uconn health

SPARK Submission Guidelines

SPARK LOIs consist of 2 forms and a PDF file upload.

Faculty Applicant Information Form (some information may pre-populate into the form):

Submitting PI Name
Home Department
School/College
Email
Phone
Faculty/Academic Rank
Primary Employer
Question - is your position contingent on grant funding?

SPARK Application Form

Project Title:
Estimated Funds Requested ($50K max for initial funding term, up to $100K if follow-on funding is anticipated)
Resubmission Y/N
Has an invention disclosure been submitted for this innovation?
Has a patent been filed / granted
Federal Opportunity Targeted: Please name the Federal funder and specific mechanism your team will be targeting. Please include the mechanism's award range and the date you are targeting for submission
Size of Team: 0-10
Key Personnel: Co-PIs, department affiliation, role on project

LOI document (PDF Upload)

Your LOI must be no longer than two pages (12-pt font and 1” margins; single spacing and single-side pages). Please include the following information:

Unmet Need/Problem: Please describe in concise terms the current unmet need in the market.
Product/Solution: Please describe how your product or solution addresses or solves the unmet need.
Target Customer: Who is the potential customer for this solution? Ex: Who is going to buy the product?
Competitive Advantage: Describe current solutions and why your solution is better than currently available solutions in the market? Ex: Faster/Better/Cheaper
Market Size: Please describe the potential market size for this product or technology.
Intellectual Property: List all filed/granted patents and invention disclosures filed related to the technology.
Regulatory pathway/Reimbursement: Succinctly describe the regulatory pathway and reimbursement if applicable.
Revenue Model: How will your product make money? Ex: Subscription/Fee/Capital Expense.

LOIs should be uploaded as a single PDF to the Quest Portal by the LOI due date.

Elements to include in the full application are as follows:

A one-paragraph abstract (type or copy/paste into a form on Quest).
Results from prior OVPR-funded projects: If you've received funding in the past from OVPR internal seed grants or commercialization grants, please give a brief account of the outcomes of those projects and any research products generated (type or copy/paste into a form on Quest).
Project plan document (five page maximum, 12-pt font and 1” margins), including
1. Problem/Unmet need: Describe the problem or unmet need that the innovation targets.
2. Description of the Product: Describe in detail the product or technology concept.
3. Estimate Market Size:
  1. Please describe the total available market this invention addresses (TAM)
  2. Estimate serviceable available market (SAM)
  3. Estimate serviceable obtainable market (SOM)
4. Competing Products:
  1. Identify any currently available products/technologies, and explain why they do not adequately satisfy the problem or unmet need.
  2. Explain how the proposed innovation is different from or better than those that are already available.
5. Intellectual property (IP): Describe your IP position, and the competitive IP landscape. List your current patent applications or patents pending as well as any granted patents related to this project. If you currently have no patent applications, please mention plans for future invention disclosures.
6. Commercialization Plan:
  1. Describe major milestones required to enter market?
  2. Describe the pathway to market?
  3. Expected time to enter market and financing required to enter the market
7. Regulatory Pathway & Reimbursement:
  1. Please describe in detail the regulatory pathway if applicable.
    1. Medical Devices: 510(k), DeNovo or PMA
    2. Pharma 505(b)(1) or 505 (b) (2) .
  2. Please describe reimbursement strategy if applicable.
8. Potential Exits: Is it an acquisition, licensing or IPO?
9. Preliminary evidence: Summarize any preliminary data available that substantiates the proposed innovation usefulness for the applications envisioned.
10. Proposed work with project milestones: Outline the proposed scope of work approaches with timelines and a clearly defined set of objective milestones to be completed by the end of the initial award period. Please include an analysis of how the proposed activities will sufficiently de-risk the innovation to allow for further commercial development.
Biosketches/CVs: Please include brief biosketches/CVs (formatted as appropriate for your field) for all PIs/Co-PIs. Include your most recent publications or those most relevant to the work proposed. Also include current/pending support from external sponsors and UConn sources (including start-up funding). This may be appended to the end of the CV/biosketch or integrated within it, if your discipline’s format already provides space for current/pending. Biosketches/CVs may be uploaded as one PDF or as separate PDF documents.
Budget: Provide a preliminary budget estimate and proposed use of funds. Please see Internal Funding Budget Guidelines for instructions and a budget template.
The budget spreadsheet should be converted to PDF format prior to upload.

