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Merkin Institute Home  /  Requests for Proposals  /  Graduate Student Spark Grants

Merkin Spark Grants

Look for next deadline for Spark Grant Applications in Spring 2025

The Merkin Institute for Translational Research invites proposals for Merkin Spark Grants of up to $10,000 each to support Caltech graduate students in exploring an independent translational project idea.

The project is to be conceived and driven by graduate student applicant(s). It should not be an immediate or obvious extension of ongoing or proposed research in the host lab or labs. Novel applications of methods and variations across labs are encouraged. The project should be designed to generate go/no-go data for an innovative direction or novel technology that will ultimately translate to improve human health. These projects can be at any stage on the path toward translation, as long as the purpose and vision for translation is clearly stated. We encourage collaboration between students in different labs to create project proposals, but this is not a requirement. In the current round of funding, only post-rotation MD/PhD student members of Caltech labs are eligible to submit proposals - either alone or in collaboration with another Caltech graduate student(s).

Grant Submission Deadline: For the current cycle, applications are due by end of day Friday May 31, 2024. Inquiries before then are welcome. Please reach out to George Tolomiczenko (gtolomic@caltech.edu) if you have questions about the program or the application process.

Proposals should include:

  1. Up to 3-pages describing the project (abstract, background, research plan, and a section explaining the biomedical translational potential).
  2. At the end, provide a brief (~one paragraph) discussion of how the project is distinct from ongoing research of the host lab.
  3. Bibliography (this section is not included in the 3-page limit).
  4. An appended short statement obtained from your thesis Professor indicating they are OK with you participating in this round of applications.

Proposal submission:

Attach your proposal (in pdf format) to an email and send it to this Box address: MSG_Spr.m67cmi29rkzazmk8@u.box.com This will automatically deposit the attached proposal in the submission folder. You should receive an automated confirmation of receipt. If you do not receive the expected automated confirmation, report that failure in an email to George Tolomiczenko (gtolomic@caltech.edu), attaching your application pdf to the message.

Name your attached proposal file as follows: MGS_SubN_Last Name_First Name. For example, the second (corrected or updated) proposal submitted from Zeppo Marx would be named "MGS_Sub2_Marx_Zeppo" His first submission would have been "MGS_Sub1_Marx_Zeppo"

The submission deadline is Friday May 31, 2024.

Note: If awarded, you will need to submit a budget showing how the award will be spent. Funds are for research only and cannot be used for personal expenses or travel unless the travel is essential for conducting the research.