RPB Grant Cycles and GuidelineS Overview

RPB accepts grant applications two times a year, January 10 and July 1, for the grant categories stated below. Application and nomination forms for RPB individual awards available for the current review cycle can be found on this site; application forms for the RPB Unrestricted Grant or Challenge Grant must be requested from MariaClaudia Lora-Montano, RPB's Director of Grants Management. In some cases, departments of ophthalmology must have an RPB Unrestricted Grant (UG) or Challenge Grant (CG) in order to apply for individual grants.  For most of our individual awards, only permanent, full-time department chairs are eligible to nominate candidates. In most cases, chairs may nominate only one candidate per grant category per cycle.  Nomination forms are required for all individual awards.  For the January 10 deadline, nomination forms are due no later than December 15; for the July 1 deadline, nomination forms are due no later than June 15.  

Applications are evaluated via a three-tiered process. RPB Ad Hoc Committees, which are comprised of ophthalmology department chairs and research directors and other eminent vision researchers, conduct initial grant reviews and forward their recommendations to the standing RPB Scientific Advisory Panel for further evaluation. The Advisory Panel includes some of the nation's most distinguished scientists representing a broad range of scientific disciplines and interests. Their recommendations are presented to the RPB Board of Trustees for final approval.

New chairs should speak with RPB prior to the submission of an UG or CG application (contact MariaClaudia Lora-Montano at mlora@rpbusa.org). If a proposal for an Unrestricted or Challenge Grant is rejected, the chair must wait two years before reapplying, so RPB strongly encourages thorough preparation and planning before an application is submitted.

An ophthalmology department chair may also submit an individual grant application when applying for departmental support, but if the department's UG or CG application is rejected, in some cases, the individual grant application will be ineligible.

All RPB grants must be credited to a separate account and remain free of institutional overhead; grantees are responsible for reporting and regular publicity updates. Once awarded, RPB support must be cited in every publication, all press releases and all media coverage of developments emanating from RPB grants.

Not all RPB grants are available throughout the year. Below is a timeline for applications:

*  If January 10 or July 1 fall on a weekend or holiday, consider the following business day the deadline. Decisions on January submissions are made by mid-June; July submissions by mid-December. Deadlines are not flexible. Materials received after the deadline render the submission incomplete. Incomplete submissions are not forwarded to RPB's review committees and are automatically declined.

**Researchers with primary appointments in ophthalmology apply in the Spring; all other vision researchers (those outside of the ophthalmology department) apply in the Fall.

# Indicates that the department of ophthalmology must have an RPB Unrestricted or Challenge Grant in order for an individual researcher to be nominated.