QBI-SBI Collaborative Network Biology And Drug/Drug Target Discovery RFA

Call for joint QBI/UCSF-UCD research proposals in network biology and drug discovery 

Following a highly successful online seminar series and two collaborative symposiums between the Quantitative Biosciences Institute (QBI) of UCSF and Systems Biology Ireland (SBI) at University College Dublin (UCD), the two institutes are building the foundations of future research collaboration by launching a call for joint research grants. We are soliciting proposals in network biology and drug/drug target discovery. We seek high quality, ground-breaking research that has a strong innovative network biology and/or drug discovery component. Projects must involve strong collaborations between researchers at QBI and UCD that will pump prime joint applications for larger scale external funding later on, such as NIH/NCI – CRUK Grand Challenges, EU grants, SFI-US-Ireland R&D Programme, and others. 

The Quantitative Biosciences Institute (QBI) at University of California, San Francisco in collaboration with Systems Biology Ireland at University College Dublin have announced a call for joint grants between QBI/UCSF and UCD scientists. A total of $150K was secured by both institutions for the initiative. The collaborative grants are aimed to effectively connect the research communities at QBI/UCSF and UCD.

We encourage original, bold studies that would be unlikely to be supported through conventional grants. We have secured a total of $150K for the initiative and anticipate awarding 2-3 grants. 

The call is open to researchers at all levels holding primary appointments at UCSF or UCD. The project team which should be comprised of a lead applicant in addition to one or more co-applicants, must include representation from both UCSF and UCD, and strive for gender diversity in its composition. In cases where the lead applicant is an early-mid career researcher, project teams must include at least one PI from each institution. Applying UCSF PIs must be members of QBI. Applying UCD PIs must have computational biology, network biology, or drug / drug target discovery as their lab's main research activity. A researcher cannot submit more than one proposal, however a researcher could be part of more than one. 

Submission should include the following items in one pdf file:

1. Application – up to two pages (11-pt Arial font, 1⁄2-in margins, single-spaced), including figures and legends and one page for supporting references. Preliminary data is not required.

2. Details on the mode of cooperation (up to one page)

3. Itemized budget and a brief justification for each side (up to half a page each). The budget for each institute should be the same.

4. Bio-sketch for lead applicant and co-applicants (NIH format).

Proposals should be sent to both admin-qbi@ucsf.edu and sbiadmin@ucd.ie. 

1. Relevance to the topic and purpose of the call
2. The boldness of approach and idea
3. Will affect or influence a new direction in network biology and drug / drug target discovery
4. Strong collaborations between researchers at QBI and UCD.
5. Potential to develop into a larger collaboration and attract additional funding