MMPC :: VIBRANT Travel

MMPC-Live VIBRANT Travel Program

What is the MMPC-Live Vibrant Travel and Career Development Program?

The MMPC-Live VIBRANT program aims to provide phenotyping services, training, expert consultation, and other resources designed to help New Investigators historically underrepresented in biomedical sciences or from research institutions that serve this group. The MMPC-Live Vibrant Travel and Career Development Program provides funding for Vibrant-eligible investigators to travel to scientific meetings or participate in training opportunities (e.g., courses, workshops) that will enhance their research and competitiveness.

Who can apply to the MMPC-Live Travel and Career Development Program?

Any MMPC-Live Vibrant-eligible investigator can apply to the program. Vibrant eligibility guidelines can be found by clicking here.

VIBRANT investigator eligibility criteria:

MMPC-Live clients that meet the following criteria are eligible for VIBRANT benefits.

An MMPC-Live eligible client is a New Investigator as defined by the NIH*, and
Is in at least ONE of the following groups:
- Identifies as part of a group historically underrepresented in biomedical research**
- Primary faculty affiliation is with a Minority Serving Institution***

*A PD/PI who has not previously competed successfully as a PD/PI for a substantial independent research award is considered a New Investigator. For example, a PD/PI who has previously received a competing NIH R01 research grant is no longer considered a New Investigator. However, a PD/PI who has received a Small Grant (R03) or an Exploratory/Developmental Research Grant Award (R21) retains his or her status as a New Investigator. The list of NIH grants that a PD/PI can hold and still be considered a New Investigator can be found here.

** A recent NIH notice recognizes a broad set of individuals as Underrepresented Populations in the U.S. Biomedical, Clinical, Behavioral and Social Sciences Research Enterprise. These include scientists (a) from certain racial and ethnic groups, (b) with disabilities, or (c) from disadvantaged backgrounds. Women from these groups were noticed as especially underrepresented (https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-20-031.html)

***Minority Serving Institutions as defined by the U.S. Department of Education (https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/edlite-minorityinst-list-tab.html).

How are the funds awarded? How much is awarded?

Awardees will be responsible for arranging their economy airline itinerary, hotel and meeting registration.
Applicants will receive reimbursement up to $2,500 to cover the cost of travel to the meeting or the cost of the training opportunity through the process below.

Awardees will be responsible for submitting expenses to the MMPC-Live Coordinating Unit at Augusta University. All receipts for the airline, hotel, meeting registration, transportation (e.g., Taxi/Uber/Lyft) and parking will be submitted using this form. The per diem for food is $75/day and does not require receipts.
Round trip airfare must be economy/coach class. MMPC-Live will not reimburse for seat selection fees, costs for seat upgrades, premium seating, upgrades beyond economy and coach and early boarding fees are personal convenience items.

Which meetings or training opportunities are eligible for Vibrant Travel support?

All meeting or training opportunities must be related to the mission of the NIDDK and MMPC-Live. The applicant's proposal may be focused on a meeting, workshop, or career development opportunity and is confined to North America (e.g. US, Canada, or Mexico).

When is the application deadline? How often will applications be reviewed?

Applicants should submit prior to the deadline in respect to the desired conference or training opportunity. Applications can be submitted to the MMPC-Live web portal at any time. The review of submitted applications will occur three times a year and provide a quick turnaround from review to award.

Application final submission deadlines and corresponding event dates:

Application Deadline	Requested Event Date	Notification Date
March 1	May 1 – Aug. 30	March 31
July 1	Sept. 1 – Dec. 31	July 31
November 1	Jan. 1 – April 30	Nov. 30

How do I apply? What documents are required?

Applications are submitted via the MMPC-Live website here.

The application requires a short Letter of Intent.

Letter of Intent (one page or less). The Letter of Intent should be a short description of how the meeting or training opportunity will benefit your research and/or career trajectory, and how the activity aligns with the mission of the NIDDK and MMPC-Live. Please include a summary of recent research performed in your laboratory.

All LOIs must be submitted via the MMPC-Live website as a single PDF file in the application.

How many awards are available per cycle? How often can I apply?

The number of awards will depend upon funds available and quality of applications.

Multiple meeting funding requests per review cycle are not allowed, and awardees are only eligible for one award per calendar year.

How are MMPC-Live Vibrant Travel applications reviewed?

Each application will receive a rigorous review:

Mission fit. The MMPC-Live Vibrant Committee will review all applications submitted for responsiveness to the program.
Committee Review and Selection. All applications will undergo review by the MMPC-Live Vibrant Committee to assess how the travel/career development opportunity will impact the applicant’s research and/or career success.

PLEASE NOTE: Applications that are incomplete, non-compliant and/or nonresponsive will not be reviewed. No additional materials may be submitted after the application review cycle deadline date. Final funding decisions will be made by the MMPC-Live Vibrant Committee. All decisions are final and appeals will not be accepted for applications submitted in response to this solicitation.

What else should I know?

Financial acknowledgment of award: Please acknowledge all posters, manuscripts or scientific materials that were generated in part or whole using funds from MMPC-Live using the following text: Financial support for this work was provided by the NIDDK Mouse Metabolic Phenotyping Centers (MMPC-Live, RRID:SCR_008997, www.mmpc.org) under the MMPC-Live Vibrant Program, grant DK135044.

For presentations and slides, please use the funding source logo files found in the zip file here to indicate that MMPC-Live is a funding source for your presentations.

Who should I contact with additional questions?

Richard McIndoe, Ph.D. (Coordinator)

MMPC-Live Coordinating Unit

Augusta University

Center for Biotechnology and Genomic Medicine

1120 15th Street, CA4124

Augusta, GA 30912-4810

Phone: 706-721-3542

Fax: 706-721-3688

rmcindoe@augusta.edu