Full Proposals will only be accepted from applicants who have submitted an LOI and received an invitation to proceed with a proposal. Invited applicants should upload their proposal documents the Quest Portal by the full application due date of February 24, 2025.

Please see the general budget guidelines for the OVPR Research Development Internal Funding awards.

Allowable costs: graduate student stipends/summer support, postdoc salaries, faculty summer fellowships (limited to $3000 per PI) only available to faculty on less than 12-month appointments with room for summer support), other research assistant salaries, associated fringe costs, instrument use fees, materials and supplies, contractual services (external consultants or fee-for-service providers). Other commercialization-related costs not specified here or in the not-allowed list below should be listed in the budget and justified. No more than 50% of funds in any budget period can be used for salary/fringe costs.
Not-allowable costs: faculty academic year salary, large equipment acquisition costs, publication costs, travel for the purpose of presenting research results, costs related to basic research aims, graduate tuition, any overhead or F&A, costs related to establishing a start-up company. If a faculty-owned company already exists, costs that occur within/related to the company are not allowable. All University financial conflict of interest policies must be observed.
Any changes to the budget of an awarded project must be approved in advance by the program director. Requests for rebudgeting can be made to research@uconn.edu.
Note: All contractual services and materials and supplies must be procured following University purchasing policies.

SPARK Technology Commercialization Fund

The Office of the Vice President for Research (OVPR) SPARK Technology Commercialization Fund supports the translation of research discoveries into products, processes, and other commercial applications. We are eager to identify and support UConn-developed inventions and technologies that address unmet needs and have strong potential for commercial application. We invite proposals from across all disciplines for projects that aim to advance these technologies forward toward commercialization.

Process and Timeline

The SPARK competition is organized into a two-step review process. 1) Applicants are asked to first submit a letter of intent designed to allow applicants to demonstrate that the project is ripe to transition from basic research to commercialization and to familiarize the review committee with the projects. The applicants with the most competitive projects will be invited to submit full proposals. Those invited to submit a full proposal will be required to meet with the Director, Venture Development prior to submitting the full proposal. 2) All full proposals will be reviewed to evaluate the project’s scientific background and commercial potential. Reviews will be conducted by a team of commercialization experts. The proposals which demonstrate the most promise for commercial success will be selected for funding.

The SPARK program allows for awarded projects to receive a total of $100K between the initial award and one-time follow-on funding. Follow-on funding is dependent on meeting established milestones, meeting program requirements, and demonstration of success.

Important Dates (all due dates by 12 noon)

9/16/24 – FY25 program opens.
10/28/2024 - 2-Page Letter of Intent. Click here for LOI submission details
1/13/2025 (or earlier) Invitations to submit full proposals will be sent.
2/24/2025 Full Proposal deadline (by invitation)
Award Notifications are expected in May, 2025

Award Details

The OVPR anticipates funding up to 4 projects each cycle.
Each award will begin with an initial award period of up to 1 year. Awarded project is also eligible for up to 1 year of follow-on funding pending the completion of specific milestones agreed upon at the time of the initial award.
Each award period (initial and follow-up) will be funded in two equal payments. The first payment will be made at the start of the award period. The second payment will be made six months into the award period, pending completion of milestones, submission of a brief report, and adherence to program guidelines.
Proposals should include plans for the full duration of the intended effort (including a follow-up award period, if one is anticipated), and they must include a list of objective proposed milestones to be completed, with a timeline.
Budgets for the initial award period should reflect the needs of the project for that period, up to $50K. Follow-on funding can be requested in amounts that would bring the total award size up to $100K. (Ex. $50K initial and $50K follow-on or $40K initial and $60K follow-on.
Standard award periods for both initial and follow-on funding are one year. We encourage applicants to submit well-defined scopes of work that can be completed within 1-2 years.
No-cost extensions are possible for SPARK awards but are typically only approved when extenuating circumstances beyond the control of the PI exist. Extensions needed because of compliance delays or to allow financial transactions to finalize are also allowed. Adequate justification / documentation will be required, and the program director may request a revised budget and timeline before extensions are approved. Requests for extensions can be made using the IFP Project Change form.
SPARK awards are intended to support the development of new innovations within the labs / research groups of UConn/UConn Health faculty members. SPARK funds cannot be used for a) continuing existing commercialization projects, b) costs related to creating/operating start-up companies, or c) development activities that take place in faculty-owned companies.
Projects that make use of UConn resources, core facilities, or that include significant interdisciplinary partnerships will be prioritized
No more than 50% of SPARK project budgets can be used to support salary & fringe for graduate assistants, postdocs, research associates, or technicians. Please see SPARK budget guidelines for more detail.
SPARK Awardees will be connected with commercialization experts from OVPR’s Technology Commercialization and Venture Development group. Awardees should expect to work closely with TCS to discuss progress/obstacles, undergo commercialization-related training, and to gain access to advice and resources that will enhance the project’s chances for commercial success. Awardees are expected to begin working with TCS's IP team to protect their innovation (target: provisional patent filing 6 months to 1 year after project launch).

