduct the proposed work. Describe the roles and responsibilities of each co-PI, how project activities and decision-making will be coordinated, how conflicts will be resolved, and the succession plan should either investigator become unavailable to continue the project. 
• Environment and Resources: Describe the institutional environment, facilities, equipment, core resources, and other support available to successfully complete the proposed work. Explain how the available resources support the proposed research. 

3. Future Directions (one half page): Briefly describe how successful completion of the project will support future research and extramural funding opportunities. Identify anticipated grant applications, larger studies, or other next steps that may build upon the results and preliminary data generated through GCAT.

• Human Subjects/Clinical Research (if applicable): Describe plans to protect human subjects from research risks and justify inclusion and exclusion criteria in relation to the scientific goals and research strategy. 

4. References: Include references that demonstrate the need for this research, establish feasibility for hypotheses and procedures, and provide support for the approach. Include titles and authors. 

Grantwriting training (one page): If one or both PIs have received formal grantwriting training or successfully obtained extramural funding in the past, describe briefly the training program, including dates, format (in person, online, individual coaching, group sessions, etc.). If neither PI has received such training or obtained funding in the past, indicate one or more possible courses or programs, including the provider, approximate dates, approximate cost, etc. Note that up to $5,000, which does not count against the $75,000 total, can be requested for such training.

Letter of Support (Department) (up to two pages): Provide a letter of support from the Chair of the Department in which the clinical scientist resides. This letter must include the following elements:

• A commitment to transfer an amount equal to half the total support ($37,500 of the total award of $75,000) into an account dedicated to the research described in the accompanying application, should the application be funded. This deposit will need to be made within one month of the opening of this account.
• A description of the time the clinical scientist will be able to dedicate to this project, free of clinical responsibilities.

Letters of Support (Others): Letters of support from key personnel and consultants are encouraged.

Phase II:

Goal: To leverage and extend results from Phase I to develop and submit a competitive application for R01 (or equivalent) funding

Indicators of success:

• Publication of one or more peer-reviewed manuscripts
• Submission of one or more applications for a R01 grant (or equivalent)

Description:

• Maximum award:                                                               $100,000 plus other support (see below)
• Term of award:                                                                   24 months or as requested
• Number of awards for 2027:                                              1

New Applications:

• Letters of Intent must be submitted no later than:             Friday, November 6, 2026 
• Deadline for submission:                                                    Friday, December 18, 2026 
• Application pre-review date:                                               Monday, January 4, 2027
• Anticipated date of award announcement:                        March 2027

Letters of Intent and Application Process: Intent to submit a GCAT application must be indicated by completing the Letter of Intent form, including the signatures of both PIs, and submitting it to Research Affairs via email [email protected]. Your LOI will be used to create your LLeRA record for uploading your application documents. Questions should be directed to the Pre-Award team https://researchaffairs.llu.edu/pre-post-award/contacts. 

Eligibility:

• Teams that have received Phase I GCAT funding and met the following milestones will be eligible to apply for Phase II GCAT funding.
  • One or both members of the team must have applied for external funding (R21, R01 or equivalent) and received feedback.
  • One or both PIs must have completed grant writing training.
  • A “grant coach” will have been identified. This grant coach will help to guide the project towards the receipt of external funding.
• As in Phase I, the project must be co-directed by two faculty members, both of whom meet the requirements of the PI Eligibility policy. Both must have primary appointments within the LLU School of Medicine, and the two Principle Investigators must have their primary appointments in two different departments. Additional individuals can provide letters of support as co-investigators, but no more than two Principle Investigators may be named on an application.
• As in Phase I, one member must be a clinician, with a primary appointment in one of the clinical departments of LLU, and the other must be a full-time basic scientist with a primary or secondary appointment in one of the basic science departments (Department of Basic Science or the Department of Pathology and Human Anatomy). 
• If it is necessary to replace one or more members of the team that initially received the Phase I award, this change must be justified in the application.
• Teams that submitted applications that were not funded in a previous round may be invited to resubmit a revised application. The application should be preceded by an “Introduction to the Revised Application”, of up to one page, that describes the changes made to the proposal.
• Only studies conducted at facilities within the School of Medicine will be considered, though supplies, services or reagents from other facilities are allowed. 
• Individuals can serve as the PI on only one active GCAT award at a time. This includes both Phase I and Phase II awards; an individual with a Phase II award is ineligible to also apply for a Phase I.

Grant Coach: The purpose of a grant coach is to guide the investigators toward obtaining extramural funding. Expectations include providing advice in shaping the Specific Aims, identifying the most appropriate institutes for funding and study sections for review, and mentoring the team toward success. The Grant Coach may or may not be listed as a coinvestigator on the application.

