Application Instructions — Tiny Blue Dot Foundation

Letter of Intent Instructions

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Application Portal Navigation

STEP 1: Select “Sign Up” to create a portal account.

STEP 2: Enter Email and Password. Read our terms and conditions before creating an account.

STEP 3: Create a Profile

STEP 4: Complete the form to create your profile. If you would like any key updates to also be sent to a colleague (such as the Principal Investigator) then you can add their details to the CC Email Address line.

STEP 5: Click “Get Started” to begin working on your letter of intent. The rest of the document provides instructions for specific questions in this form.

The number in the top left is your application number. Remember to click “Submit LOI” when you are ready.

Preparing for Review

All LOIs will undergo a blind review. This means that the reviewers should not know the identity of the applicant, which we believe may help to reduce bias.

To prepare your proposal for a successful review, applicants should not include personally identifiable information in the questions that have “anonymize” written in brackets. Your answers from these questions will go to reviewers.

In this context, personally identifiable information can be anything that allows the reviewer to know who wrote the proposal. This includes information about the identity, institutional affiliation, and country of the applicant or collaborators. You may still reference your own work where essential, but you should refer to it in the same way that you would refer to all other work. For example: instead of saying “my previous work showed…”, you can say “a previous study showed…”.

Applicants will be responsible for making sure they don’t include personally identifiable information as we don’t have the capacity to screen all the proposals prior to the review process. We may reject proposals that include such information.

Changes After Submission

Please note, once you have submitted your LOI, you will not be able to make changes unless there are extenuating circumstances. To make changes, you would have to contact the TBD helpdesk. Proposals cannot be changed after the submission deadline.

If the proposal has been submitted by accident, then you may contact the helpdesk to have the submission reversed. You will not lose any data if you do this.

Applicants will have a limited opportunity to make changes to their proposed plans if they are invited to submit a full proposal form. We encourage applicants to make sure that such changes will strengthen the proposal as it will undergo a very rigorous review process.

LOI versus Full Proposal

These instructions are for the LOI, which is a short form designed to be much easier to complete than a full proposal. We will use the LOIs to shortlist applicants who will be invited to complete a full proposal.

If you would like to see a preview of the full proposal questions and instructions then you can find them here.

Project Description

  
    Question
    Instruction Text
  
    Proposed Project Title
      
(Anonymize)
    Should be clear, concise, and easily understood by an educated non-specialist. A few tips for a strong project title are: (a) keep it short; (b) avoid generic words; (c) leave out unnecessary words; (d) use active verbs; and (e) focus on the outcome.
  
    Fit with RFP goals
    
(Anonymize)
    Explain how this project relates to the goals of the RFP. If the project is successful, what tangible changes should we expect to see? See the RFP web page for reference. (200 words max)
  
    Project Description: Executive summary
    
(Anonymize)
    The Executive Summary is a brief statement written for educated non-specialists. It should include a very brief overview witheach of the following headings: (a) Aims: The aim of the project. (b) Background: The context / background information. (c) Justification: Why the project is needed. (d) Novelty: The novelty of this project. (e) Hypotheses: The hypotheses to be tested. (f) Activities: Project activities that will take place. (g) Outputs: Outputs to be produced by the project. (h) Impact: The anticipated impact of your findings. (600 words max)
  
    Potential for Impact
    
(Anonymize)
    What impact could this research have on mental or physical health for either patients or neurotypicals? In what way will it be transformative? How could this method be useful for people in diverse community settings over the next five to ten years? (200 words max)
  
    Proposed Start Date
    Enter the ideal start date of your project. This date should be between June to October 2025. Successful applicants will be asked to finalize this date during the contracting stage.
  
    Duration in Months
    How many months do you expect your project to last? The maximum time period is 36 months.
  
    Total Amount Requested
    Should not exceed US$900,000 in total over a maximum of 3 years. During the LOI stage, please use your best estimation. During the full proposal stage, you will be able to use an automatic calculation in a budget spreadsheet to find this amount. The total amount includes indirect/overhead costs, which should not exceed 15% of the direct costs.

Question	Instruction Text
Proposed Project Title (Anonymize)	Should be clear, concise, and easily understood by an educated non-specialist. A few tips for a strong project title are: (a) keep it short; (b) avoid generic words; (c) leave out unnecessary words; (d) use active verbs; and (e) focus on the outcome.
Fit with RFP goals (Anonymize)	Explain how this project relates to the goals of the RFP. If the project is successful, what tangible changes should we expect to see? See the RFP web page for reference. (200 words max)
Project Description: Executive summary (Anonymize)	The Executive Summary is a brief statement written for educated non-specialists. It should include a very brief overview witheach of the following headings: (a) Aims: The aim of the project. (b) Background: The context / background information. (c) Justification: Why the project is needed. (d) Novelty: The novelty of this project. (e) Hypotheses: The hypotheses to be tested. (f) Activities: Project activities that will take place. (g) Outputs: Outputs to be produced by the project. (h) Impact: The anticipated impact of your findings. (600 words max)
Potential for Impact (Anonymize)	What impact could this research have on mental or physical health for either patients or neurotypicals? In what way will it be transformative? How could this method be useful for people in diverse community settings over the next five to ten years? (200 words max)
Proposed Start Date	Enter the ideal start date of your project. This date should be between June to October 2025. Successful applicants will be asked to finalize this date during the contracting stage.
Duration in Months	How many months do you expect your project to last? The maximum time period is 36 months.
Total Amount Requested	Should not exceed US$900,000 in total over a maximum of 3 years. During the LOI stage, please use your best estimation. During the full proposal stage, you will be able to use an automatic calculation in a budget spreadsheet to find this amount. The total amount includes indirect/overhead costs, which should not exceed 15% of the direct costs.

