The Yale Diabetes Research Center is calling for proposals from faculty investigators seeking seed funding to pursue early-stage diabetes research. The Pilot and Feasibility Grant Program provides one to two years of project support designed specifically to generate the kind of preliminary data that can unlock larger, independent external funding from NIH, JDRF, or the American Diabetes Association.
About the Yale DRC Pilot and Feasibility Grant Program
Administered by the Yale Diabetes Research Center within the Yale School of Medicine’s Department of Internal Medicine, the program is supported by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK). It has operated continuously as a core component of the DRC’s mission to build a broad base of diabetes investigators across Yale. The program targets three distinct categories of applicant, ensuring that both emerging and established researchers have a viable pathway to funding. Dr. Kevan Herold, Director of the DRC Pilot and Feasibility Program, oversees the review process and announces recipients following the submission deadline.
Funding Size
- Award range: $30,000 to $37,000 per year
- Project duration: one to two years, commencing April 1, 2027
- Funds may be used for personnel, supplies, services, and other direct research costs
Who Can Apply
- New investigators without current or past non-mentored NIH research project support as a principal investigator
- Established investigators with no previous work in diabetes-related areas who wish to apply existing expertise to diabetes research
- Established investigators in diabetes research proposing clearly innovative ideas that represent a distinct departure from their ongoing research
- All eligible investigators must hold faculty appointments at Yale or a partner institution
- Investigators who received a Pilot and Feasibility Award within the past five years are generally not eligible, with an exception for first-year awardees from the previous cycle who may apply for second-year funding
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Geographic Eligibility
- Yale School of Medicine and affiliated partner institutions only
Sector or Thematic Focus
- Basic, clinical, and translational research in diabetes mellitus and its complications
- Endocrine and metabolic disorders related to diabetes
- Collaborative and multidisciplinary approaches to diabetes science
Application Process
Proposals must be submitted on a diabetes-related topic using the NIH research project application format (PHS398, R01 style). Applications should not exceed seven typewritten pages, excluding the title page, abstract, budget, biographical sketch, other support page, and resources section. Each proposal must clearly state the investigator’s eligibility justification under one of the three eligible categories. Completed applications are submitted directly to the DRC program coordinator.
Required Materials
- Project proposal in NIH R01 format (PHS398), maximum seven pages
- Title page and abstract
- Budget and budget justification
- Most recent NIH biographical sketch
- Other support page, with diabetes-related funding listed first
- Resources and environment description
Key Dates
- Application deadline: December 1, 2026
- Project start date: April 1, 2027
- Recipients announced by Dr. Kevan Herold following external review
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Selection Notes
- Primary review criteria are scientific excellence, innovation, diabetes relevance, and the likelihood the project will evolve into independently funded diabetes research
- Priority is given to new collaborative investigations
- Applications must represent genuine pilot or feasibility work; the program does not fund large established projects or supplements to ongoing funded research