Application pre-review: To ensure that a quality application has been submitted, an administrative/scientific merit review will be conducted by Research Affairs. Administrators will decide which application(s) should move forward for reviewer assignment and consideration for funding. This review will include a rigorous evaluation of the formatting and science to determine if NIH standards are met. Administrators will decide and communicate directly with PIs if edits will be allowed or if the application will be withdrawn.

Criteria for Evaluation: Applications will be evaluated using a review framework modeled after the NIH Simplified Review Framework. Reviewers will consider three factors in determining the overall impact and merit of the proposed project. 

Factor 1: Importance of the Research – significance, innovation, and potential impact of the proposed work. 

Factor 2: Rigor and Feasibility – quality of the scientific premise, study design, methods, analyses, and likelihood of successfully completing the project. 

Factor 3: Expertise and Resources – adequacy of the investigative team, collaborative partnership, institutional environment, and available resources. 

In addition to these factors, reviewers will consider the strength of the interdisciplinary collaboration, the PI leadership plan, alignment with institutional priorities, and the appropriateness of the proposed budget. 

Review Factors

1.  Importance of the Research
   Evaluation: Score 1–9
2.  Rigor and Feasibility
   Evaluation: Score 1–9
3. Expertise and Resources
   Evaluation: Sufficient / Additional Resources or Expertise Needed
4. Overall Impact
   Evaluation: Score 1–9

Application Format:  Text must be 11 point or larger with six lines per inch and margins of at least one-half inch.  Headers and footers should not be used. The sections identified below may not exceed their indicated page limits, and appendices are not allowed.  The following headings are expected.

Title Page (one page): Include the title of the project, names of both principle investigators, their contact information (including (as applicable) institutional e-mail, phone numbers, WhatsApp ID, Skype ID, Zoom ID, ORCID ID, name of department and/or center and any collaborating institution(s)), a list of all key personnel involved in the project, and total dollars requested.

Abstract and Key Words (up to 30 lines of text): The project summary/abstract is a succinct and accurate description of the proposed work and should be able to stand on its own (separate from the application). This section should be informative to other persons working in the same or related fields and understandable to a scientifically literate reader. Please be concise. State the application's broad, long-term objectives and specific aims, making reference to the health relatedness of the project. Describe the research design and methods for achieving the stated goals. Be sure that the project summary reflects the key focus of the proposed project. Four to six key words are required to identify the general area of research and the principal elements of the study. 

Biographical Sketches (up to five pages per investigator) (SciENcv optional for 2027): Provide NIH-format biosketches for the co-PIs and key personnel (Other Significant Contributors). Use of SciENcv is encouraged for the 2027 competition and will be required beginning with the next GCAT funding cycle. Additional information is available at: https://grants.nih.gov/grants/forms/biosketch.htm. 

Budget: Design a complete budget for up to 24 months of support. Identify amounts for each co-PI, expenditures for salaries, supplies, and miscellaneous costs. Funds covering up to 0.2 FTE for the clinical faculty member may be requested which do not count against the $100,000 total; no funds are to be applied toward salary support of the non-clinical faculty member. Only non-faculty salaries and wages are permitted, however, co-PIs are expected to commit a minimum of 10% effort to the project GCAT awards may not be used for equipment costing $10,000 or more, travel expenses, or indirect costs. In addition to the $100,000 and 0.2 FTE for the clinical partner, up to $20,000 of in-kind support from SM-supported core facilities (ie, sequencing, confocal microscopy, mass spec analysis, etc.) may be requested, with the expectation that appropriate amounts of support for these core facilities will be requested in subsequent external applications. Quotes from the core facility(ies) should be included as an attachment to the budget justification. LLU core facilities must be utilized whenever possible. In the event that LLU does not have the resource on campus, contact your Pre Award team member ([email protected]; X55160) to discuss an alternative.

Budget Justification (one page): Indicate the purpose of supplies, support personnel and other costs. Indicate how the total budget will be split between the two investigators and which costs will be carried by which co-PI. For example, a team may wish to divide up the funds into two accounts covering different types of expenses, with one co-PI responsible for each account, or they may wish to consolidate funds into one account with one co-PI serving as the point of contact for all financial matters.

Resources and Environment: Describe facilities and other resources available to complete your project, both that LLU and at the partner institution. Also state how the scientific environment in which the research will be done contributes to the probability of success. Note major items of equipment already available for your project, including those available in core facilities.

Research Plan: Prepare the Research Plan using the sections below. Use the bolded headings and subheadings as the outline for your Research Plan. This structure is intended to align the GCAT application with the NIH Simplified Review Framework and support future conversion to an NIH R03, R21, or other research project grant application. 

1. Specific Aims (one page): State the goals of the proposed research and summarize the expected outcomes and potential impact. Clearly identify the specific objectives of the project and the questions or hypotheses the proposed research will address. 
2. Research Strategy (limited to 6 pages): Organize the Research Strategy using the three factors and bolded subheadings below. 

