COARD Pilot Grants

The Center for OCD, Anxiety and Related Disorders (COARD), with support from the Brooke Professorship and the McKnight Brain Institute at the University of Florida, is offering funding for pilot projects for trainees and junior faculty who are members of COARD or a COARD participating laboratory.

This funding opportunity announcement is designed specifically for applicants proposing research that is related to OCD, anxiety, or related disorders (e.g. hoarding disorder, tic disorders, PTSD, grooming disorders, and body dysmorphic disorder).  Applications that are not relevant to this content area will not be considered.  The aim of this funding is to promote pilot research that will lead to future NIH R01 type applications and awards in the field of OCD, Anxiety, and Related Disorders.

Eligibility

Membership in COARD or association in participating laboratory (e.g., PGENES, FEAR lab, etc)

Assistant professors, postdoctoral fellows, graduate students, medical students, and residents will be given priority—associate professors may also be funded with sufficient rationale.

Award Information

Budget:

Application budgets are limited to a total of $25,000 per proposal.

Funds Available:

The number of awards available is contingent upon available funds and the submission of a sufficient number of meritorious applications, but will not exceed $75,000 per fiscal year.

Project Period:

The scope of the proposed project should not exceed 1 year.

Proposed Criteria

Only the review criteria described below will be considered in the review process.  Applications submitted should be in support of the COARD mission and will be evaluated for scientific and technical merit, as well as their relevance to OCD, Anxiety, and Related Disorders.

Application

Please submit the following, in one PDF, to Robyn Nelson at r.nelson@ufl.edu.  All documents should follow current NIH guidelines for formatting, which can be found at the following link.

  • Title Page
    • The title page should include: Applicant Name, Title of Proposed Research, Research Mentor Name (if applicable)
  • Research Proposal
    • Two page maximum
    • Include Specific Aims, Significance, Impact, Approach, Expected outcomes, sample size projections and/or power calculations, relevance to training or future research applications
  • Budget
    • One year maximum
    • Salary for faculty is not allowable
    • IDCs are not allowable
  • Biosketch
    • NIH format
    • Applicant and mentor (if applicable)
  • Other Support for the proposed research (if applicable)

We encourage inquiries regarding this funding opportunity from potential applicants.  If there are any questions please submit them to Robyn Nelson at r.nelson@ufl.edu.

Applications will be accepted on: March 1st and October 1st

Other Information

Submit progress reports every 6 months to: Robyn Nelson

Must present the results of  work at the COARD seminar series.

Report all publications and external funding based on data generated by COARD Pilot grant.

Funding source for manuscripts: “University of Florida: Center for OCD, Anxiety and Related Disorders; University of Florida: Evelyn F. and William L. McKnight Brain Institute”.

COARD members with external funding must designate at least 1% IDC returns for trainees to qualify for awards, and for any member of the PI’s laboratory, including the PI, to qualify for any other types of awards offered in the future.