Mentored Research Award

Purpose

The NETRF Mentored Research Award is designed to encourage early-career investigators to pursue neuroendocrine cancer research and to commit to the field. Mentored Research Awards provide $150,000 over two years. These proposals typically have two aims that require two years of work. They have one PI with or without collaborators.

NETRF Structured Mentoring: In addition to the applicant’s institutional mentoring committee, awardees will be paired with NETRF-provided BOSA mentors who will meet periodically with the awardee and mentoring team to review progress, troubleshoot barriers, and support career development.

Amount

This grant award totals $150,000 over two years. Mentored Research Awards do not cover indirect costs. Grants are paid in US dollars.

Eligibility

• Applicants must hold an MD, PhD, MD/PhD, or equivalent degree and must not currently be a candidate for any additional doctoral or professional degree.
• Applicants must hold a full-time, mentored research position as a postdoctoral fellow, clinical research fellow, instructor, or equivalent. NETRF will also consider Assistant Professors (or equivalent) within the first three years of their initial faculty appointment, provided they remain in a mentored career stage and have a designated mentoring committee.
• Applicants must work under the auspices of a mentor (and mentoring committee) at an academic, medical, or research institution in the U.S. or abroad and be focused on establishing themselves as experts in neuroendocrine cancer research. Applicants who are fully independent or hold substantial independent research funding (e.g., R01-equivalent) are not eligible.
• Eligible organizations include public or private institutions, such as universities, colleges, hospitals, and laboratories, both domestic and international. Applications from the biotech, pharmaceutical, or other for-profit life sciences industries are not eligible.
• The award is transferable to the first year of a junior faculty position, subject to NETRF approval and continued compliance with program eligibility requirements.

Selection process

The NETRF request for applications uses a two-step process. First, applicants submit a competitive Letter of Intent (LOI). Only one LOI may be submitted per applicant, per program. Applicants selected to advance will be invited to submit a full application.

• An LOI must be submitted, and all eligibility criteria must be met to be considered for the full application stage. LOIs that do not meet these requirements will be administratively rejected.
• If invited, applicants must submit a full application that meets all program guidelines. Applications that do not meet these requirements will be administratively rejected.
• LOIs and full applications will be peer reviewed by an independent panel of scientific experts.
• Applications will be reviewed in two strata: (1) postdoctoral/clinical research fellows (or equivalent) and (2) early-career faculty (Assistant Professor or equivalent within the first three years of initial appointment). Review criteria will be consistent across strata, with expectations calibrated to career stage. Final funding decisions will consider scientific merit and career stage to ensure trainees are not disadvantaged.

Grant monitoring

Grant recipients must submit progress reports every six months detailing scientific progress, research milestones achieved, and project-related expenditures. The reports disclose updates on publications, patents, and clinical trial advances when applicable. These reports are reviewed to ensure funds are spent appropriately and that sufficient progress is made throughout the grant term. Continued funding is contingent upon review and approval of progress and achievement of relevant milestones. Post-award reports at one, three, and five years are required to measure longer-term outcomes of the funded research and investigator career advancement.