Schweppe Foundation/Armour Endowments

Upon its dissolution in 2011, the Schweppe Foundation established an endowment at Rush to support early career investigators with research pilot awards via internal competition. Rush’s Trustees later designated a portion of an Armour family estate gift to be paired with Schweppe as internal matching funds.

Funding amounts and availability

• This pilot funding program awards up to two grants annually of up to $50,000 each. The period of support is 1 year.
• Faculty salary support is not allowed.
• No Cost Extensions (NCE) will not be allowed.

Eligible investigators

• Applicants must be early career investigators.
• Early investigators, women, and members of groups underrepresented in research are encouraged to apply. There are no citizenship or residency requirements.

Criteria

• Proposals must be for patient oriented clinical, health services or community health focused research. Interdisciplinary proposals are encouraged.
• Applicants may submit only one application as a principal investigator/multiple PIs per award cycle. 

How to apply

Please submit your proposal using the online application form. The submission link will be emailed to PIs who submit an RSVP.

Your proposal should consist of 1 PDF file:

• A cover page, containing the following:
  • Grant proposal title
  • MPIs names, highest degree, position title, department/division, phone number, and email
  • Funding amount requesting
  • A statement of whether the proposal research overlaps in whole or part with any ongoing efforts or any submitted proposals
• Budget in NIH PHS398 forms
  • Allowable: Fringe benefits 22%, Rush non-faculty/student salary support, and publication costs
  • Not allowable: Faculty salary support, indirect costs, or capital expenses.
• Biographical sketches in current NIH format for PI only
• Body of application 
  • Formatting: 11-point Arial font with at least 1/2-inch margins
  • Project summary/abstract in layman’s terms (no more than 1 page)
  • Specific aims (1 page)
  • Research Strategy: Significance, innovation, and approach (2 pages)
  • Literature Cited (1 page)
  • Plan for Future Funding (1/2 page)
  • A letter of support from the PI’s Department Chair/Division

Review Process

Following peer review, applications that demonstrate potential for future funding will be prioritized.

Award Timeline

• Anticipated award letter: December 2024
• Anticipated funding period: February 1, 2025, to January 31, 2026