The SPARK program is available to UConn/UConn Health faculty members, within the following parameters:

IP: Projects should have intellectual property at their core. To be eligible, project-related UConn IP must exist or the proposed scope of work must have a high likelihood of leading to a UConn invention disclosure by the end of the initial award period. Projects based on IP not developed by UConn are not eligible. Projects that have not produced an invention disclosure by the end of year 1 of funding will not be eligible for follow-on funding.
Startups and License Options: If a startup related to the SPARK project exists at the time of award, an option agreement must be taken within 6 months of the award. If a startup company related to the project is formed at any point in the future, an option agreement must be taken within six months of the startup creation.
Effort and Salary: Although no minimum effort level is required for SPARK projects, a PI must have departmental research time available during the award period or address in the application how they will handle the time commitment required by a SPARK project. Generally speaking, SPARK is only available to tenure-track, clinical, and (Storrs/Regional Campus) APiR faculty. Research Professors / those whose positions are contingent on grant-funding (soft money positions, including UCH in-residence faculty) are not eligible. Faculty with potential SPARK projects that involve grant-dependent faculty should contact the SPARK program director before applying.
UConn Primary Appointment: SPARK PIs must be faculty whose primary appointment is at UConn / UConn Health. Faculty with primary appointments to CCMC or Jackson Labs are not eligible to apply. PIs with a primary appointment at a TIP company are also not eligible. Individuals who are not eligible to apply as a PI may be able to serve as a collaborator/consultant on an eligible PI’s SPARK project.
Number of submissions: Eligible faculty can only submit one LOI/full proposal per year as lead PI. Investigators may serve as collaborator on multiple projects.
Past SPARK Winners: Projects/technologies that have received one round of initial and follow-up funding and projects/technologies that received SPARK funding prior to FY22 are not eligible for additional SPARK awards. Prior SPARK awardees may apply for SPARK funding for new projects/technologies that are distinct and independent of those funded with past SPARK awards. All past SPARK awardees are asked to consult with the program director prior to submission to ensure eligibility.

SPARK LOIs and Proposals will be scored based on the following criteria:

Market Need—does the innovation address an unmet need and is there evidence that there is a market for the proposed solution?

Does the applicant make a strong case that there is a need/problem that needs to be met?
To what degree will the innovation satisfy the unmet consumer, industry or medical need?
Does the proposal include market data and a compelling estimate as to what share of the market the innovation may realistically capture?

Innovation and Novelty—Is the innovation novel and/or does it make a significant improvement over currently-available solutions?

Does the proposal make a convincing argument that the innovation is novel and or makes a significant improvement over currently-available solutions?
Is there existing or the potential for intellectual property protection?
To what degree does the innovation solve the unmet need differently (e.g., better, faster, cheaper) than the current state-of-the art?
If novel, is the innovation a disruptive technology, a platform technology, or an incremental improvement over the current state-of-the art?

Commercialization Plan—Is there a realistic path for commercializing the innovation?

