FAQs

It is a condition of Parkinson's Foundation funding that all peer-reviewed articles supported in whole or in part by its grants must be available in the PubMed Central online archive, so that research results become accessible, prominent and integrated within the context of other research findings, making it easier for scientists worldwide to pursue Parkinson's disease research.

Equally important are the continued benefits that families, clinicians, people with Parkinson's, educators, funders and students can reap from information arising from Parkinson's Foundation funding by accessing publications on PubMed Central at no charge. This policy applies to all grants awarded after January 31, 2014. View our full policy here.

Awardees receiving a grant after January 31, 2014, need to submit their peer-reviewed articles to PubMed Central. Find details on how to do so in the Public Access Policy FAQ and our Public Access Awardee Compliance Guide.

All Parkinson's Foundation research programs are open to applicants that live either within the U.S. or internationally, regardless of citizenship, except for the Stanley Fahn Faculty Transition Award. For this award, applicants do not need U.S. citizenship, but must live in the U.S. and conduct their research at a U.S.-based institution.

Yes, all international students meeting the eligibility requirements may apply. Direct all visa inquiries to your research institution.

Yes, should the eligibility requirements be met, applicants can resubmit applications for future open cycles up to two times. Resubmissions should address any comments or critiques provided by reviewers on the prior submission. Please note that a resubmission does not imply or guarantee funding.

Yes, we encourage international applicants to apply for Parkinson's Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowships and Parkinson's Foundation Summer Student Fellowships. Moreover, there is no requirement to conduct research within the U.S. for these Parkinson's Foundation Research Programs.

There is no specific policy. However, due to the competitive nature of the awards, it is unlikely that we will fund two individuals from the same lab.

For fellowships, individuals who will have finished their training (Ph.D. degree or residency) by June 1 may apply.

Yes, you are eligible. Generally, the Parkinson's Foundation is looking to support postdoctoral researchers who are within five years of receiving their PhD.

There is a time limit of five years from completion of a PhD for the Parkinson's Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship for Basic Scientists and a limit of three years from completion of residency or final training for the Parkinson's Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship for Neurologists.

No. Only students currently enrolled full-time in an academic institution are eligible for Parkinson's Foundation Summer Fellowships.

Parkinson's Foundation has a policy of extending an applicant’s eligibility for postdoctoral fellowships due to formal periods of leave (e.g. maternity, paternity, adoptive, family care, military, or extended sick leave). The maximum period that a nominee’s eligibility may be extended is two (2) years.

Please contact Parkinson's Foundation at grants@parkinson.org with information regarding the cumulative period of time resulting from leave during the period of time since you gained your PhD. If we permit an exception, you will submit a statement of the reason for exceeding the five-year timeline in your application that includes documentation of the relevant institution’s policies for extended leave.

For postdoctoral fellowships, the Parkinson's Foundation allows up to eight work weeks (60 calendar days) of paid leave with a concurrent extension of the length of the fellowship. We will support the parental leave use of $3,000 of the Fellow's research allowance, with additional funds provided by the Parkinson's Foundation. We permit parental leave on other, non-fellowship awards and will follow the grantee institution's leave policy. In those cases, we give a no-cost extension of up to six months to match the leave taken by the grant recipient. In either case, the Parkinson's Foundation requires prompt notification when grant recipients use extended leave.

No, we designed the Faculty Transition Award for applicants who already hold a tenure-track position and are working to submit their first R-01 application. Applicants who hold an Instructor position and intend to commence a tenure-track position, as evidenced by a letter support from the department chair, are also welcome to apply.

No, the Faculty Transition Award is only for applicants in tenure-track positions conducting research at a U.S.-based academic institution.

A letter of intent (LOI) is similar to an abstract or specific aims page of a proposal. When possible, including preliminary data is encouraged. LOIs are externally reviewed by a grants review committee, and roughly 30% are invited to submit full applications.

A list of current reviewers can be seen here.

Except for the Parkinson's Foundation Student Summer Fellowship Letters of Support, we do not accept proposals by email. We only review proposals submitted online.

When you apply for the Summer Fellowship, you will be asked to enter your mentor's email address. An email will be sent directly to your mentor with a link to your application so a letter of support can be uploaded.

