Duke-Coulter Proposal Process

• May 15, 8:00 pm ET: Proposals due
• May/June: Review of proposals and selection for oral presentations
• July/August: Oral presentations and selection of grant recipients
• August: Announce winners
• November 1: Launch projects
• February 1: First quarterly report due
• April: Project update presentation to the Oversight Committee

February/March

• Potential applicants are encouraged to submit a brief summary (less than one page) of the research project, the clinical need being addressed, knowledge of the intellectual property (IP) landscape, potential users of the technology, etc.
• The goal of submitting the summary is to strengthen proposals by initiating discussion and action with the Coulter Project Team (CPT) and Duke Office of Translation & Commercialization, in addition to experts outside Duke, to assess the idea and provide feedback related to the market and IP.

April

• Potential applicants meet with the CPT for advice and guidance on project ideas and the development of a strong proposal.

May

• Faculty submit proposal(s), along with a rough budget with approximate salaries and expected supply expenses
• Full budgets with departmental approvals will be obtained in time for projects that are recommended for funding
• The Oversight Committee and CPT then review and discuss submitted proposals.

July/August

• The potential applicant pool is cut approximately in half
• The strongest applicants are invited to present their project before the Oversight Committee for oral presentation

August

• Awardees are contacted
• Complete budgets are prepared and submitted

September

• Budgets are reviewed, corrected and signed off

September/October

• Assignment of Project Managers to projects
• Kickoff meetings with Project Managers and Barry Myers

October 31

• All prior award fund codes are closed

November 1

• New fund codes are opened, and the first quarter begins

Post-Award

• The Coulter Program Director and staff assist in preparing grants (i.e., STTR grants and NC Innovative Development for Economic Advancement Awards)
• The CPT’s relationship with the Duke Office of Translation & Commercialization helps move projects closer to clinical application.

We strongly recommend submitting a brief summary (less than one page) as early as February to March.  Provide project title, team members, project goals and an initial assessment of potential users of the technology.

Submit the summary via email to Barry Myers (barry.myers@duke.edu) and Melissa Hall (melissa.hall@duke.edu).

The summary will be used for evaluation of the potential impact on patient care and the commercialization strategy that needs to be employed to get there. Feedback will be provided to project teams.

Format

Proposals must follow this format and will be rejected if any component is missing. All submissions must be received by the deadline.

The font should be 11 points or greater. All pages must be combined into a single file in portable document format (PDF):

• 1-page Cover Page
  • Project title
  • Names of the co-PIs, including departments
  • Departmental person(s) responsible for budget approvals.
  • Approximate funds requested.
  • Summary: one short paragraph describing the project
  • Approval/signature of the department chair of the PI who is not in the BME Department.
• 5-page Grant Body 
  • Explanation of clinical relevancy of research (e.g., envisioned product, unmet need)
  • Table of quarterly milestones to be achieved
  • Research plan to achieve milestones:
    • Stage of the project/product
    • Preliminary data, where helpful (not required)
    • Renewal applications should report progress against the original plan
  • Intellectual property status, strategy and plan for translation (license, etc.)
• Additional Materials
  • References (no page limit)
  • Approvals (or pending approval) for animals and human subjects (if needed)
  • Biosketches of PIs (five pages), including Research Support (list of current funding and pending funding)
• Draft Budget and Budget Justification
  • Initial submissions are approximate and do not need institutional approval or signatures
  • Use NIH PHS 398 Form Pages 4 and 5
  • The project period for all budgets is November 1 to October 31
  • The budget should be directed where needed. Unlike NIH grants, there are no expected minimum efforts for faculty PIs unless directed by your primary organizational unit. Salary for faculty, research staff and students are permitted but must reflect actual institutional-based rates supplied to you by your grants managers or business office
  • Supplies, consultants and subcontracts and other items are also permitted.  Please include regulatory cost if you anticipate spending on regulatory during the project period
  • Tuition, tuition remission, and capital equipment are not allowed
  • BME faculty are limited to one (1) month of summer support
  • Projects that will build prototype devices (called “assets under construction”) may include purchases of large components. These are allowable expenses and, for budget purposes, will be listed as equipment. (List in the budget justification that these are prototype expenses and not capital equipment.)
  • The indirect rate is 0% for all direct costs, including subcontracts. You and/or your grants manager will be responsible for working directly with your subcontractor to obtain a final budget to include with your final budget
  • In the event of budgetary overlap with other funded programs, faculty will work with the Coulter team to reconcile overlaps in the post-award period

Submission

Submit proposals via Duke’s MyResearchProposal online application platform.

To apply:

1. Visit bit.ly/myresearchproposal— login if you already have an account, or select “Create New User.”  Proposals must be submitted under one of the Principal Investigator’s names
2. The Applicant Dashboard page will display, click “Apply”.  If you have a dual role, change the role from ‘Reviewer’ to ‘Applicant’ (top right of screen), then “Apply”
3. Enter access code “BME” (must be in ALL CAPS)
4. Select the “Coulter Translational Research Partnership” funding opportunity and follow the instructions

The Oversight Committee will review proposals and make recommendations on funding priority. The selection of finalists for oral presentations will occur in June 2024. Oral presentations will be scheduled for July or August, and awardees will be notified shortly thereafter.

Projects that are awarded will be required to submit a detailed abstract, DPAF, final budget and updated budget justification, via email, to Rachel.Karatz@duke.edu and Melissa.Hall@duke.edu in September.

Duke BME staff will enter your final budget into SPS and route it to your department for all approvals. Please supply the name and contact info of the grants manager assigned to work with your proposals. This individual will be our primary point of contact for any questions that may arise.

Please make sure this staff member is aware of protocol registry numbers for proposals that require human subjects, vertebrate animals, recombinant DNA or carcinogenic/biohazardous materials. (These are routine questions that must be answered for Duke’s proposal approval form.)

Proposals will be submitted via Duke’s MyResearchProposal online application software. For more information on this process, please download the Call for Proposals document.

General questions about proposals and the review process should be sent to Melissa Hall (melissa.hall@duke.edu), while specific questions about scientific content or commercialization strategy should be addressed to Barry Myers barry.myers@duke.edu) before submission.

We strongly encourage all applicants to work closely with Barry Myers during the proposal preparation period. Our team helps all applicants understand the review criteria, components of the proposal and write the most competitive application.