Grant Funding Opportunities: 8/3/12

Visit the North Carolina Biotechnology Center’s Funding Gateway page to get more information on funding announcements, links to opportunity search databases, and grant development tips!

If you have any special funding request searches, please feel free to send them any time (julie_king@ncbiotech.org).  Please also advise if any of your partners have submitted grant applications to funding announcements posted in the weekly grant alert emails.  We would love to hear of their successes!

Special Announcement: The mission of NC IDEA is to foster economic development in North Carolina by helping young startups commercialize their innovations.  NC IDEA is committed to supporting North Carolina's economic development by helping young, innovative companies grow, create jobs and become major contributors to the state's business community. NC IDEA makes semi-annual solicitations for ideas with the potential to become high-growth companies. NC IDEA defines a high growth company as a young company with a clearly differentiated innovation and a growth potential in a market of significant size. NC IDEA awards selected projects an amount of up to $50,000. The fall 2012 grant information sessions are upcoming on August 8, 9 and 10.  Visit the website for more details about the grant program and to register for a session:  http://www.ncidea.org/content/timeline/1000.

Deadline: 8/17/12 (Early Bird); 9/21/12 (All Others)

Agency:  NC Touchstone Electric Cooperatives
Program: Bright Ideas

Description: Funding for projects that seeks to achieve clearly defined goals and objectives, use innovative and creative teaching methods and provide ongoing benefits to students.  Applications are accepted from teachers in a variety of disciplines including music, art, history, reading, science, career-planning and information technology.

Award Amount: Up to $2000
Website: http://www.ncbrightideas.com/overview.aspx
Eligibility: K-12 North Carolina Teachers

Deadline: 9/1/12

Agency:  The Glaucoma Foundation
Program: Research Grant Program

Description: The Glaucoma Foundation funds research initiatives to determine the causes of glaucoma, to improve methods of treatment, and, ultimately, to develop cures for the various kinds of glaucoma. TGF offers grants to doctors and scientists striving to improve the lives of glaucoma patients through research. TGF's three areas of particular focus for grant-in-aid funding are as follows:

1. Optic Nerve Rescue and Restoration - Research into new approaches designed to protect the optic nerve against glaucomatous damage, to restore vision lost to glaucoma and eventually reverse blindness by restoring or regenerating the function of the optic nerve cells, and to explore the feasibility of achieving transplantation of optic nerve cells.
2. Molecular Genetics - Research into the genetic causes of the various forms of glaucoma, particularly the identification of the responsible genes, with the long-term goal of finding ways to reverse these genetic defects.
3. Nanotechnology - Research into the use of nanotechnology for monitoring IOP, diagnosing and monitoring damage to the optic nerve and delivering drugs and other therapies.
    

Award Amount: Initial grant funding for a one-year period is limited to a maximum of $40,000. The Principal Investigator may apply for a renewal for up to $50,000. Renewal grants are for an additional year's research and must be based upon findings from the first year's work. TGF does not provide funds for Investigator salaries, travel, overhead or other indirect costs.
Website: http://www.glaucomafoundation.org/Grant_Application.htm
Eligibility: Applicants must clearly demonstrate the Principal Investigator's understanding of glaucoma or his or her collaboration with an investigator who has experience in glaucoma research. If collaboration is warranted, a letter of support from the glaucoma researcher must be included in the application. Applicants must have a full time faculty position or the equivalent.

Deadline: 9/6/12

Agency: US Department of Agriculture (USDA)
Program: Small Business Innovation Research: Biofuels and Biobased Products

Description: The objective of this topic area is to promote the use of biofuels and non-food biobased products by developing new or improved technologies that will lead to increased production of industrial products from agricultural materials. This research will lead to new opportunities to diversify agriculture and enhance agriculture's role as a reliable supplier of raw materials to industry. This topic area supports the NIFA Sustainable Bioenergy Societal Challenge Area and the Climate Change Societal Challenge Area. Historically, appropriate research areas have included development of procedures for enhanced recovery of critical raw materials from agricultural commodities; development of improved technology for converting agriculturally derived raw materials into useful industrial products; development of new products from new industrial crops; and development of industrial products derived from agricultural materials to make them more effective and/or more cost competitive with non-agriculturally derived industrial products. In order to enhance the impact of the program, acceptance of applications will be limited to selected Research Priority Areas.

Award Amount: Range of awards is $70,000 to $100,000
Website: http://www.nifa.usda.gov/fo/biofuelsandbiobasedproductssbir.cfm
Eligibility: Small businesses and small proprietorships that are in business for profit are eligible to submit applications to this program.

Deadline: 9/26/12 (Letter of Intent Due—optional but suggested); 10/26/12 (Proposal Due)

Agency: National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Program: Career Development Program in Omics of Lung Diseases (K12)

Description: The long-term objectives of this program are to develop multidisciplinary career development programs that will equip new MD and PhD (or equivalent) investigators with the knowledge and skills to apply pan-omics and integrated approaches to elucidating genomic and molecular bases of lung disease, including heterogeneity, key regulatory networks, and relevant disease biomarkers, with the goal of advancing understanding of lung disease pathobiology and lung disease personalized medicine applications. The required expertise should include bioinformatics, experience in utilizing data from large cohorts and electronic medical records, techniques of integrative genomics and systems analysis, along with expertise, or at least familiarity, with clinical research and pulmonary medicine. Given the multidisciplinary nature of the research training, proposing multiple PD(s)/PI(s) is encouraged.

Award Amount: Application budgets are not limited, but need to reflect actual needs of the proposed project. The maximum period is 5 years.
Website: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-HL-13-023.html
Eligibility: Higher Education Institutions, Non-Profits, Governments

Deadline: 10/1/12
Agency:  Progress Energy Foundation
Program: Foundation Grants

Description: The Progress Energy Foundation partners with nonprofits in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Florida to help its communities understand and adapt to the new realities posed by the shifting energy landscape. The Energy Foundation is currently accepting grant requests for consideration that focus on energy education, workforce development, and the environment, with priority given to energy-related grants.  With workforce development grants, due 10/1/12, Progress Energy are focused on grants that:

• Ensure there is an adequately trained, diverse workforce to secure our energy future.
• Support workforce development for the energy industry through grants to targeted universities and community colleges in Progress Energy's service territory.
• Help establish or expand degree/certificate programs to develop skills and competencies that are in demand by the energy industry.
• Support programs and/or scholarships that recruit and retain underrepresented groups in the engineering schools.

Award Amount: Varies
Website: https://www.progress-energy.com/commitment/community/index.page
Eligibility: Grants are limited to non-profit organizations that serve Progress Energy customers in Florida, North Carolina or South Carolina.