Frequently Asked Questions

Please refer to the UM-BILD Funding Process page for detailed criteria. In summary: 

• Persons holding a faculty appointment at a UM-BILD partner institution are eligible to serve as Lead Principal Investigator (PI) or Co-PI on a UM-BILD Pilot Grant.
• The appointment must be for a 0.51 FTE or greater position. 
• The Lead PI or Co-PI must have submitted a disclosure of intellectual property (IP) to the Technology Transfer Office of their university. The disclosure must have been submitted by the due date of the Letter of Intent (LOI).

There is no disease-specific requirement, but the project should be focused on the development of a therapeutic, therapeutic platform, diagnostic or biomarker, or medical device. The goal of UM-BILD is to help applying teams develop a compelling clinical hypothesis.  The focus is on gathering data that can advance the hypothesis and discharge key translational risks.

Faculty can apply for an award of $75,000 in direct funding for one year of research. A second year of funding may be possible.

The following institutions are full partners in UM-BILD: 

• University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB)
• University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC)
• Morgan State University (MSU) 

This institution participates in UM-BILD, but a Lead PI or Co-PI must be working with Intellectual Property that is managed by the Technology Transfer Office at one of the full partner universities listed above: 

• University of Maryland, College Park (UMCP) 

Faculty at these institutions may participate as Principal Investigators. Please contact UM-BILD for details: 

• University of Baltimore (UB)
• Coppin State University (CSU) 

No. A Lead PI or Co-PI is limited to the role of Lead PI or Co-PI on one active UM-BILD application or grant at a time. However, he or she may serve in other roles on other applications and projects. Investigators, Co-Investigators, and other team members may participate in other capacities in multiple concurrent applications and grants. 

Yes. Collaborative proposals are welcomed, but not required.

Yes! UM-BILD and TEDCO's MII program are separately administered and have different sources of funding, but there is close alignment on objectives. Each year, the teams of four MII Technology Assessment grants from UM-BILD partner universities will be invited to participate in UM-BILD activities (mentoring, educational events, seminars, and more). 

No. A UM-BILD award should not be considered to be a supplement to an existing grant. Its milestones should not duplicate the milestones of another funded project and should be directed towards commercializing the investigators’ technology. 

You may apply for a UM-BILD Pilot Grant with overlapping milestones as long as the other organization has not made a funding decision by the time that the UM-BILD application is submitted. If a positive UM-BILD funding decision precedes that of the other organization, UM-BILD will award the Pilot Grant.  

If a project is funded by another entity prior to the UM-BILD funding decision, the applicant is obliged to notify UM-BILD. To avoid “double dipping” (two sources of funding for a single specific aim) the UM-BILD application would likely need to be re-written and re-submitted in a subsequent funding round. 

You may apply for a UM-BILD Pilot Grant and an MII Technology Assessment grant with overlapping specific aims, but neither organization can permit “double dipping.” In such cases, if both grants are approved, one will need to be declined. 

However, teams may consider supporting a commercialization project through sequential applications – UM-BILD followed by MII, or vice versa. (Since the first grant will accomplish all or most of its goals, the aims of the second will be non-identical.) 

No, the NIH does not permit UM-BILD or the other REACH Hubs to include employees of institutions located outside of the United States in Pilot Grant projects. Funds may not be budgeted for such purposes, and milestones or aims may not depend on such work (irrespective of budget issues). 

Each application must have a single Lead PI.  He or she is the point of contact with UM-BILD and is responsible for the content of the Pilot Grant application. Upon award, responsibility extends to performance of the work, administration, budgeting, and reporting. 

An application may have a single Co-PI. Eligibility for the Co-PI role is the same as for a Lead PI. The Co-PI agrees to share the Lead PI’s responsibilities and to oversee the grant in the Lead PI’s absence. 

Per NIH guidelines, a Co-Investigator (Co-I) is involved with the Lead PI in the scientific development or execution of the project. He or she typically devotes a specified percentage of time to the project and is considered ‘senior/key personnel.’ 

