The Primary Contact (Principal Investigator – PI) is the lead researcher responsible for the project and all scientific reporting. The Secondary Contact (Institutional Representative) is the liaison to the foundation and coordinates all institutional applications. The Primary Signatory (Contract Signing Official) is authorized to execute the grant agreement if funding is awarded.
We cannot provide contact information for the Mathers Board or the Scientific Advisory Board. For all grant-related items, please email grants@mathersfoundation.org.
Resubmitting declined applications is strongly discouraged and will not be given preference in the review process.
The Secondary Contact is the liaison to the Foundation and coordinates all institutional applications. Information about this role can be found here.
Organizations must be tax-exempt 501(c)(3) independent or educational institutions conducting scientific research. If a higher education institution is not a 501(c)(3) but has a qualifying foundation or entity, applications should be submitted through that organization. Additionally, organizations must employ their own researchers with labs.
No. Organizations that meet our eligibility requirements and successfully register in the portal may submit Institutional Nominations to apply.
No. Organizations must hire their own researchers with independent labs. We provide grants directly to researchers at their universities or institutions and cannot fund intermediaries or other organizations.
Collaboration with organizations based outside the United States is discouraged and will be given the lowest funding priority.
Registration
If the person is new to the Mathers Foundation, they must first register in the portal. Once they have successfully registered, their name will appear in the Organization Information drop-down list. Individuals already registered in the portal will automatically appear in the drop-down list.
This may occur for two reasons: 1) you are not from a 501(c)(3) organization, or 2) you represent a third-party organization. For more details, visit our eligibility criteria.
No. The primary contact should be an administrative official at the institution.
Sometimes. The primary contact listed on the registration form is often not involved in the application process. They are usually someone from executive leadership and should have signing authority on behalf of the organization.
No. Each PI must have a unique registration record. Instructions for registration can be found here.
Registration is a manual process and may take up to 3 business days. If you have not received your registration within this time, please contact support@mathersfoundation.org
No. Individual institutional emails must be used to register in the portal.
No. Once you register in the portal, you do not need to register again.
Institutional Nominations
All nominees must be submitted in a single Institutional Nomination by the Secondary Contact. We cannot accept multiple submissions, even if fewer than the three-candidate limit are included. Please provide the names of the selected researchers (PIs) along with their project titles and submit this information to grants@mathersfoundation.org.
Typically yes. However, each organization is unique and may require different persons for each role.
No. Organizations can include nomination letters and/or letters of support with applications.
The Foundation’s nomination process is by institution unless entities within the institution have separate federal ID numbers. In that case, contact support@mathersfoundation.orgfor next steps.
No. Late nominations will not be accepted.
No, U.S. citizenship is not required to apply. However, applicants must include their education and training information in their biosketch or CV. If selected for a formal application, proof must be provided that their institution will support them throughout the grant period.
No. However, a nominated researcher can collaborate on another application in the same cycle.
Each organization can nominate up to three candidates per cycle.
Nomination due dates are set annually. This information can be found here.
Each organization is different, however, we recommend consulting with the Office of Foundation Relations/Grants Management at your institution and our website for clarification.
No. Your institution must nominate you and submit the nomination by the current cycle due date.
Letter of Inquiry (LOI)
We do not encourage resubmissions that have been declined. It is strongly advised that any re-application proposes a different direction or emphasizes some new potential translational aspects of the research.
No. Due to the number of applications we receive and the time allotted for each review, our review board does not prepare personalized feedback for each application during the LOI phase. However, feedback is provided during the formal proposal review phase when requested.
Applicants are notified about the status of their submission approximately one (1) month after the LOI due date.
Send an email with your request to support@mathersfoundation.org. We will upload it for you. Please do not submit a new application.
Not without prior disclosure and notification of other sources of funding for postdocs and/or graduate students directly involved with the project.
There is no minimum effort for the PI or collaborators. Our investigators must contribute to the grants for which they are awarded. We understand that endowed chairs or HHMI positions cover some salaries and that should be disclosed in the grant application.
The Foundation does not have a preference for actual salary vs NIH (or other) salary cap; however, if the Foundation feels the salary submitted is unreasonable, we may not allow the full amount requested.
The Foundation and its reviewers keep all information in strictest confidence. The more information we have, the easier it is for the review committee to make final determinations for invited formal proposals.
If this project were approved for a formal proposal, the total budget should cover the costs for the collaborator. There is no limit on collaborator expenses; however, the roles of the PI and the collaborator(s), and the reason(s) why the experiments need to be performed externally should be clearly explained.
We cannot provide a definitive answer because fringe benefit rates vary widely across institutions. We recommend including what your university deems reasonable, and we will consider it along with the other requirements. Your institution would be allowed to cover the unmet fringe costs if we felt the rate was too high.
No. We do not allow cost-sharing on a project. The total cost of the project should be no higher than $700,000, which is our grant budget limit.
Indirect costs should be based on the total cost of the project. The total project budget cannot exceed $700,000, inclusive of indirect costs per our guidelines.
To calculate the indirect costs at 10%, multiply the total project costs by 0.10.
In addition to the budget field, major budget categories such as personnel, supplies, equipment, and other expenses should be briefly described in the Project Summary or uploaded as a separate document in the Documents Section.
No. All project budgets must cover a 3-year timeline.
If a formal proposal is invited and a grant is awarded, approximately one-third of the approved amount is distributed annually, with the exception that ~10 % is withheld in year three pending final reports.
Yes, collaborations between multiple organizations are allowed. However, if you were eventually approved for funding, the grant can only be awarded to one PI (Primary PI) and cannot be split with collaborators at different organizations. Information about this process can be found in our LOI Application Instructions.
