The W.M. Keck Foundation offers the opportunity to
discuss potential projects with universities in the areas of 1) Medical
Research; 2) Science & Engineering Research. 

Purpose: The W. M. Keck Research Program seeks to
benefit humanity by supporting Medical Research and Science & Engineering
projects that are distinctive and novel in their approach, question the
prevailing paradigm, or have the potential to break open new territory in their
field.

The Foundation funds projects that:

*Focus on important and emerging areas of research

*Have potential to develop breakthrough technologies,
instrumentation, or methodologies

*Are innovative, distinctive, and interdisciplinary

*Demonstrate a high level of risk due to unconventional
approaches or challenge the prevailing paradigm

*Have potential for transformative impact such as the
founding of a new field of research, enabling new observations, or altering
perception of a previously intractable problem

*Fall outside the mission of public funding agencies

*Demonstrate that W.M. Keck Foundation support is
essential to the project’s success

Process:  Interested faculty should submit an
internal preproposal following the below one-page format by Friday, December 6,
2024. After initial campus review, UCR designated liaison will submit up to
four (preproposal) concept papers in Medical Research and four in Science &
Engineering Research for consideration. One proposal from each area will
advance to the Phase One application. 

Limited Submission Instructions

Per the Keck Foundation’s guidelines (wmkeck.org),
concept papers must fit to one page in a Microsoft Word document formatted with
12-point, Times New Roman, font with 1 inch margins. Include:

1. Organization Name, Project Title, and Full Name of
Principal Investigator

2. An overview of the proposed project emphasizing
any unique aspects and pilot studies (indicate area of emphasis for project -
medical research or science & engineering research);

3. A description of the methodologies and listing of
key personnel;

4. A brief justification of the need for W.M. Keck
Foundation support; and

5. An estimated budget broken down, if possible, by
major areas, e.g., personnel, equipment, consumable supplies, etc. Budgets
should be between $1 million to $1.3 million and expenses should be rounded to
the nearest $100,000. A rough estimate is sufficient.

Submit by
12/6/24 to mailto:limitedsubmissions@ucr.edu. DO NOT contact the Keck
Foundation.

Illustrations are not recommended at this phase as they
take space needed for text. If a reference is necessary, abbreviate it as
(Science, 323, 45, ‘11). DO NOT USE (Jones et al., 2011).  If space
allows, the authors are free to add other details (e.g., background to put the
research into perspective, description of the institution’s prominence in the
field, etc.)

Selection Criteria: A successful Keck proposal:

* Focuses on a unique, important emerging area of
research

* Has the potential to develop breakthrough methodologies

* Demonstrates a high level of risk due to unconventional
approaches, or by challenging a prevailing paradigm

* Has the potential for transformative impact, such as
the founding of a new field of research, the enabling of observations not
previously possible, or the altered perception of a previously intractable
problem

* Falls outside the mission of public funding
agencies 

Common reasons why concepts are rejected by Keck:

* The project is not ambitious enough (i.e., it
represents only a small advance vs. creating a new paradigm).

* The proposal does not fully detail the scope of work
and potential impact.

* The proposal lacks clear research methodology.

* The project focuses on disease-related therapies or
treatments (in the case of medical research) as opposed to bench science.

* The project is focused on a device as opposed to bench
science.

* The project focuses on revision or scaling of existing
technology.

* The project focuses on implementation or policy.

Things to note:

* For the pre-proposal, a one-page concept paper is
required (NOT the three pages that are usually part of UCR’s Limited Submission
process).

* Projects proposed must already have been declined by
relevant federal agencies; Keck’s first question is whether all other funding
possibilities have been pursued.

* The Keck Foundation will request previous federal
feedback as part of their review process. Ideally, federal reviewer comments
reflect that the research is innovative, exciting, and would have a large
impact, but is too risky or falls outside the scope of federal agencies. 

* Questions may be directed to Kelly Kraus-Lee, Senior
Director of Foundation Relations mailto:Kelly.krauslee@ucr.edu