How to Apply

To be considered for funding, investigators must meet all eligibility requirements and submit a Letter of Intent (LOI) through the REACH Hub application.

Applications for the UM-BILD Accelerator will open in February 2025
for the September 2025 funding cycle (Cohort 3). 

Application Process


  1. Letter of Intent Submission
    Investigators interested in receiving funding must submit an LOI through the REACH Hub application. The LOI must meet all of the requirements outlined below. All questions on the REACH Hub application must be answered.
  2. Letter of Intent Review
    The UM-BILD team reviews all LOIs and invites the highest-ranked project teams to submit a full application.
  3. Full Application
    Each selected team will be matched with a coach that will assist in crafting an effective, realistic proposal, including quantifiable project milestones.

Letter of Intent Requirements


The LOI is a two-page document that outlines the proposed project. The first page contains the project’s essential details while the second page is reserved for supplemental material.

Interested investigators should download the UM-BILD Letter of Intent Template and Information Sheet, a Word file with application instructions. All submissions must be made via the REACH Hub application.

The LOI must meet all of the requirements outlined below.

  • Page One Required Elements
    • Describe the technology
    • Include relevant intellectual property (IP) and IP disclosure(s)
    • Identify the health-care problem that this technology could help to solve (What could the product or service be? Who would be its customers?)
    • Sketch the current status of the project (Is the biochemical pathway identified? Have in vivo proof-of-concept experiments been run? Has an initial prototype been built? Clinical validation?)
    • Outline the key milestones of a year-long project with a $75,000 budget
    • Project title
    • The name and affiliation of the Principal Investigator
    • A 450-word (3,500 max character) summary of the proposal:
    • A single figure can be included
  • Page Two Required Elements
    • A listing of the team members, their affiliations, and their roles in the project
    • References (up to five can be included)
    • A response to reviewers (if this is a re-submission of a previous UM-BILD LOI)
  • Formatting Requirements
    • Margins at 0.5 inches (all around) 
    • 11-point type, single spacing 
    • A single image or figure can be included, with the legend at 10 points or larger
    • PDF format

For questions, please contact UM-BILD@umaryland.edu.