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  4. Bridge Funding Guidelines

Bridge Funding Guidelines

PURPOSE

The College of Arts and Science allows fiscal support for grant-related activities when there is an imminent lapse, expiration, or delay in non-competing renewal notifications of externally sponsored research funding. Funding is for transitional support only, aiming to mitigate risks and manage uncertainty. This program is designed to maintain the continuity of a research program, to mitigate the need to terminate project personnel during a grant lapse, and to provide adequate notice to personnel for reduction in force (if needed).

PRINCIPLES
  • These funds will not fully replace lost or delayed funds and will not provide long-term support.
  • For imminent lapse or expiration of funding, bridge funding will be evaluated for a six-month duration. Concurrent submission of proposals to support research activities is required. This category is considered the “conventional” bridge.
  • For delay in notification of non-competing renewals, bridge funding will be evaluated for a two-to-three-month duration while awaiting notification. These requests may only be made to maintain research continuity and not to expand research activities.
  • For premature termination of a grant (e.g., “stop-work” orders), with no subsequent funding available, a period of up to 6 months of wind-down support will be considered. This category of bridge funding is designed to assist in the wind-down phase of the project and to comply with federal and state regulations. Initial review of these requests will consider whether a wind-down or a conventional bridge is more appropriate.
  • Any support provided will be a 75%/25% match from the college and the unit or department, respectively serving as the primary unit of the faculty member requesting the bridge.
ELIGIBILITY
  • Full-time tenured, tenure-track, and research faculty whose primary appointment is in the College of Arts and Science.
  • Awards that are in no-cost-extension (NCE) are not eligible for bridge funding of any kind.
  • Requests must be for specific costs currently supported by externally sponsored research contracts, grants, or sponsored research agreements (SRA’s).
  • Initial requests should be made from the PI to their respective chair/director via the REDCap form. If chair/director approves, the College’s Office of Research will review.
  • All requests for bridge funding must be submitted at least two months prior to the expiration of the externally sponsored award when possible. For premature termination of a grant, the request should be made within two weeks of the termination of the grant.
GUIDELINES

The College’s resources for bridging sponsored research funding are limited and need to be used as strategically as possible. Bridge requests will be evaluated considering the following factors: (i) career stage of the faculty member, with highest priority for tenure-track faculty, (ii) recent record of success in securing external funding, (iii) recent record of applying for external funding, (iv) prospects for continued external funding (v) impact of loss of funding on the scholarly research of the faculty member, and (vi) strategic importance of research program to the College of Arts and Science. Should a request also be eligible for the Provost Bridge program, it will be submitted to the Provost Bridge program before being considered for funding under this College policy.

Requests for bridge funding should include:

  • A proposed budget and estimated duration of bridge support.
  • If the PI has unrestricted funds available or there are carry-over funds from the grant for which renewal is being sought, these must be declared, and the sum of said funds must be subtracted from the proposed budget request.
  • A list of the individual A&S personnel who will need to be supported by the bridge funds, along with their effort percentages currently charged to the expiring sponsored funding.
  • A description and justification of other expenses (for example, supplies) that need to be supported by bridge funds to maintain the basic continuity of the research project/program.
  • A list of active grants, pending proposals, and planned submissions.

Requests for bridge funding should not include:

  • Salary of any kind (e.g., summer or academic year, course buyouts) for tenured or tenure-track faculty
  • Personnel (faculty, staff, or students) whose home department is not within A&S
  • Capital equipment or leases
  • Sub awards to another institution or organization (such as VUMC) external to Vanderbilt

If your grant proposal is funded during mid-bridge support, we will sunset the approved bridge funding with a one-month transition overlap of support.

If your project remains unfunded after the approved bridge amount or time limit, we ask that the PI reach out to the Senior Associate Dean of Research to schedule a resolution meeting.

Effective date: April 1, 2025