Does the proposal present a path to bring the innovation forward to market?
If so, is the path chosen (licensing, startup, etc.) the most promising for the innovation?
Does the proposal contain reasonable estimates of the time needed to enter the market?
Does the proposal present plans for future financing of the project, such as SBIR/STTR or industry investment?
For future development, will this technology require regulatory approval? If so, does the proposal address plans for successfully navigating the process?
Does the applicant point to any obvious potential licenses / commercial partners for this innovation?

Approach and Feasibility—Are the activities proposed attainable in the proposed timeline and are they consistent with the high scientific/scholarly standards?

Does the investigator/team have appropriate expertise and laboratory facilities available to conduct the work?
Does the project include the involvement of a UConn core facility or a third party be required to complete the work (e.g prototype development)? If so, have appropriate commitments been obtained?
To what degree will the activities proposed de-risk and advance the development of the innovation?

SPARK awardees agree to provide regular progress reports to the OVPR during and after the award period. Reports fall into four categories:

Consultations with TCS: Awardees are expected to connect regularly throughout the award period(s) with their point of contact within OVPR Technology Commercialization Services to discuss progress, to talk through potential problems, and to consider future steps and additional resources that may be of use. Each PI will work with their TCS contact to set up the best check-in schedule, but it is expected that consultations would happen at least on a quarterly basis.
Six-month Reporting: After six months of each award period (typically in September/October), applicants will be asked to submit a brief progress report via the Quest Portal. After review of this report, the second payment of the award period will be made to the award account.
- Applies to projects that begin in FY25.
- Additional guidelines will be provided in the near future.
Application for Renewal/Follow-on Funding: At the end of the initial award period, awardees will have an opportunity to request follow-on funding to support continued development of their innovation. The renewal process will proceed as follows:
- One month prior to the completion of the initial award period, awardees will receive an invitation to submit a renewal NOI (indicating whether they would like to renew, request an extension, or allow the project to close out).
- Awardees who select the renewal option will be able to submit a renewal application in the Quest system immediately after completion of the NOI.
- Renewal applications should include the following:
  - A brief oral presentation (20 min, followed by Q&A) on project activities and accomplishments and plans for the follow-on award period. The presentation should address the milestones agreed upon at the start of the initial award period and demonstrate that they have been satisfactorily completed. The OVPR will reach out to awardees to schedule this presentation after receiving their follow-on funding NOI.
  - A revised scope of work for the follow-up award period, detailing proposed activities and how those activities will move the technology forward along its path to market
  - A new budget with justifications outlining how follow-up funds will be used.
  - Renewal applicants are limited to 3 pages, plus references and budget
- Invention Disclosure(s): It is expected that all SPARK awards should lead to at least 1 UConn invention disclosure within six months of the close of the award period. Invention disclosures are required prior to receiving a second year of funding.
- Annual Reports: Recognizing that investments made by the OVPR can often take some time to produce their full results, we will be asking that all recipients of OVPR Internal Funding, including SPARK, submit annual reports over the life of the project. This will allow us to better understand the impact of internal funding and make the case for it continuing / increasing.
- Reporting requirements: PIs will need to prepare a brief report, using this Award Report Template to summarize project progress within one month of posting final expenses unless an extension from the OVPR has been received.
  - We’ll be interested in hearing about the results of your project,
  - the significance of those results, and
  - gathering statistics about graduate students supported, publications, external grants / patents received, other projects launched, etc.
  - Other questions may also be included as needed. The OVPR may request updates annually for up to five years following the end of the award period to track the development of the project longitudinally.

Program Contacts:
The SPARK program is jointly administered by OVPR Technology Commercialization Services and Internal Funding Program.

Program Director
Dr. Vivek Ramakrishnan
Director, Venture Development, OVPR Technology Commercialization Services
vivek.ramakrishnan@uconn.edu

Dr. Matt Mroz
Manager, Research Development Services
matthew.mroz@uconn.edu

Program point of contact (Contact for information on program/process, application status, award management/extensions)

Charlotte Nelson
Internal Funding Coordinator
research@uconn.edu

ResearchMatch

ResearchMatch.org is a national online recruitment tool for health research, funded by the National Institutes of Health and maintained at Vanderbilt University. ResearchMatch connects health researchers with individuals interested in volunteering, through its secure online matching tool. UConn is part of the ResearchMatch Network. There is no cost to UConn researchers to use ResearchMatch. There are currently over 120,000 registered volunteers across the country. ResearchMatch is also available in Spanish.

