Request for Applications — Fellowships

Fellows may submit a proposal that examines any aspect of polycystic kidney disease biology. Applicants must:

1. Hold an M.D. or Ph.D. or the equivalent degree at the time of the award.
2. May not have completed the equivalent of more than four years of research training (excluding clinical training) after completion of the M.D. (or equivalent) or postdoctoral research training after the Ph.D. at the time the award begins. This does not include medical leave or FMLA.
3. Complete research under the direction of a mentor.
4. Not hold another full fellowship award although institutional supplemental support is acceptable.
5. Commit a minimum of 75% of time to research and training during the fellowship period.

The Award of $70,000 per year will be provided for two years (grant total of $140,000).

The funds awarded must be used solely for the purposes specified in the proposal submitted to and approved by the PKD Foundation as executed by the investigator and institution in strict compliance with the budget attached to the application. Future-year funding is dependent upon availability of funds and interim research progress.

This funding opportunity has following restrictions:

1. No Indirect Costs are paid on this award.
2. Any use of the award for salary support must be justified in the application.
3. Consultant costs cannot exceed $10,000; equipment costs cannot exceed $10,000.
4. No more than $1,500 per year may be used for travel.
5. Successful applicants may not hold any other research funding from the PKD Foundation at the time funding of this grant begins.
6. Applicants with existing funding from other sources (on which they are in the role of the lead investigator) will not be eligible to apply for this award, although institutional supplemental support is acceptable.
7. All current or potential funding must be disclosed at the time of application.

The PKD Foundation strives to be transparent related to our decision-making processes. We rely on our grant review committees, who develop recommendations for funding, as well as the process we use as a Foundation to make funding decisions. Learn more here. 

Grantees must submit an annual Progress Report to be submitted along with a Financial Report. As part of these reports, a brief (one or two paragraph) summary written for the lay public must be included.  Although Research Grant and Fellowship Awards are for a two-year period, the PKD Foundation reserves the right to terminate any grant if there has been inadequate research progress during the first year of the award.

Download the PKDF Report Requirements.

A stipulation to all awards is appropriate attribution of the PKD Foundation in any publication, news release, presentation, etc. that results from work funded by the award. The PKD Foundation must also receive a copy of the publication and/or news release.

Please use language similar to the following: This research was funded by a grant from the Polycystic Kidney Disease Foundation, pkdcure.org. The Foundation had no role in study design, data collection and interpretation, or the decision to submit the work for publication.

All research projects funded by the PKD Foundation are subject to its intellectual property policy. Details can be found here. By accepting a PKD Foundation award for a research project, the Principal Investigator or other personnel contributing to and working on the project, as well as the Institution(s) with which they are affiliated, agree to be bound by the terms and conditions of this policy.

The PKD Foundation serves as a grantor not a sponsor for research grant projects. For those involving human subjects, the responsibility for liability issues and all reporting requirements including local, state and federal regulations and requirements including those of the FDA, will reside with the sponsoring institution, not the PKD Foundation.

Any relationship between the investigators and any industrial collaborator must be disclosed in the application.

Prior to releasing funding, the PKD Foundation will require an Authorized Organizational Representative to certify by means of a signed letter on institutional letterhead, institutional commitment to ensuring:

1. Proper policies, procedures and oversight are in place to prevent discriminatory harassment and other discriminatory practices, and;
2. Commitment to respond promptly and appropriately to allegations of discriminatory practices.

Failure to provide the signed letter will result in withdrawal of the application/funding. The full Foundation policy can be found here.

Font size and types, margins and line spacing requirements are necessary to ensure readability. Applications that do not strictly adhere to the following guidelines will be administratively withdrawn.

• Font size: Must be 11 points or larger. Smaller text in figures, graphs, diagrams, and charts is acceptable, as long as it is clearly legible when the page is viewed at 100%.
  • Some PDF conversion software reduces the font size. It is important to confirm that the final PDF document complies with the font requirements.
• Text fonts: please use one of the following:
  • Arial
  • Georgia
  • Helvetica
• Page margins: 1-inch margins from top, bottom, left and right aspects of each page.
• Line spacing: No more than six lines per vertical inch (e.g., text using Arial font size 11 would need to be at least single (1.0) spaced).
• Text color: No restriction. Though not required, black or other high-contrast text colors are recommended since they print well and are legible to the largest audience.
• *All images, graphs, charts, etc. should be included in the Project Plan section of the application.