Research

An Ethics/Responsible Conduct of Research series for postdocs was initiated in 2011 and continues with one session per quarter. Ethics training is mandatory for postdoctoral trainees supported on NIH T32 training grants and individual NIH NRSAs (F and K fellowships). NIH recommends 8 hours of ethics training at the start of training, and then again every 4 years. The Institute for Translational Medicine offers an 8-session summer RCR course each July, covering everything from conflicts of interest to ethical treatment of animals to intellectual property.

• Writing a grant? Here is a boilerplate template for ethics requirements.
• RCR info from University Research Administration

Funding Databases

• Pivot: updated daily and provides information about more than $44 billion in funding opportunities from federal, non-federal, foundation, corporate, and other private sponsors across a wide variety of disciplines
• GrantForward
• UChicago Comprehensive Cancer Center Database
• BSD funding opportunities
• ITM funding opportunities
• Many funding opportunities have US citizenship requirements, but not all. Check out the UChicagoGRAD Fellowships database, which compiles many funding opportunities and includes various filters to help you find the best match. You can also make a one-on-one appointment with a fellowship advisor to explore opportunities.

Funding Specifically for Postdocs

• BSD Training Grants that accept postdoc trainees and ITM TL1 Trainees
• NIH grant programs for postdoctoral researchers
• Funding opportunities compiled by NIH Fogarty International Center
• Postdoc funding lists compiled by Harvard and UW-Madison

All grant proposal submissions are handled at the departmental level. Before beginning a proposal, contact your departmental administrator who can assist with the development and submission of your proposals. All proposals submitted through the university must have institutional endorsement.

• Institutional commitment boilerplate

• Environmental Health and Safety
• UChicago Tech Office of Technology and Intellectual Property
• UChicago Libraries
• Interested in applying for an NIH Career Development (K) Award? The Institute for Translational Medicine offers Career Award Writing Workshops (KWW). Sessions are held three months before the next NIH submission date.
• University of Chicago students, postdocs, faculty, and staff have access to a premium BioRender license to illustrate their science for grant applications, publications, posters, and meetings. This software is quickly becoming the industry standard for scientific illustrations. See the BioRender website for more information.

BSD Office of Shared Research

BSD shared research facilities, also known as Core Facilities, are centralized areas of technology and expertise providing a wide variety of services to support the research efforts of the University. Their website has a full list of the facilities and resources available to further your research.

University Research Administration

The URA website contains links to all the institutional oversight offices including animal and human subjects research, biosafety and radiation safety. URA also posts updates to policies from the major funding agencies (NIH, NSF).

The Office of Shared Research Facilities is excited to announce a new partnership with Chicago-based technology company, Rheaply, in an effort to facilitate sharing and drive better visibility of UChicago’s surplus resources.

Rheaply’s Asset Exchange Manager  (log in here for free with your CNet ID) will allow researchers to use available resources before purchasing them again, facilitating peer-to-peer surplus sharing and more sustainable procurement within the research community. And when surplus assets are no longer needed on campus or elsewhere in the Rheaply network, Rheaply completely manages the resale and external transfer of surplus assets with other downstream partners, bringing a total circular economy of reuse to the University of Chicago.

This technology is now available to all staff, faculty and students across departments, enabling users to request things they need from a growing community on Rheaply, giving unwanted items a new home.