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Grant Opportunities Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

General Information

Who is eligible for the awards?

Please find the eligibility information for each award on the specific web pages: Research Grants and Grants to Support Workforce Diversity in Genomics Research. Note, that the Research Grants are limited to academic institutions only.

How many awards are available for the 2024 cycle?

See the Guidelines table for this and more information about the grants available

Is there a different process for submitting a Letter of Intent (LOI) based on career status?

The process of submitting a Letter of Intent (LOI) for the GREGoR Research Grant for early-stage investigators is the same process as listed on the webpage, there are no special guidelines or requirements based on your career status. We recommend that you include a statement in the Letter of Intent about your current career status as this is relevant for the reviewers to consider when they review your proposal. 

Can we add additional Co-Investigators during the award period?

There are no restrictions to adding Co-Investigators as long as they are not already GREGoR Consortium core members who would receive funding from the research grant. Also of note, the research grant budget cannot be increased during the award period.

Will an application deadline extension be allowed?

Due to the number of applications we receive and the tight review timeline involving many reviewers, and to be fair to other applicants, we are unable to extend the application deadline.

What are the grant application formatting requirements?

  • The body of the text should be 11 pt.
  • Smaller text in figures, graphs, diagrams and charts is acceptable, as long as it is legible when the page is viewed at 100%.
  • See the relevant application templates for information on the maximum length for applications and accompanying uploaded documents.
  • We do not stipulate a required margin width. Please keep in mind that your documents need to be easily readable by reviewers.

Is the letter of institutional support needed only for the principal investigator?

If your proposal involves collaboration by people at different institutions, a letter of institutional support is needed from the business office of each institution that will participate and receive funds for that participation. Thus, the PI and a Co-Investigator at the same institution need a single letter. If the Co-I is at a different institution and will be subcontracted for part of the work, you will need to submit a letter from that institution as well.

Can I include Letters of Support with my grant application?

  • This is optional if there are no collaborators in your project proposal: if you believe your application is strengthened by letters of support, feel free to include them at the end of the administrative information packet that you will upload with your application.
  • If you have collaborators: a letter of support is required from each collaborator on your project, such as a lab or group that you propose to work with.

Who from my institution should sign the administration application document?​

This document should be signed by someone who is authorized to sign contracts on behalf of the institution. At the University of Washington this is an official from the Office of Sponsored Programs.

What are the reporting requirements for the Research Grant Awards?

We expect to schedule a presentation for you to give to the Consortium after the award is made so that Consortium members can familiarize themselves with your work, and to provide an opportunity for you and Consortium members to ask questions of each other. We may also ask you to present to the Consortium or provide a written update towards the end of each award year. We will confirm specific reporting requirements to awardees at the time the award is made.

What are the reporting requirements for the Grants to Support Workforce Diversity in Genomics Research?

We will provide you with a template for a succinct report describing what activities you completed and how these have benefited you and contributed to increased diversity in the genomics workforce - to be completed shortly after the completion of your award activities.

 

Budget and Funding

Can we include a percentage of the PI's salary in the budget? What about a percentage of a Co-I salary?

Unlike other funding such as NSF grants, the GREGoR grant does not limit PI or Co-I salaries as long as these costs are directly related to the project that you are proposing. The salary is limited to the NIH salary cap.

Is this funding considered NIH funding? If so, are indirect costs part of the budget request?

Yes, this is NIH funding. For Research Grant applications that are funded, the funding will be awarded via a subcontract set up by the GREGoR Data Coordinating Center at the University of Washington, which is the Pass-Through Entity (PTE). This subcontract will follow NIH requirements (such as salary cap and the institution-negotiated indirect cost rate), even though the funding is not directly from NIH. Indirect costs are part of the budget request, and will need to be confirmed by your institutional official. You will need to include your current negotiated indirect cost rate agreement and the amount you are requesting in addition to the direct costs associated with your application. Maximum direct costs that can be requested are $175,000 for one year or $250,000 total (average of $125,000 per year) for two years.

If your institution has a negotiated rate, we will accept that upon receipt of a copy of your current rate agreement. For example, if you are Scripps Research Institute and you request $175,000 for a one-year proposal, your F&A will be calculated on your negotiated rate of 89.5%, which is $156,625 for a total request of $331,625.

