STARS

Supplemental Technology Award Review System (STARS)

STARS Request Form STARS System

Overview

OSTR offers three distinct supplemental funding mechanisms for CCR PI’s to request additional funds for technologies and research services requiring exceptional costs.  Eligible expenses include services from dedicated Cores and outside vendors (e.g., custom antibody development, protein production/purification, metabolomics profiling, specialized DNA and RNA sequencing or genomic profiling, methylation analysis, etc.), as well as Next Generation Sequencing (NGS).  Funds for the STARS program are limited and will be allocated and distributed evenly throughout the fiscal year.

Note: STARS is not a means to launch new projects. High-impact new projects should ideally be prioritized in the PI’s core allocation or should be submitted to the FLEX Program.

Do not request STARS funds for equipment requests or animal resources as these will be considered through RRS.  

The four STARS programs are: 

1. 1. Requests under $ 10,000 – Requests for technology supplements of up to $10,000 are reviewed for technical merit by OSTR until a PI reaches the $10,000 OSTR supplement limit. All approved requests are subsidized at 50 % of the total project cost, which is distributed in the form of a reimbursement to the PI’s laboratory budget.  In the case of the Cancer Research Technology Program (CRTP) core labs that use NCI at Frederick Accessioning System (NAS), the subsidy is directly charged to OSTR, thus no separate STARS is needed.  No requests under $1,500 will be considered.
   2. Requests over $ 10,000 – Requests for supplements greater than $10,000 are reviewed on a rolling basis by the CCR Science Board (CSB). In addition to the technical appropriateness, a significant consideration for requests above $10,000 will be the scientific merit and potential impact of the proposed work. The higher the requested amount, the higher the scrutiny! PI’s are encouraged to reduce the requested amount by contributing funds from their base budgets.
   3. Requests for NGS – Subsidies for NGS will be provided to PI’s who exceed $15,000 in cumulative sequencing costs during the fiscal year.  After the initial $15,000 threshold has been reached, cumulative sequencing costs will be subsidized at 50% up to a total of $15,000 subsidy/year/PI.  Sequencing platforms eligible for this subsidy include, Illumina, PacBio, and Oxford Nanopore.
   4. Staff Scientist Staff Clinician Technical Enrichment Program (STEP) –  Established to provide staff scientists and staff clinicians an opportunity to compete for funding to gain access to comprehensive training in state-of-the-art techniques available through CCR Cores and Facilities.