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Application Guidelines & Instructions

The Presidential Research Development Grant (PRDG) Program is designed to provide a limited number of mid-sized awards to full-time Touro University (NY) faculty. The aim of these grants is to support and build upon solid preliminary data already generated by the Investigator and where additional research effort is now critical to competitively pivot for external funding. Applications may be made for individual faculty projects or for collaborating projects (if the collaboration involves only Touro University faculty members). These grants are not intended for pilot or terminal projects; rather, to advance selective research projects within the highly competitive national environment for external funding.

Eligibility:

  • Only full-time faculty members at Touro University (NY) may apply and serve as a Principal Investigator (PI).
  • The role and contributions of any Co-PIs—particularly in multi-disciplinary projects where such collaboration is strongly encouraged—should be carefully delineated in the Research Project Plan section of the proposal.
  • The application must clearly and convincingly demonstrate that the proposed project:
    • Embodies a new research direction for which strong preliminary results have already been obtained by the PI.
    • Will, after further development, be well-positioned to seek external support.
  • The proposal must not overlap with any existing sponsored projects. 
  • Projects for which a pending proposal has been submitted to an extramural funding source for the same, or a closely related, project are not eligible for PRDG awards.

Submission, Review, and Selection Process:

  • Applications are due by Friday, March 1, 2024. It is anticipated that awards will be made for the period of June 2024 through May 2025—subject to meeting standard compliance requirements for the conduct of the research (e.g., biosafety, human subjects, and/or animal care and use approvals). 
  • Consideration for funding will be given to two potential applicant pools: 
    • Projects in the biomedical and health sciences.
    • Projects in the liberal arts & sciences, behavioral, social, and educational sciences (including such fields as psychology, education, law, and social work), technology, and business.
  • Faculty may only submit one proposal as the PI.  However, faculty may serve as a Co-PI on more than one submission.
  • Applications are expected to identify potential extramural funding source(s) that will be sought by the PI and the sponsor deadline(s) that the PI is targeting for submitting proposals to those sponsors for next phase project support.
  • Applications will be reviewed, as appropriate, by either the biomedical and health sciences Selection Committee or the liberal arts & sciences, behavioral, social, and educational sciences, and business Selection Committee.  Each Committee will consist of Deans and members of the Senior Academic Leadership.
  • Selection Committee recommendations will then be made to President Kadish.
  • Announcement of awards is anticipated in June 2024.

Funding:

  • Applications should generally request support from $5,000 to $10,000.  However, requests for $15,000 to $20,000 will be considered for certain types of projects that typically involve greater expense (e.g., laboratory-based research), but only if clear justification for this higher level of support is provided in the application.  Budgets may be subject to revision as part of the award process.
  • Applications may not include a request for faculty salary support. They must, however, identify the level of faculty effort that will be committed to the project over the entire project period.
  • Support may be requested for: staff support, such as technicians or research or lab assistants (particularly student assistants); materials and supplies; publications; and, other costs such as services and subject participant costs.
  • Support for consultants and travel generally will not be provided; however, requests for funding of such costs may be considered if significant justification is provided. 
  • Fringe benefit costs commensurate with all salary requests should be included in the budget (with full-time staff members at a benefits rate of 26.4% and part-time staff members at a rate of 10%).
  • Support may not be requested for equipment.
  • Proposals that include contributions from the Investigator’s School – for the purpose of covering some project costs, in addition to the dedicated Investigator’s time — are strongly encouraged. Any such complementary support must be detailed as part of the application. 

Application Preparation Instructions:

  • Prepare your application in Word, using ½ inch margins and 11 points Arial.
  • To the maximum extent possible, when crafting your technical proposal narrative please use lay language and explain scientific terms and concepts succinctly to facilitate review by the cross-section of reviewers.
  • Proposal Section (please follow the page limitations outlined and be certain to label each section of your proposal in accordance with the application instructions; incomplete proposals or proposals that do not follow the application requirements, including page limits, will not be reviewed):
  • Cover Page:  Complete the Application Cover Page. All communication from the Office of Vice President for Research/NYMC related to the proposal will be with the PI listed on the Cover Page. If the project involves a Co-PI, a separate Application Cover Page should be completed by that individual and attached with proper notation of Co-PI status.  Institutional approvals for use of human subjects, animals, and/or biohazards will be required on a just-in-time basis if the proposal is selected for funding.
  • Research Project and Funding Plan Description (limit 4 pages):
    Provide the following components:
    • a project abstract;
    • a summary of the relevant literature and a presentation of preliminary research results previously obtained by the PI related to the proposed project
    • a research plan that:
    • delineates specific aims, significance, and impact of the proposed project;
    • a brief description of a research strategy that builds upon the PI's already existing research and that provides an overall rationale for the experimental approaches proposed;
    • the experimental design including procedures, justification for numbers of subjects when human subjects are involved, and plans for data handling and data analysis (including details for choice of data analysis procedures).
    • a detailed plan for pursuing external sponsorship for the next phase of the project, including identification of potential sponsors and the application deadlines for which the PI anticipates submitting proposals. 
    • Note:  If a Co-PI is to be involved in this project, a clear statement describing the nature of the collaborative arrangement also must be provided.
  •  References (limit 1 page): Provide complete references, including all authors & full title, to publications cited in your research plan.
  • Biosketch (limit 2 pages + addendum, if relevant, per individual): Include a biosketch for the PI (and Co-PI, if relevant), using the National Science Foundation format (see Section II.C.2.f. in the NSF Grant Proposal Guide).  An addendum that lists past, current, and pending support, if relevant, may be added to the biosketch (one page, per individual; see Section II.C.2.h. in the NSF Grant Proposal Guide).  Note:  Biomedical researchers may opt to submit an abbreviated version of the NIH biosketch (not the full five pages).
  • Facilities (limit 1 page + addendum, if relevant):  Describe the Touro facilities you will use to conduct your research.  But, if you are using facilities outside of your School, please include, as an addendum, correspondence from an individual who has authority to make a commitment confirming your access to such facilities.
  • Budget (limit 1 page + addendum, if relevant, 1 page):  Provide a table that details all costs by major budget category, sufficiently itemized so as to be easily evaluated in terms of the context of your proposed project. If the project is collaborative, provide an overall project budget, and individual budgets for each investigator’s components.
  • Budget Justification (limit 1 page + addendum, if relevant, 1 page):  All items must be fully justified, following the same format as on the budget page; indicate the percentage time effort and describe the role of all personnel, including that of the PI (and Co-PI, if relevant).  An addendum that describes all complementary departmental/School support, if relevant, should be part of the budget justification.

Application Submission:

When your application is completed, the above proposal components must be combined into one PDF file. 

Please use the following naming format for your PDF file:

  • Biomedical/Health Science applications:  Lastname_Firstname_PRDG_2024_BHS.pdf
  • Other Disciplines applications:  Lastname_Firstname_PRDG_2024_Other.pdf

Submit applications and/or questions to NYMC-OVPResearch@nymc.edu.