Revised April 2024
RESEARCH FUNDING
- The Foundation primarily supports basic science, ideally with potential translational applications.
- Examples of current research areas we support include immunology, microbiome, structural biology, cellular physiology, cancer biology, genetics, genomics, microbiology and infectious diseases, stem cell biology, and neuroscience.
- Research areas we will not consider for support include Covid-19 related research projects (aims or sub-aims), Plant Biology Research, Oceanography, Space Exploration. and Global Warming related research. In addition, medical imaging technology related projects and/or electrical engineering technology development projects will not be considered for support.
- The Foundation does not support research conducted in human subjects and will not fund requests for clinical trials or drug discovery. The Foundation will not support research projects which we consider pre-clinical drug development.
- Renewal applications for the same or related research will not be accorded priority consideration. It is strongly advised that any re-application for grant renewal consider a new direction based on prior research or emphasize some new potential translational aspects and not merely an extension of previously funded research.
- Requests for funding previously federally supported research and/or applications pending federal approval will not be accorded priority consideration.
- In general, the Mathers Foundation reviewers look for innovative, novel proposals, which have scientific merit with an established published proof of concept, and which may not be fundable at the federal level.
- Currently, we do not offer advice about proposed project ideas or screen LOIs before they are submitted. The Mathers Board believes that the information on the website provides sufficient guidance for a wide variety of research projects that could be considered for support.
ELIGIBILITY
Grants are made to United States based tax exempt 501c3 independent and educational institutions for the purpose of scientific research. No grants will be made to organizations based outside the United States nor to individuals.
- Collaborative research projects with other US based organizations are acceptable. Research collaborations between US based organizations and organizations based outside the US are not encouraged and will be given lower priority.
- Funds can only be awarded to US based research institutions that directly support investigators; no grants will be made to third party organizations.
MATHERS APPLICATION PROCESS
- All grant-related activity is managed via FLUXX, a web-based portal, grant management system. LOI applications and, if invited, Formal Proposals must be completed and submitted through the portal. All communications related to the application process must be received electronically via FLUXX.
- The Mathers Foundation Grant process begins with an LOI application and Foundation review. If the LOI is approved, the applicant will be invited to submit a Formal Proposal. Formal Proposals will go through an extensive internal and external review process after which our Board of Directors will make its final grant decisions. The Foundation will then notify awardees in writing. The entire process from LOI submission to final proposal approval and a grant award may take up to 120 days.
- Formal Proposals are by invitation only. Unsolicited Formal Proposals are not accepted.
REGISTRATION (Instructions can be found here)
- To access the Mathers Foundation grants application and instructions, applicants must register on the Mathers Portal.
- All new registrations must be completed two weeks prior to the due date for the current cycle. Deadlines can be found on the Mathers Grant Review Process and Due Dates.
- Applicant registration is a one-time requirement. Re-registration will not be necessary for future applications.
INSTITUTIONAL NOMINATIONS
- Eligible institutions are limited to three (3) applications per grant cycle. It is the Foundation’s expectation that applying institutions will conduct an internal search for LOIs that are consistent with the Foundation’s mission and guidelines.
- All applicants must be nominated by one (1) designated institutional representative for the university/institution. We are aware that some universities/institutions may have multiple representatives, but there can only be one nominating representative for a university/institution. Multiple nominations will not be accepted. Include the names of the researchers (PI’s) selected by their respective institutions and the project titles. Submit this information to [email protected].
- Nominations must be received by the nominations due date posted for each cycle. See Grant Review Cycle and Due Dates on website.
- Applicants, including collaborators, must be independent investigators with their own fully functional and equipped labs.
- Only one application per investigator per cycle is allowed.
- Applications submitted without an institutional nomination will not be reviewed.
- The Foundation must be notified (as soon as possible but) no later than the LOI application due date about any changes made to the institutional nomination email. These include substituting PIs/projects not listed in the institutional nomination email and nominated candidates that will not apply.
Beginning with the Fall 2024 Cycle, all registrations and all nominations must be received two (2) weeks prior to the due date for LOI’s.
Fall 2024 – Nominations and Portal Registration due date: September 20, 2024 (Friday, 8 PM EST (5 PM PST) Late registrations for our Portal will not be approved for the Fall 2024 review cycle LOI OVERVIEW.
LOI PROCESS OVERVIEW (Detailed instructions can be found here)
Beginning in 2024 Fall Cycle: The maximum allowable budget is $700,000 (inclusive of 10% maximum IDC for direct costs).
- The LOI application requires the following information: a concise summary of the proposed research project*, a preliminary set of aims*, a discussion of previous or related work*, a summary of impactful discoveries *, a preliminary three-year budget estimate and CVs/NIH biosketches with support information for the Primary Investigator and collaborators.
- Feedback for declined LOI Requests will not be provided; LOIs or Formal Proposals that have been declined should not be resubmitted at a later date for consideration.
- LOI’s submitted after a grant cycle due date will not be considered.