Core Coins Program (SOM Only)

The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine Core Coins Program is a funding mechanism designed to encourage investigators to access core services and facilities. Our goal is to accelerate research by providing rapid, targeted funding to address small but critical gaps in basic, clinical and translational research work currently not funded by other sources. Core Coins will be awarded on a competitive basis to individual PIs and subsequently administered through the iLab program through a distinct account provided to you within an iLab core.

Core Coins Applicant Eligibility

Faculty that have an appointment through School of Medicine are eligible for Core Coins.  School of Medicine Core facilities receiving Core Coins funding must have adopted iLab Solutions or have signed up for implementation. For additional information about iLab Solutions, please contact either Shawn Franckowiak or Jeff Smith from the Office for Faculty Research Resources.

Funding and Timing

The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine (SOM) Core Coins Program has provided over $350,000 in Core Coins to faculty in calendar year 2019. Core Coins funding is awarded directly to individual faculty to complete faculty-generated projects at any of the SOM cores using the iLab core management system. Additional Core Coins funding opportunities for calendar year 2020 and beyond will be communicated through this website and through faculty email distribution.

The Core Coins funding will focus on encouraging faculty to submit individual research project proposals for research not currently supported through sponsored or non-sponsored sources, but require the use of SOM core services and/or the utilization of equipment or technology within SOM cores. Similar to the Core Coins funding offered in previous years, the funding is designed to address small but critical gaps in basic, clinical and translational research currently not funded by other sources, and provide opportunities to fund novel research projects of investigators. The funding amounts requested for individual projects can range from $2,500 to $20,000, with expedited review given to those projects with amounts in the lower range.

To qualify for Core Coins funding, faculty should be aware of the following eligibility criteria listed below:

• Faculty member must have a SOM faculty appointment
• A  brief research plan must be submitted through the Core in the Box Website application (link below)
• Feedback to application questions should be brief and is limited to 1 page total for all responses (~500 words)
• For each project, services can only be requested from one research core
• Funding requested can range from $2,500 to $20,000
• Requested funding should include relevant core service pricing and volumes to complete the research project
• Faculty are limited to one application per Core Coins funding offering

Faculty interested in applying can access the application, and should provide the following information: 

• Access  the Core Coins Application
• Amount and justification for funds requested?
• SOM core where services are requested (the core must use the iLab system)?
• Brief description of the proposed research project (project aims, scope, how core services will be used to answer research hypothesis)?
• If applicable, feedback on previous funding for currently requested core coins project (why additional funds are being requested)?

Past Core Coins Awardees

2019 Core Coins Awardees ($365,480 in Core Coins Awarded to 34 Faculty)  

Other Funding Opportunities

Instrumentation grants are reviewed centrally by the Johns Hopkins University Research Administration, Research Development - Limited Submissions Programs office. Please contact [email protected] with inquiries.

• NIH Shared Instrumentation Grants (SIG)
• NIH High-End Instrumentation Grants (HIE)
• National Science Foundation Major Research Instrumentation Program