Pilot Grant Program

How do I apply for a SCTR Pilot Grant?

All applications will be submitted online using the InfoReady application portal.

Complete and submit the application through InfoReady, uploading all required documents where indicated. Reach out to Sydney Bollinger (bollinger@musc.edu) for questions regarding the InfoReady submission portal.

For detailed application instructions, please review the funding opportunity RFA and the application requirements below.

What are the eligibility requirements?

Eligibility Requirements:

The following individuals are eligible to serve as PI for a SCTR Discovery Grant:

• Compensated full and part-time faculty and properly credentialed clinicians employed by an MUSC Health facility
  • Faculty from other institutions are encouraged to partner with MUSC faculty on collaborative applications
• Students, trainees, and faculty members may serve as co-Investigators
• The investigative team must represent interdisciplinary collaboration
• PIs can have only one active grant award from SCTR at any given time

Early Stage investigators (ESIs) and investigators from MUSC RHN sites are encouraged to submit applications.

Can a post-doctoral scholar serve as PI on a SCTR Pilot Grant?

Post-doctoral scholars are not able to serve as PI on SCTR Pilot Grants. However, post-docs are welcome to serve as a co-I on a SCTR Pilot Award.

Do SCTR Grants require collaboration?

SCTR Pilot Grant opportunities require interdisciplinary team collaboration.

Existing investigator teams may submit new and innovative project ideas. The proposed research must represent a clearly distinct and novel direction compared with the principal investigator’s and research team’s past and current work. Existing teams must also meet the interdisciplinary requirement.

What additional information to Early-Stage Investigators need to include with their application?

The following are only required for PIs meeting NIH ESI criteria.

• Qualified senior co-investigator(s) as mentor(s) must be identified and include the mentor(s) name, biosketch and support letter(s)* on the application
• Strong mentorship plan - include details of ESI/mentor interactions, frequency of meetings, timetable and plan for achieving research independence, additional resources etc.
• Potential of the project to lead to independent funding with a plan to submit a K-series or R-series application

*Support letters do not count toward the page limit of the application.

How should I format my biosketch?

In 2026, we are accepting both the old NIH format and the new common form (SciEnCV) for biosketches.

What format should I use for my budget?

Submit budgets for all SCTR Pilot Grants in the PHS 398 format.

What do I need to include in the progress report for my application?

Progress Reports are required for all PIs with prior SCTR awards, including Discovery, High Innovation High Reward (HIHR), SCTR Translational Entrepreneurship Pilot (STEP), Team Science Pilot, Telehealth Pilot, CES-P, and SCTR K12/COM K12.

Include the following components:

• PI or co-PI’s Name
• SCTR Funding Mechanism
• Project Title
• Brief report on study progress (no more than 3 pages), detailing specific aims and findings/results of each objective, summary of results, and project conclusions
• Description of any scientific products originating from your award, including peer-reviewed applications, extramural funding awards, and intellectual property/details of technology transfer

What are allowable and unallowable costs for SCTR Pilot Grants?

Allowable Costs:

• Faculty Salary Support. Faculty members’ effort, related to the proposed pilot project, must be clearly listed in the budget. Support of faculty salary and fringe benefits is allowed up to 5% effort for each faculty member subject to the NIH salary cap. Personnel salary requests and all other budget item requests should be clearly justified and appropriate to conduct the proposed research properly.
• Effort Reporting. SCTR Pilot Projects (excluding Translational Science Challenge) are funded by MUSC institutional funds. For institutional compliance purposes, it is the PI’s responsibility to ensure all listed faculty effort complies with institutional effort policy. Investigators are not required to accommodate their effort on the pilot project budget. However, they have to be in compliance with their respective institution’s effort policies should they chose to charge the effort to other funding sources.
• Other Personnel Support. Salary and fringe benefits are allowed for technical support, such as Research Fellows, Research Assistants/Coordinators, Research Nurses, etc.
• Non-personnel Research Expenses. Allowable expenses include: supplies, equipment (under limited circumstances), animal purchase cost and care, study subject compensation, study subject transportation costs, in- and out-patient care costs, and statistical and computational services. All expenses must be directly related to the proposed research.
• Subawards. Indicate potential subaward(s) to other institutions clearly on the budget. No signed documents from subaward institutions are required at the time of application submission. The SCTR Finance Office can assist PIs and their business managers to establish subawards once an application is approved for funding.

Unallowable Costs

• Students. SCTR pilot project funds cannot be used to cover student tuition, fees, or health insurance costs, either directly or indirectly as a stipend. If an application proposes a graduate student as a research assistant, provide justification as to why the student is included in the project and how work on the pilot project relates to the student’s thesis/dissertation research project. Proposed student(s) – undergraduate and graduate – must be identified on the application by first and last name. TBN/TBD is not allowed.
• Ancillary Personnel. Salary support for ancillary personnel such as Mentors and Administrative assistants is not allowed.
• General office supplies and equipment, including computers and laptops (unless specifically requested and justified), membership dues and fees, travel costs to conferences/meetings, publication and subscription costs, mailing costs, and rent.
• Facilities & Administrative (Overhead/Indirect) Costs.

How do I obtain a SPARC ID?

All SCTR Pilot Applications require a SPARC ID for submission.

Follow the instructions below to obtain a SPARC ID for your application:

1. Go to SPARCRequest and log in with your MUSC Net ID and password
2. Select ‘South Carolina Clinical and Translational Research Institute (SCTR)’ from the menu on the left
3. Select ‘Funding Opportunities’ from the drop-down menu
4. Select the appropriate funding mechanism on the Funding Opportunities page
5. Select ‘+’ to add the service to your cart
6. Answer ‘Is this a new request?’ with ‘Yes’ or ‘No’
7. Select ‘Save and Continue’
8. Select ‘Start a New Study’
9. Complete all of the required fields and click ‘Save’
10. Select ‘Pending Funding’ for ‘Proposal Funding Status’ question
11. Answer ‘Potential Funding Source’
    • For Discovery and STEP Pilots, choose ‘Internal Funded Pilot Project’
      • Indicate ‘SCTR’ as the Sponsor Name
    • For Translational Science Challenge Pilots, choose ‘Federal’
      • Indicate ‘NCATS/SCTR’ as the Sponsor Name
12. Select ‘Save’
13. Add estimated ‘Start Date’ and ‘End Date’ fields
14. Click ‘Save and Continue’
15. Move on to Step 5
16. Review your request and click ‘Submit Request’
17. Add your SPARC ID to your InfoReady application (‘Request-ID’ without -0001)

How do I add a funding opportunity to my existing SPARC ID (SRID)?

Follow the instructions below to add a funding opportunity to an existing SPARC ID:

1. Log into the SPARCRequest dashboard with your MUSC Net ID and password
2. Select the appropriate Protocol ID from the list on your dashboard
3. Click ‘Add/Modify Request’
4. In ‘Browse Service Catalog’ choose ‘South Carolina Clinical and Translational Research Institute (SCTR)’
5. Select ‘Funding Opportunities’
6. Select appropriate funding mechanism
7. Choose ‘No’ on ‘New or Existing’ popup
8. Move on to Step 5
9. Submit your request
10. Add the SPARC ID to your InfoReady application