Register now to see if ResearchMatch might be a useful recruitment tool for your health-outcomes research study:

Use this link to register as a researcher: https://www.researchmatch.org/researchers/. You do not need to be a Principal Investigator to register. The registration process takes less than 10 minutes and when you are finished, you will be granted “feasibility access” to do a feasibility search of aggregate data regarding the current ResearchMatch volunteer population. You will be able to see the demographic and health information breakdown for the volunteers within a designated geographic area.

If you decide to use ResearchMatch to conduct participant recruitment, you will need IRB approval:

The Vanderbilt IRB provides oversight for ResearchMatch as a recruitment tool and this has been documented within the ResearchMatch IRB Letter of Understanding (available upon request), but to use ResearchMatch as a recruitment tool for a specific study, you will first need to get UConn IRB approval.
1. For the IRB submission, the following language may be used to describe ResearchMatch as a recruitment method: Potential volunteers will be contacted by ResearchMatch via an email contact message containing IRB-approved recruitment language for this study (not including direct study contact information such as study phone number). Volunteers will then have the option of replying by clicking ‘yes’ or ‘no’ in the contact message. If a volunteer chooses to respond in the affirmative, they will authorize ResearchMatch to release their contact information to the PI (or ResearchMatch designee) who will be responsible for managing that information according to institutional guidelines.
2. The contact message consists of the language to be used in the email sent by ResearchMatch on your behalf to potential participants. Please note that your contact message must not include your direct study contact information (email or phone), and must not exceed 2000 characters. If the study involves in-person participation, you may want to include the geographical location of the study site. If you intend to include healthy controls, specify that in your contact message, otherwise, a healthy control volunteer may decline participation. Please see contact message examples provided by ResearchMatch as well as this form that offers additional tips for creating an effective contact message.
Once ResearchMatch is an IRB-approved recruitment method, you may then register as a researcher to request “recruitment access” in ResearchMatch. You will need to upload your IRB approval letter and your IRB-approved contact message. Recruitment access will give you the ability to send your contact message to potential participants that you select. If a potential participant agrees, you will then have access to his/her contact information in order to contact about possible study participation.

For questions about about how to use ResearchMatch for your health research, please contact ResearchMatch Liaison, Ellen Ciesielski, eciesielski@uchc.edu.

NASA Restrictions on Funding Activities with China

In guidance documents issued in February 2012, NASA noted that appropriation bills for the past two years (NASA’s 2011 continuing resolution and NASA’s fiscal year 2012 appropriation) contain a funding restriction with respect to China. Specifically, the funding statute states that none of the funds appropriated may be used by NASA to:

develop, design, plan, promulgate, implement, or execute a bilateral policy, program, order, or contract of any kind to participate, collaborate, or coordinate bilaterally in any way with China or any Chinese-owned company unless such activities are specifically authorized [by law.]

Although the statute does not define “China” or “Chinese-owned company,” NASA’s procurement guidance states that the terms mean the People’s Republic of China, any company owned by the People’s Republic of China, or any company incorporated under the laws of the People’s Republic of China.

The statute applies to any NASA grant, cooperative agreement, or contract and applies to all subrecipients at any level. Therefore, the restriction prohibits UConn from collaborating with or issuing a subaward to the Chinese government (e.g., the China National Space Administration), a government-owned company, or a company incorporated under Chinese law. This includes using NASA funds for the U.S. side of a collaboration with these entities that is performed on a “no-exchange-of-funds” basis. The restrictions do not apply to commercial items of supply needed to perform a grant or cooperative agreement.

The appropriations law does not restrict the use of NASA funds to support Chinese national students or visiting researchers as long as they do not have a current affiliation with a Chinese university. NASA grants guidance document states participation by Chinese nationals will be reviewed by NASA grant and technical officers prior to awarding grants or cooperative agreements (including amendments).

You can view this PDF for more information, and also go here to see NASA’s FAQs on the topic.

Please contact exportcontrol@uconn.edu with any questions.

International Travel

To Countries of Concern

All UConn faculty, staff or students planning international travel to a country sanctioned by the U.S. Government must clear their travel plans with the Export Control office (exportcontrol@uconn.edu) to ensure that any required approvals or licenses are in place prior to departure.

