RFP: Grand Challenges Impact Awards - Y3 Extension Opportunity

Eligibility:

Only the six existing Impact Award teams are eligible for consideration. This RFP is designed to provide an opportunity for a third and final year of one-time, central soft-funding support to each of the Grand Challenge Impact Awards.

The extension/third year of funding is limited to a request of $100K in funding to continue supporting projects. Please note for this extension/year 3 funding opportunity, no match is required from participating colleges or departments.

Successful proposals must address the following items to secure a final year of funding:

Clearly define the impact of what you have accomplished thus far, and what an additional (up to a maximum of) $100K of funding would allow the project to achieve in a third and final year.
Detail expected milestones, metrics, and plans for the additional year
Demonstrate a path to financial sustainability (including how additional internal funding will be leveraged to pursue/secure new grants, contracts, or other external funding and revenue sources, etc.).
List any existing external funding sources with amounts to date, and proposals due for submission between January - May 2025.
Identify any additional complementary or in-kind contribution requests to accelerate the project, such as proposal development support from the Office of Research Development.
If awarded a grant, to access Year 3 of funding, teams must have spent down 90% of Years 1 and 2. Teams will have until the end of December 2026 to exhaust all central program funds. Spend rates for Years 1 and 2 will be evaluated at the time of proposal submission to determine the need.

Review:

All submissions will be reviewed and scored in response to the bullets listed above. The evaluations and scores will be provided to the Senior Vice President & Provost and the Vice President for Research for final funding decisions.

Important: A letter of support from the Dean of the PI is required with the project proposal. The letter of support does not count against the page limit.

Budget Guidelines:

Teams should assume an award date of July 1, 2025. Program funding will last one year, ending June 30, 2026. No cost extensions of up to six months may be considered on a case-by-case basis and in exceptional circumstances.
Eligible expenses include: well-justified requests for salary support (including for temporary positions, research associates, graduate students involved in the initial two years of the project), laboratory equipment, software, and project-specific development needs.
Faculty and students' stipends may vary depending on the amount of work involved for each person involved.
Pro-rated fringe benefits must be included as a cost of the project in the proposed budget. Student wages must be calculated according to the unit’s or program’s guidelines.
No overhead should be included in the budget.
Budgeted items should be at or below the total amount of funds available per proposal (i.e. it must not exceed $100,000).
Equipment purchased through the GC Initiative will remain at UMD even if a PI or team member were to leave the university.

Extension Recipient Requirements:

PIs/awardees who are supported by the Grand Challenges Initiative agree to the following:

Participation in an annual GC symposium or event that showcases results/outcomes and engages external stakeholders, partners, and/or potential funders
Regular submission (semi-annual) of metrics, outcomes, financial expenditures, sharing of results
Cooperation with Maryland Today and/or other media inquiries to promote the work of the GC program

Proposal Submission Process:

Proposals should be a maximum of 5 pages in length
Proposals should be submitted to Katie Rotramel at krotrame@umd.edu

Timeline and Key Dates:

RFP Released: September 1, 2024
Proposals Due: December 15, 2024
Review Process: December 16, 2024 - January 30, 2025
Announcement of Extension(s): February 1, 2025