VBRN Awards
The VBRN Awards fund collaborative, faculty-led biomedical research and undergraduate research engagement at Vermont undergraduate institutions, with a focus on innovation and data science.
Funder: Vermont Biomedical Research Network
Due Dates (Anticipated): October 2026: Pitch paper deadline | November 2026: Grant Writing Workshop | December 2026: Letter of Intent deadline | January 2027: Full application deadline | February 2027: Undergraduate Internship application deadline
Funding Amounts: Project Awards: up to $75,000/year (2 years, up to $125,000/year for select applications); Pilot Awards: up to $35,000/year (1 year, up to $50,000 for select applications); Exploratory Awards: up to $10,000/year (1 year); paid undergraduate summer internships available.
Summary: Supports faculty-led biomedical research at Vermont undergraduate institutions, fostering collaboration, innovation, and undergraduate research engagement.
Key Information: Participation in the Grant Writing Workshop is mandatory for eligibility; NIH clinical trials are not supported.
Description
The Vermont Biomedical Research Network (VBRN) Awards provide competitive funding to support biomedical research by faculty at primarily undergraduate institutions in Vermont. The program includes three main faculty award mechanisms—Project, Pilot, and Exploratory Awards—each designed to foster research excellence, promote inter-institutional collaboration, and encourage integration of data science. The initiative prioritizes early-career investigators, supports undergraduate research involvement, and aims to build research capacity aligned with the NIH mission. Additionally, VBRN offers paid summer research internships for undergraduate students in academic and industry labs across Vermont.
