Bridge Funding

Brige Funding

 A primary goal of the College of Medicine is to support and strengthen the research capabilities of its faculty. The purpose of this program is to support investigators with established clinical research or basic research programs during periods when a competitive grant application was not funded.

Eligibility: Bridge Funding awards are available to provide interim support for research programs with a history of extramural funding when a major full indirect cost-bearing competitive grant is not funded (e.g., R01, R35, and NSF awards). Tenured and non-tenured faculty members are eligible. Research programs funded by pilot-project grants, infrastructure (e.g., core and instrumentation) grants, training, foundation and VA awards, and industrial research contracts are not eligible. Principal investigators with substantial funding from other sources or reserves are not eligible.FundingBridge Funding awards will not exceed $100,000. Awards are funded by the COM Dean’s office and the award period will be for one year. Only one such award will be given during the unfunded period. Funds may be used for all normal research activities except principal investigator salary or travel.

Submission and Review: Applications should be submitted in a single PDF format by email to the office of the COM Senior Associate Dean for Research. Applications will be reviewed by the Bridge Funding Committee. Recommendations by the Bridge Funding Committee will be forwarded to the Dean of the College of Medicine for a final decision. The primary consideration for making an award is the likelihood that the interim bridge funds will lead to reestablishing extramural support.

Bridge Funding Application (combine into one PDF) due March 15th.•

Cover Letter describing how the major critiques will be addressed (one page).• Budget Justification outlining the amount and intended use of the requested Bridge Funds (one page).• Letter of Support from the Departmental Chair.• Critique or Summary Statement from the unfunded application.• Current NIH Biosketch for the PI and Key Personnel.• Specific Aims of the original application.

Progress Report: A progress report (one page) is required for all Bridge Funding applications at the completion of the one-year award period. The report should be submitted to both the Senior Associate Dean for Research and the Departmental Chair. The report should include progress made in addressing the original concerns identified by the review panel, new publications, and the status of the revised application.

Provide Contact Information with application (separate page). Applicants (PI) Name and Credentials:  (i.e. James Smith, M.D., Ph. D.); Project Name/Title:;  Department Chair; and Department Business Administrator/Manager:

Please email applications to Mary McConnell at mcconnem@musc.edu.

K to R Clinician Scientist Bridge Funding - Fall/December 

In addition to the COM Bridge Funding Program outlined above, early career clinician scientists are invited to apply for the K to R Bridge Funding.  Read more.  Note: Dates subject to change.

Eligibility:  K to R bridge-funding awards provide extended K-award equivalent salary support for COM clinician scientists to pursue new federal grants not funded during their initial K award. * Examples of eligible federal grants to pursue include RO1, RO3, R21, and NSF awards. K to R bridge-funding awards cannot be used to pursue training and foundation awards or industrial research contracts. Only tenure-track faculty members are eligible for consideration.

Funding:  K to R Bridge Funding awards are for the clinician scientist’s salary and fringe benefit support only and cannot exceed the annual salary and fringe benefits provided in the individual’s original K award or $100,000, whichever is less.  Funding maybe used for normal research activity except PI salary or travel The award period will be for one year.

*Note: Non-COM faculty investigators are encouraged to review the Blue Sky Program

Programming Quick Reference:

Bridge Funding - March 15th

High Impact Research Publications - April 15th; August 15th; December 15th

K-R Clinician Scientist Bridge Funding - December 15th

Team Science - March 15th

COM-PPG - August 15th

Notes:   Program announcements are made in the Dean’s weekly newsletter sent via email to all COM employees.

If due date falls on a weekend the following Monday is the due date. All dates subject to change.