Exploratory Grants

NOTE: We are no longer accepting applications for the 2024-2025 SPIRIT Pilot Awards.
Please check back in the future for additional funding opportunities.

Apply for a pilot award between $10,000 and $100,000.

SPIRIT has partnered with the Irving Institute for Clinical and Translational Research, the NIEHS Center for Environmental Health in Northern Manhattan, and the SNF Center for Precision Psychiatry & Mental Health to offer three grant opportunities in spring of 2024:

  1. Intervention & Implementation Science Research

  2. Precision Psychiatry & Mental Health

  3. Climate & Mental Health

Eligibility Criteria

- Principal Investigator(s) must have a faculty appointment of assistant professor or higher at Columbia University Irving Medical Center. Faculty of all ranks are eligible to apply.

- Teams may include outside consultants/collaborators (e.g., community stakeholders) with unique experience or expertise in innovative approaches not currently available at Columbia. However, subawards are not permitted.

  • - During each application cycle, only one submission is permitted per principal investigator. Principal investigators may be listed as co-investigators or consultants on other applications.

- Awarded Principal Investigators will be required
to submit their protocol to the CU/CUIMC IRB for review and use CU/CUIMC resources to implement their project.

- We strongly encourage applications from
Principal Investigators and/or teams of investigators from underrepresented groups.

General Award
Info

Application Deadlines
Intervention & Implementation Science due March 5, 2024

Precision Psychiatry & Mental Health due April 15, 2024

Climate & Mental Health due
April 15, 2024

Award Start Date
June 1, 2024
Applicants will be notified in May 2024

Available Funding
Variable depending on pilot award

Pilot Awards in
Intervention and Implementation Science Research

The Intervention and Implementation Science Pilot Awards Program is a key capacity building opportunity to stimulate the development and testing of: (1) innovative population health, community, or medical/clinical interventions; or (2) uptake and implementation of evidence-based population health or medical/clinical interventions that have been shown to work, but have not been widely adopted, implemented, or sustained in diverse and real-world community, clinical/health systems or policy settings.

Available Funding: Mini-pilots will be funded as a one-time, one-year award of up to $10,000. Regular pilots will be funded as a one-time, one-year award of up to $40,000. Funds may cover direct research expenses and/or other research personnel. Funds will not cover PI/faculty salary or indirect costs. Applicants should specify how their proposed project fits into one the SPIRIT priority areas listed above.

To review requirements and application details, please click here.

Pilot Awards in
Precision Psychiatry & Mental Health

The Precision Psychiatry & Mental Health pilot awards aim to stimulate the growth of research at the intersection of biology and the social environment with a key focus on improving clinical practice and psychiatric treatment outcomes.  Successful applicants will propose innovative research ideas exploring the individual-level etiology and treatment of psychiatric disorders arising from interactions between endogenous biology, socioeconomic factors, and/or environmental exposures.

Available Funding: This is a one-time, one-year award of up to $100,000. Funds may cover direct research expenses, salary of Principal Investigator, and/or other research personnel. Funds will not cover indirect costs. Applicants should specify how their proposed project fits into one the SPIRIT priority areas listed above.

To review requirements and application details, please click here.

Pilot Awards in
Climate & Mental Health

Climate and Mental Health awards will fund innovative research that assesses the role of the physical environment in relation to mental health, neurodevelopmental, and psychiatric outcomes across the lifecourse. Priority will be given to projects related to extreme temperatures and weather events (e.g., hurricanes, wildfires).

Available Funding: Mini-pilots will be funded as a one-time, one-year award of up to $20,000; regular pilots will be funded as a one-time, one-year award of up to $40,000. Funds may cover direct research expenses, salary of Principal Investigator, and/or other research personnel. Funds will not cover indirect costs. Applicants should specify how their proposed project fits into one the SPIRIT priority areas listed above.

To review requirements and application details, please click here.

Not sure which application to complete?

Contact Emma Sexton with
pre-submission inquiries.