CVM Intramural Awards

MEMORANDUM
 
Date: 26^th August 2025
To: College of Veterinary Medicine Faculty
From: Janet Robishaw, PhD, Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Studies
Re: Call for Proposals  “ CVM 2025-26 Fall Research Grant Competition”
Deadlines: Submission Deadline  –  Friday, October 31, 2025, by 5pm

Funding Levels and Research Categories

 
Five types of grant proposals will be accepted, but the different types of grants will not necessarily be in competition for the same funding sources. For example, we have several endowments that support equine and feline research, but fewer endowment funds for canine research, thus it is possible that a lower scored proposal may be funded while a higher scoring proposal is left unfunded due to the availability of targeted funds.
 
1.   Seed Grants (up to $12,000) are awarded for the purpose of generating preliminary data that will enhance the prospects of funding from extramural funding sources.
     
2.   One Team Building Grant (up to $18,000) is awarded for the purpose of fostering collaborations between clinical and basic science faculty. A clear road map of how the team approach will enhance the research careers of the CVM clinical and CVM basic research faculty member(s) should be provided.
     
3.   Clinical Research Grants (up to $12,000) are awarded to support research addressing clinical issues. The applicant must clearly document how the research will benefit the health and well-being of animals.  These grants are especially important to meeting goals of gifts from donors. 
     
4.   Specific Agency Grants (up to $12,000) are awarded for support of research projects deemed to be of high importance to the research missions of the CVM and that target specific funding agencies and research programs, but applications require additional preliminary data. The applicant must clearly document the intended extramural funding possibilities.
 
5.   Targeted Grants Supporting Novel Alternative Methods for Research (up to $20,000) are being awarded for this year to align with new federal grant guidelines to support development of Novel Alternative Methods (NAMs) aimed at reducing experimental animal use in biomedical research, improving comparative medicine insights into diseases, and enhancing predictive power of scientific findings. Possible focus areas include use of cellular and organoid based systems, AI and machine learning models, and real-world data analysis (e.g., EHRs, imaging, pathology).
 
      Priority for funding will be given to proposals: 1) fostering collaboration between CVM and VetMed and across campus; 2) utilizing CVM’s veterinary learning healthcare system, veterinary informatics database, and/or Halo AI platform; and/or 3) developing cellular or organoid based models of diseases. Awardees will receive: 1) access to CVM’s Veterinary Informatics Database and Halo AI tools; 2) consultation with AI experts; 3) milestone based funding; 4) proposal development support for future state, federal, or foundation submissions; and 5) opportunities to present findings at UF NAMs-focused events.
 

Eligibility (Please note new guidelines)

 
CVM faculty (including Instructors, Lecturers, and all Professorial and Scientist ranks) are eligible to apply. Faculty members are eligible to receive only one award each academic year, and if funded in the Fall Competition, new submissions will not be accepted.  Projects involving meaningful collaborations among faculty members representing different departments within the CVM and the University are encouraged.  However, where collaboration extends outside the CVM, the Principal Investigator must be a CVM faculty member. For the team building proposal, both PIs must be CVM faculty.  ONLY ONE APPLICATION PER PI WILL BE ACCEPTED.  If you were funded in the 2024-2025 Competition cycle, you cannot apply this cycle.  If you would like to submit an amended application that was not funded in the previous cycle, you can resubmit, along with a one-page or less rebuttal to the grant critiques.  The rebuttal page does not count to your grant page limit. If the current proposal is a revision of a previous submission to the CVM intramural competition, all changes must be underlined and a copy of the critiques by the CVM Research Committee attached.
 

Evaluation

 
Applications are generally assigned to 2-3 reviewers and highly scored proposal discussed by the entire CVM Research Committee (RC). When necessary, additional expertise will be sought from faculty consultants drawn from outside the RC. The Committee will strictly confine its review to material in the written application. All committee members in attendance during the discussion of individual proposals will assign priority scores of 1 (best) to 9 (worst) to each proposal and the scores averaged for final determination.
 
Applicants are strongly encouraged to follow the application guidelines. It is difficult to evaluate applications that do not state hypotheses or, when relevant, details of experimental design, methods of statistical analysis, and budget justifications have been omitted.  Faculty are encouraged to consult with colleagues in preparing their proposal.  The following criteria will be considered in the scientific evaluation and initial priority scoring of proposals by the Research Committee:
 
Significance of the problem to be explored.
Prospect that the research will provide definitive answers to the hypotheses being tested.
Strength of the experimental approach and the basis for evaluating results.
Whether the proposed investigation is realistic within the time and budget constraints.
Long-term plans for research, and where appropriate, the potential for securing future funding from external sponsors.
Qualifications of the investigators to perform the work proposed.
 
