Pilot Projects RFA 2026

Request for Applications

TRANSCEND Pilot Projects Grant

 

Letter of Intent due: June 19, 2026
Selected preliminary applications due: August 21, 2026
Revised application SPA approval due: November 20, 2026
Final submission to NIH: January 15, 2027
Anticipated award start date: July 1, 2027

Overview

The Translational Science Engaging North Dakota (TRANSCEND) Health Research Core is soliciting applications for Pilot Projects. The goal of TRANSCEND is to train investigators in clinical and translational (C&T) research to develop innovative means of combating and preventing disease in North Dakota. TRANSCEND’s Health Research (HR) Core seeks to stimulate the growth of expertise and engagement in C&T research through seed funding mechanisms. For general information about TRANSCEND, see https://med.und.edu/research/transcend/index.html.

The Pilot Projects Grant is intended to provide support to allow researchers to pursue novel hypotheses. We anticipate supporting 4-5 new Pilot Project awards at an amount of $75,000 total costs (direct + indirect) for one year with an anticipated start date of July 1, 2027. Applications should focus on clinical and translational research. Preclinical studies will be considered only if there is a clear path to progress to clinical research. To determine whether or not your project is eligible for funding, see the resources on the HR Core’s webpage, https://med.und.edu/research/transcend/health-research-core.html. The primary goal is to allow investigators to connect with all TRANSCEND Cores to generate competitive proposals for the TRANSCEND Developmental Projects Grant mechanism.

 

Eligibility Criteria

Faculty and clinicians at participating TRANSCEND institutions who have applied and been accepted into the TRANSCEND Portal network https://pathfinder.med.und.edu/ are eligible. Investigators with a Principal Investigator (PI) role from other NIH IDeA funding mechanisms are not eligible for a PI role on TRANSCEND awards. Previous TRANSCEND Pilot Project awardees are not eligible to apply for a second Pilot Project award.

Prior consultation with the TRANSCEND 1) Navigator, 2) Professional Development Core, 3) Health Research Core, 4) Research Design, Compliance, and Data Management Core, and 5) Community Engagement and Outreach Core is required for proposal submission. Demonstration of available research percentage effort for the PIs/Co-Is and associated personnel on the proposal must be provided. Evidence of available research effort and salary support must be provided in the form of a letter from the departmental chair or clinical service unit chief for each PI/co-I. All proposals must have completed internal approval at their respective institution.

 

Priority research areas applications should consider include the following topics:

Proposals applicable to the research priorities above will be given priority consideration for funding. Proposals in other research areas that are clearly relevant to North Dakota and its populations also will be considered. It is incumbent on the applicant to demonstrate the importance of the problem selected to North Dakota. Note that proposals that do not involve individual patients/persons (i.e., purely laboratory-based investigations that do not involve identifiable patient samples and/or purely data analysis applications that involve anonymous participants) are not eligible.

 

Personnel Requirements

Pilot Projects can be led either by an independent investigator or by a clinician fellow working with a research mentor. We define clinicians broadly as individuals involved in the treatment, care, or diagnosis of patients. This category includes physicians, therapists, nurses, clinical pharmacists, and speech pathologists, among others. All PIs and co-Is of Health Research Core projects must hold either a paid faculty appointment or equivalent position or a doctorate at one of the participating TRANSCEND institutions when the award begins. Per NIGMS guidelines, collaborators at foreign sites are not allowed on TRANSCEND grants. Collaborations with investigators at a foreign site anticipated to result in co-authorship constitute a foreign component.

Research personnel may or may not require mentoring and collaborative support to initiate and carry out a research project with the express goal of maintaining a research effort. If a potential PI needs a teammate but has not been able to identify one, the Navigator will assist in identifying one from among the collaborating academic institutions and hospital networks participating in TRANSCEND. The PI must also meet eligibility requirements for NIH funding. Preparation of all pilot awards should involve extensive interaction pre-submission as well as post-award with the Navigator and Health Research Core, who will coordinate interactions with other cores to provide insight regarding research design, grant/publication preparation, and federal/non-federal funding mechanisms.
In your application’s budget justification, you must detail the activities/contributions of the PI, co-I, and any other key personnel.

 

Budget and Proposal Approval Requirements

Depending on the institutions involved in the project, institutional Sponsored Programs Administrations (SPAs) may have additional requirements for budget and proposal approval. The University of North Dakota and North Dakota State University SPAs require applications to be electronically routed through Novelution prior to submission to the External Advisory Committee.

Criteria for Evaluation of Pilot Projects Applications Include:

• Relevance to the research priorities and TRANSCEND mission;
• Potential for the research personnel to coalesce around a relevant topic;
• Strength of the investigative personnel and any collaborators;
• Strength of significance, innovation, approach, and environment.

General Terms and Conditions of Health Research Core Awards:

• TRANSCEND Health Research projects must have a single PI who will be responsible for the scientific direction and management of the project. The PI can be a non-US citizen on a visa.
• The PI for Health Research projects may not concurrently have research funding from other IDeA Program award mechanisms (e.g., INBRE, COBRE, and TRANSCEND) by the start of award period.
• Funds may be used for consumable supplies, services, small laboratory hardware (nothing >$5,000), personnel costs (including salaries of PIs and Co-Is up to 5%), and travel.
• All funded projects must have clearly established milestones, with milestone progression monitored by the Health Research Core and Administrative Core. These milestones include biannual progress reports for each progress year, one of which will be submitted to NIH, and a project completion survey at the end of the project period.
• Investigators who receive TRANSCEND support are required to provide at least two oral presentations at the annual TRANSCEND symposium (one introduction and one update), as well as summaries appropriate for non-researchers. Video recordings of the presentations and summaries will be maintained on the TRANSCEND website for dissemination to the public and communities of interest in North Dakota.
• Any publication arising from the work supported by TRANSCEND must cite the grant, 1P20GM155890-03.
• Term and budget adjustments: The TRANSCEND PIs reserve the right to make term and budget adjustments in accordance with the intent of the funding mechanism and NIH policies concerning scientific overlap of projects.
• Unanticipated new requirements: By accepting TRANSCEND funds, awardees agree to comply with any and all requirements not already mentioned that may be imposed on TRANSCEND by NIH or other institutional authority.
• TRANSCEND awards are subject to approval of funds by NIH.

