[Plsfaculty] SPLS: CALES procedure for UA Bridge Funding Investment Program (BFIP)

[Arnold, Betsy - (fungi)]

Dear colleagues,

Please see below a note from our Interim Associate Dean for Research in CALES, Jon Chorover, regarding the Bridge Funding Investment Program developed by Senior Vice President for Research and Innovation, Dr. Tomás de la Rubia. Jon asked that we share his email with our faculty and business office, and he welcomes questions as they arise. Please note the timeframe, purpose, and ranking system for this program, as well as the requirement of a letter from the unit head. Further discussion with Jon among unit heads clarified that this program is intended for recent/immediate gaps in funding that have resulted from changes that are occurring at the federal level. I am happy to discuss and to work in support of our faculty, students, and personnel.

Warm regards,

Betsy



On March 6, Senior Vice President for Research and Innovation Dr. Tomás Díaz de la Rubia announced a new Bridge Funding Investment Program (BFIP) in the attached email message.



Please note that:  “The program is designed to support faculty with an established track record of extramural funding who are experiencing temporary disruptions in external funding, particularly due to the delays or gaps in funding decisions or other disruptions to active grants. This program aims to ensure the continuation of research projects, including but not limited to, preserving Ph.D. student support.”

(For more information, please visit the page with program overview, application process, and evaluation criteria<https://click.comms.arizona.edu/?qs=e516c31434844bc799e84462de43373d8e4f49470a77f44fbecc0a850ea1ecd77027a55b37b584628cfb797a94abf4df4cf4b7cb2badb47d>)



RII has requested that the Colleges review, evaluate, and submit the applications to RII, prioritizing those that most relevant to the opportunity following criteria provided by RII.



Therefore, CALES has established a process for the submission and evaluation of proposals for the BFIP opportunity.



Below, we describe the process.



Evaluation criteria:  In recognizing the likelihood that the demand for BFIP could exceed the availability of funds, RII provided the following priorities for the bridge funding:



  1.  Impact of bridge funding on preserving Ph.D. students
  2.  Likelihood of securing future funding (i.e., this is a bridge to established funding targets)
  3.  Applicant's track record of extramural funding
  4.  Clear evidence that the funding gap is due to delays or disruptions in funding



Process:



  1.  PIs prepare their application in accordance with the RII guidelines.
  2.  PIs discuss with their Department or School Unit Head and Unit Business Office Lead to assess the specific case and department-level funding options. Because RII’s decision relies on assessment by the Department/School and College, the CALES application requires a letter from the Department Head or School Director that addresses the following questions:

     *   Can the Department/School fund the required needs within its expenditure authority?
     *   Can the Department/School fund the needs from reserves (if they are released)?
     *   Does the PI have reserves or alternative sources that could cover some or all of the funding needs? (Assessment conducted by unit’s business office)

  1.  PIs submit their application and unit head letter to the Zaida Zalbidea (zaidaz at arizona.edu<mailto:zaidaz at arizona.edu>) in the CALES Research Office for review in relation to the RII criteria.
  2.  Applications that are recommended by CALES leadership for RII funding will be forwarded by CALES to RII. PIs that submit applications that do not align with the priorities of this opportunity or that cannot be considered further due to funding limitations will be notified.



Timeline:

Submissions completed by 22nd day of each month will be processed, reviewed, evaluated, and forwarded to RII for a decision in the beginning of the following month (i.e., submissions received by April 22 will generally be considered for funding before mid-May).



Adjustments to the Process:

The BFIP program was introduced as a rapid response to the sudden changes in the federal landscape. The College-level process was rapidly developed to support the BFIP program.

We anticipate that the process may be refined and optimized over subsequent cycles and may evolve to respond to developments in the extramural funding situation.



Retroactive charges:

In the event that bridge funding is received from RII and whenever the award conditions allow it, the bridge funding will be “recharged”, i.e., expenses from the bridge funding will be retroactively transferred to the new grant (usually possible for expenses incurred not more than 90 days prior to the award start date)



Please contact ADR Jon Chorover with any questions (chorover at arizona.edu).



[The University of Arizona block 'A' logo.]
A. Elizabeth Arnold, PhD

Interim Director and Professor, School of Plant Sciences

Curator, Gilbertson Mycological Herbarium

Chair and Director of Graduate Studies,

Ecosystem Genomics GIDP

THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA

fungi at arizona.edu

www.arnoldlab.net<http://www.arnoldlab.net> | www.gilbertsonherbarium.net<http://www.gilbertsonherbarium.net>


To schedule a meeting, please use https://calendly.com/fungi-arizona


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