Nexus Awards – Research

As America’s first research university, Johns Hopkins is dedicated bringing all of our expertise to the forefront of policymaking. These awards will help bring together some of the greatest minds to tackle some of the world’s most difficult challenges in order to best serve our ever-changing world.

Eligibility

Applications from all academic and professional disciplines within Johns Hopkins University are invited. Proposals may cover fundamental, clinical, or applied research, or projects within the arts and humanities. While not required, proposals may include an external, DC-based partner. Proposals must make significant use of the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg Center, the university’s new home in Washington, DC.

Applications must be led by a faculty member representing at least one school/division or affiliate of the university from the following list:

While applications from a single faculty member are welcome, the Nexus Awards–Research are especially interested in proposals from multiple faculty members that span more than one school/division of the university.

Only one Nexus Award–Research proposal per lead PI will be accepted. There is no limit to the number of Nexus Award–Research proposals one may submit as co-PI.

Students and postdoctoral fellows are not eligible to serve as PIs or co-PIs on Nexus Award–Research applications.

Funding

Teams may request up to $300,000, with an award term of up to two years, to focus on either a new area of collaborative work or an expansion of an on-going area of collaborative work. While not required, proposals are encouraged to include a DC-based external partner. All Nexus Award–Research proposals must make significant use of the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg Center, the university’s new home in Washington, DC. Support may be used for salary, graduate students, postdoctoral fellows or technicians, equipment, and travel, as well as convenings and other engagements held at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg Center. Fringe should be included in all salary requests. Because the aim of this program is to support interdisciplinary interactions at JHU that leverage the university’s new home in Washington, DC, no more than 10% of the grant should be allocated as a subaward. We strongly recommend that a departmental administrator reviews proposed budgets for accuracy. Applications must describe a credible plan that ensures they will make substantial progress during the funding period.

We are delighted to partner with the Johns Hopkins Institute for Planetary Health (JHIPH) to connect faculty who share common interests and aims to address Planetary Health challenges and solutions.

Convening and Research proposals aligned with Planetary Health may request an additional $15,000 for their proposal (i.e. Convening proposals may request up to $115,000 and Research proposals may request up to $315,000). (Read JHIPH’s draft strategic plan or learn more about Planetary Health.)

Note that proposals not chosen for the JHIPH collaboration could still qualify for a standard Nexus Award, provided they meet the scoring criteria.

Applications for the 2025 cycle are now open. Proposals will be accepted through 2/14/2025.

Guidelines

Applications will consist of six elements:

  1. Title of the submission
  2. A proposal, which should include six sections that succinctly describe the: (A) innovative hypothesis to be tested or the goal to be achieved; (B) nature of the collaboration that enables the proposed work, including the role of any DC-based external partners; (C) approach to be pursued during the period of funding; (D) expected impact of the proposed project beyond the initial funded phase, including what future work may be enabled; (E) plan for making significant use of the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg Center (e.g., public or internal events; team meetings; touchdown space; etc.); and (F) potential source(s) of funding to sustain the effort after the initial grant period concludes. Preliminary data are not required. The proposal section can be no more than three pages, not including references. Please use 12-point font and margins no smaller than ½ inch.
  3. A budget breakdown that describes how funding will be allocated to each investigator on the team and how it will be apportioned for any personnel, supplies, equipment, or other project expenses. Any budget amount up to the cap may be proposed. Faculty salary and equipment costs may be included. Indirect costs should not be included in the budget.
  4. A current CV or biosketch for all investigators, including any DC-based external partners. Please include all current and pending support from sponsored and non-sponsored sources.
  5. Up to five key words to aid in reviewer assignment.
  6. OPTIONAL: One letter of support from a DC-based external partner describing the nature of the collaboration.

Review Criteria

The review process will evaluate the innovativeness of the project, the strength of the interdisciplinary collaboration, the planned uses of the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg Center, and the project’s potential for long-term impact. Collaborators who have previously worked and/or published together are not excluded from applying. Proposals will be reviewed by a panel of faculty.

Post-Award Requirements

Recipients will submit a final progress report, including any completed work, reports of invention, interactions with policymakers or other DC-based stakeholders, and any external funding applications/awards enabled by this funding. Recipients may also be asked to present their work at a Provost’s Symposium.