Investigator Program FAQ

Figures are included in the 7-page limit, references are not. Figures should be placed throughout your proposal. Any pages after the 7-page mark (before references) will be deleted from your application.

Please note: figures must be embedded within the main proposal.

No less than ½ inch and no less than 11pt font.

No, you do not need to include a budget in your application.

No percent effort needs to be declared, since this is a career development award given to a person, and underwrites all the activities in a lab, rather than a project.

Please refer to the template in the application portal.

That is correct. Neuroscience investigator proposals do NOT need to involve stem cells, and preference will not be given whether the project involves stem cells or not.

You should use the online grants management system to input names and contact information for your references. You will be asked to enter each reference’s email address into the “Request letter of reference – enter reference email” box in the system. Once you have done this, you will be prompted to send him or her an email through the system requesting the letter of reference by clicking the “compose email” button. In addition to the email sent by you, a second auto-generated email will also be sent through the system to your reference with instructions and a link to upload his/her letters of reference.

Please note: The auto-generated emails to your references will be sent from administrator@grantinterface.com. We strongly suggest that you email your references in advance to describe the process, and to ask them to add administrator@grantinterface.com to their email “safe lists”. As soon as you send your email request through the system, the auto-generated email will be sent immediately. There should be no delay in your references receiving the email, so if they do not receive the email, please have them check their junk email filters. If there are additional problems or one of your references misplace the email, use the same “Compose Email” button to resend the two emails to your reference.

Yes, to guarantee reference letters are included in your application, you will need to make sure your referees submit their letters through the online system by the RFA closing date and time.

Yes. Many candidates have been successful after reapplying.

Yes, this award is meant to be a career development award to supplement funding in your laboratory and accelerate the pace of the research.

If selected for the award, you will need to be able to provide documentation from your department head detailing independent status and institutional commitment, both financially and in the form of dedicated laboratory space.

As long as your faculty appointment will begin by the funding start date, January 1 of the year following your award, you are eligible to apply.

You must be within 6 years of starting your independent faculty position on June 1, 2022.

Yes, NYSCF permits eligible career breaks such as: maternity/paternity leave, military service, etc. You should simply indicate the career break on the cover sheet where you list your faculty appointment dates.

Yes. There have been, and are currently several examples of more than one awardee being hosted by a given institution. We do note that it would be unusual to grant more than one Stem Cell Investigator Award or more than one Neuroscience Investigator Award to a single institution in a given year. However, the outcome of the Neuroscience Investigator Award and the Stem Cell Investigator Award are independent, and each will be evaluated as a separate program.

Yes, we plan to release the RFAs again next year.

Yes, but only one of the applications can be funded.

January 1

At this time, it is NYSCF’s policy to not disclose funding rates for this award.