Highest Risk (countries which have OFAC sanctions or embargoes in place)

Country	Type of Sanction
Belarus	No contact or business with certain individuals and their associations.*
Burma (Myanmar)	No imports, no financial transfers to Burma, no investments with companies primarily dealing in or with Burma.
Congo, Democratic Republic of	No contact or business with certain individuals and their associations.*
Crimea Region of Ukraine (annexed by Russia)	Comprehensive embargo. No travel without prior written approval by OVPR Senior Export Control Officer. No imports, no exports, restrictions on financial transactions. No contact or business with certain individuals and their associations.*
Cuba	Comprehensive embargo. No travel without prior written approval by OVPR Senior Export Control Officer. No imports, no exports, no financial transactions, no trade in Cuban goods. No contact or business with certain individuals and their associations.*
Iran	Comprehensive embargo. No travel without prior written approval by OVPR Senior Export Control Officer. No imports, no exports, no financial transactions, no trade in Iranian goods. No contact or business with certain individuals and their associations.*
Iraq	Contact Export Control Office
Ivory Coast	No contact or business with certain individuals and their associations.*
Liberia	No contact or business with the former Liberian regime of Charles Taylor.*
Libya	No contact or business with the Libyan regime of Moammar Gadhafi.
North Korea	Comprehensive embargo. No travel without prior written approval by OVPR Senior Export Control Officer. No imports, no exports, no financial transactions. No contact or business with certain individuals and their associations.*
Somalia	No contact or business with certain individuals and their associations.*
Sudan	Contact Export Control Office
Syria	Comprehensive embargo. No travel without prior written approval by OVPR Senior Export Control Officer. No exports, restrictions on certain imports, restrictions on financial transactions. No contact or business with certain individuals and their associations.*
Zimbabwe	No contact or business with certain individuals and their associations.*

*Contact the Export Control office (exportcontrol@uconn.edu) for screening of contacts.

High Risk Countries (The government holds a general policy of license denial for ITAR^* or dual-use goods) Afghanistan, Algeria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Burma/Myanmar, Central African Republic, China, Comoros, Congo, Cote d’Iviore, Cuba, Cyprus, Eritrea, Haiti, Hong Kong, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Liberia, Libya, Macau, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Palestine, People’s Republic of Korea, Russia, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Syria, Saudia Arabia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Vietnam, Venezuela, Yemen, and Zimbabwe.

With Equipment (Including Computers), Data or Software

All UConn faculty, staff or students planning international travel with equipment or a laptop or other mobile computing device that has encryption software installed should be aware that certain equipment and encryption technology may be subject to export controls by the U.S. and other countries. The U.S. Department of Commerce and the Department of the Treasury have rules prohibiting the transportation of certain controlled equipment encryption technology into certain countries. All travelers who will be carrying or shipping equipment or encryption technology out of the U.S. are strongly encouraged to consult with the UConn Export Control office (exportcontrol@uconn.edu) or review this PDF for more information.

International Shipping

Everything that leaves U.S. borders is considered an export. Shipments of items (e.g., materials, equipment, technical data, software) sent to international entities are subject to U.S. export control laws. Prior to shipping an item internationally, UConn and UConn Health employees are required by policy to perform a due diligence check and communicate with the appropriate UConn offices to help ensure you are lawfully shipping your item.

Shipping is managed by the individual UConn or UConn Health employee creating the shipment. UConn and UConn Health employees are responsible for contacting UConn (Export Control Office) ECO to review shipments sent internationally to ensure export control requirements are met.

