Fund Details
Star-Friedman Challenge for Promising Scientific Research 2020

Brief Description:

The Star-Friedman Challenge for Promising Scientific Research (formerly known as the Star Family Challenge for Promising Scientific Research), provides seed funding to interdisciplinary high-risk, high-impact projects in the life, physical and social sciences. 


Description:

UPDATE (5/6/2020): The Star-Friedman Challenge will briefly reopen to accept proposals related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Given the magnitude of the global crisis which emerged shortly after the original deadline in February, the Challenge is interested in expanding its application pool to include high-risk and high-impact research projects in the life, physical, and social sciences with relevance to COVID-19. Eligible faculty members may submit an application following the guidelines in the initial call for proposals. The deadline for submitting COVID-19 related proposals is 5:00pm EST on May 20, 2020.


Award notifications are expected by mid-June 2020. The interdisciplinary Challenge event, originally scheduled for May 7, 2020, has been cancelled due to COVID-19 concerns. Future plans will be announced on the Star-Friedman website as they are confirmed.


The Star-Friedman Challenge for Promising Scientific Research (formerly known as the Star Family Challenge for Promising Scientific Research), provides seed funding to interdisciplinary high-risk, high-impact projects in the life, physical and social sciences. Early-stage projects that are unlikely to receive funding from traditional grant-making agencies are encouraged. Established in 2013 by a generous gift to Harvard University at the suggestion of James A. Star, AB (1983), the program expanded in the 2018-19 academic year through a gift from Joshua Friedman, AB (1976), MBA (1980), JD (1982) and Beth Friedman to invite proposal submissions from Harvard Medical School (HMS) and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health (HSPH) in addition to the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) and the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Science (SEAS). 


Individual investigators may request up to $150,000 in direct costs; collaborative proposals involving funding to multiple independent investigators may request up to $300,000 in direct costs. To qualify for a collaborative award, a project must list at least two investigators who meet the Challenge’s eligibility criteria.


Application Information:

To apply, please submit a one- to two-page proposal (one inch margins, 11 point font or larger, PDF format) that briefly addresses the following in language accessible to a non-specialist audience:
  1. What questions are you trying to answer in this project? What problem are you addressing and why is it important?
  2. How will you approach the problem, and how does your approach differ from others? How does your experience enable you to approach the problem in an innovative way?
  3. What kind of impact could your project have? How will you measure results?
  4. Who will be involved in your project, and what resources will be required? Within your one- to two-page proposal narrative, please provide rough budget estimates for (a) personnel, (b) equipment, and (c) other. There is no prescribed format for presenting this information. For multi-investigator projects, separate budget requests should be submitted for each lab. Faculty are encouraged to work closely with their grant administrators to develop a budget. School assessments and/or indirect costs should not be included in the budget request (these will be accounted for at the time of award). Applicants may request funding to support any expenses related to the cost of performing research, over whatever time period makes the most sense. The committee will be looking to fund projects that can attain demonstrable results within one year. Longer-term projects will need to show milestones of success upon a one-year review. The funding period may begin as early as June 1, 2020.

A third page may be used for graphics and/or references.

Applicants must also submit a two-page biosketch (PDF format). In addition, applicants may submit a two-page biosketch for any collaborators involved in the project.

Applications must be submitted online by clicking the Apply button in the top right corner of this page. Applications must be submitted by February 28, 2020 by 5:00PM.

Eligibility Criteria:

This competition is open to ladder faculty members in the four participating schools (HMS, HSPH, FAS and SEAS). In HMS, this program is open to ladder faculty members (assistant professors, associate professors, and professors) who have primary appointments in the HMS basic and social science departments AND whose laboratories are located on the HMS Quadrangle. In HSPH, eligible PIs include primary Harvard Chan School ladder faculty whose research operation is based at the Harvard Chan School. To qualify for a collaborative award, a project must list at least two investigators who meet this eligibility criteria. For multi-investigator projects, separate budget requests should be submitted for each lab. Only investigators based at the four participating schools may request and administer this funding. 


Review Criteria:

Applications will be evaluated for their significance, innovation, potential impact, interdisciplinarity, and the ability of the applicant or team of applicants to successfully carry out the project. Successful applications will clearly address these points in a manner accessible to the entire review committee, which draws its members from a broad range of disciplines. Highly technical proposals written for an audience of specialists are not likely to succeed in this competition.


Additional Information, Related Websites, and Proxy Instructions:

Complete guidelines and answers to frequently asked questions can be found at .

Please contact Jennifer Corby, Research Development Officer (
jcorby@fas.harvard.edu), or Susan Gomes, Director of Research Development and Strategy (susan_gomes@harvard.edu), for more information about this program.


Search Filters:

Institution
  • Faculty of Arts and Sciences
  • Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences
  • Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health
  • Harvard Medical School (Quad)
    Position
    • Assistant Professor
    • Associate Professor
    • Professor
    • Other Academic/Research Appointment
      Type of Competition
      • Harvard Internal Funding
        Discipline
        • Basic Science
        • Clinical Science
        • Engineering
        • Life Science
        • Population Science
        • Multidisciplinary
        • Physical Science
        • Social/Behavioral Science
        • Translational Science
        • Other
          Type of Award
          • Research
            Begin Accepting Applications Date:
            1/13/2020
            Deadline Date (EST Time Zone):
            5/20/2020 5:00 PM