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Mathers Foundation Grant Program

General Information

Program Description

For many years the G. Harold and Leila Y. Mathers Foundation has enjoyed special recognition in the research community for supporting “basic” scientific research, realizing that true transformative breakthroughs usually occur after a thorough understanding of the fundamental mechanisms underlying natural phenomena. More recently, and with the advent of newer investigative methodologies, technology, and tools, the Foundation’s grants program seeks to support innovative, potentially transformative basic science projects in fields including immunology, microbiome, genetics, genomics, structural biology, cellular physiology, cancer biology, microbiology and infectious disease, stem cell biology, and neuroscience.

Limitation

Schools may submit three (3) application(s) for Penn’s internal competition.

Eligibility

  • Open to faculty at all levels at the following schools:
    • School of Arts and Sciences
    • School of Veterinary Medicine
    • Perelman School of Medicine
  • Open to faculty involved in life science research in areas such as (but not limited to): Immunology, microbiome, genomics, structural biology, cellular physiology, and neuroscience. It is important to note that any interdisciplinary project proposals may require additional information regarding collaborator(s)’ achievements and relevant expertise.
  • For any sponsored research projects, the applicant must be eligible to serve as Principal Investigator for the project, unless otherwise noted in the LSO. Please see Penn’s PI Eligibility requirements to ensure you are eligible.

The Foundation does not support:

  • COVID-19-related research projects (aims or sub-aims).  
  • Medical imaging technology-related projects and/or electrical engineering technology development projects.  
  • Plant Biology Research, Oceanography, Space Exploration, and Global Warming related research.  
  • Requests for support of clinical trials or drug discovery will not be approved. The Foundation will not support projects that they consider pre-clinical drug development.
  • Medical imaging technology related projects and/or electrical engineering technology development projects will not be considered.
  • Requests for funding previous federally supported research, and/or applications pending federal approval will not be accorded priority consideration.
  • Expenses for computers, computer-generated systems/and AI data generation cannot be expensed. 

Award Information

  • Grant duration must be three years. 
  • Grant budgets cannot exceed $600-700K (including indirect costs capped at 10%) over three years.  
  • Preliminary Budgets are required during the LOI phase and should include an estimate of the major costs for compensation, supplies, etc. 
  • Budget justification in Formal Proposals (if invited) should provide detailed costs of the investigator’s salaries, including all personnel involved, laboratory supplies, miscellaneous costs, etc., and will be highly scrutinized: 
  • The Foundation’s grant award is not intended to be utilized for purchasing capital equipment (“bricks and mortar”) for the lab and is intended only to support the actual investigation.  
  • Tuition expenses (remission) may not be covered for personnel (graduate students involved in the project) if considered excessive. (Benefits/fringe rate, including health insurance, may be approved on a case-by-case basis, notwithstanding agreements with other agencies, i.e. DHHS)
  • Expenses for core services (e.g. Cryo-EM, sequencing) may not be approved if considered excessive. 
Apply here

Review Process

Selection Criteria

The University has been invited to nominate one (1) faculty member. A committee established by the Office of the Vice Provost for Research (OVPR) will determine the final nominee(s) to represent the University. Letters of Intent (LOI) are required and due by the OVPR deadline for each spring and fall cycle. Nominees will be selected from an internal competition managed by the OVPR. If you are invited to submit a proposal, you will be notified via email to log into the portal and complete your application in June or December.

Review committees at the school level determine which applications advance to the University-level competition. Applicants should adhere to the deadlines and submission instructions set forth by their home schools (which may differ from the OVPR’s) and must receive approval from the research dean’s office at their home school before uploading proposals.

OVPR Internal Review Process

Applications must contain the following:

  1. Letter of Intent that must include the following (maximum 2 pages):
    • A preliminary set of aims.
    • A discussion of previous or related work.
    • A preliminary budget estimate should include an estimate of the major costs for compensation, supplies, etc.
  2. Curriculum Vitae (CV) (using NIH Format, if relevant) (maximum 5 pages): which includes educational background, professional appointments, awards, and honors. Include all current research support (start-up and external) and pending support, including dollar amounts and start/end dates.
  3. Documents should be saved as Mathers_applicant LAST name_ applicant FIRST.