Purpose  

The seed grants provide funding for researchers to use the Biotechnology Resource Center (BRC) facilities with the intention of either:

• Lowering the barrier of entry for PIs who are new to using BRC facilities  
• Encouraging existing BRC users at Cornell to expand the repertoire of biotechnologies used in their research program.
• Generating preliminary results for extramural funding applications
• Generating final figures to increase the impact of a manuscript/publication

Award Tiers

Awards are provided as BRC credits and are not transferable or redeemable for cash. Credits may be used only for existing BRC services and eligible expenses described in the approved proposal and associated quote(s).

Two tiers of grants will be awarded, each having separate applications:

• Tier 1: Up to $5,000 worth of credits
• Tier 2: Up to $20,000 worth of credits

The awarded amount represents the maximum BRC credit available to the PI. Actual charges will be based on services performed and may be less than the awarded amount. There is no minimum for the requested award amount. Eligible PIs may submit a maximum of one proposal per cycle.

BRC Facilities and Highlighted Services

Highlighted cutting-edge services/technologies offered by BRC facilities include the following; however, awarded credits can be used on any existing BRC technology. Reach out to individual facilities or attend joint office hours to determine how the BRC can best support your research.  

Bioinformatics:

• BioSlurm Shared Computing Cluster – A new high-performance shared compute cluster with a simple membership-based model, designed to support computationally intensive bioinformatics analyses and AI-assisted research workflows.
• Advanced GPU Computing for Machine Learning and AI – New GPU servers equipped with NVIDIA H100 and H200 GPUs, providing high-performance computing resources for machine learning, AI, and other GPU-accelerated research projects.

Epigenomics:  

• Assess genome-wide protein binding, histone modifications, and chromatin accessibility via your choice of full-service ChIP-exo, ChIP-seq, CUT&Tag, and ATAC-seq assays.  
• Multiomic cytoprofiling on the AVITI24 Cytos platform, including direct in-sample sequencing of RNA.

Flow Cytometry:

• Full-service, staff-operated single cell or bulk population cell sorting
• User-operated conventional or spectral flow cytometer analyzer and sorter hours

Genomics:  

• Single-Cell and Spatial Profiling  
• Variety of Next-Generation Sequencing Services including Illumina, Aviti, Ultima, Oxford Nanopore, and PacBio.  

Imaging:  

• Lightsheet imaging of cleared tissues
• X-ray CT of plants, animals, materials and devices

Proteomics and Metabolomics:

• Orbitrap Astral Zoom technology designed for ultra-fast, high-sensitive proteomics and metabolomics:
  • Ultra-high sensitivity allows low-input samples (e.g., single-cell, spatial proteomics and some PTMs) and IP-enriched proteomics
  • Fast scan speed with parallel MS1/MS2 HR acquisition allows high throughput analysis (short running cycles) for cost-effective proteomics analysis
  • Narrow-window DIA-LFQ analysis allows for in-depth proteome coverage with accurate quantitation
• Latest ZenoTOF 8600 technology advances metabolomics and lipidomics services:
  • 5-10x more sensitive vs. existing systems with faster scan rate at 858 Hz for improved LOD and LLOQ in targeted small molecule analysis
  • Enhanced untargeted metabolomics with potential for single cell and spatial metabolomics and lipidomics
  • Advancing lipid identifications by electron-activated dissociation for lipidomics

Application and Funding Timeline

• Opening date: October 2nd, 2026
• Closing Date: December 4th, 2026

For this cycle, awards will be announced and awarded by the end of January 2027. BRC credits from seed grant awards must be spent by the end of December 2027.  

The number of awards will depend on available funding and the merit of the proposals.

Eligibility

• Proposals must indicate a Principal Investigator (PI) who is a faculty member or senior research associate at any campus of Cornell University (Ithaca, Geneva, Weill Cornell Medicine, Weill Cornell Medicine – Qatar, Cornell Tech), maintaining their appointment throughout the award period, and who is eligible to apply for extramural funding.  
  • https://researchservices.cornell.edu/policies/pi-eligibility  
  • Adjuncts, visiting and courtesy, and acting roles for academic titles are not eligible to be PI for the BRC seed grant program
• An individual PI will only be eligible for funding for one seed award in any 12-month period.