You must identify a mentor and project prior to applying for the Parkinson's Foundation Summer Student Fellowship. If you do not already have a mentor, we recommend seeking a researcher at your institution who is studying Parkinson's and asking if he or she is willing to both take you on for a summer project and help you apply for the Fellowship. Your mentor may be able to help you find a project based on your interests and the work already in process in the lab. You do not have to work with a mentor at your own university. You can find a mentor at any institution, as long as this person is an expert in PD research and is willing to work with you on a 10-week project.

Proposals are reviewed by the Parkinson's Foundation Research Grants Committee, a group of leading Parkinson's basic, clinical and translational scientists. Committee members initially review all proposals to remove noncompetitive applications. Remaining proposals are reviewed and adjudicated using the National Institutes of Health (NIH) rating scale. Also note that for all Parkinson's Foundation grant reviews, foundation Research Advocates (people with Parkinson's and caregivers) sit on the panel and review the proposals. This is part of our commitment to patient engagement, which helps us to fund science that is not only top-notch, but also relevant to the community.

The committee chooses finalists from the highest score downward until we meet the funding cap for the fiscal year. If the finalists refuse awards for any reason, we notify the next applicant in line (again, based on the scores assigned by the scientists during the review process). This process continues until we award and finalists accept, all grant money for the fiscal year.

We allow only one proposal at a time for review.

For Faculty Transition Awards, the award period is three years, subject to review of the previous year's progress. While renewal is not competitive, investigators must demonstrate sufficient progress to warrant continued support from the Parkinson's Foundation.

For Postdoctoral Fellowships, the award period is two years, subject to review of the first year's progress. While renewal is not competitive, investigators must demonstrate sufficient progress to warrant continued support from Parkinson's Foundation.

To secure the next year of funding, work in the previous year should reflect progress towards completing at least one of the specific goals included in the proposal.

The Parkinson's Foundation provides reviewer comments for the Stanley Fahn Faculty Transition Award and the Parkinson's Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowships. Unfortunately, due to the nature of the review process for the Parkinson's Foundation Summer Student Fellowships, we are unable to provide reviewer comments.

The budget is the amount of money requested to complete your research project. List salaries, cost for animals, equipment, related travel or anything else paid from the Parkinson's Foundation grant in detail; this is the justification for how the funds should be spent.

Yes, we permit salaries for the investigator and/or assistants in the budget for certain proposals up to the limit defined by the current NIH salary cap. When listing salaries, also include percent effort in the budget justification. Please note that for Junior Faculty Awards, we permit applicants to allot funds for up to 40 percent of direct salary support. For Parkinson's Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowships, a budget is not required, as the award is comprised only of salary support and a $5,000 research allowance.

We now cover overhead expenses at 10 percent of the Faculty Transition Award. We include this 10 percent within the total award amount. Overhead includes items such as rental of office or lab space, electricity or janitorial expenses. We automatically calculate overhead. It does not need to be listed as part of the budget.

There is no requirement for the budget format. Reviewers must be able to easily read and understand it.

Yes, however you must note concurrent funding from any other source as a subscript of the budget and disclose it when completing the application proposal.

Provide the information on the online form about a primary mentor and then include information about both mentors in the National Institutes of Health (NIH) biosketch component of the proposal package. When asked to upload letters of support, please upload letters from both mentors combined into one PDF document.

Yes, as part of the application process, we require the applicant to include a NIH-formatted biographical sketch of their mentor/sponsors. Briefly: 1) List name, title and education/training; 2) List positions and honors; 3) List relevant peer-reviewed publications; 4) List research support (current, pending, and completed). Except for the section describing research funding, limit the the biographical sketch to two pages per investigator.

The letters of support for postdoctoral candidates would be similar to those provided for a NIH National Research Service Award application: qualifications, potential and research environment are all important aspects of such a letter.

Since we expect candidates to have only recently received a Ph.D., we understand that some applicants will be new to the field. Consequently, a well-conceived proposal will be important in these cases. Additionally, it may be helpful to have a mentor who has a strong PD background.

The letter of support should provide assurance that the fellow will have access to material needed to conduct their research. If you require specific equipment or reagents (such as mouse lines or MRI (magnetic resonance imaging), the letter of support should reflect that those items are available either in the lab or as part of collaboration.

IRB stands for the Institutional Review Board. Under FDA regulations, an IRB is a formally designated committee of physicians, statisticians, researchers, community advocates and others that reviews and monitors biomedical research involving human subjects. The IRB ensures that ethical research and protects participants' rights.

The IACUC is the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee, which oversees the specific use of animals in research by formally reviewing protocols and ensures humane care and use of animals. The Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals is an excellent resource for investigations involving animals. Note: The appropriate institutional committee must approve all research involving the use of humans or animals.

