Pilot Grant Program FAQ
Applicant eligibility
Do I need to work at Salk, UCSD or SBP to apply to this call?
No, applicants from all US academic institutions are encouraged to apply.
Can I apply if I work at an Institution outside the United States?
Unfortunately, we cannot accommodate foreign components.
Can Graduate students apply for this call?
Unfortunately, no Graduate Students cannot apply. This opportunity requires applicants to have finished their PhD.
Application submission
Do I need to login into Salk Institute Competitions Portal to submit my application?
Yes, please follow these instructions to create a user and login into https://salk.infoready4.com/. Application form will be available after May 24th 2022 (three months before the application due date)
Can I save a draft of my application or do I have to complete it and send it all at once?
You don’t have to finish your application all at once. You can save your progress as a draft and submit it later on, any time before the deadline.
Can I include collaborators on my proposal?
Yes, you can have up to two collaborators. Please include with your proposal submission a Biosketch and a letter of support from each of them. Please note the Mentorship program will only apply to the principal investigator listed in the proposal.
Proposal review
Can someone from the Center review a draft of my proposal before the application deadline?
No, the review committee will assess proposals ALL at the same time during the review period scheduled to be in September 2022.
Award use and conditions
Could the funds be used to cover the cost for experiments not performed by the SD-NSC Cores, of preparing and shipping samples to the SD-NSC cores?
Unfortunately, these funds can only be used to pay for core services.
Could the funds be used to cover the cost of data analysis by a collaborator?
No, these funds can only be used to pay for core services. In this case, we recommend you look at the services offered by the Integrative Models Core, and incorporate these within the budget items.
Do I have to spend all funds before May 31st 2023?
We strongly encourage you to meet this deadline, but if your experimental plan requires longer timeframes, please email sdnsc_rdcore@salk.edu briefly explaining why you would need an extended timeline and we will assess case by case.
Which is the fund number I need to use?
Fund number will be provided to awardees, at the time of award.
Planning
When will it be the next SD-NSC Pilot Grant call?
SD-NSC Pilot grant call will be offered only once a year. Deadline in late summer/ early fall.
Can I submit a proposal if I was an awardee in a previous call?
No, these pilot grants are to be awarded only once per person.
For any other questions about the program, or if you have issues when submitting your application, please email sdnsc_rdcore@salk.edu. Responses to inquires sent to other email addresses may be delayed.