Application Process

Application tiers are based on award amount: up to $5,000 in credits (Tier 1) or up to $20,000 in credits (Tier 2). Applicants may submit only one application per funding cycle. Applicants should select the award tier that best matches the scope and anticipated cost of their proposed work. Applications are submitted through the InfoReady platform (See link at top of page) and should contain the following sections:  

1. Specific aims
2. Methodology/BRC services
3. Expected outcomes
4. Budget: BRC-generated quote(s) required
5. Optional Supporting Documentation (e.g., declined grant reviews; declined/needs revision manuscript reviews; identification of the funding opportunity for which the anticipated data will be used).

Format: Sections 1-3 should be provided in an attached document with 0.5 inch margins, font Arial 11, including figures but not references of the following length, based on Tier of application:  

• Tier 1: 1 page  
• Tier 2: 2 pages

Evaluation Criteria

1. Scientific importance
2. Rigor & feasibility
3. Overall projected impact
4. Novelty of service regarding the applying PI — whether the proposed work represents use of a BRC technology or service that is new to the PI's research program.
5. Need of funding to overcome barrier of entry

Additional Considerations:

• Potential to finalize extramural funding application or high-impact manuscript
• Cross-facility projects
• Potential to establish or expand a BRC capability that could subsequently benefit additional research groups

Given our limited funding pool and the number of proposals that we receive, we will strive to make awards to a diverse population of investigators across departments, colleges, research disciplines, and career stages.

Conditions and Restrictions

• Awards are exclusively BRC credits, maintained in accounts held by BRC administrators.
• Credits can be spent only on invoices from the BRC facility or facilities that generated the quote(s).
• Credits cannot be transferred to other PI/labs.
• Reagent costs may be included in quotes only when essential for the service, and the percentage of the facility quote to purchase necessary reagents will be at the discretion of the Facility Director.  
• Awarded BRC credit amount will be based entirely on the attached quote(s) provided in the Budget section.
• BRC credits must be used by the end of the calendar year (December 2027), and any remaining credits will be recycled back for future awards.
• Credits can only be used for services included in the original quote.
  • Credits can only be shifted to services not included in the original quote with approval from the BRC Facility Director.
• If project costs are higher than the awarded amount (e.g., additional samples or reruns, etc.), PIs will need to submit an account number to cover the difference.
• Awards provide financial support for access to BRC services but do not guarantee instrument availability, service capacity, experimental success, or a particular turnaround time. Scheduling and service availability remain subject to normal BRC facility policies and operating constraints.
• The applying PI must meet Cornell eligibility standards: https://researchservices.cornell.edu/policies/pi-eligibility
• No extensions will be allowed for the BRC credits; rather, investigators are welcome to resubmit their application for the next cycle.

Review Process

Applications will be submitted and reviewed through the InfoReady platform. Reviewers will be composed of all BRC Directors and other selected staff from the Institute of Biotechnology. Reviewers will recuse themselves from evaluating applications in which they have a conflict of interest, including applications from their own laboratory or research group. Applications will be shared only with individuals involved in administration and review of the program.  

Awards are anticipated to be announced by the end of January 2027, with awardees subsequently having immediate access to BRC credits.

Funding decisions are final for the current funding cycle and may not be appealed.  

Reporting

Applicants are not required to obtain the anticipated scientific, publication, or funding outcome in order to fulfill the award. However, awardees will be asked to report and acknowledge the BRC Facility RRID and the “BRC Seed Grant” on subsequent use of data generated through the award. (https://www.biotech.cornell.edu/acknowledgments)

Awardees will be asked to complete a brief follow-up survey approximately two years and five years after the award. The purpose will be to assess longer-term outcomes of the seed funding, including subsequent grant applications, publications, intellectual property, and continued use of BRC technologies.