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ARC Awards Eligibility Requirements and Evaluation

Program Eligibility
Application Requirements
Program Resources
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The application period will run from Aug. 4 – Nov. 21, 2025 at 1 p.m. EST.

Program Eligibility

Project teams comprised of not-for-profit applicants collaborating with at least one for-profit Massachusetts life science company to solve some of the most pressing life science questions and train scientists.

  • Each award is anticipated to be approximately $750,000.
  • For-profit partner provides salary support for at least one new postdoctoral scientist to be jointly appointed at the not-for-profit and industry partner, as well as other financial and in-kind contributions to leverage MLSC capital dollars. This must be a data scientist for the Data Science track.
  • Projects should be completed within 2-3 years post grant award.
  • When applicable, teams are required to be inclusive of gender biology and other health equity factors, particularly as they relate to underrepresented and underserved populations. In addition to including racially/gender/age diverse subjects, the MLSC is interested in studies focusing on other social determinants of health such as social capital, education, transportation, employment, food access, health behaviors, socioeconomic status, environmental exposure, access to health services, housing, public safety, and geography, in their approach to pre-clinical/clinical development. Results must highlight any differences observed between groups.
  • There is no limitation on the number of proposals that may be submitted by each non-profit institution (Applicant), but Project Teams are allowed to submit only one application per round.
Applicants must be a Massachusetts legally organized “not-for-profit” entity such as an academic/research institution, hospital engaged in research, business incubator or accelerator, or other not-for-profit entity that would be eligible for capital funding from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Institutions that are exclusively healthcare providers and/or requests for the purchase of equipment associated with standard healthcare delivery would not be eligible for capital funding.

Eligible applicants must meet the following criteria:

  • Applicants must be non-profit institutions, including research institutions and academic medical centers.
  • Each application must be submitted by an Applicant institution on behalf of a Project Team, consisting of a principal investigator(s) (PI) and one (or more) Company(s).
  • The PI must have a full-time or part-time faculty position at a college, university, or non-profit institute in Massachusetts. The lead Company must have a presence and be registered to do business in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The Company will typically be a for-profit entity, but it may include not-for-profits capable of technology commercialization/adoption, such as health insurance companies. Not-for-profits that are primarily funding organizations (disease foundations, other state or federal funding sources, etc.) will not fulfill this requirement.
  • The requested funding must support the performance of translational research that is intended to accelerate the understanding of critical healthcare issues or develop new treatment methods. The requested funds can only be used to support capital costs (equipment, supplies, reagents, etc.) at the MA non-profit institution.
  • The Applicant and Company must commit to making all purchased equipment and generated data (including metadata and necessary tools) under this award publicly available.
  • Projects will be evaluated, in part, based on the level of support offered to the Applicant in a commitment letter(s) which delineates the amount of cash, in-kind, and/or other contributions (equipment donation, etc.) to be provided by the Company and any other sources (grantee institution, etc.). The more MLSC dollars leveraged by additional third-party support, the stronger the application.
  • The Applicant will be required to provide documentation of a cash component from the company to support at least one new postdoctoral scientist for the entire duration of the project following grant award. The salary must, at a minimum, follow the NIH payscale plus fringe.
  • Applicants must demonstrate how they will work collaboratively with the Company to execute the project.
  • These funds are intended to catalyze new life science discoveries. Therefore, sponsored research agreements (or other similar arrangements) executed before November 22, 2025 between the parties will not fulfill the partnership requirement.
  • The Applicant and Company must be in compliance with all other Center agreements, if any.
  • Applicants must demonstrate interest in the dataset and equipment (if applicable) by other academic and industry scientists. Resources developed/purchased under this award must be made available to other internal and external scientists.

Application Requirements

The following are requirements for the ARC Awards applications:

  • A completed application through the Submittable platform
  • A 2-page Biosketch
  • A completed budget containing only allowable costs (see Funding section below) including vendor quotes from equipment over $100,000
  • A complete breakdown of Academic and Industry contributions (including monetary value of in-kind contributions)
  • Letters of use from:
  • 3-4 Academic sources external to your institution
  • 3-4 Industry sources
  • These letters must include an example project of what these sources would use the proposed data or equipment for. General letters of enthusiasm do not qualify.
  • Letters of Commitment from each funding source (one letter from each source listed in Academic or Industry contributions). These letters must contain the dollar amounts listed in the breakdown of contributions.
  • Authorized signature (digital signature or scanned in written signature)

Funding

  • This award is able to fund: equipment, research supplies and reagents, purchase of hardware and software, and data generated via core facilities.
  • This award is NOT able to fund: direct labor, overhead/indirect costs, renting space for storage of memory, monthly cloud storage fees, other monthly subscription fees, legal expenses, travel, paying off debt, paying board members, paying for operating costs such as rent and utilities and activities funded by other funding sources.
  • Following execution of the grant agreement, funds will be provided on a reimbursement basis to the Awardees.
  • The number and amount of awards will be determined by the quality of the proposals.
  • The Center reserves the right to adjust the requested amount of funding for each proposal.

Program Resources:

Please note that the submission system only allows one active application per grant program at a time for each user account. It is possible to have an active application across multiple programs, as well as submit applications for the same program sequentially.

Connect with us to learn more

If you have any questions regarding the application process, e-mail: mlscindustryprograms@masslifesciences.com.
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