Award Level: Up to $200,000 direct costs per year for maximum of three years.

Application Review Timeline:

• Applications are accepted anytime and are screened on a rolling basis. The CHVR COBRE can simultaneously fund 4 Research Project Leader (RPL) slots, and new RPL awards are made as current RPL's graduate from the program. We will review applications and queue up new potential RPLs starting in August 2025 to prepare for slots becoming available as we expect the first cohort of RPLs to graduate in 2026.
• We expect that applications will be revised according to feedback from peer review and Advisory Committee evaluation prior to submission to NIGMS program staff for final approval. All applicable IACUC, IRB, and Clinical Trial Regulatory approvals must be in place before submission to NIGMS. Consequently, the time from initial application to submission to NIGMS is typically 6-9 months. NIGMS review typically requires 1-2 months. Once approved by NIGMS, funds are released to the RPL.

Eligibility criteria:

• Applicant must be an NIH Early Stage Investigator and/or New Investigator (definitions are here: https://grants.nih.gov/policy-and-compliance/policy-topics/early-stage-investigators)
• Applicant must be able to dedicate at least 50% FTE to this project.
• Applicant must currently hold a full-time position as Instructor, Assistant Professor, or Associate Professor at UNMC, UNL, UNO, or UNK.
• Projects must be focused on a topic within the scope of the Center for Heart and Vascular Research.
• Applicant must be a CHVR member in good standing (see CHVR website and summarized below).
• Awardees may not concurrently hold funding from any other IDeA program (other COBREs, IDeA-CTR, etc).

Selection Process:

• Applications are first screened for eligibility and fit for CHVR by COBRE leadership. Subsequently, applications are peer reviewed using IDeA-CTR infrastructure. Applications receiving favorable reviews are evaluated by the Advisory Committee for final recommendation. Applications recommended for funding are then submitted to NIGMS program staff for approval.
• Competitive applicants are those who have a solid track record of research productivity, well developed research proposal, and propose studies that will generate preliminary substantial data to support an R01 application within 2 years of start of the award.
• Applications require a primary mentor and a 3-4 member mentoring committee. The Primary Mentor should have strong track record of mentoring including mentoring early career faculty to independence, and established track record of prior and current extramural funding. Mentoring committee should have appropriate expertise in the subject area and evidence of funding success.

Requirements for Awardees:

• Must submit an R01 application prior to the end of the 2nd year of RPL funding. Will graduate from RPL funding when R01 is funded or at end of 3rd year of RPL funding, whichever comes first.
• Attend all required mentoring and career development activities outlined in the COBRE RPL/PPL Handbook.
• Actively participate in at least one CHVR focus group.
• Attend the center's meetings, seminars, review committees, retreats and related activities as appropriate. It is expected that members will attend a minimum of five events per year.
• Acknowledge the COBRE in all publications (manuscripts, reviews, book chapters), in oral/poster presentations, grant submissions and media announcements.
• Agree to maintain an updated CHVR membership profile in Piestar. 
• Complete all surveys to track activities or funding, collaborative efforts with other members, mentoring, service-related, and community engagement activities.