Toffler Scholar Program Accepting Applications

The Toffler Scholar Program was created by the Trustees of the Karen Toffler Charitable Trust, a 501 C3 nonprofit foundation focused on early-stage research that advances the medical field in profound, high-impact ways. Tapping into the deep legacy of their founders, best-selling authors and futurists, Alvin and Heidi Toffler, the trust exists to be a catalyst for future – focused breakthroughs. The Toffler Scholar Program focuses on helping university medical researchers gain access to support, and a network for often underfunded innovations. It is a nimble source of financial support for medical researchers working on early-stage, future-focused brain science. Together with the College of Medicine, the program helps foster new ways of thinking and problem solving to find solutions to humanity’s most difficult problems. Toffler Scholar grants are one-year grants that currently range from $20,000 - $30,000 per award.

Estimated Award Amount: $20,000 - $30,000                                                          

Application Deadline: 11/09/2020

Award Start: 01/04/2021

This opportunity is administered internally. Visit https://med.fsu.edu/researchdivision/toffler-scholar-program for more information or email research@med.fsu.edu.

For More Detailed Information about the sponsor, visit www.tofflertrust.org.                                           
*Do not contact the Toffler Foundation directly with questions.

Eligibility & Requirements:
• Junior faculty at the assistant professor level and post-doctoral fellows anticipating appointment at that rank or at least one year remaining of support, with an M.D., Ph.D. or equivalent degree in the health sciences are encouraged to apply.  

• Applicants must be working in areas related to Neurodegeneration, Neurodegenerative Diseases, or Autoimmune Disorders.

• Proposed research projects may be Basic or Translational in nature.

• Applicant’s Projects that have already received, or will receive significant extramural funding during the award year (NIH, NSF, DOD, commercial entities, other foundations, etc.) are ineligible.
 

Application Process:
Applications and related questions should be emailed to research@med.fsu.edu. Interested applicants should submit a single PDF document including:

1. Proposal (maximum of three-pages of text only, single spaced: 12-pt font and one-inch margins)

2. Budget summary (maximum of one-page)

-No funds can be used for salary support for the PI

-All funds are to be spent during the year with no carry-over allowed

-To be used for travel it must be justified as engaged in research (e.g. not for attending meeting)

3. Supplemental figures (optional: maximum of three-pages)

4. Biosketch in NIH-format. NOTE: Fellows and postdocs must also include the biosketch of their mentor or current supervisor

5. Letter of recommendation from department chair, mentor, or current supervisor. If for a postdoctoral fellow it must indicate independence of the research project from that of the mentor

Review Criteria: The most important criteria will be novelty, innovation and breakthrough potential of the proposed research and how the funding will be used to meet that goal