Mentored Trainee Data Science Pilot Award
This award provides up to $25,000 over one year to support research trainees as they build a solid research foundation that will help them obtain the most prestigious fellowship or grant possible following the project. The pilot project should be part of a long-term plan to become an independent investigator and Data Science category proposals must demonstrate how they will use Data Science to innovatively overcome a translational science barrier to translational science research.
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Eligibility
All UR pre-doctoral students, fellows, postdocs and residents are eligible for awards in the Trainee categories. Faculty members are not eligible to serve as principal investigators for Trainee category awards.
All submissions must have a faculty sponsor. In addition to serving as the trainee’s primary mentor, a faculty sponsor takes responsibility for the conduct of the trainee and study, is listed as PI on the IRB protocol, and oversees the financial management of the project.
Funding Amount
This TS03 award provides a maximum of $25,000 for a period of one year.
Important Dates
Apply
Solicitation and Review Process
Phase 1: Applicants submit a two-page Letter of Intent (LOI) stating their specific aims and summarizing their proposals. The UR CTSI review committee specific to each submission category will evaluate, score, and discuss the LOIs.
Phase 2: A subset of applicants will be invited to submit full proposals. The UR CTSI Review Committee specific to each submission category will engage in a formal study section-style discussion and scoring meeting for proposals. Funding recommendations go to the UR CTSI Executive Team for a final review and decision on funding.
The Pilot Studies Funding Attestation must be submitted with the initial Letter of Intent and full proposal.
Note: All animal and human subject protocols must be approved by NCATS, the NIH institute funding the UR CTSI, prior to the start date. No funds for research project costs may be released until all required human subjects and animal welfare approvals have been received.
- 2026 RFA for the Translational Science Pilot Program
- Attestation Template
- LOI Template
- NEW: Faculty Sponsor Sign-Off Template
Please note that UR CTSI awards and funding are dependent upon the availability of National Institutes of Health (NIH) Funds.
Application Selection
Proposals that produce innovative real-world data solutions will receive the highest priority for funding.
Contact
If you have questions regarding this RFA, please contact one of the following:
General inquiries
Karen Grabowski, CTSI@urmc.rochester.edu
Scientific and Peer Review
Eika Ramsdale, Erika_Ramsdale@urmc.rochester.edu
Adam Dziorny, Adam_Dziorny@urmc.rochester.edu
Financial inquiries
Mary Lyons, Mary_Lyons@urmc.rochester.edu
The principal investigator (PI) on all proposals must be faculty members with a primary appointment at the University of Rochester. If there are MPIs, one of the members of the applying team must have a primary faculty appointment at the University of Rochester. This team member will be the contact PI for the project.
Faculty may participate as PI, MPI, Faculty Sponsor/Primary Mentor on only one submission per award category. Faculty may participate in multiple submissions per category as co-investigator or co-mentor. Any faculty member who has a current grant with overlapping aims is not eligible to apply.
The following dates apply to the current solicitation:
- Initial letter of intent (LOI) and specific aims due - November 17, 2025 at 5:00 PM
- Notification of full proposal solicitation - December 22, 2025
- Full proposals due - February 9, 2026 at 5:00 PM
- Notifications of award - March 30, 2026
- Anticipated start date - August 1, 2026
- Award period ends - July 31, 2027
Solicitation and Review Process
Phase 1: Applicants submit a two-page Letter of Intent (LOI) stating their specific aims and summarizing their proposals. The UR CTSI review committee specific to each submission category will evaluate, score, and discuss the LOIs.
Phase 2: A subset of applicants will be invited to submit full proposals. The UR CTSI Review Committee specific to each submission category will engage in a formal study section-style discussion and scoring meeting for proposals. Funding recommendations go to the UR CTSI Executive Team for a final review and decision on funding.
The Pilot Studies Funding Attestation must be submitted with the initial Letter of Intent and full proposal.
Note: All animal and human subject protocols must be approved by NCATS, the NIH institute funding the UR CTSI, prior to the start date. No funds for research project costs may be released until all required human subjects and animal welfare approvals have been received.
Please note that UR CTSI awards and funding are dependent upon the availability of National Institutes of Health (NIH) Funds.