Proposals must only be submitted from faculty working at U.S. academic institutions. All investigators that will be funded by the External Pilot Project Grants must work at U.S. academic institutions. No more than two academic institutions can receive funds from a single Project Grant, although the research can involve investigators at more than two academic institutions if desired. Investigators may not be key personnel in more than one proposal. Northwestern and UChicago investigators may partner with external pilot projects but are ineligible to receive funds through this program.

Funds can be used to support the stipend/salary/fringe of graduate and undergraduate RAs and postdoctoral scholars. Funds cannot be used to support faculty, research staff, or administrative staff. See the table below for more details. Funds cannot be used to purchase capital equipment. No more than $10,000 (direct costs) may be spent on experimental supplies and services. Funds cannot be used to purchase computer equipment or purchase/lease software. No more than $1,500 (total costs) in travel funds are allowed. The grants will be funded through the Simons Foundation award which limits F&A to 20%.

The term of funding is 24 months, contingent upon adequate progress in the first 12 months. A progress report must be submitted to NITMB, which will determine if funding is continued for the final 12 months. Continuation will depend on the Merit Review Criteria evaluated above as well as progress made towards project goals, and the engagement of the project’s investigators in NITMB activities.

No-Cost-Extensions are not permitted for the funding of the project. At the end of the 24-month funding period, a final written progress report is required from the investigators, documenting research progress, key findings, new mathematical results and their impact on biology, any grant applications made as a consequence of the project, and future directions. This report must also provide information (level of support, research tasks, and additional information requested by the NSF or Simons Foundation) about any trainees supported by the funds for the NITMB evaluation process. Any software, datasets, or models resulting from supported research must be made publically available, well-documented, and easily accessible when published as preprint or paper; such materials will be posted on the NITMB web page, Github, Datajoint, Dryad, etc. Each team must also produce a publicly accessible blog, social media post and/or video abstract for each publication resulting from the proposed research.

The principal investigators are required to present their project research at an NITMB convening activity (e.g., a workshop or conference).

If the project involves experiments on animals, all NSF protocols must be followed and appropriate forms must be submitted to the NITMB.

Proposals may only be submitted by the following: Institutions of Higher Education (IHEs) - Two- and four-year IHEs (including community colleges) accredited in, and having a campus located in the US, acting on behalf of their faculty members. Special Instructions for International Branch Campuses of US IHEs: If the proposal includes funding to be provided to an international branch campus of a US institution of higher education (including through use of subawards and consultant arrangements), the proposer must explain the benefit(s) to the project of performance at the international branch campus, and justify why the project activities cannot be performed at the US campus. Non-profit, non-academic organizations: Independent museums, observatories, research labs, professional societies and similar organizations in the U.S. associated with educational or research activities. This is the same as the criteria laid out by the NSF at https://new.nsf.gov/funding/opportunities/nsf-simons-collaboration-national-institute-theory/nsf21-607/solicitation#elig.