• Factor 1: Importance of the Research (suggested length: 1-1.5 pages) 
• Significance: Describe the importance of the proposed research in the context of current scientific challenges and opportunities. Identify the important gap in knowledge, critical problem, or conceptual or technical need the project will address. Explain the scientific rationale for the study and summarize the prior literature and/or preliminary data that support the proposed work. 
• Innovation: Describe how innovation contributes to the importance of the proposed research. Explain whether the project applies novel concepts, methods, or technologies, or uses existing concepts, methods, or technologies in new ways. If the project is not highly innovative, explain why the proposed work is nevertheless important to the field. 
• Factor 2: Rigor and Feasibility (suggested length: 3.5-4 pages) 
• Approach: Describe the overall research strategy, study design, methods, and analytical approach that will be used to accomplish the Specific Aims. Include appropriate controls, sample-size justification, plans for analysis and interpretation, and relevant biological variables, as applicable. For studies involving human subjects or vertebrate animals, address the study design considerations necessary to support rigorous and meaningful results. 
• Rigor and Feasibility: Explain how the proposed design and methods will produce unbiased, reproducible, and robust results and demonstrate that the work can be completed within the proposed project period. Discuss potential problems or new challenges, alternative strategies, and benchmarks for success. When applicable, describe recruitment and retention plans, enrollment feasibility, study timelines, and milestones. 
• Factor 3: Expertise and Resources (suggested length: 0.5-1 page) 
• Investigator(s) and Leadership Plan: Describe the background, training, experience, and complementary expertise of the co-PIs and key personnel and explain how the team is qualified to conduct the proposed work. Describe the roles and responsibilities of each co-PI, how project activities and decision-making will be coordinated, how conflicts will be resolved, and the succession plan should either investigator become unavailable to continue the project. 
• Environment and Resources: Describe the institutional environment, facilities, equipment, core resources, and other support available to successfully complete the proposed work. Explain how the available resources support the proposed research. 

3. Future Directions (suggested length: 0.5 page): Briefly describe how successful completion of the project will support future research and extramural funding opportunities. Identify anticipated grant applications, larger studies, or other next steps that may build upon the results and preliminary data generated through GCAT.

• Human Subjects/Clinical Research (if applicable): Describe plans to protect human subjects from research risks and justify inclusion and exclusion criteria in relation to the scientific goals and research strategy. 

4. References: Include references that demonstrate the need for this research, establish feasibility for hypotheses and procedures, and provide support for the approach. Include titles and authors.

Mentorship Plan (one page): Describe the qualifications of the proposed Grant Coach. Include their history of obtaining external funds over the past 5 years, as well as a summary of their service on external review panels (such as NIH study sections). Also include a summary of this individual’s previous mentees and their success. Describe the proposed frequency and nature of the interactions between the grant coach and the PIs, to include plans for the coach to participate in (or mentor through) the grant writing process, and whether or not this person is anticipated to participate as a co-investigator.

Letter of Support (Grant Coach): The Grant Coach must provide their Biosketch along with a letter of support, committing to guiding the PIs toward developing into independent investigators with external funding equivalent to an R01. 

Letter of Support (Department) (up to two pages): Provide a letter of support from the Chair of the Department in which the clinical scientist resides. This letter must include the following elements:

• A commitment to transfer an amount equal to half the total support ($37,500 of the total award of $75,000) into an account dedicated to the research described in the accompanying application, should the application be funded. This deposit will need to be made within one month of the opening of this account.
• A description of the time the clinical scientist will be able to dedicate to this project, free of clinical responsibilities.

Letters of Support (Others): Letters of support from key personnel and consultants are encouraged.

Compliance: When the proposal involves human embryonic stem cells, ionizing radiation, laboratory animals, human subjects, or other elements that require approval by an oversight committee, integrate the descriptions into the Research Strategy section. If the proposal is awarded, separate applications must be made to the appropriate committee before the work can begin, e.g., Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC), Institutional Review Board (IRB), Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC), and/or the Stem Cell Research Oversight Committee (SCRO). 

No Cost Extensions (NCE): 

• First NCE: 18 months with VPRA approval, based on an application confirming project activity. 
• Second NCE: 12 months with VPRA and Dean(s) or designee approval, requiring a detailed progress report. 
• Additional NCE: Competitive review by study section with scores indicating fundability. 

Final Report: Extensions of the project period may be requested and if granted, will follow NIH guidelines. Within 60 days of the end of the project period, a final report is due. It should include accomplishments, significant results, manuscripts prepared for publication, and plans for extramural grant applications. Send reports to [email protected]. 

Contacts:

For General Information, Technical and Application Guidance: https://researchaffairs.llu.edu/pre-post-award/pre-award/grants-for-research-and-school-partnerships-grasp.

For Pre-Award information: [email protected].

For Fanny Miranda: X19402, [email protected].

For eligibility questions, contact the office of the Associate Dean for Basic Science and Translational Research: [email protected]. 

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