The Department of Medicine (DOM) Bridge Funding Support Program provides up to 12 months of short-term, limited financial support for faculty members with research programs experiencing a temporary loss of significant funding and a potential loss of staff funding for those required for the success of a pending project. Typically, applicants have been unsuccessful in a recent attempt to renew or replace an extramural grant but based on scores and reviewers’ comments, the granting agency is likely to fund the application upon revision and resubmission.  

Purpose and Use

The DOM Bridge Funding Support Program serves to maintain research infrastructure during temporary funding gaps, especially when the PI anticipates future sponsored research funding based on positive study section reviews. Its primary goal is to sustain research programs during funding shortages when no other immediate resources are available.

Permissible uses:  

  • Essential salaries/benefits for research personnel  
  • Essential supplies/project expenses 
  • Animal care or core facility services
  • Essential research participant accrual or maintenance 

These examples illustrate potential uses, but DOM does not limit bridge funds to this list.  

It is important to note, however, this program does NOT intend to replace sponsored funding or support specific research endeavors such as:

  • Continuing, extending, or completing previously funded research projects that have already reached their conclusion (i.e., NCEs, wrap ups, etc.).  
  • Maintaining an entire lab or all current personnel including:  
    • PI/faculty salary  
    • Administrative salary support (e.g., administrative assistants, accountants, etc.)  
    • Equipment  
    • Travel  
    • Seminar or conference registration fees  
  • Funding budget overdrafts or administrative costs (i.e., school, departmental surcharges).  
  • Replacing budget reductions of existing awards by external sponsors.  
  • Initiating or seeding new projects at their inception stages.  
  • Assisting PIs in the development of applications for sponsored projects.  
Eligibility

Applicants must have extramural grants administered through DOM that are near their expiration and demonstrate that a lack of extramural funding will jeopardize their research programs. They must also have one or more rounds of well-scored but unfunded applications and will have exhausted all available unrestricted and/or discretionary funds aside from amounts committed to staff salaries within one year of applying for bridge funding.

A center or other group outside of DOM that manages a grant in need of bridge funding should match the request made to DOM. This means the group administering the grant must provide additional funds in the amount requested in the bridge application. If no matching or only partial matching is possible, then DOM requires an explanation in the bridge application.

Applicants must be faculty members or personnel with PI status who have full-time, salaried appointments in the DOM and have been faculty/staff members for more than 3 years. Applicants must also have an independent research program, and those with laboratory-based research must have independent laboratory space.  

The department gives priority to two groups of applicants:

  1. Established Investigators (Associate/Full Professor) who have had continuous peer-reviewed extramural funding during the previous three-year period and have lost or will lose more than 40% of this funding resulting in deleterious effects (e.g., loss of research personnel or research participants).  
  2. Assistant Professors who have independent research programs supported, at least in part, by extramural funding and are facing a significant gap in funding. DOM intends bridge funding in the new investigator category for faculty during the early post-mentored phase of their careers.  

Established investigators who receive bridge funding awards are not eligible to reapply for bridge funding until at least a year after their award period has ended. Assistant professors granted bridge funds during their interim phase between career development and independent extramural funding can reapply. This requires a supporting letter from their division chief and their latest progress report as documented by the Promotion Oversight Committee. Finally, the DOM will grant no more than two bridge awards to any PI in a five-year span.  

Individuals not eligible for bridge funding include non-faculty positions (not eligible for PI status), post-doctoral scholars, visiting professors, faculty without a demonstrated history of external funding, faculty PIs on sabbatical, and those who do not have paid university faculty appointments for the academic year following the year for which bridge funding is requested.  

Deadlines

The DOM Office of Research Services must receive all applications for bridge funding at least three months before active sponsored funding ends.  

Applicants must compile all proposal documents as a single PDF file and submit it within the DOM Bridge Program Application by the following deadlines:

  • Spring deadlines: April 1st for a July 1st start date.  
  • Fall deadlines: October 1st for a January 1st start date.  

When deadlines fall on a weekend or federal holiday, DOM automatically extends application deadlines to the next business day. The DOM Bridge Program Application opens approximately two months before the submission deadline.  

Review Criteria

Up to two members of the DOM Research Council or their designees from divisions not involved in the proposal will review bridge applications. Reviewers will provide recommendations to the full DOM Research Council for a final funding decision based on eligibility and a review of the funding history and potential for future funding.  