Restricted Party Screening: The ECO will conduct Restricted Party Screening of the intended recipients and recipient organizations to ensure those individuals/organizations are not on a federal government restricted parties list.
Classifying and Licensing: Items listed on the USML or with an ECCN may require export licenses with the relevant federal agencies. If you know your item’s classification or you are unsure of your item’s classification, please contact UConn ECO to help classify the shipment contents and/or determine if a license is required to ship the item(s).
Biological Materials: Shipments of biological materials (e.g., microorganisms, cell cultures, animal, plant or human samples, etc.) to a collaborator, industry partner, or back to the University from a field research site must comply with Dangerous Goods (Hazardous Materials) shipping regulations. Individuals planning to ship biological materials must complete training through Environmental Health and Safety at the Storrs and regional campuses or UConn Health to learn how to properly classify, identify, package, mark, label, and document shipments of biological materials and dry ice.
Hazardous Materials: Shipments of hazardous chemicals, batteries, wastes, and other materials must comply with regulations of the United States Department of Transportation (DOT), International Air Transport Association (IATA), and International Maritime Dangerous Goods (IMDG) when shipping by ground, air, or vessel.
Material Transfer Agreements (MTA): An MTA is a contract that governs the transfer of various biological and research materials between two or more organizations. MTAs are reviewed by and UConn ECO. If you have questions regarding your MTA or if your shipment items require an MTA, please contact Ana Fidantsef (fidantsef@uconn.edu) at UConn TCS or UConn ECO.

To learn more about exports and international shipping, UConn offers FREE export control training through CITI to provide additional guidance on international shipment requirements. This training is freely available to all UConn and UConn Health faculty, employees, and students with a NetID. UConn Policy requires all export control project personnel affiliated with a Technology Control Plan (TCP), Technology Control & Security Plan (TCSP), or Access Control Plan (PICACP) to complete international shipping training.

UConn’s Export Control Office works with shipping partners across the university to quickly review international shipping requests.

Please contact exportcontrol@uconn.edu with any questions regarding international shipments.

Export Control Contacts

Name	Title	Email
Export Control	General Mailbox	exportcontrol@uconn.edu

SCRO Contacts

Name	Title	Phone	Email
Audrey R. Chapman, PhD	Chair, SCRO Committee	860.679.1590	achapman@uchc.edu
Ellen Ciesielski	SCRO Coordinator	860.679.6004	eciesielski@uchc.edu

SCRO Committee Members

Audrey R. Chapman, PhD, Committee Chair, Professor, School of Medicine, Public Health Sciences

Peter Barwick, MD, Physician (retired), Community Member

Eric Bernstein, JD, EdD, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, School of Dental Medicine

Stephen Clark, PhD, Associate Professor Emeritus, School of Dental Medicine, Genetics and Genome Sciences

Caroline Dealy, PhD, Associate Professor, School of Dental Medicine, Craniofacial Sciences

Jaime Imitola, MD, Vice Chair of Research in Neurology, School of Medicine

James Mulrooney, PhD, Dean, Professor, Central Connecticut State University, Biomolecular Science

Leonard Paplauskas, UConn Health, Associate Vice President, Research Administration (retired)

Ted Rasmussen, PhD, Associate Professor, UConn, Pharmaceutical Sciences

Ernst Reichenberger, PhD, Professor, School of Dental Medicine, Center for Regenerative Medicine and Skeletal Development

Richard Tombaugh, PhD, Theologian, Community Member

Isolde Bates, ex officio member, Business Services Manager, Genetics and Genome Sciences

Maureen Sansone, ex officio member, IRB Administrator, The Jackson Laboratory

Ellen Ciesielski, SCRO Coordinator, UConn Health, Research Integrity & Compliance

University Phone Directory

Trying to find the contact information for a specific staff member by name? Search the appropriate University telephone directories:

Limited Submission Competitions

Welcome to the OVPR's new limited submission page! Launched in December 2022, this new approach to limited submissions will allow investigators access to more detailed and up-to-date information about available limited submission opportunities. We hope that you will find these changes helpful as you seek appropriate funding opportunities for your research! Please send any feedback you may have to research@uconn.edu.

The Office of the Vice President for Research (OVPR) is pleased to announce these limited submission funding opportunities/awards. Limited submission programs allow only a select number of applicants from each institution. In order to determine which PIs will be selected as the official applicants from UConn/UConn Health, an OVPR internal competition may be necessary (full process is described at our website).

All PIs who wish to be considered for these opportunities must submit a notification of intent to submit form through the UConn Quest Portal by the due date listed in the competition advertisement. PIs must be selected and approved by the OVPR to be eligible to submit.

This table details limited submission opportunities that have past the internal NOI deadline, but received no submissions. These are available until either an NOI is submitted by a researcher, or the first sponsor deadline passes. Once one of these situations occur, the opportunity is no longer available for new submissions and will be removed from the table.

