Microbial communities (microbiomes) are known to contribute significantly to human health and disease, regulate global biogeochemistry, and harbor much of our planet’s genetic diversity. The Duke Microbiome Center (DMC) supports microbiome science at Duke University through pilot project funding. The DMC is pleased to announce this new request for proposals for DMC Development Grants. The objective of the DMC Development Grant program is to support interdisciplinary and collaborative research projects in the microbiome sciences at Duke University. Priority will be given to applications with one or more of the following attributes:
(1) applications for which external grant support is currently difficult or impossible to obtain;
(2) applications submitted by teams of investigators representing multiple scientific disciplines and academic units (i.e., schools, departments, and divisions);
(3) applications submitted by teams of investigators that include junior members of the faculty who, by reason of their being earlier in their careers, find it difficult to obtain research support;
(4) applications that have a high likelihood to lead to new extramural funding; and
(5) applications that utilize Duke shared resource facilities (for example, the Microbiome Core Facility and Gnotobiotic Core).
Deadline: May 4, 2025
To be eligible for consideration, the PI of the proposal must be a faculty member at Duke University currently affiliated with the DMC (see DMC faculty list here). Applications must include as co- investigators at least one additional faculty member at Duke, though they need not be currently affiliated with the DMC. If you are a Duke faculty member that would like to become affiliated with the DMC, please contact Cindy Wicker <cynthia.wicker@duke.edu>.
These DMC Development Grants will have a one-year term, from 1 July 2025 – 30 June 2026. Each proposal may request a 1-year budget of up to $50,000, inclusive of all costs. Budgets are exempt from G&A, with the exception of any subcontracts which would require normal F&A costs. The DMC expects to fund up to two proposals this cycle..