The Flash Grant program aims to identify and energize creative ideas that exhibit early indications of commercial potential. Like a flash of inspiration, Flash Grants infuse a quick jolt of funding at a critical early point when a small, targeted influx of funds can be crucial to shaping innovative research ideas into high potential life sciences technologies.

Flash Grants support short, tightly focused research projects that are designed to:

• Demonstrate the disruptive potential of a life sciences technology
• Prepare a technology for translational development

The Cycle 2 solicitation is open to proposals focused on topics related to New Approach Methodologies (NAMs).

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

• In vitro human-derived organoids
• Organ-on-a-chip technologies with human-derived, multi-cell co-cultures
• Microphysiological systems (MPS)
• High-throughput cell-based screening
• Reconstructed or maintained ex vivo human tissues
• Other novel model systems that reveal basic mechanisms or explore safety, efficacy, and/or toxicity for human disease
• Integrative systems that use combinations of the above NAMs 

Proposals primarily focused on artificial intelligence (AI), in silico modeling and/or simulations, or in silico experiments are strongly discouraged, even if they align with the NAMs topic. Additionally, Flash Grants do not support development of consumer products and/or mobile apps.

Funds are available to researchers at any North Carolina university or non-profit research institute.

Flash Grant FAQs are found here: www.ncbiotech.org/grant-faq