In rare occasions, some opportunities may have fast approaching deadlines, and as a result, an internal competition cannot be held within a reasonable time. These opportunities can also be found within this table.

Research Development

The fundamental goals of the Office of the Vice President for Research (OVPR) Research Development programs are to

enhance the research climate at the University of Connecticut by promoting faculty research
help faculty in all disciplines move into a better position to generate external funding for their scholarly and creative activities

The OVPR provides Research Development Services

grant writing seminars and workshops
proposal development services
technical assistance

Partnering with Industry

The OVPR is your home for all industry-sponsored research activities.

We would like to work with you and your industry partners to ensure that our collaborative research discussions are productive, that negotiations are successful, and that both parties’ needs are met. We also ensure that agreements are in accordance with University policies and procedures as well as federal regulations and requirements.

We’ve prepared a document that outlines our philosophy and that may be useful to share with your industrial partners.

Export Control Agreements

Export control laws are federal regulations that govern how certain information, technologies, and commodities can be transmitted overseas or to a foreign national on U.S. soil. The scope of the regulations is broad: they cover exports in virtually all fields of science, engineering, and technology and apply to research activities regardless of the source of funding. Failure to comply with these laws can have serious consequences, both for the institution and for the individual researcher. Potential penalties include fines and possibly imprisonment. It is thus critical for UConn researchers to understand their obligations under these regulations and to work with Research Compliance Services to ensure that the University is in compliance.

Please visit this section in the Research Integrity & Regulatory Affairs area of the website for more information.

Storrs-UConn Health F&A

Because Storrs and UCH are two separate entities both from the standpoint of the state and for federal grants (and have different financial systems), this places us in a situation similar to the University of Maryland, University of Massachusetts and Cornell University. We used the Cornell model to develop guidelines to promote intercampus collaborations between Storrs and UCH and placed them on our website earlier this year. This has assisted researchers in understanding the procedures at the other campus and resolved issues that in the past have been a concern.

We currently have a global MOA between Storrs and UCH and create individual agreements for each project. They are simple and are put in place quickly.

Additionally the current practice is for the prime recipient to waive F&As on the first $25K of the sub-award if including them would diminish proposed direct costs.

In situations where amount of project cost funding is capped and the subrecipient’s F&As are included in the total direct costs, the subrecipient organization will not include its F&As in the budget. Once awarded, the prime recipient will share its F&As with the subrecipient proportionately to the awarded direct costs. This will be implemented for all future grants.

OVPR Staff Resources

Welcome to the OVPR Staff Resources Page!

If you are looking for information that cannot be found here, please reach out to us at ovprhr@uconn.edu for assistance.

The OVPR Operations Team provides administrative, financial and technical staff and programmatic support across all UConn and UConn Health locations. We are the “people-support” people of the OVPR!

Check back frequently for announcements and current information.

OVPR Operations Team

Julie Schwager, Associate Vice President for Research Finance / Executive Director of Operations

@OVPR HR Operations

Rebecca Myshrall – Director
Kelley Bilodeau – OVPR HR Assistant
Laurie Pudlo – Administrative Manager
Dana Wine – Administrative Specialist

Computer and Technical Support

Andrew Rittner – Computer Support Consultant
Matthew J. Cook – Director of Research IT / Application Support
OVPR eRA Help Desk – Technical Support for OVPR systems

@Research Finance

Deanna Thibodeau – Director
Priscilla Arguello – Staff Accountant
Jessica Gust – Supervising Accountant
Evelyn Grados – Staff Accountant
Monika Kolacz – Fiscal Assistant
Adrianna Lala-Kapusta – Fiscal Assistant
Cody Revicki – Fiscal Assistant
Uma Raghavan – Staff Accountant
Marissa Wall – Staff Accountant

Official Info and Action Items for OVPR Staff: OVPR Minute

Previous Issues

New Resource(s) / Recently Added

OVPR Orientation and HR Open Office Hour. New and current OVPR staff and supervisors are invited to join the OVPR HR Team weekly for an overview of time cards, benefits, and open Q & A (please email ovprhr@uconn.edu if you have difficulties connecting).