The MGB Bridge Funding 26-1 application is now closed. The next deadline will be August 1, 2026. Please check back in late June for the new call.

MGB Bridge Funding 26-3

 

Application Deadline: Monday, August 3, 2026 at 5:00pm

To download a portable copy, click here

 

DESCRIPTION OF THE AWARD

The MGB Research Oversight Committee (ROC) is now accepting applications across Mass General Brigham institutions for Bridge Funding.

This bridge funding is open to MGB Principal Investigators (PIs) who have applied for an external independent, non-mentored, long-term NIH grant (R01, R21, R34, U01, P01), or other federal grants (DOD and NSF) and requires interim MGB support due to the current financial needs of the PI. Unfunded applications associated with expiring Request for Application (RFA), must be accompanied by a description of how the grant will be modified to fit a current RFA.

The intent of the program is to rescue strong scientific programs that are in need of bridge funding in order to sustain their research.  Recipients will be chosen based on both financial need of the investigator and scientific merit of the proposed project.  

Priority will be given to:

  • Applications from investigators with little or no additional support outside of their research program (including pertinent or unrestricted sundry funds)
  • Investigators judged most likely to rapidly and successfully obtain NIH funding on resubmission of the grant application.

The application process occurs three times a year; December 1, April 1 and August 1.  Applicants may re-apply for bridge funding in the event that they do not receive MGB Bridge Funding the first time. See “Eligibility” for details.

 

 

 ELIGIBILITY

  • Applicants must have a full-time appointment at any MGB academic medical center at the time of application and during the entire award period.
  • A PI can only submit one application per review cycle. PIs cannot receive a Bridge Funding award more than two times in 5 years. 
  • Applicants must demonstrate a significant need for Bridge Funding, as it will be a contributing factor in selecting the awards. The review panel will consider this an important criterion.
  • Unfunded applications that were “competitive, not discussed” or “not competitive, not discussed” are not eligible for MGB Bridge Funding.  
  • If you currently have an interim support grant from BWH (FSRE) or MGH (ISF) you are not eligible to apply.
  • If a PI applied for interim support during the last cycle and did not receive an award, the PI may resubmit a revised application for the same grant application in this cycle if they have not yet received external funding and the nominal start date falls within the eligible range.  
  • Those investigators whose grants received a score < or = 20th percentile may apply, but must be past their nominal start date at the time of the Bridge Support application, or they must have received written communication from the NIH that the grant will not be funded.  
  • Investigators who received scores >20th percentile and were discussed may apply. If your application was deemed “competitive- not discussed” you are not eligible to apply. In this case, the investigator does NOT need documentation from the NIH that they will not be funded. 
  • If your grant received an impact score only, (did not receive a percentile) but was discussed, you are eligible to apply.

 

ELIGIBILE GRANTS

 

R01, R21, R34, U01, P01, DOD, NSF*

*If you have an unfunded federal grant application that is not included in the eligible list above, and you would like to have it considered for eligibility for MGB Bridge Funding, please email mgbresearch@mgb.org. All requests will be reviewed.

New award applications and competing award applications (both A0 and A1)

 

Unfunded applications associated with expiring RFAs

Must be accompanied by a description of how the grant will be modified to fit a current RFA

 

Multi-project research (P01, U01) applications are eligible.
  • The number of awards that can be made in the multi-project research grant history cannot exceed 50%. (e.g. a multi-project research grant with four projects cannot get MGB Bridge Funding for more than two projects ever.) 
  • Cores within a multi-project research grant are not eligible for MGB Bridge Funding. 
  • No more than one project in a multi-project research grant can apply for MGB Bridge Funding in any given cycle. 
  • A PI from a multi PI grant is eligible to apply. A letter must accompany the application stating that all MGB PIs agree to the submission and proposed budget. This letter must be signed by all MGB PI's. 
  • Subcontracts associated with multi-project research (P01, U01) are eligible to apply

 

Given that it takes roughly 2 months to review applications, any updates that an applicant receives from the NIH or another federal agency regarding the status of their grant must be communicated to mgbresearch@mgb.org. Some examples include receiving a notice of award, communication from NIH that your application will be funded, etc. Do not submit updates regarding publications or scientific progress after the application deadline for this call.  We will not forward this type of information to the review panel.

