C-ShaRP Shared Facility Staff Cross-Training Voucher Program
Program Overview
Shared Facilities staff are multifaceted, driven scientists who require constant intellectual stimulation. As technology advances and disciplines converge, there's a growing need for new methodologies and even entirely new fields of study. These developments have the potential to revolutionize shared facilities, meeting the evolving demands of faculty and researchers. However, shared facility staff often lack the resources to pursue these innovative projects, limiting their ability to publish and collaborate effectively. Many of the technologies they need are available in other shared facilities. The C-ShaRP Staff Cross-Training Voucher program is designed to address such issues.
The maximum award amount per request is $10,000. Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis depending on availability of funds.
Program Priorities
The Staff Cross-Training vouchers allow shared facility staff to:
- Access instrument time in other shared facilities
- Method development
- Learn new techniques
- Foster interdisciplinary collaboration
- Enhance professional growth
- Ultimately drive innovation across the institution
Eligibility
Full-time shared facility staff members are eligible to apply. Supervisors of the applicant's home shared facility and the cross-training facility must each provide a letter of support.
Visit the C-ShaRP website for a list of eligible shared facilities. Other shared facilities not listed here or perhaps in various stages of being established, are also eligible. All eligible facilities must have an instrument and service user fee based on university approved rates.
Requirement
Maximum funding amount: $10,000. C-ShaRP funding should not be used to replace existing funding from other sources for existing activities pre-dating C-ShaRP. Requests to support subsequent iterations of a C-ShaRP-developed activity are allowable. The total budget of any submitted proposal should not exceed $10K.
The number of awards is limited to the available funds. Funds can only be used in Shared Facilities to support the usage of equipment, infrastructure, and/or staffing time detailed in the proposal budget. Funds can NOT be used to directly pay salaries. Annual reports will be used to track spending.
Proposal Format
Primary Applicant:
The Primary applicant must be a full-time shared facility staff member. Only one primary applicant per proposal is allowed. No co-applicants are allowed.
Facility Designations:
a. Home Shared Facility: the facility where the applicant is employed.
b. Cross-Training Shared Facilities: the facilities offer training to the applicant (may be the same as the Home Facility).
Total Request Amount:
Request amount must stay within the budget maximum of $ 10K.
Request Justification:
(limited to one page, single-spaced, Arial or Helvetica 11-point font)
a. Title: Concise project title (60 characters max)
b. Purpose (bolded one-sentence summary): Clearly articulate the primary goal of your cross-training proposal (e.g., “Master cryo-EM sample prep to support neurodegenerative disease research”).
c. Justification:
- What are your specific cross-training needs?
- What specific technology and/or technique do you seek to learn or develop?
- What instruments and materials will you need from the cross-training facility?
- What outcomes do you hope to achieve (e.g., new protocols, datasets, collaborations)?
d. Impact & Benefit:
- How will this cross-training voucher enhance your knowledge, research skills, and career?
- Will you build any collaborations through this cross-training program?
- What scientific significance of the method you develop, the data you collect, or the techniques you learn?
- What broader impacts does your professional development have on your facility’s staff or institutional capabilities?
Budget:
Shared Facility costs should be budgeted at the internal rate with no subsidy applied.
Letters of Support:
Both the home facility and the cross-training facility provide a letter of support to this application.
Application
Learn more and apply through the Stanford Seed Funding portal.
Questions? Contact:
Claudius Mundoma, PhD, MBA
Director of Shared Research Platform
📧 cmundoma@stanford.edu | 📞 650-723-8789 (O); 850-980-6666 (C)