VPDoR Grant Booster

Purpose

The VPDoR Grant Booster is managed by the Stanford Research Development Office and designed to facilitate the request for institutional support on qualifying projects. In combination with support from the PI’s home School, this initiative offers flexible funds to PIs who apply for and receive eligible extramural funding that advances collaborative, interdisciplinary research at Stanford. In addition, VPDoR can provide a letter of support to be included in the proposal submission to the external sponsor, if allowable and desired.

The Grant Booster aims to:

• Stimulate large-scale research collaborations across Stanford schools and disciplines.
• Supplement the award budget by covering some of the costs associated with conducting research.
• Increase proposal competitiveness through clear and compelling evidence of institutional support.
• Maximize the chance of project success.
• Streamline the process for faculty to request financial support from VPDoR for eligible projects.

VPDoR is offering this initiative as a three-year pilot. At the end of the pilot, VPDoR will evaluate the initiative’s impact, effectiveness, and budget sustainability.

Requirements

1. Eligible recipients are Stanford faculty (i.e., members of the University's Academic Council) who serve as Principal Investigators on qualifying awards (see #2-5).
2. Teams must consist of multi-investigator partnerships from two or more Stanford schools. Requests from interdisciplinary teams housed in different departments within the same school will also be considered and require additional approval to verify significant interdisciplinarity among team members.
3. The total externally sponsored budget request must meet one of the thresholds detailed below in “Levels of support.”
4. The funding opportunity must support activities classified as Sponsored Research. Exceptions may be made for sponsors that require a different designation for research projects (see FAQ).
5. Grants need to receive full Facilities & Administrative (F&A) costs at the Federally negotiated rate to qualify. The Cost & Management Analysis Office maintains current rates.
6. The proposal must be competitively reviewed by the external funder.
7. Project teams must obtain comparable support from other programs or sources (e.g., participating schools or departments), as certified by the lead/contact PI’s home School.
8. Requests should be submitted at least two (2) weeks before the sponsor’s deadline. Only requests submitted before submission to the sponsor will be considered.

Requests for VPDoR support that fall outside of the Grant Booster initiative can be submitted for consideration by VPDoR by selecting the “other support” button on the request form and providing the information requested.

Exceptions

When the PI is a faculty member from the School of Medicine, support requests will be considered by the School of Medicine Office of the Senior Associate Dean for Research instead.  School of Medicine Faculty can contact the School of Medicine Office of the Senior Associate Dean for Research at sadrmedicine@stanford.edu.

When the PI is a SLAC Scientist, support requests will be considered by the Office of the Chief Research Officer. SLAC PIs may contact OCRO@slac.stanford.edu.

Learn More

Levels of Support - All Disciplines

For eligible projects, VPDOR will commit funds when the proposal budget meets the following thresholds, reserving the right to adjust levels based on actual award amount.

Total externally sponsored project budget* (Direct and indirect costs, combined for the entire duration of the award)	Support from VPDoR** (In the form of unrestricted, flexible cash)
$3M-$7.5M	$25,000/year (up to $125,000 total)
$7.5M-$15M	$50,000/year (up to $250,000 total)
$15M+	$100,000/year (up to $500,000 total)

*Total budget request if Stanford is lead, or Stanford subaward budget request if Stanford is not lead.

**Annually, for the first five (5) years or the duration of the award, whichever is shorter.

Levels of Support - Humanities, Arts, and Interpretive Social Sciences

For eligible HAISS projects, VPDOR will commit funds when the proposal budget meets the following thresholds, reserving the right to adjust levels based on actual award amount. In recognition of the different levels of funding available and impactful for projects in these fields, projects utilizing humanistic or interpretive methods have lower thresholds for VPDoR support. 

Total externally sponsored project budget* (Direct and indirect costs, combined for the entire duration of the award)	Support from VPDoR** (In the form of unrestricted, flexible cash)
$145,000-$250,000	$5,000/year (up to $15,000 total)
$250,001-$500,000	$10,000/year (up to $30,000 total)
$500,001+	$20,000/year (up to $60,000 total)

*Total budget request if Stanford is lead, or Stanford subaward budget request if Stanford is not lead.

**Annually, for the first three (3) years or the duration of the award, whichever is shorter.

Clarifications

• Teams should be prepared to submit a large-scale funding opportunity to an external sponsor within 30 days of the request.
  • For projects in the humanities, arts, and interpretive social sciences (HAISS), this program will support funding at lower thresholds, acknowledging the different funding levels available and impactful for projects in these fields. 
• There is no guarantee that a request will be reviewed if the form is not submitted in a timely manner before the sponsor’s deadline.
• Funds are contingent on comparable contributions from the PIs’ home department or school and released after the sponsor awards the proposal.
• It is the PI's responsibility to identify additional sources of institutional support to meet the comparable contributions requirement to be certified by the home school, either through cash or in-kind contributions, before receiving VPDoR support at the award stage.
• Funds may be spent at the discretion of the PI, however, they must adhere to applicable Stanford Purchasing Policies and Guidelines.