The Application Process and Deadline

• Letters of Intent (1 page maximum) are due June 19, 2026.
• Letters of Intent acceptance will be determined the week of June 22, 2026.
• Teams whose Letters of Intent are accepted must meet with all Cores by July 17, 2026.
• Preliminary applications (all components except human subjects components) will be due August 21, 2026.
• Selected applicants following initial review will be notified to move forward by October 19, 2026.
• Revised applications must be routed through institutional SPAs by November 20, 2026.
• Applications will be submitted for EAC review by January 4, 2027.
• Final submission of completed grant to NIH by January 15, 2027.
• Awards are expected to be announced by June 30, 2027.
• Expected award period will be July 1, 2027-June 30, 2028.

Step 1 – Letter of Intent

Before submitting a Letter of Intent (LOI), prospective applicants must connect with the TRANSCEND Navigator, Jamie (Scholl) Bushman (Jamie.Scholl@USD.edu), and Health Research Core Coordinator, Savannah Macias-Daugherty (Savannah.M.Daugherty@UND.edu). LOIs should be sent as a PDF via email to Savannah Macias-Daugherty.

Your letter of intent must:

• Explain briefly the nature or focus of the research that will be proposed, the relevance to North Dakota populations, and, if applicable, how it fits the research priorities identified by TRANSCEND
• Explicitly explain how the proposed research qualifies as clinical and translational research
• Include a description of both the PI and any collaborator(s) roles in the proposed research
• Be no longer than one page, single spaced. Utilize 11 pt. or greater font. Provide at least one-half in margins (1/2”) – top, bottom, left, and right
• Be sent to the email above as a PDF attachment by 5 PM on June 19, 2026

Step 2 – Evaluation

Similarly to the preliminary proposal, LOIs will be evaluated based on relevance to the research priorities and the TRANSCEND mission, potential for the research personnel to coalesce around a relevant topic, strength of the investigative personnel and any collaborators, and strength of significance, innovation, approach, and environment.

Based on evaluation of your LOI by the Health Research Core, you will be notified the week of June 22, 2026 if you are invited to prepare and submit a preliminary application.

 

Step 3 – Prepare and Submit the Initial Application

Applications should be prepared in general accord with the NIH PHS 398 application guidelines.

Go to: https://grants.nih.gov/grants/funding/phs398/phs398.html

PDF Instructions for forms: https://grants.nih.gov/grants/funding/phs398/phs398.pdf

Please Complete the Following for the Initial Application:

1. Form Page 1: Face Page
2. Form Page 2: Summary, Relevance, Project/Performance Sites
3. Form Page 2-continued: Senior/Key Personnel, Other Significant Contributors, and Human Embryonic Stem Cells
4. Form Page 4: Detailed Budget for Initial Budget Period
   1. Each project site must have its own budget form
5. Detailed Budget Justification
6. Common Form Biographical Sketches for PI and Co-Is (https://grants.nih.gov/grants-process/write-application/forms-directory/biographical-sketch-common-form)
7. Common Form Current and Pending Other Support documents for PI and Co-Is (https://grants.nih.gov/grants-process/write-application/forms-directory/cpos-common-form)
8. Research Plan (single spacing, 11 pt. or greater font)
   1. Response to review if resubmission (0.5 page)
   2. Specific Aims (1 page)
   3. Research Strategy (maximum 3 pages)
      1. Significance (~0.5 page)
      2. Innovation (~0.5 page)
      3. Approach (~2 pages)
         1. Rigor and transparency: As appropriate, a description of the scientific premise for the proposed project, including consideration of the strengths and weaknesses of published research or preliminary data crucial to the support of project, and a description of the experimental design and methods proposed and how the investigator will achieve robust and unbiased results. If applicable, a brief description of the methods to ensure the identity and validity of key biological and/or chemical resources used in the proposed project (see Notice NOT-OD-16-011 for details).
   4. Bibliography and References Cited (use Continuation Format Page)
   5. Vertebrate Animals Section (if applicable)
9. Consortium/Contractual Arrangements (if applicable)
10. Letters of Support from the following:
    1. Department Head and/or Clinical Unit Chief for PI and Co-Is confirming the personnel have time available for the project
    2. Consortium participants confirming collaboration
    3. Senior/Key Personnel confirming collaboration
    4. Other Significant Contributors confirming collaboration
11. Resource Sharing Plans(s) (if applicable)
12. Authentication of Key Biological and/or Chemical Resources (if applicable)
13. PHS 398 Checklist

More information

Questions related to the Pilot Projects Grant Awards should be directed to Savannah Macias-Daugherty, Health Research Core Coordinator (Savannah.M.Daugherty@und.edu)  

General questions about TRANSCEND’s goals and opportunities can be directed to Gary G Schwartz, TRANSCEND Project Director (Gary.Schwartz@und.edu)