Applicants must demonstrate:  

  • Conscientious effort to establish and maintain extramural funding and to diversify funding streams.  
  • They have the support of their division chief and provide documentation, if any, of the division’s willingness to assist in their financial support during the bridge period.  
  • A history of recent extramural funding and comprehensive research output, as evidenced by publications and/or participant enrollment.  
  • They have submitted grant applications in the last two years that have received favorable scores near the funding range. In their bridge request, applicants must include reviews for at least one well-scored but unfunded application and explain how they plan to address the feedback given by reviewers.  
Award Requirements

The department awards up to $75,000 but limits bridge grants to the minimum amount “essential” to maintain a defined project over a short duration of 12 months or less. DOM provides bridge funding as a single, non-recurring award and will not release funds until the recipient provides documentation of IACUC or IRB approval, if applicable. PIs who receive bridge funding are NOT eligible for other DOM support during the bridge funding period or for the following year.  

If the department allocates bridge funding, awardees must:  

  1. Re-budget all available funds and/or reduce the scope of research activities to the minimum necessary to maintain the program while awaiting review and funding of pending applications submitted to granting agencies.  
  2. Deplete their discretionary fund balance including all start-up funds before using bridge funds.  
  3. Inform DOM’s Office of Research Services within two weeks of receiving notice of any funding from any source to support any project within their research portfolio (e.g., extramural, intramural, industry, and foundation awards, startup, gifts, discretionary funds, etc.).  
    • If PIs receive a new award and it is larger than the balance of their bridge funds, then their bridge funding will end as soon as the new award begins.  
    • DOM will reduce bridge fund accordingly if the amount of a new award is less than the amount of remaining bridge funds.  
  4. Return all remaining bridge balances and/or matching dollars to the department or applicable entity if they do not fully expend the funds by the end of the award period or leave the DOM during the award period.  
  5. Submit a progress report 6 months after receipt of funds. See more information about this report under “Reporting Requirements.”  
  6. Acknowledge funding from the DOM in all scientific posters, publications, and presentations resulting from the bridge funding.  
  7. Utilize the development resources of the DOM Office of Research Services (DOM ORS) to produce the most competitive proposal possible to enhance future funding success. The DOM ORS is available to assist with applications for external funding, procuring external review of draft proposals, interaction with program officers, and other services to secure sponsored funding for projects.  
  8. Channel all subsequent applications to external funding agencies through the DOM ORS. In cases where matching commitments are involved, the office providing a larger share of the bridge funding should be the conduit. This is crucial to guarantee that SMPH reimburses DOM or the relevant office with the correct amount of indirect costs which are vital for supporting various activities, including this bridge funding program.  
Required Documents
  1. Grant Summary: includes the proposal summary page and specific aims page (or equivalent) of all pending applications.  
  2. Panel Summary: copies of the most recent review panel scoring and summary statements and a 1-page response to those reviews indicating how the PI will modify proposals to address reviewer comments; the proposal must have received a score/evaluation.  
  3. Budget and Budget Justification: fully explain the relationship of costs to the proposed activity and the basis for cost estimates. PIs should include information on employment status, contract period and renewal dates, salary and terms of employees, and a budget plan for essential employees for the bridge funding period.  
  4. Biosketch: of the PI in the standard NIH format.  
  5. Other Support (2-page maximum): including sources of internal and external support available for all research efforts at the current time or within the next six months. PIs should include all department funds (including discretionary, start-up, pilot, retention, gift or other funds) and how these available funds will be spent, including the specific plans to re-budget available resources to support activities during the bridge period. PIs should also clarify the relationship between the proposed project and all currently funded activities.  
  6. Letter of Support: a letter or email from the division chief or head of the unit (e.g., department, division, center, institute, etc.) addressing:  
    • How the research program fits the unit's research priorities.  
    • The appropriateness of the budget.  
    • The investigator's ability to obtain continuation or new funding to sustain or extend research activities into the future.  
    • The unit’s provision of matching funds for dual appointment faculty outside of DOM, if applicable.  
      • Awardees may obtain matching funds from any mix of various sources including their primary department and their affiliated college or school.  
      • If full matching of the bridge funds requested is not available, then the letter should explain why.  
      • For sources of funding that are difficult to transfer, units can capture those funds as in-kind contributions within the application budget.   
Reporting Requirements

DOM requires all bridge recipients to submit a progress report 6 months after receipt of funds (i.e., January 2 for a July 1 start date or July 1 for a January 1 start date). This report should be a one-page summary or less that provides the following:  

  1. Funding received from all external sources since the receipt of the bridge grant.  
  2. All submitted proposals for funding.  
  3. Manuscripts published or submitted since receiving bridge funding, (which should acknowledge support from DOM)  
  4. Any other measures of research progress or productivity that are appropriate.  

The report should be submitted as a single PDF file to the DOM Office of Research Services (ResearchServices@medicine.wisc.edu) with the subject line: Bridge Funding Report - <Last Name>.  

For more information, contact the DOM Office of Research Services at ResearchServices@medicine.wisc.edu.