Funding and Grant Opportunities

The proposals should be written in Arial 11-12 font, with >0.5-inch margins and follow this format:

• Title Page
• Project Summary/Abstract (500 words or less)
• Specific Aims (1 page maximum)
• Research Strategy (3 pages maximum)
• Background and Significance
• Innovation and Potential Impact
• Research Plan (methodology and statistical analysis plan must be clearly described)
• Expected outcomes
• Articulate clearly how results from this project will increase competitiveness for larger extramural funding
• Timeline in Gantt chart format
• References/citations (required but do not count toward the total number of pages for the application)
• NIH-style Biosketch (see template)
• Budget plan

• The SSR will fund early-stage investigators (within 10 years of receiving terminal degree and having not received significant [>$100,000 USD] total direct cost) funding as an independent investigator. The award committee will take into account any legitimate career disruption incurred by the candidate.
• Investigators should have a doctoral degree (MD, MD/PhD, PhD, DO, ScD or equivalent), be working to establish an independent research program, and have sufficient expertise, commitment of effort, organizational structure, and operational effectiveness to successfully implement the plan for the proposed research.
• Scientists who have received the terminal degree but are working as a trainee (e.g., clinical and research students, residents, fellows, and postdoctoral trainees) are not eligible as the PI.
• Applicants must be SSR Regular Members at the time of application. Grantees must maintain an active membership for three years, and the results must be presented at the SSR annual meeting within three years of the award date.
• The proposed project must align with the SSR Mission (Advance the Science of Reproduction, Fertility, and Development for the Benefit of Humans and Animals) and Vision (“A Sustainable World Through the Science of Reproduction, Fertility, and Development”).

• Funds will be paid to the applicant’s institution.
• Funds awarded are final, do not include overheads, and are not subject to appeal.
• Funds are only awarded for direct costs and cannot be used to cover salaries.
• Eligible applicants may apply as PI for one grant per year (limit of 3 cycles with the same proposal), and a recipient will not be eligible if they have previously received this grant.

The SSR Membership Committee will review proposals and determine grant awards. The Emerging Investigator Grants will be given to scientists from diverse areas of interest, widespread regions of the world, and studying various species of interest. Applications will be judged based on the following criteria:

• Quality of the proposed project based on clarity of the identified gap in knowledge, hypothesis, and research design.
• Scientific and clinical/practical relevance of the proposed project to SSR themes.
• Feasibility of the project to be completed within one year using available resources, personnel, and expertise.
• Additional considerations may be given to rare/niche research topics, etc.
• The main criteria will be the quality of the application; however, in an effort to align with the SSR strategic plan, the selection committee will also consider areas of interest, regions of the world, and species of interest in their selection.

To avoid a potential conflict of interest, members of the SSR Grant Committee will recuse themselves from review of any proposal that involves their institutions of employment or has a conflict of interest. (See the NIH conflict of interest rules here).

Grant award recipients must:

• Provide the SSR with a final summary report and conciliation of funds within 60 days of end-of-funding deadline.
• Present research findings (talk or poster) at an SSR Annual Meeting within 3 years of receiving the grant.
• Provide acknowledgement of support by the SSR in all publications, abstracts, manuscripts, and/or presentations at scientific conferences or meetings resulting from the funded research.

• Other than keynote speakers, attendees must be from the host institution and surrounding region (600 miles/1000km).
• The meeting organizer (Regular Member) and 10% of the registrants must be members of SSR.
• The meeting must anticipate > 40 attendees, based on prior years or current registrations.
• Regularly scheduled institutional or departmental meetings are not eligible for support (i.e., grand rounds, regular divisional or departmental seminar series, etc.)
• Host organization(s) or institution(s) are eligible for one award per year.
• These Awards are not restricted to North America members.

• Support shall not exceed $1500.
• Recipients shall acknowledge SSR support in all meeting promotional materials.
• The SSR Business Office will provide SSR slides and promotional flyers for distribution to the membership in hardcopy or email, and the SSR logo to be used on printed program materials.
• After the meeting, the organizers shall provide the final program, the number of attendees, and where feasible, names and contact information of attendees.

• The meeting organizer (Regular Member) and 10% of the registrants must be members of SSR.
• The meeting must anticipate ~200 attendees based on prior years or current registrations.
• Host organization(s) or institution(s) must be a non-profit organization and are only eligible to apply every 2 years.

• Support shall not exceed $5000.
• Recipients shall acknowledge SSR support in all meeting promotional materials.
• The SSR Business Office will provide SSR slides and promotional flyers for distribution to the membership in hardcopy or email, and the SSR logo to be used on printed program materials.
• After the meeting, the organizers shall provide the final program, the number of attendees, and where feasible, names and contact information of attendees.

All applications should be submitted through the form at the link above.

The application must include the following sections:

• Meeting information, including Title, Meeting Dates, Sponsoring Institution/Organization, Name and Affiliation of Program/Organizing Chair(s).
• An overview of the general focus or theme of the meeting.
• Description of the expected geographic representation of attendees as well as the professional makeup of the target audience (i.e., faculty, staff, trainees, graduate students).
• Description of what the award will be used for.
• Description of how SSR’s support for the meeting will be acknowledged. Examples include flyers/advertisements, slides in introductory or concluding remarks, posters, printed brochures, etc.

Upon submission the Treasurer will briefly look at the application for completeness. If submitted at least 2 weeks prior to the deadline a revision can be submitted. On October 31st, the SSR Office will compile and send all applications to the Finance Committee for formal review. Meeting Chair(s) will be vetted to be regular members of SSR in good standing. At the MWBM, each application will be briefly discussed, and a funding decision will be rendered. The SSR Office will immediately contact all applicants after the MWBM and provide the applicant with the results and provide them with details on how to secure funds if successful. Funds will be allotted no earlier than 6 months prior to the event.

Administrative Notes: The Oct 31st deadline is necessary to provide budgetary information for the following year and fair competition for the awards. Leniency on Regional applications may be granted, with off-cycle review, if a yearly allotment of 10 has not been reached.  International and National applications shall not be considered if the deadline is missed.