Principal Investigator

  
    Question
    Instruction Text
  
    Prefix
    
    First Name
    
    Last Name
    
    Job Title
    Current title at your employer.
  
    Time Commitment Percentage
    If this grant request is awarded, what percent of this team member’s time would be committed to project activities? This should be based on a normal working week. For example, one day a week would be 20% or four months a year would be 25%.
  
    Employment
    Please select whether you are a current or a prospective employee of the applicant organization.
  
    Education
    List your key qualifications relevant to this project, including degree title, institution, and year of graduation. For the Principal Investigator, this field should confirm that they have a PhD, MD, or equally valid degree. (List all the most relevant information allowed within the word limit of 100 words)
  
    Professional Experience
    List the most relevant experiences including your position, the name of the organization, and the start and end dates of that position. (List all the most relevant information allowed within the word limit of 150 words)
  
    Relevant, Previous Grants
    List the most relevant grants you have personally been involved in. This could include grants on similar topics or high-impact grants to demonstrate your track record. Include the start and end dates, your role in the grant, the name of the grantor, and the amount awarded. (List all the most relevant information allowed within the word limit of 150 words)
  
    Relevant, Published Articles
    List the most relevant articles you have authored in this space. Ideally use the APA reference style. (List all the most relevant information allowed within the word limit of 250 words)
  
    Likely Collaborators
    List the names of any known planned collaborators. Include their names, institution, position at their institution, and likely roles in the project. Although it is not necessary at this stage, we recommend that you inform your collaborators before submission. (100 words max)

Question	Instruction Text
Prefix
First Name
Last Name
Job Title	Current title at your employer.
Time Commitment Percentage	If this grant request is awarded, what percent of this team member’s time would be committed to project activities? This should be based on a normal working week. For example, one day a week would be 20% or four months a year would be 25%.
Employment	Please select whether you are a current or a prospective employee of the applicant organization.
Education	List your key qualifications relevant to this project, including degree title, institution, and year of graduation. For the Principal Investigator, this field should confirm that they have a PhD, MD, or equally valid degree. (List all the most relevant information allowed within the word limit of 100 words)
Professional Experience	List the most relevant experiences including your position, the name of the organization, and the start and end dates of that position. (List all the most relevant information allowed within the word limit of 150 words)
Relevant, Previous Grants	List the most relevant grants you have personally been involved in. This could include grants on similar topics or high-impact grants to demonstrate your track record. Include the start and end dates, your role in the grant, the name of the grantor, and the amount awarded. (List all the most relevant information allowed within the word limit of 150 words)
Relevant, Published Articles	List the most relevant articles you have authored in this space. Ideally use the APA reference style. (List all the most relevant information allowed within the word limit of 250 words)
Likely Collaborators	List the names of any known planned collaborators. Include their names, institution, position at their institution, and likely roles in the project. Although it is not necessary at this stage, we recommend that you inform your collaborators before submission. (100 words max)

Applicant Organization

Grants can only be awarded to a recognized Internal Revenue Code section 501(c)(3) medical schools, colleges, universities, or not-for-profit research organizations and, to the extent permissible pursuant to the Internal Revenue Code, to similar organizations located within or outside the United States (collectively referred to as “Applicant Institution”).

Question	Instruction Text
Legal Name	The name must match the governing documents of the organization.
Other names	If the Organization operates under any other names, please list them here.
Street Address
City
Region	This could be a state, county, or region, depending on the country that you are in.
Country	Applications will be considered from any country except for those on the US’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctions list. For more information, see: https://home.treasury.gov/policy-issues/office-of-foreign-assets-control-sanctions-programs-and-information
Post Code	If post codes are not used in your country, please enter "00000".
Website / URL
Organization Structure	The value selected here must match that of the Tax ID that will be listed below.
Tax ID Number	This is your organization's tax identification number. For example, the United States, this is the organization's EIN. If this question does not apply in your jurisdiction, please enter "00000".
Registration Number	Distinct from a "Tax ID", this is your organization's legal registration number. It is normally provided when the organization is registered within its local jurisdiction. If you are unsure, then please ask a senior administrator at your organization. If this does not apply in your jurisdiction, please enter "00000".
Parent Organization	If your organization is owned by a parent organization, then please enter the name here.