Seed grant application requires a collaboration between an NCI and a UMD PI. To facilitate connections with potential collaborators, eligible PIs can view the list of Teaming Profiles and identify Investigators within NCI or UMD with complementary expertise. Please reach out directly to individual PIs to discuss potential collaborative research projects and prospects for a seed grant application.
NCI-UMD Partnership for Integrative Cancer Research
About
The University of Maryland (UMD) and the National Cancer Institute (NCI) Partnership for Integrative Cancer Research aims to solve the most pressing problems in cancer research. The partnership brings together expertise and resources in the mathematical sciences, physical sciences, biological sciences and engineering at the University of Maryland, College Park, with basic, clinical and translational research expertise at the NCI’s Center for Cancer Research.
The core of the partnership is a seed grant program that offers support for a graduate student working on a collaborative project between an NCI Investigator and a UMD faculty member. The collaboration can be ongoing or newly initiated at the time the application for the seed grant is submitted.
The partnership also holds a biannual symposium and a student seminar series to foster the establishment of new collaborations and to promote research sponsored under the partnership. See below for details and upcoming events.
The partnership was officially founded in May 2010.
Program Details
Who can participate?
All faculty members at the University of Maryland, College Park, and all investigators at NCI are welcome to participate in the NCI-UMD Partnership for Integrative Cancer Research. Collaborators apply for a seed grant and each grant supports one (1) graduate student working on a project involving researchers at both institutions. The graduate student must be affiliated with a UMD Graduate Program at the time of award initiation.
What funding support is included?
Seed awards are initially for one year, with a possibility of competitive renewal for second-year funding. NCI covers the student’s stipend for the duration of the award and provides supply funds; UMD covers student tuition.
When is the deadline for applications?
There is a yearly call for applications in January with the deadline around the end of March or early April. CCR PIs can visit CCR Central to find the current call and deadlines for submission, and UMD faculty can visit the UMD Partnership page.
What is required to apply?
The application should include at least one participating group from NCI and one from UMD. It should also include a specific student that is already, or will be, affiliated with a UMD Graduate Program at the time of award initiation.
NCI and UMD PIs who have identified or are already working on a collaborative project can submit a joint application consisting of a cover page, 3-page proposal, relevant biosketches and proposed logistical information relevant to the project. CCR PIs can visit CCR Central for additional details on what is required for submission. UMD researchers can visit the UMD Partnership page.
When are awards initiated?
Award decisions are communicated by early summer, with awards beginning in September of that year.
Does the student work at NCI or UMD?
The physical working location of the student is at the discretion of the two co-mentoring PIs. Students can work entirely in one campus, or partly in both, depending on the needs of the specific project. Students are required to participate in the seminar series and symposia of the partnership. See events section below.
Regardless of the location, students maintain their affiliation with their UMD graduate program. The Ph.D. degree is conferred by UMD with the NCI PI usually acting as a co-mentor.
For any additional questions, please contact voula.mili@nih.gov or any of the program co-directors listed in the contact section below.
Events
Fall Mini-Symposium
September 13, 2024, 12:00-5:00 p.m.
University of Maryland, College Park
The Symposium aims to provide a venue for identifying potential collaborators in advance of the call for applications in spring 2025.
See the symposium announcement for more information.
Contact Catha Stewart (cstewar2@umd.edu), Program Coordinator at UMD, with questions.
Spring Mini-Symposium
TBD
NIH Bethesda
Contact
Program administrator: Catha Stewart (cstewar2@umd.edu)
Program co-directors:
NCI:
Voula Mili (voula.mili@nih.gov)
Kandice Tanner (kandice.tanner@nih.gov)
S. Cenk Sahinalp (cenk.sahinalp@nih.gov)