If you receive your NIH funding or alternate funds for the same work covered by this MGB Bridge Funding award, PIs or department administrators must notify mgbresearch@mgb.org and work with our office to return the balance of the award.  This program operates with limited funding, and the return of unspent funds allows us to support more awards in the future.

 

 

AWARD EXPENDITURES AND START DATE 

  • The start date of the MGB Bridge Funding award will be no earlier than the request start date of the unfunded application. Awards will begin no earlier than July 1 for the April cycle, November 1 for the August cycle and March 1 for the December cycle.
  • The nominal start date of the unfunded application must be within six months of this MGB Bridge Funding application deadline; e.g. the nominal start date of the unfunded application must fall between February 1, 2026 – February 1, 2027 for the August 3, 2026 cycle.
  • The funds are to be used for research performed at an MGB academic medical center.
  • The award is not transferable to any other institution.
  • The awards are unrestricted as to area of study.
  • This award is to be used only for the specific studies cited in the budget of your NIH application or research needed to respond to reviewer critiques in the NIH summary statement. All other expenses are not allowed.  These funds are not to be treated as an unrestricted sundry fund. 
  • The funds may be used for salaries and fringe benefits for Principal Investigators and/or their key laboratory personnel, supplies, and other essential items for the project. 
  • MGB Bridge Funding funds may not be used to support salary over the NIH salary cap.
  • Equipment, capital and non-capital, may not be purchased with the award funds. The purchase of computing devices, i.e. laptops, computers, and printers require prior written approval.
  • Funds cannot be used to cover the 20% IDC minimum on another grant.
  • Funds cannot be used to clear a deficit incurred on another grant.
  • Recipients are required to reference MGB Bridge Funding funding in research publications, presentations, etc.
  • Recipients are required to reference MGB Bridge Funding funding in their Other Support listings. 
  • MGB Bridge Funding award amounts:
    • $75,000 direct costs, plus 20% indirect costs ($90,000 total award costs) for unfunded R01 grants or equivalent.
    • $37,500 direct costs, plus 20% indirect costs ($45,000 total award costs) for R21 grants.

 

CRITERIA/ MGB BRIDGE FUNDING REVIEW PROCESS

The MGB wide Subcommittee on the Review of Research Proposals (SRRP) will consider the following criteria when evaluating the applications (the weighted points are approximate).

Due to the number of applications received, PIs will not be provided with written or oral critiques of their applications.

POINTS

CRITERIA

DESCRIPTION

Weight: (20%)

 

Scientific Merit

Scientific merit will be inferred from the NIH peer-review summary statement, priority score, and other application materials. In addition, reviewers will consider likelihood to be funded by NIH upon resubmission

 

 

Weight: (10%)

Response to NIH Comments

Reviewers will assess how the PI has responded or intends to respond to the reviews the grant received from the study section/NIH.

 

 

Weight: (30%)

Research trajectory

The reviewers will use the NIH comments as well as the Biosketch and the chair’s letter to assess the scientific standing of the Principal Investigator in their field.

 

 

Weight: (40%)

Financial Need

The reviewers will be particularly cognizant of financial need, and it will be a contributing factor in the selection of each award. The reviewers will consider all available resources, including sundry funds.

 


RECIPROCITY 

Upon receipt of alternative funding for the research project supported by the MGB Bridge Funding, investigators must return the unspent portion of the award to the MGB Bridge Funding, enabling the fund to support other members of the MGB research community who are in more immediate need of support. Bridge fund awards will be pro-rated based on the effective date of the alternative funding. Please send an email to mgbresearch@mgb.org to notify us when you’ve received your alternative grant funding.

Award recipients are encouraged to work with a mentor on their re-submission. Assistance in identification of an MGB mentor will be provided on request, please email mgbresearch@mgb.org.

Periodically, award recipients will be asked to report on funding received that resulted from the receipt of their MGB Bridge Funding award(s). This includes federal, non-federal and industry funding.

