Applying for the Mathers Grant Awards Program

Required Information:

• Title of Project

  • Enter the project title.

• Project Summary

  • Write the Project Summary so that a highly educated lay audience and a scientific review board can understand the project’s nature and scope.
  • Collaborators should be mentioned in the summary, along with their contributions to the project.

• Total Requested Budget

  • The Foundation’s required budget template is available within the portal and must be used for all Letters of Inquiry (LOIs). The downloadable Excel file includes three tabs: Grant Budget, Budget Justification, and READ ME instructions. The Budget Justification tab is optional at the LOI stage.
  • MANDATORY: Applications cannot be submitted unless the READ ME compliance section has been fully reviewed and acknowledged.
  • When uploading budget documents, applicants should select the “LOI Budget” document label.
  • Applicants must enter the total requested budget for three (3) years, which may not exceed $600,000–$700,000, inclusive of up to 10% indirect costs (calculated by multiplying total direct costs by 0.10 and adding that amount to the direct costs).
  • Refer to the Letter of Inquiry FAQs for additional guidance regarding allowable and non-allowable budget expenses.

• Project Aims

  • Include Experimental Aims and sub-aims.
  • Write for a scientific audience (2,000-character limit, spaces are included).

• Proof of Concept, Previous or Related Work

  • Include proof of concept evidence/validation for the project.
  • Include whether the evidence for the project is “preliminary”.
  • Include whether proof of concept has been published in any scientific journals (2,000-character limit, spaces are included).

• Category of Research

  • Provide a summary of your assessment of the project’s primary focus.
  • Responses help the Foundation compare similar LOIs (examples of research areas of interest are available here). There is no drop-down menu for this field.

• Discoveries/Publications

  • Briefly describe your most impactful discoveries and/or best publications.
  • This information does not have to be directly related to the proposed project (2,500-character limit, including spaces).

• Documents

  Documents & Optional Supplementary Materials Policy- Documents and supplementary information uploaded to the portal during the submission process cannot be deleted by applicants. Please contact support@mathersfoundation.org  for assistance with removing documents if needed. Do not submit another LOI.

  Please note that any requests to upload materials received after the current application deadline will not be approved or processed.

  Upload the completed Foundation-required Grant Budget template

  Biosketch Submission Guidelines

  • Submit the new NIH Biographical Sketch (Common Forms with Supplement) for the PI and all collaborators.
  • Postdoctoral fellows and graduate students contributing 30% or more effort to the project must submit an NIH biosketch; if a biosketch is not available, a C.V. may be submitted instead. (C.V.s may not exceed five (5) pages)
  • Biosketches for the PI and collaborators should include both active and pending support, as well as recent support from the past three (3) years.
  • Consultants must provide a biosketch, along with a description of their effort and role on the project. Other Support is not required.

• Optional Supplementary Information

  • Should be uploaded as an additional document(s) in the Requested Documents section of the application.
  • Examples include budget justifications (optional for LOIs), references, proofs, collaborators, biosketches, letters of support, additional comments, figures, and Other Support.  
  • Collaborators and Sub‑Awards: Collaborating institutions and sub‑awardees must be nonprofit organizations, and the Foundation has no role in managing those arrangements.