How to Apply

To be considered for funding, investigators must meet all eligibility requirements and follow the process outlined below.

Applications for the UM-BILD Accelerator will open in February 2025
for the September 2025 funding cycle (Cohort 3). 

Application Process

  1. Review the Request for Application
    The Request for Application (RFA) includes information on applying as well as key reporting requirements of the grant. Investigators should carefully review this document.
  2. Letter of Intent Submission
    Investigators interested in receiving funding must first submit an LOI through the REACH Hub application. The LOI must meet all of the requirements outlined below. All questions on the REACH Hub application must be answered.
  3. Letter of Intent Review
    The UM-BILD team reviews all LOIs and invites the highest-ranked project teams to submit a full application.
  4. Full Application
    Each selected team will be matched with a coach that will assist in crafting an effective, realistic proposal, including quantifiable project milestones. The official application includes the completed RFA and all additional documentation outlined below.

Letter of Intent Requirements

The LOI is a two-page document that outlines the proposed project. The first page contains the project’s essential details while the second page is reserved for supplemental material.

Interested investigators should download the UM-BILD Letter of Intent Template and Information Sheet, a Word file with application instructions. All submissions must be made via the REACH Hub application.

The LOI must include the elements outlined below and meet all of the formatting requirements in the template.

  • Required Elements
    • Describe the technology
    • Include relevant intellectual property (IP) and IP disclosure(s)
    • Identify the health-care problem that this technology could help to solve (What could the product or service be? Who would be its customers?)
    • Sketch the current status of the project (Is the biochemical pathway identified? Have in vivo proof-of-concept experiments been run? Has an initial prototype been built? Clinical validation?)
    • Outline the key milestones of a year-long project with a $75,000 budget


Full Application

Selected project teams will be required to submit an official Request for Application (RFA) to the National Institutes of Health to receive funding.

The application must include all of the documents outlined below and meet all of the formatting requirements in each template linked below.

For questions, please contact UM-BILD@umaryland.edu.