Accelerator proposals are now being accepted
The President's Research Excellence (PRE) program provides seed support to catalyze and accelerate multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary or convergent research teams pursuing external funding. Administered by the Enterprise for Research, Innovation and Knowledge (ERIK), the program awards up to $2.5 million per year through two tiers of grants.
- Accelerator grants of up to $50,000 for 12-month projects are awarded to small teams of 2-3 investigators from two or more distinct disciplinary perspectives that are formed to pursue curiosity-driven, high-risk, high-reward, pilot-scale research towards an identified proposal target.
- Catalyst grants of $150,000 - $300,000 for up to 24-month projects are awarded to medium or large teams of 3-5 investigators representing three or more distinct disciplinary perspectives that are formed to pursue high-impact research towards an identified national-leadership level or highly strategically significant proposal target.
2024-2025 Academic Year Awards Cycle
The second Accelerator competition for the 2024-25 academic year is now open. Depending on available funding, additional competitions may be announced.
Proposal Process, Requirements and Deadlines
Spring Cycle Timelines
Successful teams will make a compelling case for the merit of the proposed research in terms of anticipated scientific, technological or societal impacts that will result. All PRE proposals will be reviewed and scored using 4 criteria: merit; impact; team; and budget.
- February 4, 2025 - Informational Briefing (RSVP)
- February 7, 2025 - Call for Proposals released (name.# login required)
- February 21, 2025 - Required Letters of Intent due
- March 21, 2025 - Full proposals due (name.# login required)
- May 1, 2025 - Decisions announced
- June 1, 2025 - Project period start (Accelerator)
- May 31, 2026 - Accelerator projects end
Teams seeking Accelerator funding must complete a mandatory Letter of Intent (LOI) by Friday, Feb. 21, 2025. The LOI, submitted online, must include the project name, team and a 250-word or less abstract summarizing the proposed research challenge and its significance along with expected research deliverables. Letters of Intent will be reviewed by Research Development staff for compliance.
Teams eligible for Accelerator grant funding will be invited to submit a full proposal by Friday, March 21, 2025 by 5 p.m. Full proposals consist of a 3-page narrative, budget request, team biosketches and optional references.
General Project Requirements
- The lead PI must be an Ohio State faculty member. Co-PIs can be faculty, research staff or post-docs from intellectually distinct disciplines. External collaborators are permitted, but do not count towards team composition requirements and cannot be supported with project funds.
- PI or Co-PI may only be named on one PRE Accelerator or Catalyst active project and proposal at a time. Those already serving on another PRE project can be a team member on another project but not a PI or Co-PI. Review the list of those currently on an active project before submitting.
- Funded projects are required to submit an external funding proposal by the end of the grant period or the closest, next deadline for the opportunity(ies) identified in the proposal.
- A final report and a copy of the submitted external funding proposal are required at the conclusion project.
Budget Information
PRE funding may be requested to support project-specific expenses including:
- consumable research materials and supplies
- facility user/service fees, subject payments (with approved IRB), or other contractual costs
- limited personnel support for students, staff or post-docs
- travel to meet with project external collaborators, sponsors or to host collaborator meetings
- limited instrumentation (Catalyst only)
Funds cannot be used to support or supplement:
- faculty salaries
- travel to conventional academic meetings or conferences
- publication costs