Research@UIC > Funding Opportunities > Limited Competitions > “Grand Opportunities” (RC2)
RFA-OD-09-004

National Institutes of Health (NIH) Recovery Act Grants Research and Research Infrastructure “Grand Opportunities” (RC2) RFA-OD-09-004

Program Summary

The purpose of the “Grand Opportunities” or “GO” grants program is to support high impact ideas that lend themselves to short-term funding, and may lay the foundation for new fields of investigation. The “GO” grants program will support large-scale research projects that accelerate critical breakthroughs, early and applied research on cutting-edge technologies, and new approaches to improve the synergy and interactions among multi and interdisciplinary research teams. The initiative seeks novel approaches in areas that address specific knowledge gaps, scientific opportunities, new technologies, data generation, or research methods that would benefit from an influx of funds to quickly advance the area in significant ways. Applicants may propose to address either a specific research question or propose the creation of a unique infrastructure/resource designed to accelerate scientific progress in the future. This program is a trans-NIH effort supported by Recovery Act funds.

Scope

• Groundbreaking, innovative, high impact and cross-cutting research projects that can be readily deployed and that will improve and accelerate biomedical research.
• Basic, clinical and translational projects that could fundamentally enhance the research enterprise and that require the participation, interaction, coordination and integration of activities carried out in multiple research laboratories.
• Creation of large scale unique resources, accelerated application of high throughput, and other novel technologies.
• Deployment of critical infrastructure, resources, tools, and methodologies that substantially accelerate collaborative, multi and interdisciplinary basic, translational, and/or clinical research.
• Implementation of large scale research projects that are carried out using new and creative collaborative agreements and partnerships with industry and small businesses to accelerate the pre-clinical and clinical testing of new therapeutics.
• Creative approaches to overcome barriers to basic, translational, or clinical research using novel tools, technologies, and services.

Requirements

• The work cannot be reasonably expected to be carried out successfully without support provided by ”GO” grants.
• Specific outcomes of the proposed project promote and advance the mission of the NIH to improve health.
• The project is ready to be deployed immediately upon funding.
• A rapid infusion of significant funding will accelerate current and future research in the area of study and there are appropriate measurable outcomes to evaluate the short and long-term effects of the project.
• The proposed project is something that no other entity is likely or able to do, and is there a public health benefit to having the results of the research in the public domain.
• The project or generated results and resources can be expected to become integrated with other NIH and privately funded research within a reasonable timeframe.
• Projects that would require funding beyond this timeframe should provide a detailed plan for maintaining the research efforts without any expectation of further financial assistance from the sponsoring IC or other NIH components. Applicants are expected to provide a list of outcomes and include plans to obtain long-term support for research endeavors carried out with ”GO” grant funding.

A detailed statement addressing the bullets above should be included as part of the application Research Plan and in summary form in the Letter of Intent to NIH (see NIH LOI Deadline Date below).

Timeline and Award Amount

Only projects with a scientific scope that requires an annual budget greater than $500,000 in total costs are expected to be considered. Applicants should construct the project timeline to include critical milestones, measurable outcomes, and mid-term and end of project deliverables to be publicly shared as expeditiously as possible. Awards will be made for a two-year budget period.

The ”GO” grant RC2 award provides two years of support to applicant organizations that can demonstrate the need for a significant short-term stimulus investment on a well defined project that is ready for deployment and implementation and that meets the goals of the Recovery Act. Because the mission of the NIH ICs vary, applicants should review the scientific areas of interest described in the IC websites. Projects that span the mission of ICs are also eligible. For additional information regarding NIH IC examples of scientific interest, prospective applicants are encouraged to contact the relevant IC staff for IC-specific programmatic and budgetary information. (See http://grants.nih.gov/recovery/ic_go.html)

Exclusions from Support

Clinical trials and large clinical studies involving large sample sizes and significant efforts to recruit human subjects are unlikely to be completed in a two year period and therefore are not considered responsive to this FOA.

UIC is not limited in the number of submissions, provided each application is scientifically distinct.

Additional Information 
http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-OD-09-004.html
http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-09-090.html

Deadlines

For proposal development assistance with these and any other funding opportunities, please complete the online technical assistance request form:  
http://www.research.uic.edu/funding/ARRA_TAR.html

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