 

 

SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS 

The application process requires the following fourteen items to be submitted:

  1. Project title: Title of unfunded research proposal
  2. Application type –

Funding Mechanism

  • Please indicate whether the application was a multi-PI grant
  • Type of Application (R01, R21, R34, U01, P01)     
  • Grant Percentile.  Select the option that best describes your unfunded application.
  • NIH Institution

NIH Score

  • My application received a Percentile. (Provide the Percentile)  
  • My application only received an Impact Score. It did not receive a Percentile (Provide the Impact Score)
  • NIH applications that were not discussed are not eligible for bridge funding.

Type of Submission

  • Type of Submission (New, Competing Renewal, Resubmission)   
  • Insight Agreement Number of the unfunded application
  • Grant Number (if applicable) of the unfunded application
  • Date of Grant Review/Study Section Summary 
  1. ​Early Stage Investigator (ESI) or New Investigator. Indicate whether the applicant is an Early Stage Investigator and/or New Investigator by selecting "yes" or "no".

New Investigator definition:  “PD/PI who has not previously competed successfully as a PD/PI for a substantial independent research award is considered a New Investigator.”

Early Stage Investigator definition:  “An individual who is classified as a New Investigator and is within 10 years of completing his/her terminal research degree or is within 10 years of completing medical residency (or the equivalent) is considered an Early Stage Investigator (ESI).” To see a list of NIH grants that a PD/PI can hold and still be considered an ESI, click here

  1. Previous Institutional Bridge Funding.  

4a. If you have previously applied for BWH FSRE funding or MGH Interim Support Funding for this grant, please indicate below and whether the application was funded.

4b. Please list all MGB wide Bridge/Interim Support that you previously received between 2021 and 2026. This is based on the start date of your bridge award(s). Please provide the type of application (R01, R21, etc.), bridge support dates, project title and briefly describe the impact these Bridge/Interim Support funds had (for example, did this grant lead to renewed external funding?).  

  1. Other Previous MGB Institutional Grant Support.  Review the list and select any previous support awarded from all MGB institutions (BWH, MGH, MEEI, McLean, etc.) and provide the award dates (e.g., BWH President Scholars Award, BWH Pilot Award, BWH Career Development Award, MGH Claflin Distinguished Scholar Awards, MGH Howard Goodman Award, MGH Martin Prize, MGH Research Scholars Program, MGH Physician and/or Scientist Development Award (PSDA), MGH FMD Fellowship, Shared Instrumentation Grant commitments, etc.)
  2. Sundry Fund. Does the applicant have a sundry fund in their name? If yes, please list the sundry fund(s) in section 7. Other Support. This includes all BWH, MGH, MEEI, and McLean sundry funds regardless of limitations/restrictions on the fund, fund balance (negative or positive), etc. Please state if there is any legal restriction on the sundry fund use (note: your desire to obligate these to a specific project is not a restriction; nor is a sundry fund whose purpose is to support your research in general; nor is a startup fund). Most sundry funds do not have restrictions; if no legal restriction, explicitly state.
  3.  Other Support. Include the following:
  • List all current and pending research support using the NIH format (click here for a sample other support page) including annual direct costs available to the PI, funding period and effort.
  • Please include the name of the PI(s) for each grant.
  • List endowed chairs, HHMI support, or comparable "hard money" salary support, if applicable, on your Other Support page as well.
  • Sundry funds:  Using the table provided within the application form, please list all sundry funds as well as any limitations on these sundry funds.  If you are still in a period of a startup package, please list any funds remaining. The table within the application form requires the following information:
    • title of the sundry fund(s)
    • project period
    • initial balance
    • current balance
    • any restrictions on the sundry fund(s)
  • If there any significant changes to your other support after the submission date of your MGB Bridge Funding application, please notify ROC at mgbresearch@mgb.org. This includes the receipt of new funding or major changes to your sundry fund balance(s).
  1. Biosketch of applicant in NIH format. Click here for a sample NIH biosketch. 
  2. Status of Project. Include the following:
  • Summary statement (pink sheet), critique or other written information from federal agency program staff. 
  • If you received a score of < or = 20th percentile, please upload any documentation from the NIH that the grant will not be funded. This requirement is not necessary for applicants who are past the nominal start date of the NIH grant at the time of Bridge Funding Support application. 
  • Applicant’s response to the review, including the “Introduction to the Resubmission”, responding to reviewer critiques, for a planned resubmission.   If this MGB Bridge Funding application is based on an unfunded A0 or A1 submission, please describe your plan for this research project going forward, e.g., respond to reviewer critiques and describe how you will re-organize the work for a resubmission or new grant submission (1-page limit). 
  • If you are using references, list all references in section 10, "Summary of the Revised Research Plan."
  1. Summary of the Revised Research Plan. (3-page limit, excluding references)  Include the following:
  • Specific aims
  • Background, significance and report of recent progress
  • Description of key personnel 
  1. Proposed Use of MGB Bridge Funding. Include a Budget Justification detailing how the funds will be used. The math should equal the amount being requested in the Bridge Support (direct cost); do not submit the Budget Justification from the initial unfunded application submitted to the requested funding agency. If the NIH application was a multi PI grant and BWH, MGH, MEEI or McLean is not the primary institution, you must also submit the MGB portion of the proposed budget submitted to NIH for year 1 only.
  2. Description of need (1 page). Include the following:
  • List any personnel that were or will be impacted by the lapse in your funding.
  • Description of applicant’s plans for requested salary support if MGB Bridge Funding support is not approved.
  • Description of applicant's plans regarding their research program if the pending application for long term support is not funded
  1. Letter of Support. The letter of support must be from the Chair, Division/Unit Chair or Thematic Center Director (signature from the Chair of Service is not required). The Letter of Support must address the questions listed below.  Division/Unit Chair or Thematic Center Directors who are co-investigators in the grant, should not write the letter of support. 
  • Please comment on the potential consequences of the specific cutbacks (i.e., non-salary and salary effects; for salary effects, please detail how many lab members are affected and how essential they are to the project).
  • How will the funds be used? (Salary support for PI and/or other staff; assist with experiments essential to resubmission of the application).
  • How and why is this research important to the department and/or the thematic center (the merit/value to the department/center/hospital)?
  • Please discuss the PI’s career trajectory and his/her importance to the institution (including if this project or resource is a critical aspect of a collaborative research effort). For investigators transitioning from K awards or other mentored awards, please also discuss independence.
  • Please detail current financial resources available to the PI for this project. In addition, please clarify the following possible alternative sources of support:

