We will continue to provide a reviewed, merit-based Voucher Program for NIH-funded investigators, and others from academic laboratories across the United States, to access the National Resource for fully subsidized services. Vouchers are designed to support a 10-plex TMT or up to 40 sample DIA analysis, which are common types of service requests with adequate statistical power. We budget to support up to 50 vouchers each year. Vouchers will be accepted, reviewed, and awarded three times per year.
Pre-application
The Voucher Program will be broadly advertised via email (using our growing list of >500 users and interested investigators), LinkedIn, website, during all education/outreach/training activities of the National Resource, and targeted emails to PIs of grants awarded by the NIGMS IDeA Program for those in states historically under-resourced and disadvantaged. Applicants will be required to arrange for a video consultation with Drs. Tackett, Beenken, and Province to discuss experimental design and eligibility. The final product of that consultation will be a design that aligns with a 10-plex TMT or up to 40 sample DIA analysis.
Application submission
Review and prioritization
Using the Piestar system, we will assign two reviewers from the National Resource. Reviewers will have two weeks to evaluate applications and use Piestar to provide a NIH-style critique. At the two-week point, we convene a NIH-style study section review led by Dr. Tackett and prioritize applications by merit. During the review, we prioritize meritorious applications from under-resourced investigators, investigators from under-resourced institutions, and those from diverse backgrounds, including individuals from groups underrepresented in the biomedical sciences. In alignment with our PEDP, we will reserve up to 25 of 50 annual vouchers for those underserved, underrepresented, and from diverse backgrounds, and we also prioritize meritorious applicants that have NIH early-stage or new investigator status as well as mid-career investigators seeking to renew extramural support. Dr. Tackett will notify voucher recipients and provide feedback to those not selected to encourage them to apply again in the future.
Administration of awarded vouchers
Voucher funds will come from the IDeA National Resource for Quantitative Proteomics budget and not be transferred to the voucher recipient. Voucher recipients will be required to have their samples ready for analysis within three months after notification of award. Recipients will be required to acknowledge NIGMS and the National Resource grant number in all reporting of data.
