Call for Proposals
Program Title:
            Cost-sharing grant program for 454-sequencing and data processing
Synopsis of Program:
The Research and Testing Laboratory (RTL) was founded in 2008 and is a research and development group providing molecular detection, microbial diversity and medical biofilm research and testing services. We offer comprehensive services for both contract and collaborative sequencing efforts, and have established experience sequencing fungal, bacterial, and viral genomes, mammal and insect EST libraries, metagenome samples, and cDNA and amplicon libraries. The purpose of this program is to provide high-throughput NexGen sequencing to individuals and research programs that have research projects leading to publication that will benefit from nextGen sequencing.  Awards will be provided in the form cost-sharing on sample preparation and sequencing using 454 technologies.  Bioinformatics is also available on cost recovery.

Program Officers:
John D. Hanson, Ph. D. (telephone: 806-771-1134; email: j.delton.hanson@researchandtesting.com)
Eligibility:
Proposals may be submitted by PI’s at any institution, with preference given to those entities which operate as not for profit.  Investigators at educational institutions, research foundations, and community health organizations are examples of eligible applicants.  Each PI may have one funded proposal per year, but there is no limit on how many consecutive years a PI may have funded projects.  PI’s may be researchers in permanent or non-permanent positions. Preference will be given to projects that wish to use pyrosequencing to enhance existing datasets, or develop novel approaches to a field of study.

Requirements:
Funded proposals will be treated as collaborations between RTL and the PI.  The primary goal of projects should be submission of manuscripts detailing the results of the project must be published within 1 year of the generation of data and must include the CEO of RTL and up to 1 additional employee as a Junior author.  Any intellectual property generated out of cost sharing and grant projects must give due consideration to RTL as co-inventors. Any further publications that use these data must also include the CEO of RTL as a Jr. author.  Proof of concept projects will be considered on the condition that RTL shall be used as the subcontractor on any resulting project proposal.

Proposal Preparation and Submission
Proposals must be 2-3 single spaced typed pages, including figures but not including references.  The proposal should be in English, using Times New Roman or Arial >10 pt font.  Included in this should be:

• an explanation of the project goals, experimental design, and projected timeline
• a budget detailing funds required for all aspects of the project as well as funds already secured
• 2 page CV for PI detailing past research and expertise in the area of research as well as citations for 5 relevant publications
• a plan to publish, including how many manuscripts will be submitted and to which journal(s)
• A letter of support from institutional research services, department head, or other administrative supervisor stating the PI is supported and the proposal requirements will not violate any institutional rules or guidelines

Request for References:
If the PI is not in a permanent position, the proposal must include a letter of support from the researcher(s) in whose laboratory the research will be conducted.  This letter of support will not count against the page limit.  Additionally, the available facilities must also include the facilities of the supporting permanent researcher.

Award amounts:
Most awards will be in the form of cost sharing. Some awards of high intellectual merit or high impact potential will be considered for full funding.  There is no cash component of this award.  Awards will be made based on the amount of samples required by each project and thus the maximum amount of the award is variable and for particularly deserving projects may be as much as 100% of sample preparation and sequencing costs.
Submission Deadline
Proposals will be accepted on a rolling timeline and decisions will be made within 6 weeks of the receipt of a proposal. Program may be cancelled at any time and without prior notification.
Disclaimer:
Acceptance of a proposal does not constitute a guarantee by RTL that the dataset and any resulting manuscripts will be accepted for publication. Further, RTL cannot guarantee results from samples which are of poor quality, or samples for which new techniques are being developed. RTL reserves the right to end any collaborative agreement for any reason. All proposals will be kept confidential and all investigators can expect equitable consideration. All sequencing project will be evaluated and many will receive some form of support by RTL that might include discounts, collaborative assistance, cost-sharing and even full support.
Submit Proposal To:
info@researchandtesting.com