In addition to the foregoing criteria, the Research Committee will take into consideration the productivity of previous CVM intramural research awards by the applicants.
 

Guidelines

 
Clear and concise statements are recommended. Because proposal review will be strictly confined to the written application, applicants should pay particular attention to the completeness, yet conciseness, of their descriptions of specific aims, significance of problems to be investigated, review of pertinent background literature, experimental approach, methodologies, and data analysis. Do not assume that the reviewer will fill in missing details.
 
All proposals require completion of the 2025 CVM Fall Consolidated Faculty Development Award Competition face sheets (including abstract and narrative), budget (with justification), and necessary attachments (Biosketches).  Applicants should prepare and submit their research section as follows, unless an extramural format is used:
 
Introduction for resubmissions only, not new applications (not to exceed 1 page, single-space).
Hypothesis, Specific Aims & Significance (not to exceed 1 page, single-space).
Review of pertinent background literature (not to exceed 1 page, single space).
Objectives, experimental approach, and analysis (not to exceed 4 pages, single-space).
Description of facilities/environment used to conduct the research (not to exceed 1 page, single-space).
Pertinent references with citation of authors, titles, journal and published dates (not to exceed 2 pages).

Proposed Budget

Proposed budgets (see Budget Page) should be submitted in sufficient detail with justification to facilitate the review process. If UFVH services are to be used, you must explain use of the research discount policy in your budget and appended justification. Be advised that prior negotiation on cost with the relevant service chief(s) is often necessary to establish actual discounted costs. Requests for equipment are permitted without limitation within the budget to allow investigators to secure an essential methodology. If partial costs up to the budget maximum are requested, other sources of funding must be identified. Travel to attend scientific meetings may be requested, but must be strongly justified. Requests for travel to conduct the proposed research such as collection of field samples must not exceed $1,000 unless you have obtained written permission from the Associate Dean for Research to do so and have included a copy of this permission with your proposal. Requests for publication costs other than page charges will not be funded. Requests for technician’s salary will not be granted; however, requests for OPS support will be granted if fully justified by the Principal Investigator and the PI’s Department Chair. Budgets should reflect funds needed for a period of one year in order to complete the proposed research objectives.
 
Applications that are revisions of a previous submission to the CVM intramural award competition or an extramural agency should clearly identify any changes in the current proposal by underlining these sections. Where available, the Research Committee’s or extramural agency’s critique of the denied proposal should be included. An explanation of major changes in approach, data analysis or other aspect can be included in a cover letter to the proposal if you wish. The Research Committee attempts to assess improvement in proposals, which are clearly expected. Failure to address all issues raised by previous reviewers will almost certainly guarantee your proposal’s disapproval.
 
Applications in the form of an extramural grant proposal should clearly explain how the intramural funding, if awarded, will be used to support the extramural grant application. This should be accomplished within the budget justification, appended to the budget page, and an explanation provided in a cover letter to the proposal. Please provide enough detail so that the reviewers will be able to clearly understand how the funding will be spent and what will be accomplished.
 
Proposals may involve any animal species.  The College has some limited NIFA funds; thus, if the research involves food and fiber producing animals, the PI may qualify for such funding if they have an USDA-approved CRIS project.
 
If the proposal involves experimental animal use, Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) approval is required. It is also expected that you will obtain approval from the CVM VHRRC for clinical investigations using UFVH patients in addition to the approval of the relevant Chief of Staff. A copy of all relevant approval applications should be appended to the proposal, including a copy of any client consent form.

How to Apply

Applications will be accepted only in electronic format. The deadline for receipt of all proposals for this competition is Friday, October 31, 2025.  Applications must be submitted to the Office of Research & Graduate Studies (Ms. Dawn Phillips dphillips@ufl.edu and CVM-ADR@ad.ufl.edu) by 5:00pm. The subject line must read, “Fall 2025 Grant Competition”.  The e-mail should contain contact information for the PI if being submitted by a person other than the PI.  It is anticipated that the Review Committee will meet before December 2025.  Written critiques of proposals will be completed and sent to applicants soon thereafter if requested. Funds are released as soon as all follow-up paperwork is completed.  Note:  grants should be written for a maximum of 1 year, with any remaining funds expiring after that time.