Applications Due Dec. 6, 2024

Two grants of up to $25,000 each will be awarded to Ithaca, Cornell Tech, and Geneva-based faculty who enhance the diversity, equity and inclusion goals of the university and whose work is in the life sciences at Cornell. The faculty display outstanding promise for conducting creative research. The primary goal is to provide seed money for significant investment in a pilot experiment that generates novel preliminary data or opens a significant new line of inquiry.

One award will be given to a pre-tenure assistant professor who has completed the first two years of their appointment, to provide seed money for significant investment in a pilot experiment, likely to generate novel preliminary data to be used in a subsequent application for major new funding (e.g. NIH-R01, NSF, or other equivalent multi-year support).

The second award will be given to an associate professor (if hired as associate, the faculty member must complete the first two years of their appointment as well) to conduct an innovative pilot experiment, expected to open a significant new line of inquiry to be used as preliminary data in a subsequent application for major new funding. Alternatively, the award can serve as a bridge grant to enhance the possibility of such funding.

With the exception of large equipment purchases and faculty salaries, grants from the Schwartz Research Fund may be applied toward a wide variety of expenses with the goal of completing the pilot experiment. For example, items such as plastics, biologics, animals and genomic screens required to do the experiment would be funded. In addition, some salary and meeting travel support for a student/postdoc can be covered, although it should not exceed 40% of the grant.

Grants from the Schwartz Research Fund will be awarded on a 12-month cycle.

Faculty from colleges and departments in the traditional life science disciplines, as well as those outside such traditional departments, are eligible to apply provided they clearly state the relevance of the proposal to their research and its likely impact on the life sciences.

View Application Guidelines

Eligibility

• Ithaca and Geneva-based assistant and associate professors as well as Cornell Tech faculty are invited to apply
• Faculty members outside of life science departments should consult Yael Levitte (ofdd@cornell.edu) prior to submitting their application if they are unsure if their research may qualify

Recipients of the Research Fund grants may not re-apply until the third subsequent RFP cycle (i.e. if awarded in 2022, cannot apply until fall 2025 application cycle).

Application Procedure

Submit application, including budget summary, current/pending/anticipated support, cv, and letter of recommendation to ofdd@cornell.edu by Dec. 6. 2024.

Reporting Requirements

Awardees are required to submit a 1-3 page-long final report, including an expenditure report. Grantees are encouraged to meet with Drs. Joan and Ronald Schwartz when they are on campus or connect with them via telephone or email.