Due date for full proposals extended to November 21.
The Duke Institute for Brain Sciences (DIBS) invites applications for Germinator Awards:
- Interdisciplinary research and training relevant to the brain sciences
- Open only to graduate students and postdoctoral fellows
- Projects will be funded for 1 year, up to $25,000
The purpose of the DIBS Germinator Awards is to provide seed funding to support graduate students and postdoctoral fellows in their interdisciplinary, innovative brain science research within Duke. Applications will be reviewed on the basis of scientific merit and scholarliness, impact on an applicant’s training, alignment with DIBS’s mission to promote interdisciplinary research, and a realistic fit to a 1-year timeline.
The first step will be to submit a letter of intent. About a month later, full proposals will be due. See details below. Applicants must discuss their proposal ideas with their mentors. At the full proposal submission stage, mentors will be required to submit a letter of support.
We acknowledge the hardship that many students and postdoctoral fellows have experienced during the past year related to budget cuts, funding uncertainty, and related challenges. Investigators will be allowed to include such information in their full proposal application if they feel it provides context for evaluating their proposal.
Graduate students and postdoctoral fellows who work closely with the DIBS Director or Associate Directors are not eligible to apply.
Investigators interested in submitting proposals for Germinator Awards must submit a letter of intent by 11:59 pm on Monday, October 13, 2025. After submitting the letter of intent, you may contact DIBS for feedback before writing the full proposal.
Please email the letter of intent and any inquiries for feedback to Nicole Schramm-Sapyta, Ph.D. (nicole.schrammsapyta@duke.edu).
Letters of intent should contain the following information in a maximum of 1 page:
- Title of proposal
- Name and departmental affiliation of the applicant
- Name(s) of the applicant’s mentor(s)
- Names and departmental affiliations of any collaborators
- Brief description of proposed research
Full proposals will be due on November 21, 2025. A description of the procedure for submitting full proposals will be sent in mid-October to those who submit letters of intent. Full proposals will be reviewed by a panel consisting of DIBS Network Faculty, graduate students, and postdoctoral fellows. This panel will be invited on the basis of topic expertise (based on the letters of intent) and objectivity (no conflict of interest).
We expect funding decisions to be made by the end of December 2025, and awards to start in January 2026. Germinator recipients will be required to present a talk on their research and results to the DIBS community at the conclusion of their project.
We look forward to receiving your letter of intent! If you have any questions about the awards, the application process, or your eligibility, please visit the FAQ page, or contact the DIBS Director, Dr. Marc Sommer (marc.sommer@duke.edu).