Who is eligible to apply?
Applicants must be full‑time faculty (MD, MD‑PhD, PhD, DO, DVMs, or PharmD) at the CU Anschutz Medical Campus or a DRC‑affiliated institution. The faculty appointment must be in place by the award start date.

Are early‑career investigators encouraged to apply?
Yes. Priority is given to early‑career investigators, particularly junior faculty.

Can early‑career investigators with existing awards apply?
Yes. Early‑career investigators who hold NIH K awards, R21s, R03s, or career development/young faculty awards from organizations such as JDRF, ADA, or AHA are encouraged to apply.

Who is not eligible to apply?
Investigators who currently hold or have previously held an NIH R01, VA Merit, DOD Project Award, or equivalent as PI for diabetes‑related research are not eligible.

Can established investigators apply?
Yes, established investigators may apply if:

• They are new to diabetes research, or
• They propose innovative, high‑risk projects that are not competitive for standard grant mechanisms.

Priority will be given to interdisciplinary projects. Prior major awards are allowed if they are not in diabetes or not related to the proposed project.

Do applicants need prior experience in diabetes research?
No. Investigators new to diabetes research are encouraged to apply, particularly those who bring strong expertise from another field and propose a compelling project that transitions their work into diabetes research. Investigators without prior diabetes publications have been funded successfully in the past.

What types of research projects are eligible?
Eligible projects include basic, translational, clinical, and health disparities research related to Type 1, Type 2, or Gestational Diabetes and their complications. Innovative, high‑risk, or interdisciplinary approaches are encouraged.

Are feasibility or exploratory studies appropriate for this program?
Yes. Feasibility studies and exploratory research designed to generate preliminary data for future external funding are a core focus of the P&F Program.

How much funding is available?
Awards provide up to $50,000 in direct costs per year for a maximum of two years, for a total possible funding amount of $100,000.

Is funding guaranteed for two years?
No. Initial funding is awarded for one year. A second year of funding is contingent upon satisfactory progress during the first year, as determined by program leadership, and on budget availability.

Should I submit a one‑year or two‑year budget in my application?
Applicants should submit a two‑year funding proposal. Approval of second‑year funding will be based on progress during year one and the availability of funds.

What types of costs can be supported by P&F funding?
The program supports project‑related costs only. Subcontracts and tuition are not allowable expenses.

Is PI salary support allowed?
Yes. PI salary support is allowable per project.

Are subcontracts permitted?
No. Subcontracts are not permitted under this funding mechanism.

Do I need to submit the budget using a CU DRC budget template?
No. CU DRC does not require a specific budget template. Any clear and well‑justified budget format is acceptable.

How are applications reviewed?
All applications undergo external peer review only by reviewers who are not affiliated with the CU DRC or CU institutions. There is no internal review, in order to avoid conflicts of interest and perceptions of favoritism.

Can applicants suggest reviewers?
Yes. Applicants are required to provide at least three suggested external reviewers. Providing additional reviewer suggestions is encouraged.

Can applicants identify reviewers they do not want?
Yes. Applicants may identify conflict reviewers they wish to exclude. Program leadership will respect these exclusions.

Who can serve as an external reviewer?
Reviewers must be external to Colorado institutions, including the CU Anschutz Medical Campus, Colorado State University, and CU Boulder (all CCTSI partner institutions). Reviewers from outside the state or outside the United States are acceptable. All reviewers must be free of conflicts of interest with the applicant. Reviewers must hold a faculty position at a university or an equivalent position at a governmental or non-governmental institution.

May I contact potential reviewers to ask if they are willing to review?
No. Applicants must not contact potential reviewers under any circumstances. Reviewer recruitment and communication are handled entirely by the program to ensure confidentiality and prevent bias.

Can I apply again if my application is not funded?
Yes. Applicants may reapply in future funding cycles. Resubmissions are welcome and encouraged, particularly if progress has been made since the prior application.

Do I need to formally respond to prior reviewers’ comments?
No. Applicants are not required to submit a formal response to previous reviews. Revisions and improvements should be incorporated directly into the resubmitted proposal.

Will the same reviewers be used for resubmitted applications?
Program leadership will attempt to use the same reviewers when the project title and overall hypothesis remain similar. However, this is not guaranteed, as reviewer availability may vary.

Will program leadership provide guidance even if my application is not funded?
Yes. Applicants are encouraged to reach out to program leadership for:

• Feedback on their application
• Networking and collaboration opportunities
• Connections to CU diabetes research initiatives, programs, and working groups

Is preliminary data required?
No. Preliminary data are not required. As a pilot program, the P&F mechanism is intended to support high‑risk, high‑reward ideas, including projects without extensive prior data.

How much preliminary data is ideal?
Reviewers place primary emphasis on:

• Scientific plausibility
• Feasibility of the proposed approach
• Strength of the scientific premise
  

Projects with limited or indirect supporting evidence may still be competitive if the rationale is strong and the proposed experiments are feasible.

Is a mentoring team required?
Applicants may propose any mentoring structure that is appropriate for their career stage and project goals. Multiple mentors are allowed if they meaningfully support career development.

Are co‑PIs allowed?
The program generally favors a single PI. Collaborators should typically be listed as Co‑Investigators or key personnel.

Can the project change after the LOI?
No. Project titles and overall project details must remain consistent once the LOI advances to a full application. External reviewers are identified and invited based on the information provided in the LOI; therefore, substantive changes to the project are not permitted after this stage.

What criteria are used to evaluate applications?
Applications are evaluated by external reviewers based on the following criteria:

• Goals and hypothesis
• Approach and feasibility of the proposed procedures
• Scientific value and significance of the research project
• Qualifications of the investigator and contributions of mentors, sponsors, and collaborators
  

What type of scoring system is used?
The CU DRC uses the InfoReady platform for application management and review. Applications are scored using an NIH‑style grading system, consistent with peer‑review standards commonly used for federal research funding.