The CASI Seed Grant Program is available to:

• Primary Appointment:
  • PIs must be faculty whose primary appointment is at UConn Storrs
  • Faculty with primary appointments to UConn Health, Jackson Labs, or TIP companies are not eligible to apply as lead PI.
  • Individuals who are not eligible to apply as a PI may be able to serve as a co-PI/collaborator/consultant on an eligible PI’s project.
• Effort:
  • Although no minimum effort level is required for a CASI project, a PI/Co-PI must have institutionally funded research time available during the award period.
  • Research Professors / those whose positions are contingent on grant-funding (soft money positions) must include details about their institutionally funded research time as part of the budget justification to confirm eligibility.
  • PIs/Co-PIs must each make significant and distinct intellectual contributions to the design and direction of the project.
• Eligible Faculty Ranks:
  • CASI Seed Grant Program awards are available to tenure-track, tenured, and in-Residence faculty with Assistant Professor rank or higher with an active research program.
• Eligible faculty may only submit one proposal per year as lead PI. Investigators may serve as collaborators on multiple projects.
• Faculty who have received two or more CASI Seed Grant Program awards in the last two years, as PI or Co-PI are not eligible to apply as PI. (They can continue to serve as a co-PI on future awards).

Please be sure to read all the guidelines thoroughly. Each item/section should be prepared, labeled, and ordered as indicated below.  Some information will need to be entered into a form on the application site.  Other documents will need to be uploaded.  See below for details.

Proposals must be submitted electronically through the UConn Quest Portal by 2/28 (if 2/28 falls on a weekend, a grace period in the system will allow applications to be accepted beyond the deadline until 9am of the next business day) and will require the following information:

Faculty Applicant Information Form (some information may pre-populate into the form):

• Submitting PI Name
• Home Department
• School/College
• Email
• Phone
• Faculty/Academic Rank
• Primary Employer
• Question – is your position contingent on grant funding?

CASI APPLICATION FORM:

Faculty Applicant Information

• Project Type: Single PI or Multi-PI
• Special Reviewer Expertise (optional): If your project requires reviewers to possess specific expertise within the context of your discipline (i.e. familiarity with a specialized approach or methodology), please specify.
• Size of Team: 0-8
• Key Personnel: Co-PIs, department affiliation, role on project
• Project Title:
• Amount Requested:
• Resubmission?
• Project Abstract / Lay Summary: Succinctly state (for a non-specialist audience) the objectives, methods to be employed, and the significance of the proposed activity for the advancement of knowledge, and the pursuit of scholarly activity to uncover the underlying mechanisms of substance use disorders and translate discoveries into effective treatments.  
• Future Funding and/or Activities: The applicant should specify where extramural grant proposals will be submitted and/or the high-level disciplinary accomplishments that will result from the CASI Seed Grant Program award.
• Keywords: List 4-5 keywords relevant to project

Project Plan (PDF upload):

The Project Plan should be 2-3 pages in length (12-pt font and 1” margins). The Project Plan should address each of the areas below in sufficient detail using the headings provided. Proposals should be written in straightforward language, keeping in mind that reviewers will possess general content knowledge but not necessarily specific expertise in the area of study. Proposals should avoid the use of technical or discipline-specific jargon. Acronyms that are not universally understood should be spelled out the first time they are used.  References should be included in the project plan document, but they do not need to be counted against page limits

• Significance/Importance: Provide a clear and compelling rationale for why the proposed project, scholarly activity, or creative work matters. Indicate how the proposed project will advance the goals of CASI, to enhance knowledge, address the biological side of addiction in creating therapeutics for substance use disorders, hypotheses to be tested, specific goals/aims, and relevant background/information or preliminary data in support of the project.
• Approach and Timeline: Describe the plan for carrying out the proposed activities, including research aims, design, work plan, and methodological approach.  Describe the timeline projected for completing this work. 
• Feasibility and Resources: Explain the feasibility of the work proposed, describing the availability of necessary resources and other factors that may impact the completion of the project.
• Investigators/Collaborators: Describe how the PI and/or collaborators are well-suited to carry out the proposed project. For multi-PI proposals, indicate how the project brings together individuals from different disciplines and how the collaboration will advance the proposed project. For single PI proposals, indicate how the proposed work enhances and/or advances the PI’s scholarship or creative products in the field of developing therapeutics for fighting drug addiction.
• Impact and Outcomes: Indicate the value or impact of the proposed project, once complete? How does the project reflect institutional, state, national, and/or global priorities? In what ways will the results of this work be transformative within its discipline and beyond? What broader societal benefits does it promise? What is your plan/mechanism for assessing the project’s success and evaluating outcomes? For multi-PI, interdisciplinary proposals, indicate the external funding opportunity that will be targeted as a result of the CASI Seed Grant Program award.

Proposed Budget (PDF upload):

List and justify each budget item. Please see the CASI Seed Grant Budget Guidelines for instructions and a budget template to list the items and their respective costs. Please provide a justification for each budget item in the appropriate column in the spreadsheet. If additional space is needed, you may include a budget justification document as an appendix.

