Bridge Funding Program

Background and Purpose

The Bridge Funding Program (BFP) was established by the College of Medicine (CoM) to provide short-term bridge or gap funding for established and productive CoM investigators who have held prior NIH or other peer-reviewed federal funding and face a temporary interruption in extramural support. The program is now additionally supported by the Office of the Vice President for Research. This expansion reflects broader institutional collaboration in advancing strategies to sustain research continuity.

Amid unpredictable shifts in federal research funding, the Bridge Funding Program is designed to mitigate disruptions and sustain research momentum. The goal of the program is to sustain meritorious research programs, retain essential research personnel, and preserve research momentum during funding gaps while investigators prepare a competitive resubmission or closely related new application.

Funding Priorities

This program is intended for College of Medicine investigators who have an active, established research program supported by prior NIH or other federal peer-reviewed funding and are experiencing or anticipating a temporary funding gap.

Eligibility

The BFP is a peer-reviewed competition open to UC-paid, full-time CoM faculty serving as Principal Investigators (PIs). Any future grant proposals supported by this funding are required to be submitted through the CoM Operations & Finance group as UC College of Medicine proposals.

In response to recent changes in NIH peer review practices, including review delays, revised review frameworks, the reduction in the number of applications discussed, and the new designation of Competitive Not Discussed outcomes, the BFP has updated its eligibility and review criteria to emphasize scientific merit, reviewer critique content, and likelihood of near-term funding, rather than reliance on score or discussion status alone.

Faculty who have received Bridge Funding (Short-Term Bridge Funds are excluded) within the past three fiscal years should provide a description of how these funds were used to support the research program, led to subsequent funding, and explain the need for additional support.

Eligible Prior Review Outcomes

Applications may be considered from investigators with scored but unfunded applications, as well as unscored Competitive Not Discussed (CND) or Not Discussed (ND) applications, provided that the reviewer critiques demonstrate enthusiasm for the application, clear strengths outweighing weaknesses, and a potential for funding upon revision or resubmission.

Allowable and Unallowable Costs

Allowable costs:

• Personnel: University of Cincinnati staff, postdocs, technicians, coordinators, graduate assistants (per institutional policy).
• Research supplies and consumables for project continuity.
• Core facility fees and essential research service contracts. Funds may be used to cover core services at UC and CCHMC; however, for services available at both institutions, the UC services must be used, unless otherwise fully justified. Fees for research services that are not available at UC or CCHMC will require additional justification and approval from UC OoR.
• Animal per diem, specialized reagents, sample processing, and data collection costs.
• Limited equipment, only if it is essential and cannot be deferred (must be justified).

Note: All costs must be fully justified and clearly linked to supporting the continuity of the research program.

Unallowable costs:

• Travel (no conference, field, or any travel).
• PI salary.
• Entertainment or hospitality costs.
• Costs not directly related to the proposed activities
• Subcontracts to outside universities are not permitted.
• Funds may not be used for faculty and staff outside the UC College of Medicine.

Deadline

Due to recent changes in University of Cincinnati accounting practices, awards may no longer span fiscal years and must be fully expended within the fiscal year in which they are issued. As a result, the Bridge Funding Program will no longer operate on a fully rolling deadline. A priority deadline of June 15 has been established to ensure adequate time for review, award issuance, and expenditure.

Applications submitted after this date may be considered on a rolling basis, provided funds remain available, but all awards must be fully spent within the fiscal year, no later than June 30, 2027. In exceptional circumstances, carryover may be requested, with approval ultimately granted through the VPR’s office. However, any funds not used by July 1, 2027 are at risk of being forfeited.

Application Materials

Submit via the online portal as a single PDF document. Please include the following sections in order:

1. Cover Page: include the PI’s name, title, department, email, project title, and total amount requested.
2. NIH bio sketch (may use the previous or new NIH format) and Other Support.
3. Abstract of the prior extramural application.
4. Complete sponsor summary statement.
5. Brief resubmission strategy narrative and description of the research plan for the period of requested funding. If applicable, include details of actual experiments that will be conducted and how these new experiments will address the concerns raised in the previous review. (limit to two pages)
6. Budget, with full budget justification for each item (including lab personnel, supply costs, animal costs, etc.).
7. Evidence of Active Research Program: Please include information on current/active grants (internal/external) and project dates, recent publications/preprints (last 24–36 months), active IRB/IACUC protocols (if applicable), and a plan for future submissions or funding.
8. Letter of support from the department chair (if applicable, describe departmental funds that will be used for support of the applicant’s research program).
9. If applicable, faculty who have received Bridge Funding (Short-Term Bridge Funds are excluded) within the past three fiscal years should provide a description of how these funds were used to support the research program, led to subsequent funding, and explain the need for additional support.

Review Process and Award Terms

Applications will be reviewed by a panel of UC faculty. Awards of up to $75,000 may be requested, and project periods longer than one year will not be considered. Funding must be fully spent by June 30, 2027.

Expectations

Awardees will be expected to provide a brief update six months after the award, one year after the award, and annually thereafter to assess return on investment. Use of funds provided by the Office of the Vice President for Research may be subject to additional reporting requirements.

If significant federal funding is obtained (e.g., R01), the balance of the Bridge Award will be returned to the OoR to support additional meritorious awards.