The Discovery Fund was established in 2013 with a generous donation from the Stony Brook Foundation’s Board of Trustees as a way to help sustain pioneering scientific breakthroughs at a time when the primary source of support for basic research (i.e., the federal government) is dwindling. It is a pathway to capitalize on new technologies, new innovations, new ideas and the urgency to move discovery driven knowledge forward by investing private dollars in basic research that’s free of commercial or political pressures. The Discovery Fund is also a means to support the career of a rising star on the Stony Brook faculty whose ideas may be so revolutionary, so contrary to convention that funding agencies are unlikely to provide support.

In its inaugural year, the Discovery Fund will make a $200,000 award, free of indirect costs, to a scholar in the STEM disciplines whose research project embraces risk and innovation and embodies the potential of discovery driven research—the catalyst for scientific advances. This type of high-risk, high-reward research enhances all aspects of campus culture, creating an environment where the relentless pursuit of knowledge informs the classroom and laboratory.

Stony Brook has a history of encouraging untethered pursuit of scientific discovery, as demonstrated by the paradigm shifting work of Nobel Laureate Professors Paul Lauterbur and C.N. Yang. In keeping with its intention of supporting early-career faculty, the inaugural year competition will focus on those who at the time of application are on either a tenure-track Assistant Professor appointment or are no more than five years beyond tenure and promotion at the Associate Professor level. The proposed research project may emerge from a single STEM discipline or may be interdisciplinary involving multiple SBU faculty. The lead PI, however, must fit the eligibility criteria described above.

The proposed work must be basic research that creates new knowledge. Research that is primarily translational in nature (i.e., seeks to apply existing knowledge) is not eligible.

The Discovery Fund invites you to submit a two page concept paper that addresses the questions below. Proposals longer than two pages in length will be returned without review. For all PIs, a two page C.V. and list of current and pending grant and/or contract support (both using standard NSF format) must be submitted along with the concept paper.

Present your two page proposal concept paper in the following format:

Proposal title:

Principal Investigator(s):

Name

Title/rank

Department

Phone number

Official start date of Asst Prof appointment or promotion to Assoc Prof.

What is the gap in knowledge or paradigm you are seeking to address?

What is your experimental or novel approach to addressing this question?

Why is your research so unique that it is unlikely to be supported by funding agencies?

Concept Papers due: September 1, 2014

Invitations to submit full proposals issued: October 1, 2014

Full proposals due: November 1, 2014

Oral presentations by finalists: early December (date TBD)

Award announcement and reception: mid December 2014 (date TBD)

Project start date: January 1, 2015

The Vice President for Research will lead the proposal review process. Review of concept papers will involve a multidisciplinary panel of SUNY Distinguished Professors from SBU. Following review of concept papers, a smaller subset (no more than five) will be invited to submit full proposals. Review of full proposals will involve both written and oral presentations (i.e., TED-style talks) to be judged by a second panel of distinguished external and SBU scientists. Names of panelists will be posted on the Discovery Fund website prior to the proposal deadline.

Applications consisting of

1) The 2-page concept paper

2) CVs of all PIs (no more than 2 pages each in NSF style format)

3) List of current and pending grant/contract/foundation support for all PIs (NSF format)

Applications that do not follow these guidelines will be returned without review. 

All applications must be submitted electronically in pdf format by September 1, to Peter Saal, OVPR, peter.saal@stonybrook,edu.