Apply now for the third round of Harvard Catalyst Pilot Grants

Posted December 3, 2009

Harvard Catalyst is now accepting applications for the third round of Harvard Catalyst Pilot Grants. Complete instructions and requirements are available in an RFA posted on the Harvard Catalyst Pilot Funding page.

All proposed projects must:

  • Address an important question in human clinical and/or translational research that impacts human health
  • Include a collaborative, synergistic team of researchers from different institutions or different departments within the same institution
  • Propose research that is new to the team members
  • Require pilot funds to generate preliminary data that will enable the investigators to obtain further funding to continue the project

Any investigator with a Harvard faculty appointment, regardless of degree or institutional affiliation, is eligible to apply for these one-year, $50,000 grants. Applications from scientists in all walks of research – basic, translational, clinical, social, etc. – are welcome as long as the proposed work addresses human health. Harvard Catalyst encourages junior faculty in particular to apply.

All applicants must submit both a Letter of Intent (LOI) and a five-page application. LOIs are due by February 1, 2010, and should be submitted using the webform available on the Harvard Catalyst Pilot Funding page. Five-page applications are due on March 1, 2010; an application webform will be available on February 1.

Resources to Assist Pilot Grant Applicants
Harvard Catalyst encourages those interested in applying for a Pilot Grant to speak to a Research Navigator regarding any questions they may have about the Pilot Funding application process.

To assist you with your Pilot Grant application submission, Harvard Catalyst’s Consulting Programs offer free consultations across a broad range of research domains. Please note that most of the Consulting Programs have set deadline dates for receiving consultation requests related to Pilot Grant applications; visit each program’s respective web page for more information.

Pilot Grant applicants can also use tools like Profiles (a research networking tool), Medvane (a Harvard-focused view of PubMed), and Grant Central (a web-based tool for collaborative grant development) to help identify collaborators and develop their proposals.