CALL FOR PROPOSALS: W.M. Keck Foundation Research Program

The W. M. Keck Foundation supports groundbreaking fundamental research in the areas of biological and physical sciences.  Basic research that seeks to establish new paradigms, develop innovative new technology and/or methodology, remove roadblocks that restrict progress in a field, or answer intractable problems, is given priority.  Proposals should answer the question, “What is the new science this project enables?”  UCI has had remarkable success with this Foundation in the past 10 years.  Grantees include Derek Dunn-Rankin, John Hemminger, Filippo Capolino, Eric Potma, Tony James, Enrico Gratton, Michelle Digman, and Kumar Wickramasinghe.   A summary document with additional information about applying to the Keck Foundation is attached.

Budget
Budget requests may be for up to $1 million and may be expended over 3-4 years.  The Keck Foundation does not pay indirect costs, nor does it allow for tuition and fees for graduate students.

Projects Not Funded
Research that is the next logical step for an investigator’s program, or that would be considered incremental, will not be successful.  Translational or clinical research, vector and drug development, alternative energy and biodiversity studies, and miniaturization of existing technologies are not considered.  Research that could be funded by the federal agencies (NIH, NSF, DoD) will not be competitive.

Internal Application Process

Interested applicants are asked to submit a preliminary concept paper to the VCR’s office by Friday, December 16, 2016, via the UCI Review competition management system with the following information:

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1. One-page project summary (consistent with Keck’s requirements for a Phase I app.) containing:

• Abstract:  Provide an executive summary of this project, including overall goal, methodology and significance, for a well-educated lay audience.
• Unique Aspects:  Describe unique or distinctive aspects of this project.
• Key Personnel:  Name the key personnel and describe their expertise, role in this project, and any collaborations/partnerships.
• Budget:  State total cost of this project, amount requested from the Keck Foundation, and the amount of institutional support. Describe how funds requested from Keck will be allocated among capital, personnel and equipment. .
• Justification for WMKF support:  Explain why support from the Keck Foundation is essential for this project (i.e. this project cannot be, or is not likely to be supported by NIH, NSF or other typical funding agencies). Evidence that the research project is beyond the scope of governmental funding agencies is helpful (a conversation with a program officer, a declined proposal, lack of appropriate RFPs etc.) and should be referenced.

 

2. Brief Biosketch or CV (no more than 2-pages) of the PI

 

After the internal deadline, if necessary, an ad hoc committee will convene to review the preliminary proposals.   After the Office of Research consults with Keck in January-February 2017, the selected PI(s) will be notified in time to meet the W.M. Keck deadline of May 1, 2016

 

For the complete W.M. Keck criteria for these awards, please refer to http://www.wmkeck.org/grant-programs/research.  Questions about the Keck Research Program may be directed to Executive Director of Foundation Relations, Roxanne Ford at fordmr@uci.edu.  Questions regarding our internal campus review procedure should be forwarded to Greg Ruth at gruth@uci.edu or x4-0372.