If your institution does not have a negotiated rate, the indirect costs are limited to 10% on a Modified Total Direct Cost (MTDC) basis. E.g. if you request $175,000 for a one-year proposal and your institution does not have a negotiated rated, you would request $175,000 for direct costs and $17,500 for indirect costs, resulting in a total request of $192,500.

Do we need to provide a detailed budget for the entire budget period?

Yes, please submit a detailed budget for the entire award period.

For a 2-year grant proposal does the award total of $250,000 have to be divided evenly between each year, or can it be for differing amounts over the 2 years?

The budget allocation over 2 years does not need to be evenly divided between each year, as long as the total budget for the grant period is no more than $250,000.

Are international institutions able to request overheads/indirect costs, and if so what percentage?

If your institution has a negotiated F&A rate with some agency of the U.S. federal government, we will use that rate. If not, then the rate is up to 8%.

Can we include travel/conferences in the budget?

Travel and conference expenses costs are not explicitly prohibited, but as stated in the purpose for the Research Grants, "The main intention for the Consortium’s Grant Opportunities is to bring in needed expertise not currently represented within the Consortium." The GREGoR Consortium currently is planning for an in-person meeting in the Fall of each year. Depending on the scope of your work, you may include travel costs to attend the GREGoR Consortium in-person meeting. The location of the future yearly meetings is not yet determined, but will likely be in Washington D.C. or elsewhere on the East Coast.

Should I include cloud computing costs in my budget?

If the proposed work is anticipated to incur cloud computing costs, then these costs need to be included in the budget. The DCC has outlined some guidelines and resources here to help you in preparing the budget to submit with your Research Grant application. For information on GREGoR Consortium data and access, including GREGoR’s use of the AnVIL platform, see the Research section of the GREGoR website.

Will the funding for both award mechanisms come as a subcontract from UW?

The Research Grants are set up as sub-contracts by UW.

The Grants to Support Workforce Diversity in Genomics Research are simply reimbursed by UW/DCC for expenses submitted up to the awardee's approved budget - there is no subcontract for the professional development awards. 

 

Access to GREGoR Data

Will awardees have access to the data generated by GREGoR Consortium to develop and test new computational methods, or for other purposes?

  • Research Grant awardees will become Partner Members in the Consortium - this includes agreeing to the GREGoR Code of Conduct and other GREGoR policies. If access to GREGoR data is needed for your project, the PI for your group can request data access and will need to submit a signed Data Sharing Agreement. Note that there is no guarantee that sufficient data or any specific type of data will be available during the timeframe for your award.
  • Grant awardees to support workforce diversity: it is assumed that these awardees will not need access to GREGoR data. If you require access and/or feel that Partner Membership in the Consortium would be helpful to your work, you can apply to become a Partner Member. Partner Members have access to GREGoR data once they submit a signed Data Sharing Agreement.
  • See the Research section of the GREGoR website for more information about GREGoR data, especially the section "Accessing GREGoR Data" which includes information for the scientific community.

 

Contact Information

University of Washington, where the GREGoR Data Coordinating Center is based

The University of Washington is defined as a state government agency. A current W-9 will be provided to awardees.  The address and contact information varies depending on how you intend to use the information.  Grant compliance and fiscal questions may be answered by Data Coordinating Center (DCC) staff or forwarded to the University’s business office. If we are unable to answer the question, we will work with UW’s Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP) or Grant and Contract Accounting (GCA) and get back to you.

The Contact PI of the Data Coordinating Center (based at the Univ. of Washington) for the GREGoR Consortium is Dr. Susanne May, gregorconsortium@uw.edu

For questions regarding general terms and conditions of a sub-award

Office of Sponsored Program

University of Washington

Box 359472

Seattle, WA 98195-9472

osp@uw.edu



We will provide a UW-issued GC1# to reference

To submit invoices for reimbursement

Grant and Contract Accounting - Accounts Payable

University of Washington

Box 354966

Seattle, WA 98195-4966

gcahelp@uw.edu



We will provide a UW budget number to reference

For programmatic/scientific questions

GREGoR Consortium

Dept of Biostatistics

University of Washington

Box 351617

Seattle, WA 98195-1617



Email gregorconsortium@uw.edu or use the Contact Us form on the GREGoR website