As noted above, the appropriate institutional committee must approve all research involving the use of humans or animals. If your institution does not provide a IRB/IACUC number, please include a copy of your institution's approval certification (for example, a copy of the approval letter).

As with any grant, preliminary data are not only welcome but only adds to the strength of a proposal. Please include it in the details of the proposed experiments.

There is no limit to number of citations other than they must fit within the one-page limit (set within the specified 0.5" margin and 10-point font size). Please order citations alphabetically by author.

Once you submit your application it cannot be edited. If you made an error or desire to withdraw your application, please email the Parkinson's Foundation at grants@parkinson.org. We can remove your application from consideration and you may then submit a replacement if desired.

The Stanley Fahn Faculty Transition awards are three-year grants, with the second and third years subject to assessment of the previous year's progress. Fellowship awards are two-year grants. Submit a new application for fellowship renewal consideration. For more information, see the specific program grant descriptions and guidelines found on this website. The normal award cycle is July 1 through the following May 31st of any given fiscal year.

You must include budgets for all years.

The Parkinson's Foundation's emphasis has shifted to longer-term funding. Nevertheless, we would not ignore a compelling proposal requesting one year of funding. Your application should make clear your funding request, e.g. in the budget, etc.

Up to 10% of the total of a non-fellowship award may be used towards indirect costs. (Fellowships are not permitted indirect cost recovery.) The sum of direct and indirect costs should not exceed the allotted maximum for the program. For example, if the maximum direct costs are $100,000 per year, the maximum indirect costs are $10,000 per year for a combined total (direct plus indirect costs) of $100,000 per year.

The authorized recipient and administrative official are the individuals in your institution's grants office who handle the disbursement of grant funds awarded to your institution. These would generally be the same people identified on the face page of an NIH grant. Note, the Parkinson's Foundation also notifies each investigator as we make quarterly award payments.

You may maintain your affiliation with your current University during your application process. However, you will need a letter of support from your prospective mentor. If we make an an award, we will disburse it to your mentor's University. Therefore, you will need to supply the grants administrator contact information for your mentor's University on the application.

We expect that Postdoctoral Fellows are working full-time toward their research project. We understand that Fellows will need to spend time in other areas such as classes, teaching and patient care. Therefore, we require a Basic Science Postdoctoral Fellow to commit 90 percent of his or her effort to the Parkinson's Foundation-funded project. Likewise, a Clinical Postdoctoral Fellow is required to commit 80 percent of his or her effort to the Parkinson's Foundation-funded project, and 20% of his or her effort to seeing patients.

The research allowance is meant to allow the Fellow to purchase specialized equipment, software or reagents necessary to complete their research. In addition, we permit items that augment the training and education of a Fellow such as books, journal subscriptions, training courses or a computer. The research allowance may also defray travel costs of up to $2,000. With approval of the advisor/mentor, the Fellow determines how the research allowance is spent. However, under no circumstances may you use the stipend or research allowance to pay for fringe benefits, postdoctoral taxes, institutional overhead or fees.

Yes, you may use the research allowance to defray the costs of a Fellow's health benefits up to $3,000. Once an award decision has been made, the Fellow may submit a written request to the Parkinson's Foundation to direct a portion of their research allowance towards health care costs.

Should a grant recipient depart from his/her original research institution prior to the conclusion of the award cycle, all funding will cease. The prior institution also retains all award-purchased equipment.

However, there may be instances where we transfer funding. The recipient must provide official documentation from both the original and the new institutions' administrative officials confirming that the recipient is continuing research at the new institution for the project funded by Parkinson's Foundation. We encourage the grant recipient to contact the foundation in these circumstances.

Any unused money is must be made payable to the Parkinson's Foundation and sent to The Parkinson's Foundation, 1359 Broadway, Suite 1509, New York, NY 10018, Attn.: Dr. Beth Vernaleo, Director of Research Programs.

A grant recipient must request a "No-Cost Extension" and specify how long they will need (generally an additional three to six months) to complete their project. This request must include an interim progress report and a report of expenses to date. The applicant must make the request and the institution's administrative official must sign off. If we grant the extension, we will notify the grant recipient of the new reporting deadlines.

A progress report summarizes research findings and to-date accompanying project expenditures. Progress reports are submitted online via our online grants system. Instructions for completing reports and reminders of deadlines are sent to awardees prior to the end of the award period.