Other team roles do not share the eligibility limitations or the responsibilities of the Lead PI and Co-PI.  Their titles and duties will vary from application to application and should be briefly stated in the “Teams” section on page 2 of the Formatted LOI. 

Pilot Grant applications should involve ideas that originate from within a UM-BILD partner university, making them eligible for patenting or another protective mechanism (copyright, trade secret). At a minimum, the underlying technology (invention) must have been formally disclosed to the Lead PI’s or Co-PI’s home university by the deadline for LOI submission. 

Intellectual property that the UM-BILD partner university has declined to pursue, or that has been released back to the inventor(s), is not eligible for UM-BILD funding. 

Technologies that are already optioned or licensed to a company are generally ineligible for UM-BILD funding. Please contact UM-BILD if the Lead PI or Co-PI is an inventor, and the home university has licensed the technology to a spinoff company founded by one or more investigators. 

For the full application, biosketches should be provided for the Lead PI, the Co-PI, Co-Investigators, and all other key personnel. 

UM-BILD funds one Pilot Grant cohort per year, with the application period generally opening in August. Typically, eight Pilot Grants will be awarded per cohort. 

Because UM-BILD is a REACH 3.0 Hub, the NIH sets certain conditions that must be satisfied.  The full application will entail submitting the following documents: 

• A Formatted Full Application, which includes text as submitted directly into text boxes, to which figures with legends have been added (PDF) 

• A Gantt chart of milestones and sub-aims (PDF) 

• A budget (a simple one-worksheet Excel document (.xlsx)) 

• Biosketches for key team members (compiled into a single PDF) 

• References (PDF) 

• A letter of authorization from the department chair or school dean (PDF) 

• A letter of institutional compliance (PDF) 

• Later in the application process, a document summarizing human subjects research and animal research will be solicited. 

Yes.

The most frequently encountered issues are: 

• The text of the Formatted Full Application’s PDF does not match the text entered into the web portal’s boxes.
• The Formatted Full Application PDF does not include a figure (although the Lead PI intended to include one).
• The investigator is early in pressing the web portal’s “Submit” button – before all desired edits and changes are made. 

For applicants resubmitting a prior UM-BILD Pilot Grant application that was declined at the LOI stage: 

• Submit a revised LOI that takes into account the criticisms proffered by reviewers, as well as any changes in circumstances.
• On page 2 of the Formatted LOI PDF, include a “Response to Reviewers” section. In 1,000 characters (~150 words), state reviewers’ main criticisms and summarize how you have addressed them in the resubmission. 

For applicants resubmitting a prior UM-BILD Pilot Grant application that was declined after consideration as a Full Application: 

• Submit a revised LOI that takes into account the criticisms proffered by reviewers, as well as any changes in circumstances.
• If the revised application advances to the Full Application stage, submit the revised Full Application by the stated deadline.
• In the Formatted Full Application PDF, include a “Response to Reviewers” page that lists the key criticisms of UM-BILD reviewers, and briefly explains how the revised application addresses them.
• Only one resubmission of the Full Application is allowed for each project. 

No, the policies of UM-BILD’s partner universities do not permit support over 100%. 

Tuition fees are not permitted. If the graduate student is providing services essential to conduct of the project, the student's stipend cost and insurance may be included in the budget.

No. The application for a UM-BILD Pilot Grant is submitted directly to the UM-BILD web portal by the Lead PI. 

The NIH must approve all UM-BILD Pilot Grant applications. Regulatory compliance requirements pertaining to vertebrate animal use and human subjects work must be met before they can start this process.   

Investigators should be aware that IACUC Animal Use Plans and Institutional Review Board (IRB) submissions (both proposals and exemptions) take weeks or even months to be reviewed and approved.  An early start to the process is necessary to avoid delays to the start of a Pilot Grant Project. The Lead PI should seek the advice of UM-BILD staff in this area. 

Thus, the Lead PI will have identified the compliance procedures that are applicable to his or her project, well before the review process is complete.  These procedures would then be underway by the time the Notice of Award (NOA) arrives from UM-BILD.