About the NCI Catalyst Award
This award is for Massey research members who submit an application to the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and receive a promising score, but the application misses the funding payline. Designed to encourage investigators to stay the course with their cancer-focused investigations and NCI submissions, this award is a key strategy to continuing to grow the cancer focus within the VCU community of scientists.
Award details and funding criteria
- NCI R01 New applications (Type 1): Applications with a percentile of 25 and lower or a score of 30 or lower for special study sections will be considered for funding up to $50,000 based on the strength of the plan to address the critiques.
- NCI R01 Renewal (Type 2): Applications with a percentile of 25 and lower will be considered for funding up to $50,000 based on the strength of the plan to address the critiques.
- NCI P- or U-series applications: Applications must score 40 or lower to be considered for funding up to $100,000 based on the strength of the plan to address the critiques.
- A Massey investigator may only hold one active pilot research award at a time
Application requirements
- Letter of intent
- Cover sheet
- Letter from the PI outlining the strategies to address the prior NCI critique
- NCI Summary Statement
- Research Strategy section of the original application
View the 2023 Catalyst Award FOA
Review process
- Applications will be reviewed for scientific merit using NIH scoring criteria
- Applications will be evaluated on the potential for achieving high-impact results on an accelerated timeline when compared to the traditional pace of cancer research, as well as alignment with MCC cancer priorities
- All applications for the NCI Catalyst Award will be reviewed on a rolling basis
- Note: This award exists to support projects that need vital data to become competitive for an R01 or similar award. For this reason, an important score driver in the review process is the potential for future funding. It is the PI’s job to demonstrate how these funds will ensure a competitive future application. One page is dedicated to this purpose and that page is carefully evaluated during the Study Section meeting and by Massey Senior Leadership when making funding decisions.