2024 Neurodevelopment Pitch & Catch Seed Funding

Two stage ‘pitch’ and ‘catch’ process to build interdisciplinary research projects in the neurodevelopment research space.

The top projects will be awarded up to $25,000 in July 2024. 

Part 1 – The Pitch: March 25th

• Faculty will present their ideas for a research project with collaborative potential in the neurodevelopment space. Projects may be basic science, clinical, translational, or database research - or a combination of any of these. Faculty may propose potential areas where they would like to invite collaboration or may leave it open-ended.
• Pitches will be presented at the March 25th Neurodevelopment Team Science Meeting, 3-4:30pm at Fontaine building 560, conference room 2210.
• RSVP to pitch by March 15th by emailing Megan Wardius (mew5j@uvahealth.org).
• Presentations should be 3-5 minutes with an additional 3 minutes allowed for questions afterwards. Time limits will be enforced. Up to 3 slides may be used to support the presentation but are not required.
• Faculty from any school are eligible to present; presentations will be in-person only.

Part 2 – The Catch: June 24th

• Faculty will ‘catch’ pitch ideas where they would like to collaborate and form teams. Teams must span at least 2 different disciplines/departments. Teams should develop an interdisciplinary project to present at the June meeting. The top presentations in June will be awarded seed funding of up to $25,000 per project for one year. Priority & additional funds may be given to projects that utilize the BaBI cohort.
• Catch projects will be presented at the June 24th Neurodevelopment Team Science meeting, 3-4:30pm at Fontaine building 560, conference room 2210.
• Request to RSVP for presentations will be sent in advance of the meeting.
• Catch project presentations should be 10 minutes with an additional 5 minutes allowed for questions afterwards. Time limits will be enforced. 3-5 slides may be used to support the presentation.
• Presentation should include: hypothesis, aims, and strategic vision for future funding.
• Presentations will be in-person only. The meeting audience will vote on the merit of each presentation in real time using an online survey (according to the NIH scale, 1-9) and the results will be factored into funding decisions. No written feedback will be provided back to presenters.
• Projects will be evaluated on 1) scientific merit, 2) potential for scientific impact & future extramural funding, 3) potential impact on UVA neurodevelopment ‘center’
• Funds will be provided by the Brain Institute and subject to the standard BI terms for budgeting & reporting