NIDUS II Pilot Award Application Instructions

NIDUS Pilot Award Process

  1. Approved Letter of Intent required
  2. Your team will be assigned a Methods Consultant. Completion of at least 1 30-minute methods consultation is required to submit a full pilot application.
    • A biostatistical collaborator on your collaborative team must attend at least one methods consultation.
  3. A cover letter (limited to 1 page) providing an overview of responses to address Letter of Intent critiques and input from the Methods Consultations.

Formatting & Submission Instructions

Please submit your proposal via email to NIDUS@hsl.harvard.edu:

  • Formatted as a single PDF, including full proposal and appendix
  • Email subject line: 2024 NIDUS II Pilot Award Letter of Intent
  • 11 point Arial font, with 0.5 inch margins on all sides
  • Submitted by a single principal investigator

Pilot Application Materials

  1. Cover sheet containing the following information:
    • Title of project
    • Principal Investigator: name; institution/organization; and contact information (email, phone number, mailing address)
    • Collaborators (full names and their institutions/organizations)
    • NIDUS II Priority area addressed: _________
    • If any: NIDUS PI involvement (name): ________(Substantive involvement in the application)
  2. Proposal must include the following sections (maximum 4 pages):
    • Abstract (~1/2 page max)
    • Science (~3 pages max)
      • Specific aims/hypothesis
      • Background, significance, innovation
      • Research design and methods
        • Study design
        • Sample inclusion and exclusion criteria (describe diversity inclusion)
        • Statistical analyses (including sample size and power considerations)
      • Study strengths and limitations
    • Statement on how the pilot work will lead to a large independent grant (~1/2 page)
    • Appendix (not included in 4-page limit)
      • Literature Cited
      • Applicant’s NIH Biosketch (follow current NIH guidelines)
      • Key research team members’ NIH Biosketches
      • Description of the collaborative team with distinct role of each member (1 page max)
      • Resources and Environment (1 page max)
      • Budget for pilot (Up to $40,000 USD Total Direct Costs)
      • Budget justification, including full justification of each budget item (2 page max)
        • Budget criteria: The pilot budget should be used preferentially for research resources, assays, etc. to support the project, and not primarily for salary support of investigators. Resources may be used for partial salary support and research-related expenses, which may include equipment and assays. Tuition and training expenses are not eligible. Provision must be made for research personnel sufficient to conduct the work, including data analysis and technical support; projects proposing inadequate support for research staff may not be successful. Travel expenses are allowable only for one investigator to present at the NIDUS annual meeting. Additional indirect costs are allowable up to 60% (U.S. institutions) or 8% (foreign institutions).
      • Pilot timeline with specific objectives to achieve in each quarter (1/2 page max)