The deadline is May 15, 2026 

You will receive a confirmation email indicating receipt of the proposal.    The following information must be included in a single pdf file:

1. Cover Page (1 page) - Title of project
   • Contact info for one UMD faculty member (authorized to be primary advisor for a graduate student) and one NCI researcher (authorized to host CTRA fellows),
   • Name and Graduate Program affiliation of student
   • Laymen’s abstract/picture:  Four sentences describing the project in laymen’s terms plus a picture/figure 
2. Proposed Research (max 3 pages, including references)
   • Short research description focused on the project to be carried out by the joint student which should address, and will be judged on the following criteria:
     1. Relevance to cancer 
     2. Feasibility
     3. Innovation 
     4. Research design 
     5. Potential for first author publication by the student
     6. Student qualification for the project
3. Additional required information (not included in the 3-page limit for the Proposed Research) -           Logistics and Impact Statement:  
   1. 1. How will the collaborative effort be coordinated (meetings, data sharing, etc.)?
      2. How will the project impact the research direction of the NCI and UMD laboratories?
      3. Identify potential future funding sources.
   2. Biosketch of NCI PI (NIH format max 4 pages or NSF format)
   3. Biosketch of UMD PI (NIH format max 4 pages, or NSF format) 
   4. Biosketch and transcript of student (max 2 pages)

Awardees and their mentors are expected to participate in activities of the Partnership, including Fall and Spring symposia, and provide yearly updates. 

Review Process and Criteria:  The aim of this partnership is to bring the expertise and resources in computer science, the mathematical sciences, physical sciences, engineering, and AI at the University of Maryland College Park, and basic, clinical, and translational research expertise of the NCI/CCR to bear on the most pressing problems in cancer research. 

Seed awards will be judged based on student qualifications as well as potential impact, relevance to cancer, innovation and synergism between physics, math, bioengineering, biocomputation, AI and cancer biology.  

Portal Link Address:  https://umd.infoready4.com/#competitionDetail/2011424

All applications will be reviewed by an ad-hoc committee of NCI and UMD Faculty, Staff and Investigators.

Program Committee Contacts:

Doron Levy (UMD)  dlevy@umd.edu

Cenk Sahinalp (NCI) cenk.sahinalp@nih.gov

Wolfgang Losert (UMD) wlosert@umd.edu

Voula Mili  (UMD) voula.mili@nih.gov 

Mikhail Kolmogorov (NCI)  mikhail.kolmogorov@nih.gov                   

Kimberly Stroka (UMD) kstroka@umd.edu