Center Core Activities

The Administrative Core of the center provides resources for grant and fiscal administration as well as coordinating the activities of CNR core facilities and personnel. Operational issues related to grant funding, billing for core services, monthly meetings of the steering committee, maintenance of a core research database, and publication of the CNR newsletter are coordinated through the administrative office. As described below, the Administrative Core also supervises the CNR Pilot Project Program.

Pilot Project Program
The Tufts Center for Neuroscience Research (CNR) has made pilot grant awards for several years to support collaborative research projects among Tufts Neuroscience faculty. The goal of the existing pilot grant program is to provide funds to facilitate research collaborations between neuroscientists and to allow neuroscience investigators the opportunity to gather preliminary data needed for a collaborative NIH grant submission. We offer both annual pilot grants and core grants (see below).

Annual CNR Pilot Grant Program
We will continue to administer the existing CNR pilot grant program, which is made possible by generous contributions from the Vice Provost’s office and the medical school dean. These collaborative grants support the work of two or more Tufts Neuroscience faculty (tenure or tenure-track) who wish to collect preliminary data for a new grant application. The awards are made on an annual basis and we now call for applications for the eighth round of pilot award funding. Please click here for proposal instructions and application procedure.

2012 Pilot Project Application and Award Schedule

	April 2, 2012		Letters of intent due by 5pm
	May 1, 2012		Completed proposals due by 5pm

Another CNR Funding Mechanism: the CNR Core Award
The CNR Core Award is designed to encourage neuroscience investigators to utilize core services of the center. In addition to the CNR cores, investigators can make use of the Tufts Molecular Facility (operated by Mike Berne and Jon DeGnore in Physiology) to pursue experiments involving mass spectrometry. The program will offer small awards to individual neuroscientists or groups of neuroscientists wishing to collect preliminary data for a new grant application. Applications use a format similar to the one employed for the annual pilot awards; however, awards for the core program are limited to $3000 and the funds must be spent within CNR core facilities or in the Tufts Molecular Facility within a six-month period of time. Applications must indicate how the award will facilitate the collection of preliminary data for a new grant application. Interested neuroscientists may submit an application at any time, which will be reviewed by the CNR operations committee in an expedited manner. To submit a core award application, please follow the instructions at this link.

Annual Research Retreat
The CNR Annual Research retreat will be held each year, coincident with the meeting of the external Scientific Advisory Committee. This retreat will provide an opportunity for interaction among NINDS and other investigators through short talks, poster presentations, and faculty meetings. Both students and postdoctoral fellows of NINDS labs are encouraged and invited to attend. For additional information about the Annual CNR Research Retreat, please contact Megan Morgove

CNR Newsletter
The CNR Newsletter, published on a biannual basis, keeps you up-to-date on the Center's announcements, plans, resources and services, personnel changes, and core activities. You can also see past issues of the Newsletter on the Archives page.