PInCh: Round Two Details
Teams will be notified by e-mail if your project is selected for Round Two, PInCh Semi-Finalists.
Your Project Package for this stage consists of the written materials below, combined into a single PDF. Details for each document are available below. Example Project Packages for both Program and Technology tracks will be available for teams who are invited into Round Two.
To submit your Project Package, combine the components into a single PDF file, log in to Powered by PInCh®, click on the “Round 2” tab, and upload before the July 7, 2023 deadline.
The three-page project description should address the following topics:
- Public Project Title & Brief Summary
- Problem statement
- Solution description
- Customer description
- Team introduction
- Path to Impact plan (see this CTSI guide)
- Intellectual Property status
- Role of the PInCh award
- Work Plan Timeline (12 months)
Formatting requirements: One-inch margins, minimum 11-point font for all text. Documents may include color, figures, tables, and images.
One page of references may be included to support Project Description information.
Formatting requirements: One-inch margins, minimum 11-point font.
Single-page budget on PHS 398 form. Template documents will be provided; please direct any questions about allowable expenses to pinch@pitt.edu.
Budget Considerations:
The awarded funds will support direct costs only; no indirect support will be provided. The awarded funds may be used for salary support for the PI, co-investigator, collaborator, or any other team member (including staff and students). Any salary support requested in a submitted budget should reflect non-federal fridge benefit rates.
Effort is required of the PI (minimum 0.5%), which must be reflected on the budget, and must be cost shared by the department or other entity. If the PI chooses not to have any salary supported via the award, they still must maintain a minimum of 0.5% effort on the project and have it reflected on the Budget page. Reviewers understand that this may be a small proportion of effort given the size of the award. Justification must be provided for any equipment item costing more than $5,000.
Funds may not be budgeted for: indirect costs, manuscript preparation or publication fees, travel (except as required to collect data). Personal computer purchase will be approved only when it can be demonstrated that the computer is essential for the proposed work.
Single-page justification providing sufficient detail for reviewers to assess the requested resources.
Formatting requirements: One-inch margins, minimum 11-point font.
All Round 2 teams must submit an Invention Disclosure to the University of Pittsburgh’s Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (OIE), if not already on file for this project.
Although not part of the judging process and separate from your Round 2 submission, submitting an Invention Disclosure is the first step to evaluating the novelty of your idea as a patent, copyright, or other intellectual property. A step-by-step submission tutorial can be viewed here.
Each Project Package will be reviewed by a panel of judges representing academic, business, and community perspectives using the following criteria:
- Problem: Does the proposal clearly define a critical barrier in the field?
- Solution: Does the proposed solution clearly address the described problem?
- Feasibility of Approach: Are the proposed aims and methodology well-reasoned and appropriate for a $100,000, 12-month PInCh award?
- Team: Does the team reflect a diversity of expertise required to accomplish their proposed solution?
- Novelty:
- Programs - Does the project apply a new or known intervention to a new population using a novel dissemination method?
- Technologies - Does the project propose novel concepts, methods, instrumentation, or interventions?
- Path to Impact beyond PInCh:
- Programs – Does the team propose a sustainable program model that impacts the health of individuals and/or communities?
- Technologies - Does the team present a clear, stage-appropriate path to benefit health, society, and/or biomedical knowledge?
- Overall Impact: After successful development, will this solution clearly address the critical barrier in health, society, and/or biomedical knowledge?
