Slots: 1
Deadlines
Internal Deadline: Contact RII.
LOI: 30 days prior.
External Deadline: January 30, 2024
Recurring Deadlines: Janaury 30, 2025
Award Information
Award Type: Grant
Estimated Number of Awards: The number of awards is contingent upon NIH appropriations and the submission of a sufficient number of meritorious applications.
Anticipated Award Amount: Application budgets must not exceed $1.5 million in annual direct costs, excluding consortium facilities and administrative (F&A) costs. This FOA allows one-time funding of up to $300,000 in direct costs in the first year of the award for an Alteration and Renovation Project. If Alteration and Renovation costs are requested, the total application budget for the first year must not exceed $1.8 million in direct costs.
Who May Serve as PI:
The PD(s)/PI(s) is expected to be an established biomedical research scientist with the mentoring and administrative experience necessary to lead the Center.
At the time of submission, the COBRE PD/PI’s primary appointment must be at the applicant institution. The PD/PI must also hold, as PD/PI, at least one active, peer-reviewed and externally funded research grant in the scientific area of the COBRE that is awarded to the applicant institution. If a COBRE PD/PI’s qualifying research grant is a multiple PD/PI award to a different institution, the applicant institution must receive funds via subcontract toward supporting the COBRE PD/PI’s research.
For multiple PD/PI COBRE applications, a non-contact PD(s)/PI(s) must also have at least one active, peer-reviewed and externally funded research grant in the scientific area of the COBRE that is awarded to the institution where they hold a primary appointment.
A PD/PI may not simultaneously lead more than one IDeA (INBRE, IDeA-CTR, or other COBRE) program award. Previous COBRE PD(s)/PI(s) of different COBRE Centers, except those who served in that capacity on an interim basis, are not eligible to lead a COBRE Phase 1 application. All investigators who intend to apply as PD(s)/PI(s) are encouraged to consult with the Scientific/Research Contact listed in Section VII prior to preparing an application.
Link to Award: https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PAR-22-250.html
Process for Limited Submissions
PIs must submit their application as a Limited Submission through the Research Initiatives and Infrastructure Application Portal: https://rii.usc.edu/oor-portal/.
Materials to submit include:
- (1) Single Page Proposal Summary (0.5” margins; single-spaced; font type: Arial, Helvetica, or Georgia typeface; font size: 11 pt). Page limit includes references and illustrations. Pages that exceed the 1-page limit will be excluded from review.
- (2) CV – (5 pages maximum)
Note: The portal requires information about the PIs and Co-PIs in addition to department and contact information, including the 10-digit USC ID#, Gender, and Ethnicity. Please have this material prepared before beginning this application.
Purpose
A key IDeA component is the Centers of Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE) program that supports the establishment and development of innovative biomedical research centers of excellence at institutions through awards for three sequential five-year phases. This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) supports COBRE Phase 1 awards, which aim to enhance an institution’s capacity in one area of biomedical research by developing a critical mass of investigators who can compete effectively for independent funding, as well as to improve the research infrastructure. COBRE Phase 2 awards are intended to strengthen successful Centers through the continued development of investigators and further improvements in research infrastructure. Phase 3 awards provide resources to transition COBREs to self-sustaining research programs.
COBRE Phase 1 Program Description and Requirements
Overall Plan (required): A COBRE Phase 1 award supports the establishment of a multi-component center of excellence in an area of biomedical research that aligns with the applicant institution’s strategic priorities for growing its research capacity. The COBRE Phase 1 program aims to develop a critical mass of investigators who can compete effectively for independent, external research funding. To achieve this goal, the COBRE award supports a Center that provides research support and mentoring to faculty investigators and funding for their recruitment. Enhancements to the institution’s research infrastructure that facilitate the proposed research are also supported. The Center’s scientific goals must be aligned with the applicant institution’s strategic priorities and cover a sufficiently broad scientific area to warrant the institution’s sustained support. Applicant institutions should demonstrate their commitment to the COBRE program goals by investing in the recruitment and long-term support of the Center’s investigators and the infrastructure required to carry out the scientific research. An established investigator with scientific expertise in the research area of the Center as well as mentoring and administrative experience is expected to lead the Center as the Program Director/Principal Investigator (PD/PI) of the award. An Advisory Committee (AC) comprised of institutional leadership and external experts in the scientific area should provide advice and oversight on critical scientific activities and administrative decisions. Applications proposing to establish a Center in a scientific area closely related to one previously supported by a COBRE award to the institution or in an area for which the institution already has a critical mass of funded investigators are of low programmatic priority.
Required components of the Center include an Administrative Core and 3-5 Research Projects. Optional components include Research Cores and an Alteration and Renovation Project. All proposed components must be integral to attaining the goals of the Center and are expected to interact with each other and with relevant existing programs at the institution to foster a collaborative research environment.
Administrative Core (required): The Administrative Core implements the Center’s overall plan, coordinates the Cores, Projects, AC, and mentoring activities, and carries out all responsibilities required of the COBRE award. These include preparing accurate and timely program and financial reports, ensuring all Center activities are compliant with federal regulations, managing the Center’s budget, organizing Center-wide scientific and career development activities such as seminar series, workshops, and retreats, and conducting annual performance evaluations of the Center. The Administrative Core may also support an optional Pilot Project Program, which is intended primarily for developing future Research Project Leaders (RPLs).
Research Projects (required): A minimum of three and a maximum of five Research Projects related to the Center’s research area must be proposed. Each Research Project should propose innovative science that has the potential to advance the field and jumpstart the research program of the Research Project Leader (RPL). RPLs must qualify either as NIH Early Stage Investigators (ESIs) or as New Investigators (NIs), and must hold faculty appointments (or equivalent at research institutes) and lead their own research programs (see Section III. Eligibility Information for additional details). A senior faculty member is assigned to each RPL as a mentor to guide the RPL’s research and professional development. Each Research Project is expected to be supported for 2-3 years. RPL graduation from COBRE support with research publications and independent grant funding is a key measure of the Center’s success. Upon graduation of an RPL, a replacement RPL should be selected to fill the vacancy. Applications proposing ESIs in the RPL role are strongly encouraged.
Research Core(s) (optional): A Research Core may be requested if it is required to support the work of the Research Projects. The Research Core should also be made available to other investigators at the institution as well as those from other IDeA institutions. A Research Core should provide cutting-edge technologies and/or services that are not duplicative of existing services or facilities at the applicant institution. Upgrading existing research facilities including those supported by other IDeA programs (e.g., INBRE, IDeA-CTR, and other COBREs) is strongly encouraged.
Alteration and Renovation (optional): Alteration and Renovation (A&R) costs to improve existing research laboratories or animal facilities are allowed if they are relevant to the scope of the proposed research.
Visit our Institutionally Limited Submission webpage for more updates and other announcements.