The Office of the Vice President for Research (VPR) is excited to invite new and early-career faculty members to join our research mentorship program, Propel. The Propel Research Mentorship Program is designed to support faculty members who are new to the federal grants application process or have had success in securing relatively small grant awards, and are ready to apply for an R01 grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) or a relatively large grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF).

Through Propel’s structured workshops, mentorship and editing support, participants will spend nine months developing a polished grant proposal, and will submit the proposal to the targeted funding agency (NIH or NSF) at the end of the program, in late Spring 2024. Program activities for the 2023-2024 Propel class will run from August 25, 2023 through May 3, 2024, and participants will submit their proposals no later than June 2023. Prospective participants are encouraged to read more about the Propel program requirements.

The Office of the Vice President for Research will begin accepting 2023-2024 Propel applications on Tuesday, May 16. Complete application packages are due by Tuesday, August 15, 2023.

 

How to Apply for Propel

Any USC faculty member that meets the criteria below may apply. To be considered for Propel, faculty members must:

• Hold the title of assistant or associate professor (including assistant and associate research faculty).
• Be new to the federal grants application process or have received relatively small external grant awards (or subawards) in the past (see program page for additional guidance).
• Be employed at USC Columbia, the USC schools of medicine in Columbia or Greenville, a four-year USC comprehensive institution or a USC Palmetto College campus.
• Not have received a large federal grant (such as an NIH R01 or a medium/large NSF award of about $500,000 or more). Propel welcomes faculty members who have applied for large awards but not had them funded.

Note: Participants in a previous Propel class are not eligible to participate in Propel 2023-2024.

To apply for Propel, the applicant will log into the Office of the VPR’s awards application system using the same university network username and password they use to access USCeRA, etc. (no new account required).

 

Application Materials

The applicant will answer two simple questions inside of the system, and will prepare and submit the following materials as PDF documents:

• Cover letter (letter of intent) of one to two pages in length, describing the applicant’s research area along with the federal agency and application type the final proposal will be submitted for
• CV or NIH/NSF biosketch
• Past three years of completed/current/pending support documentation (optional)

 

Propel 2023-2024 Schedule

Please refer to the Propel Research Mentorship Program page for more details on each workshop and deliverable noted below. A light breakfast and full lunch will be provided for participants at all program sessions.

Friday, August 25, 2023
9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
USC Conference Center
Close-Hipp Building, 8th floor

Friday, September 22, 2023
9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
USC Conference Center
Close-Hipp Building, 8th floor

Friday, October 27, 2023
9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
USC Conference Center
Close-Hipp Building, 8th floor

Friday, November 17, 2023
9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
USC Conference Center
Close-Hipp Building, 8th floor

Friday, January 19, 2024
9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
USC Conference Center
Close-Hipp Building, 8th floor

Friday, February 16, 2024
9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
USC Conference Center
Close-Hipp Building, 8th floor

Friday, March 22, 2024
9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
USC Conference Center
Close-Hipp Building, 8th floor

Friday, May 3, 2024
9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
USC Conference Center
Close-Hipp Building, 8th floor