Application and Approval Process

1. The PI discusses commitments with their department chair and/or school dean or equivalent.
2. The PI completes the VPDoR Institutional Support Request Form prior to submitting the proposal to the sponsor. Requested information includes:
   • Description of project team
   • Sponsor details
   • Funding opportunity details
   • Proposal details
   • Department contact
   • Verification of commitments if available
3. VPDoR will review the request for compliance and alignment with the Grant Booster purpose. VPDoR will either provide a conditional approval, decline the request if not compliant, or suggest modifications to the request.
4. VPDoR will notify the PI with written notification of the decision.
5. VPDoR will also endorse a letter of support that may be included in the proposal submission to the external sponsor if such a letter is allowed by the sponsor and desired by the proposal team. The PI will be asked to provide a draft letter.
6. When the external sponsor funds the proposal, the PI will send a copy of the award notification together with confirmation of school/department commitments to VPDoR.
7. VPDoR will approve the commitment and funds will be transferred to the PI’s PTA.

Cost Sharing Policy

It is up to the PI and their RA to determine whether or not to describe these funds in the proposal and, if so, in what capacity. We recommend describing the funds as unquantified institutional support when possible, or quantified required cost share when needed. Describing them as quantified voluntary cost share is typically not recommended, though there are exceptions.

Please see RPH 15.3 Cost Sharing Policy for additional information on policies and procedures to meet federal requirements for proposing, spending, monitoring and reporting cost sharing.

For questions or additional information, please contact the Stanford Research Development Office at stanford_rdo@stanford.edu.

Download a pdf of the guidelines   VPDoR Institutional Support Request Form

Download a PDF of the Institutional Support Thought Starter

Answers to Frequently Asked Questions

Must the project team consist of all Stanford faculty?

Research teams can include external collaborators but must meet the requirement of multiple Stanford PIs from two or more schools at Stanford.

Requests from teams in different departments within the same school will also be considered; however, the team must demonstrate significant interdisciplinarity between departments.

When will VPDoR consider applications from teams with multi-investigator partnerships from one Stanford school?

Interdisciplinary teams must include partnerships across different departments with substantially distinctive scholarly perspectives and methodologies. Teams will be asked to explain for a lay audience how the collaboration demonstrates significant interdisciplinarity across academic fields.

Can Stanford participate as a subawardee on the proposal and still qualify?

Projects with Stanford listed as the lead applicant or as a substantially funded subawardee are both suitable, as long as the proposal budget to Stanford meets the budget threshold. (i.e., total budget request if Stanford is lead, or Stanford subaward budget request if Stanford is not lead).

What types of projects are appropriate?

Grant Booster aims to support qualifying research projects and expects the pool to include large-scale, center-grant-type funding opportunities from federal agencies, such as NSF Materials Research Science and Engineering Centers, NSF Science and Technology Centers, DOE Energy Frontier Research Centers, DoD Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative, and NEH Collaborative Research and Digital Humanities Advancement Grants. This list is not exhaustive.

What if the external agency requires my project to be classified as Other Sponsored Activities?

Exceptions may be requested if the external sponsor requires a different classification for research activities, so long as the full, federally negotiated F&A rate is charged. Teams will be asked for clarification and/or justification.

What projects qualify under the humanities, arts, and interpretive social sciences track?

Projects must be rooted in artistic practice and/or humanistic/interpretive inquiry. Quantitative methods are permitted in this track (e.g. digital humanities), but only insofar as they support the creation and/or interpretation of artistic and/or cultural phenomena.

Are training grants eligible?

Grant Booster aims to support collaborative research projects. Training grants such as NIH T32s are not eligible. Other types of grants with a research training component, such as the NSF NRT program, could be considered for support.

Note that, while NRC-FLAS grants fulfill this requirement, they are likely to be ineligible for the Grant Booster due to their restricted F&A rate.

My project is not eligible. How can I get support?

Other or additional support requests from VPDoR (e.g., for mandatory cost sharing if required by a given funding opportunity) can still be made outside of this initiative and VPDoR will take the contributions through this program into account, if applicable.

Whom can I contact with additional questions?

PIs with questions about eligibility and program requirements may contact Jessica Boydston, Program Manager for Limited Submissions and Seed Grants, at jessicaboydston@stanford.edu.