If core facility support is required, projects should propose to work with one of the following INBRE-supported facilities:

• • Bioinformatics Core/Computational, Data Storage and Analysis Facility at the University of South Carolina, Dr. Homayoun Valafar, Director (Email, 803-777-2404).

  • NMR facility at Claflin University, Dr. Arezue Boroujerdi, Director (Email, 803-535-5536)

  • Microarray Facility at the University of South Carolina, Dr. Michael Shtutman, (Email, 803-777-8988)

  • Proteogenomics Core Facility at the Medical University of South Carolina, Dr. Jeremy Barth, Director (Email, 843-792-9984)

  • Instrumentation Resource Facility at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine, Dr. Austin Worden, Director (Email, 803-216-3823)

If utilizing the services of a core facility, applicants must work with facility directors to plan the proposed experiments. A letter of support from the chosen facility’s Director, or a quote if using a commercial facility, must be included in the proposal. 

If the technical services required by the project cannot be provided by any of the listed facilities, or the project is based upon existing collaborations that involve the use of other resources, it is acceptable to use other service providers, in or outside South Carolina, but a justification must be provided.

SIRP proposals are solicited from currently enrolled undergraduate or graduate/medical students at institutions of higher education in the SC INBRE network who have not previously held a SIRP award.

Work must be performed while you are enrolled and prior to graduation from your current program.

**Only one proposal per funding period will be accepted from any student. Women, minorities, and persons with disabilities are strongly encouraged to apply.

Although more than one application can be submitted per lab per funding period, the projects submitted by students with the same faculty mentor must be distinct projects.  Two students working as a team on the same project under the same mentor can apply together for a single SIRP award although the award amount will remain the same. 

The application package can be downloaded from the SC INBRE website (www.scinbre.org) in a fillable, pdf format. All forms must be completed according to the published guidelines found on the SC INBRE website. Each package includes the following:

• Face Page: This page must be filled out in its entirety

• Project Summary/Performance site/Key personnel: Fill out all components.

• Biographical Sketch for Student PI and Faculty Mentors (NIH-format) (Students, only fill out portions that apply)

• Biographical Sketch Example for Faculty Mentors

• Budget Page: Enter total costs; cannot exceed $3,000

• Budget Justification:

  • • Allowable costs include personnel; supplies; travel; equipment; and other costs as allowed on NIH research project grant budgets. Indirect costs are not allowed.

• Project Description (3 pages): Proposals must be prepared with 0.5” margins all around, using Arial (or similar sans serif font; font size no smaller than 11pt) and subdivided into sections indicated below (page limits are noted):

  • • Background

    • Research questions/hypothesis

    • Project goals/objectives

    • Project impact/significance

    • Project design/research plan

    • Timeline for completing project

    • Anticipated results

    • Plan to disseminate results

    • Literature cited: one page (not included in page limit)

• Mentoring plan for student applicant (Mentor-collaboration form, up to 3 pages). Explain how the mentor will work with the applicant to develop the students’ research and intellectual skills and help them mature as scientists. Make sure to include opportunities for training in lab safety and responsible conduct of research in the plans for student training

• Human Subjects. Projects involving human subjects must already have IRB approval at the time of proposal application. This includes projects that are deemed to be exempt by their institutions.

  • • Please include the IRB Letter in your proposal application.

    • Please include a certificate of training in HS research (CITI) for all study personnel in your proposal application.

    • Human subject research must complete the appropriate required forms (see links to forms at bottom of page).

No activities involving human subjects can be initiated without appropriate IRB approval of the protocol. Applications with human subjects that do not have prior IRB approval will not be reviewed.

• Vertebrate Animals (1 page). If the project involves vertebrate animals, provide the following in your proposal: 1) a description of procedures; 2) justification for model used; 3) address minimization of pain and distress; and 4) method of euthanasia according to NIH guidelines (see https://olaw.nih.gov/guidance/vertebrate-animal-section.htm for additional information). Note: Submit your animal protocol for approval while you are preparing your SIRP application.

Research involving vertebrate animals must be approved by the IACUC before work on the project can begin.

• Biosafety (if applicable). Discuss the biosafety aspects of the proposed work and, if necessary, file for approval from the Institutional Biosafety Committee as you prepare your proposal to SC INBRE. If there are no biohazards, please state so. 

Applications will be reviewed by the SC INBRE Administrative Core personnel to determine responsiveness to the FOA, eligibility of the applicant, completeness of the application, and information regarding human subjects and vertebrate animals. Applications deemed incomplete, ineligible, or not responsive will be returned to the applicants. 

All proposals that meet the eligibility requirements and guidelines will be independently evaluated by SC INBRE’s Scientific Review Committee. A competitive proposal will describe a focused set of experiments that require bioinformatics methods of data analysis and will provide the applicant with training in bioinformatics tools and approaches. Reviewers will apply the following review criteria: 

• • Scientific merit of the proposed project; the project must be related to Biomedical Science. 

  • Clarity of explanation 

  • Overall strength of collaboration between mentor and applicant 

  • Qualifications of project personnel 

  • Quality of proposed training plans for students 

Final decisions on funding will be made by the SC INBRE External Advisory Committee and NIGMS. 

All applicants will receive a notice of award/declination and copies of the reviewers’ comments via email. Award recipients are required to provide the SC INBRE Administrative Core with project data for evaluation and reporting purposes, as follows: 

1. SIRP award recipients are expected to present their results at the annual SC INBRE Scientific Symposium.

2. A comprehensive final report is due 30 days after the end date of the award.

3. All publications, resulting even in part from work supported by SC INBRE, must acknowledge SC INBRE support and a PMCID must be obtained for each publication in a timely fashion. PMCID information must be provided to the SC INBRE administrative staff as soon as available.

4. SIRP award recipients (both mentor and student) are expected to obtain an NIH Commons ID if funded. 

After the expiration date of each award, SC INBRE will continue to contact awardees for outcome-related data such as post-baccalaureate educational plans and job placement.

• Human Subjects Form and Instructions

• Human Subjects Exempt Form

• Human Subjects Attachment Packet

• Human Subjects Clinical Trials Form