No. There can only be one Primary Investigator (PI) named on an application and grant agreement. Collaborators can be included in applications. See the LOI Application Instructions for details.
No. The Foundation supports all levels of researchers, including early, mid-career, and senior researchers. Applicants must have their own independent and fully equipped labs. They should focus on novel, basic research projects with translational potential that would not be suitable for federal support, as described in theresearch funding section of the website.
Research projects that are currently or have previously been supported with federal funds may receive lower priority for funding.
No. We receive hundreds of applications each cycle, so please carefully review the instructions on our website. If you still have questions, send them to support@mathersfoundation.org.
No. To maintain fairness, we do not provide advice on proposed research projects. Please review the detailed information on our website regarding what we have funded before submitting your application.
Yes; however, the primary organization is responsible for managing all aspects of the sub-award. The award will be made to the primary organization. All grant funds will be sent to the primary organization, and all reporting will be handled through the primary organization. Total indirect costs on the grant cannot exceed 10%, regardless of institutional guidelines.
Supplementary information can be uploaded as additional document(s) to the Documents section of the application. Examples include references, proofs, collaborators’ information, CVs, letters of support, and figures. If you realize after the LOI has been submitted that a document was inadvertently omitted, please email the document(s) to grants@mathersfoundation.org and it will be uploaded for you. Do not submit another LOI.
Formal Proposal
We do not have a strict policy on reapplication; however, if you have submitted multiple applications without success, the likelihood of being funded is low.
No. We will not consider revised proposals. If you have a different project and are selected by your institution for a future grant cycle, you can apply at that time.
No. Decisions by our scientific review panel are final, with no appeals or reconsiderations. The Mathers Grant Award Program is a limited competition, with a set number of grants available each cycle. Proposals are ranked based on factors such as transformative potential, and only a small fraction of applications receive funding.
If requested by the applicant, the Foundation’s reviewers will provide feedback.
The Foundation will make grant award decisions within 3 months of the application deadline.
No. The Foundation does not have a preferred budget form. Your institution’s budget template will suffice.
Both a detailed budget and a budget justification document should be included.
We do not have formal guidelines for formatting the PDF. The font and margins used should be reasonable and easily readable. Arial or Times New Roman are good choices.
Yes, the narrative can be all text. Figures and other materials can be included as supplemental information, as long as all documents are combined into a single PDF and the narrative does not exceed seven (7) pages.
The proposal narrative should be a standalone document for reviewers, following the order of the required sections listed in the portal. Avoid duplicating information from the portal in the PDF. Instead, use the PDF to expand on key aspects of the project, such as the Aims or Proof of Concept, that are important for the scientific review board to consider.
Construction design, building costs, renovations, etc.
Cost Sharing– The total cost of the project should be no higher than $700,000 (budget limit including indirect costs)
Student Tuition– including fees, etc.
Equipment Costs over $5,000
Computers, computer-generated systems/and AI data generation
Benefits and fringe rates, including health insurance, may be approved on a case-by-case basis, regardless of any agreements with other agencies, such as DHHS.
Major expenses such as Personnel, Supplies, Core expenses*, and Equipment.
Supervisors for graduate students assigned to the project
Potential sources of support for post-doc salaries or graduate students
Sub-awards if applicable. Only the primary institution is funded by the Foundation.
Indirect costs should include, but are not limited to insurance, computer storage, glass washing, and administrative costs.
*Expenses for core services (e.g. Cryo-EM, sequencing) may not be be approved if considered excessive.
Reporting
Progress and financial reports are due annually on the anniversary of your grant start date and at the end of your grant. Payments are contingent upon receipt of reports. Reporting dates and instructions are available in the portal.
Extensions are generally allowed, but they must be requested. When requesting an extension, please include the reason for the request and the time frame you need to complete the report. Send extension requests to grants@mathersfoundation.org.
Below is an example of our template with instructions for completion. All amounts should be in currency format, and any budget categories that are over or underspent by more than 30% must include an explanation in the Comment column. If you have further questions after careful review, please email support@mathersfoundation.org.
Budget Reallocations
Please provide the following on institute letterhead:
A clear explanation for why the reallocation is necessary
Detailed information on how the affected budget categories will change, including both the current year and any future years impacted
An updated budget reflecting the proposed adjustments
Budget reallocations should be requested if any category deviates by more than 30% of the original budget. Please send requests to support@mathersfoundation.org.
Each request will be reviewed individually and approved or denied at the Foundation’s discretion.
No-Cost Extensions (NCEs)
No. Our guidelines allow for one (1) NCE request for up to one (1) year.
To request an NCE, please provide the following on institute letterhead and send to grants@mathersfoundation.org:
Project title and grant number
An explanation for why the NCE is needed
A plan for using the remaining funds
How much time is needed to complete the project (up to 12 months)
A current financial report using our template (available for download in the portal).
An email with the required information should be sent to grants@mathersfoundation.org. NCE requests will be determined on a case-by-case basis at the sole discretion of the Foundation Board.
A NCE is required if you need more than three months beyond your grant end date to complete your project. Submit the request as soon as possible, and at least one month before your final report is due.
Next Steps After Your Grant Ends: What to Do Now
Once your grant has concluded and you have received the final payment, we may consider a new LOI application from you. However, several criteria must be met before submitting a new application. We recommend reaching out to the foundation at grants@mathersfoundation.org for more information.
We do not require anything from former grantees. If you’ve been invited to join the Scientific Advisory Board, we may ask you to continue serving as needed. We also welcome any updates on your research that you’d like to share with us.
The status of remaining funds at the end of a grant is determined on a case-by-case basis. Please do not automatically return these funds to the Foundation. Instead, email grants@mathersfoundation.org for guidance.
