The Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology is excited to announce a new research funding opportunity. Supported by a generous gift from the Szulik Family Foundation, the Szulik Innovation Awards will each be $50,000, and funds must be used within 2 years of award disbursement.
Applications will be scored on the criteria of significance, potential impact, scientific merit, and innovation. These awards specifically seek to fund those innovative projects that are likely to lead to commercialization to improve women’s health.
Two proposals will be selected for funding
The Review Committee looks forward to receiving your proposals. Important dates, funding details, and Eligibility/Application Requirements are described below.
Deadlines
- October 25, 2026: one page Letter of intent with Aims, timeline and mentors (if appropriate)—to determine responsiveness
- Any fellow applicants, please contact OBGYN_Applications@duke.edu no later than Friday, November 2, 2026, to assist with budget preparation.
- All applicants must submit the final budget/justification to OBGYN_Applications@duke.edu no later than Monday, November 10, 2026, to allow review of the final budget and budget justification prior to submission.
- Applications must be submitted to OBGYN_Applications@duke.edu by Friday, November 13, 2026 by 11:59pm EST. Please use “Last Name – Szulik Innovation Submission” as the subject.
- Please attach all files with the following naming convention: “Last Name_Document Type” Ex: Doe_Budget, Doe_ResearchPlan, etc.
Details
- Award Dates – February 1, 2027 – January 31, 2029
- Eligibility requirements
- Faculty, clinical and non-clinical postdoctoral fellows
- Budget Limits
- Faculty, clinical and non-clinical postdoctoral fellows - $50,000 direct costs + $7,500 Departmental General & Administrative (G&A) costs ($57,500 total)
- Funds must be expended in no more than 2 years, although they may also be expended within a 1-year timeframe depending on project needs
- Allowable Costs
- Staff support
- Statistical support (BERD)
- Travel support (includes conference fees and registration)
- Publication fees (includes poster printing)
- Nonallowable Costs
- Faculty Salary, Clinical Fellow Salary
- Non-salary expenses on individual items over $2500, unless approved by Office of Research
- Subawards to external sites
- Required NIH grant forms – Instructions and downloadable forms can be found via the links below:
- Research Plan (5-page limit including Specific Aims and timeline, excluding references; 11 point ariel or times new roman font, 0.75 inch margins)
- Biosketches for PI, mentor (if applicable), and other important co-investigators
- Budget Detail Page (no modular format allowed)
- Budget Justification (no modular format allowed)
- A statistical analysis plan must be included within your Research Plan
- Cover letter
- Addressed to the “Szulik Innovation Award Review Committee”
- Include title of study, PI name, faculty mentor name (if applicable)
- Letters of support from the mentor(s)(if applicable) and key collaborators