- Does the PI have his/her own funding (include startup money and/or sundry funds?

- What other resources does the PI have access to (including departmental funds)?

  1. Letter from BWH, MGH, MEEI, McLean Co-PIs on a multi-PI grant
  • If there is more than one MGB PI on the grant, please upload a letter stating that all MGB PIs agree to the submission and the proposed budget. This letter must be signed by all MGB PIs.

 

FORMAT GUIDELINES

  • Use margins of 0.5 inches or greater
  • Use 11pt font size or greater.
  • Upload PDF documents only.  Limit characters to A-Z and 0-9 when naming PDF documents.  Do not use periods, commas or dashes in the file name.

 

HOW TO APPLY 

*Please note that your Bridge Funding application does not need to be submitted through Insight for pre-review. You will only need to submit through the MGB online portal.*

ROC accepts all applications online via the MGB Online Grant Management Portal. This user-friendly system will allow MGB researchers to submit electronic applications to ROC. The system has been designed to allow users to:

  • Create a personal profile which will auto populate your future ROC applications
  • View current calls and apply to open opportunities
  • Save and edit current applications in progress
  • Submit completed applications
  • View all your MGB ROC applications that have been submitted via the online grants system

To apply, scroll to the bottom of this call and click the "Apply" button.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR APPLYING ONLINE

  1. Create your account: Login using your MGB credentials and fill-out the profile information.
  2. Complete the application: Once your profile is complete, you will automatically progress through the online application. If you cannot complete the application at one time, “save” the application and return to it at a later time to finish. Before submitting your application, you will have the ability to make changes to the application.
  3. Submit your application: Once you have completed the application click on the “submit” button at the bottom of the page. Once you submit it, you will not be able to make further changes unless you send a request to MGB ROC (note that once the deadline passes, request to make changes will not be accepted).

 

USEFUL TIPS

  • To avoid losing your work, remember to save frequently
  • You can only upload PDF documents
  • If you previously created a profile, please ensure your information is current

Click 'Apply' below to begin the application.


QUESTIONS 

To view the MGB Bridge Funding FAQ, click here.

If you still have questions remaining, please submit your questions via e-mail to mgbresearch@mgb.org.

 

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