Application Procedures and Suggested Timeline

DUE DATE

Applications for San Diego Center for AIDS Research (CFAR) traditional Developmental grants are accepted twice each year and must be submitted via REDCap. Applications for the next cycle are due by 5:00 pm Pacific Time on October 1, 2025. All investigators are encouraged to submit their applications up to a week in advance so that errors or technical difficulties can be addressed before the submission deadline. SD CFAR staff will let you know if your application needs corrections or is ready to be reviewed. Applications that do not conform to the posted guidelines will be returned without further review.

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SUGGESTED APPLICATION TIMELINE

Suggested Deadline	Task
By September 1	Contact SD CFAR Service Cores if you plan to request assistance.
By September 24	Submit application to mentor via REDCap for review and approval. Instructions included on the last page of your REDCap application.
By September 30	Mentor signs off and completes application. This allows the Admin Core time to review the application and suggest any revisions/edits.
October 1	Developmental Grant application due by 5:00 pm Pacific Time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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APPLICATION

Applications are submitted through REDCap. You may start your online application, receive a personalized link, and return to complete your application at any time leading up to the due date. Please note the following recommendations and refer to the suggested timeline above:

1. NOTE: We are unable to accept proposals with international components at this time.  
2. Your mentor will be required to sign off on your application. Allow 5-7 business days for your mentor to review and provide feedback.
3. We strongly recommend that you submit your completed application with your mentor's signature, at least one week before the due date for administrative preview and corrections, if needed.

 

Download the following forms to start preparing your application. Note that you will enter some content directly into REDCap, while other pages will be uploaded as indicated below. 

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INFORMATION TO BE ENTERED INTO REDCAP:

• Face page and demographic information
• Abstract
• Goals/mentoring plan
• Budget in Excel or Budget in Word
  • Developmental grant applicants may apply for a maximum of $50,000. 
• Budget justification
  • Please explain how each item in your requested budget will further your research plan. Briefly describe the specific expertise and role of each person listed in the budget, and the reasons you are requesting specific equipment, supplies, or other expenses, such as participant reimbursement.
  • Travel is only allowed for early stage investigators to present results of their Developmental grants at scientific conferences.
• Environment and institutional commitment
  • Describe your research environment and institutional commitment to support your project, if funded.
• Service core checklist
  • If you plan to request assistance from SD CFAR service cores, you must contact the cores at least 4 weeks before grant submission. Although many services are offered for free to SD CFAR grant recipients, there may still be some costs that you need to include in your budget. Additionally, the cores work with many investigators and you need to know of any time and schedule limitations.

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FILES TO BE UPLOADED INTO REDCAP:

• Blank NIH other support
  • Only required by the Developmental grant PI
  • Visit this NIH webpage for links to detailed instructions, FAQs, and a sample other support file.
• Blank NIH non-fellowship biosketch
  • Visit this NIH webpage for links to detailed instructions, FAQs, and a sample biosketch.
  • Include one for the Developmental grant PI, mentor if applicable, and each co-investigator.
  • Combine all biosketches into a single PDF before uploading.

• Research plan and literature cited

  • Describe your research plan following the outline below:

1. Specific Aims
2. Significance
3. Preliminary Studies (if applicable)
4. Experimental Design and Methods
5. Literature Cited (not included in 4 page limit)

• Sections 1-4 must be covered in four pages. You may take as many pages as needed for section 5. Follow NIH guidelines for typeface and size (minimum 11 point type).

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