Grants on the Edge

Purpose

The purpose of the TPT Grants on the Edge program is to provide funding to enhance the competitiveness of previously submitted extramural grant proposals. When a research or creative proposal is favorably reviewed by an extramural grant review panel or study section (by receiving a competitive rating) and are relatively close to the funding threshold but not selected for funding, the PI/team may request funding support from the Grants on the Edge program to enhance the proposal or generate research data in support of proposal resubmission. For NIH based Grants on the Edge applications, the established paylines for the targeted institute/program will inform funding decisions. Proposals scoring closer to the established paylines for the targeted institute/program will be viewed more favorably than those scoring further away. For proposals submitted to NIH institutes with no established paylines, funding decisions will be based on the comments and recommendations of the study section. For proposals submitted to other funding agencies or sponsors, funding decisions will be based on proposal rankings (relative to others in the application pool) and comments/recommendations of the extramural grant review panel. Although TPT was initiated partly to foster interdisciplinary collaborations, the “collaboration” requirement is waived for the Grants on the Edge category to allow submission of single-PI proposals. A Grants on the Edge proposal must include at least one eligible Texas A&M University faculty member and the extramural proposal must be led and submitted (as the Prime Recipient) by Texas A&M University or one of its Texas A&M University System partner research state agencies (i.e., Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Texas Engineering Experiment Station).

Size of Award and Budget Guidelines

Grants on the Edge will provide up to $25,000 (for targeted extramural proposal total cost budgets of $2 million or less) and up to $50,000 (for targeted extramural proposal total cost budgets of more than $2 million) over 12 months, to support eligible PIs/teams who have had research proposals submitted and reviewed by external funding agencies since 2023 that were not funded but demonstrated merit. The program funding will provide support to address review panel comments, generate additional preliminary data, or conduct other activities aimed at improving the chances of success upon resubmission of the grant proposal. Allowable expenses are designed to be flexible to meet the needs of different proposals. Examples include:

• Personnel costs: Salary and benefits for Research Associates, Postdoc or Graduate Student to assist with additional data collection and proposal revision/refinement. Faculty salary support is not allowable with this grant.
• Research supplies or materials.
• Domestic travel to meet with the targeted sponsor.
• Proposal development and review service (i.e., expert reviewer service).

Include a budget table and budget justification. Budget justification must clarify how funds will be used to enhance/improve the proposal for resubmission.

Proposal Requirements and Review Criteria

Proposals must include the information outlined below. Font size of text should be no smaller than 11 points. Proposals that do not follow these guidelines will be returned without review.

Title of the Unfunded Extramural Submission: Provide a succinct title for the proposal.

Principal Investigator: Provide the name, affiliation, and contact information of the Principal Investigator (PI).

Co-Principal Investigators (if applicable): Provide the name, affiliation, and contact information of each CoPrincipal Investigator (Co-PI). There is no limit to the number of Co-PIs.

Project Summary/Abstract of the Unfunded Extramural Submission.

Alignment of Proposal with Current/Active Priorities of the Sponsor: The PI must verify that the previously submitted proposal is still aligned with the current/active funding priorities of the sponsor. Verification can include references to published active priorities of the sponsor or communication with the sponsor confirming proposal’s alignment.

Proposal Narrative (maximum of three pages): Proposals will be evaluated based on the following criteria:

1. Merit of the Research Proposed in the Unfunded Extramural Submission. Please include a synthesis of the panel/study section summary, scores/rankings, and overall recommendations for the unfunded extramural submission. Highlight need for additional preliminary data or weaknesses that could be addressed with Grants on the Edge funding. Detailed feedback from the review panel/study section should be submitted as an appendix. (20 points).
2. Merit of the Proposed Improvements. Proposals should include a description of the proposed improvements in response to the review panel/study section that will move the submission from Good to Great, how the requested budget will be used to improve the resubmission, and specific plans and timelines for resubmission of the proposal (i.e., agency/specific target funding program, target submission date, budget amount, etc.). Note that PI/team will be required to resubmit the proposal within 12 months of completion of the Grants on the Edge award. (20 points).

Budget: Include a budget table and budget justification (maximum of two pages).

Biosketch: Append a maximum two-page biosketch/CV for the PI and each Co-PI.

Appendix: Attach complete and unedited feedback from the review panel or study section, including (as applicable) the panel’s full comments, scores, rankings, and specific recommendations or concerns raised during the review process.

Note: Proposals that do not meet the above requirements/criteria will be returned without review.