Biosketches/CVs (PDF upload, single document):

Please include biosketches/CVs (formatted as appropriate for your field) for all PIs/Co-PIs.  Include your most recent publications or those most relevant to the work proposed.  Also include current/pending support from external sponsors and UConn sources (including start-up funding). This may be appended to the end of the CV/biosketch or integrated within it, if your discipline format already provides space for current/pending.

Appendices (PDF upload, single document):

Additional information may be included when it is truly essential for adequate peer review of the proposal.

Refer to the CASI Seed Grant Budget Guidelines for-budget preparation. To use the CASI Seed Grant Program Flexible Budget Template.xlsx download and save a copy to your computer.

If you have a budget need that does not fit within these guidelines, please reach out to the Program Director, at  CASI@uconn.edu to discuss options.  

Review Process

All proposals will be evaluated by the CASI Director for eligibility, then assigned to reviewers whose expertise aligns with the proposals.  The reviewers will in turn recommend proposal(s) for funding to the CASI Review Committee who will make final funding recommendations to the CASI Director.

• The CASI Director provides reviewer suggestions to be invited to review specific proposals. (2 reviewers for each proposal)
• The CASI Director will invite reviewers based on disciplinary areas consistent with the proposal category, scholarly reputation, and expertise and specialization consistent with the proposal topic.
• Once the reviews are complete, the CASI Review Committee will review the recommendations by the reviewers, identify the strongest proposals for funding, and select the proposal(s) to be funded, keeping the review criteria in mind.

Review Criteria

Using a 5-point rating scale from 1 (Excellent) to 5 (Poor), reviewers will rate and evaluate 5 criteria (Significance, Approach/Timeline, Feasibility/Resources, Investigators/Collaborators, and Impacts/Outcomes in alignment with the CASI mission to support innovative and collaborative research with strong potential to accelerate the development of novel therapeutics for substance use disorders.   In addition, reviewers will evaluate the budget and provide funding recommendations.

 Significance/Importance

• Does this study clearly address an important scientific / scholarly / creative problem or gap in the neurobiology of addiction or therapeutics for substance use disorders?
• If the aims of the project are achieved, will scientific knowledge, technical capability, clinical practice, and/or social conditions be advanced in meaningful ways for the development of novel therapeutics for substance use disorders?
• Does the proposed project significantly contribute to the concepts, theories, methods, technologies, applications, treatments, outcomes, services, and/or preventive interventions that drive the field/discipline of treating addiction with therapeutics?

Approach/Timeline

• To what degree does the proposal outline a clearly articulated and well-reasoned plan of action that includes activities, research aims, design and work plan?
• Are conceptual, theoretical, or clinical frameworks and research methods adequately developed and clearly articulated?  To what degree are they appropriate for the aims of the project, and do they reflect intellectual rigor?

Feasibility and Resources

• To what degree is the project, as described in the proposal, achievable?  Are there any concerns about feasibility?
• Are the resources and time available for this project adequate to ensure success?
• Does the environment in which the work will be done contribute to the probability of success?
• Does the proposed project benefit from unique features of the scientific environment or subject populations, or employ useful collaborative arrangements?

 Investigators/Collaborators

• Are the PI, collaborators, and other personnel well-suited to carry out the project?
• Do the collaborators have complementary and integrated expertise?
• For Single-PI proposals, does the proposal indicate how the proposed work enhances and/or advances the PI’s scholarship or creative products in the field of developing therapeutics for fighting drug addiction?
• For Single-PI proposals, does the proposed work advance the PI’s scholarship or likelihood of obtaining an external award?
• Does the PI (and collaborators for multi-PI proposals) demonstrate an ongoing/emerging record of accomplishments that have advanced the respective field(s)?

Impact and Outcomes

• Is the proposed project compelling and if successful, would it make a meaningful disciplinary or interdisciplinary contribution and/or advancement to fighting drug addiction with therapeutics?
• Does the project have high potential for national or international recognition and achievement?
• Is the proposal high quality and appropriate for the CASI Seed Grant Program?
• Does the project have high potential for extramural funding or disciplinary achievement in the field of drug addiction therapeutics?
• Does the proposal contain an adequate plan or mechanism for assessing success and evaluating outcomes?

Budget Evaluation

• Is the project budget appropriate and sufficient to carry out the proposed work?
• Are the budget requests adequately justified, clearly articulated, and necessary for the scope of work and timeline?
• Would you recommend any reduction in the budget?

CASI Events

• Has the PI attended CASI events? This can include seminars, meetings, or participation in grant reviewing.

After awards are made and the project has been completed, the CASI program would like to evaluate project progress and to learn more about the impact on the work that has been done.  To this end, you will receive a link to a short survey asking you questions about the outcomes and impacts of your project; publications, abstracts, external grant applications, patents, and awards related to the CASI Seed Grant Program once your project has been completed.

Program Director: Gregory C. Sartor, Ph.D., Associate Professor
Email: CASI@uconn.edu