• Full-time CU Anschutz faculty are eligible.  
• Priority is given to junior faculty (Assistant and Associate Professors) with limited resources and to those submitting NIH summary statements. 
• Applicants with two prior AFL awards must obtain approval from the Committee and Senior Associate Dean for Biomedical Research to reapply.

Funding Conditions 

• Allowable expenses:
  • Research staff salaries
  • Service contracts
  • Animals
  • Supplies
• Faculty salary is not allowed, except for Research Scientists and Associates (Job codes 1304-1306 & 1311).
• Funding covers a 12-month period from the award date; extensions are rare and only granted for exceptional reasons. 
• Final reports are required within 12 months post-award. Failure to submit prevents future Dean’s Office Initiative funding eligibility. 
• Unsuccessful applicants can reapply in later cycles.

Application Format 

Include the following components (limit: specified pages, single-spaced, Arial 11 font, ½ inch margin):

Documentation Required:

• NIH biosketch
• Specific aims for the proposed R01-type submission (1 page)
  
• Proposal Document: Address (1) identification of research gaps and an explanation of why addressing these gaps is vital for future applications; (2) a description of the specific experiments planned, including, if relevant, how these experiments respond to previous reviews; and (3) a proposed timeline for the experiments. (2 pages) 
• Budget summary and justification for requested funds to generate preliminary data (1 page) 
• The NIH Current and Pending Support document should specify the total amount of internal CU funding available, including all types of funds.  
• Summary statements, or scores if summary statements are not yet available, from unfunded applications
• Chair’s letter including required match commitment (guidelines below)

 Do not include appendices. Non-compliant applications will be returned.  

Chair’s Letter Guidelines 

• One page letter 
• Junior Faculty status (if applicable) 
• Ongoing salary/infrastructure support confirmation 
• Research summary 
• 25% matching support confirmation  

Submission Instructions

Submit your application by 5pm (MT) on Wednesday, March 25, 2026 or September 30, 2026
Click here to submit: AFL APPLICATION

For questions, contact [email protected]

Funding will be awarded up to $100K and the budget requests must be reasonably tailored to generate the needed preliminary data. Funds must be spent during the funding year and any unspent funds will be returned to the SOM. Funds cannot be used to support faculty salary. We anticipate funding 2-3 grants per cycle depending on available funds.

AFL funds will be available to awardees for a one-year period. After which time, any unspent funds will be returned to the SOM. The one-year period starts after the approved award letter has been sent to the applicant/PI. If you have any questions or concerns about this, please contact [email protected].