Request for Applications (RFA):

2025-2026 Grant Funding Cycle

GRANT APPLICATION TIMELINE:

• Application Opens: October 8, 2025
• Application Deadline: November 21, 2025
• Applications Reviewed by NASBS Research Committee Members: December 2025- January 2026
• Selected Applicants Notified: January 19 – January 23, 2026

NATURE AND PURPOSE OF THIS RFA:

The North American Skull Base Society is pleased to announce the creation of an annual research grant opportunity to apply for funding. The major purpose of this grant is to facilitate research by active NASBS Members into clinical issues and diseases relevant to the specialty. The additional goals are as follows:

• To foster clinical studies that will generate data to solve clinically relevant issues in skull base.
• To foster translational/basic science research that will improve our understanding of skull base diseases and disorders, which also encompasses low-prevalence (‘orphan’) diseases.
• To promote research, scholarly activity, and career advancement and successful transitioning of NASBS members to independent NIH funding.
• To answer the scientific questions deemed to be high priority by the NASBS Board and Research Committee employing methods of consultation with NASBS membership.
• To encourage collaboration with other researchers within the same or different institution from the PI’s home program.

AREAS OF STUDY:

Although all submissions will be given consideration, the following topics and entities have been identified as Areas of Study for the NASBS:

• Diseases and disorders preferentially affecting the cranial base
• Diagnostics related to cranial base diseases/disorders
• Therapeutics related to cranial base diseases/disorders
• Novel anatomic studies of the cranial base
• Sellar/parasellar/suprasellar/pituitary tumors
• Sinonasal malignancies
• Lateral skull base tumors
• Vestibular schwannoma
• Meningioma (as related to the cranial base)
• Quality of life studies for cranial base diseases/disorders
• Surgical education in cranial base surgery
• Simulation in cranial base surgery
• CSF leak prevention and treatment (as related to cranial base)

FUNDING:

A total of $80,000 has been budgeted for this annual grant cycle. For this 2025-2026 cycle, the NASBS can award grants adding up to this amount. Grants in 5, 10, 15, or 20 thousand-dollar amounts are expected to be awarded. Final award amounts will also be based on the budget provided. The grant review committee (consisting of Research Committee members) will review and score the applications. The best applications in each of the categories (defined below) will be awarded.

ELIGIBILITY:

The Principal Investigator (PI) on the grant must be an active member (with all dues paid) of the North American Skull Base Society. Please contact [email protected] to confirm your active membership.

APPLICATION GUIDELINES:

The NASBS Grant Program consist of three application categories:

• Clinical Research: Investigations that are centered on clinical care seeking answers to novel questions through well designed prospective or retrospective methods. (Typical Budget: $5,000-10,000, but up to $20,000 will be considered)
• Basic Science/ Transitional/ Anatomy Research: Investigations targeting the underpinnings of relevant anatomic and pathologic states or seeking to take basic science concepts and apply them to skull base diseases and disorders. (Typical Budget: $5,000-10,000, but up to $20,000 will be considered)
• Career Development Award: Designed to support early-career investigators in advancing their research careers and improving their competitiveness for NIH funding. Learn more about the career development award. (Budget: $20,000). If an R01 has been submitted on the project, this should be mentioned in the cover letter.

Required Materials:

• Cover Letter (unblinded):
  • One page (500 words), include grant category. The letter should include a brief summary of the project, and highlight investigator experience relevant to the project, the scientific environment at the institution relevant to the project, and the additional sources of support for the project.
• Aims Page (1 page max, blinded):
  • Standard NIH format with focused relevant background and aims describing the goals and expected outcomes of the project. The number of aims and detail should be tailored to the scope of the proposal and grant category.
• Research Plan (Size 12 font, 1’ margins, blinded): Reviewers will be conducting an initial blinded review of the proposal. Please ensure that all identifying information is removed or redacted. Grants with identifying information will not be reviewed.
  • Research Plan with the following sections.
    • Background
    • Significance / Innovation / Preliminary Data
    • Research strategy / Methods
    • Analysis / Alternate Approaches with sample size justification (if applicable)
  • Clinical or Basic Research grants
    • Research Plan length based on scope / budget
      • $5,000 (Specific Aims page, + up to 2 page proposal)
      • $10,000 (Specific Aims page, + up to 3 page proposal)
      • $15,000 (Specific Aims page, + up to 4 page proposal)
      • $20,000 (Specific Aims page, + up to 6 page proposal)
    • Career Development grants
      • Research Plan length
        • $20,000 (Specific Aims page, + up to 6 page proposal)
• IRB/IUCAC approval number or timeline for obtaining approval (as applicable)
• Budget (Please note that grants can not be used for salary support or indirect costs). One page.
  • Budget in table format with associated costs
• Curriculum Vitae for PI and any Co-Investigator(s)

GRANT REVIEW CRITERIA TO BE EMPLOYED:

Members of the Grant Review Committee will independently conduct a blind review of each proposal, evaluating submissions according to the criteria outlined below. Each proposal will be scored individually, and the scores will be tabulated and averaged to ensure a fair and objective assessment. Proposals will be compared within their designated category. Aims and research proposals will be scored in a blinded fashion prior to review of cover letter and investigator qualifications, which will be reviewed and scored separately in an unblinded fashion following submission of the blinded review scores.

Funding decisions will be based on the payline determined by available resources. The following criteria and considerations will guide the review process.

• Significance

Does the project address an important problem or a critical barrier to progress in skull base? If the aims of the project are achieved, how will scientific knowledge, technical capability, and/or clinical practice be improved? How will successful completion of the aims change the concepts, methods, technologies, treatments, services, or preventative interventions that drive this field?

• Investigators’ Experience

Are the PD/PIs, collaborators, and other researchers well suited to the project? If Early Stage Investigators or New Investigators, who are in the early stages of independent careers, do they have appropriate experience and training? If established, have they demonstrated an ongoing record of accomplishments that have advanced their field(s)? If the project is collaborative or multi-PD/PI, do the investigators have complementary and integrated expertise; are their leadership approaches, governance, and organizational structures appropriate for the project?

• Innovation

Does the application challenge and seek to shift current research or clinical practice paradigms by utilizing novel theoretical concepts, approaches or methodologies, instrumentation, or interventions? Are the concepts, approaches or methodologies, instrumentation, or interventions novel to one field of research or novel in a broad sense? Is a refinement, improvement, or new application of theoretical concepts, approaches or methodologies, instrumentation, or interventions proposed?

• Approach

Are the overall strategy, methodology, and analyses well-reasoned and appropriate to accomplish the specific aims of the project? Are potential problems, alternative strategies, and benchmarks for success presented? If the project is in the early stages of development, will the strategy establish feasibility and will particularly risky aspects be managed?

• Environment

Will the scientific environment in which the work will be done contribute to the probability of success? Are the institutional support, equipment, and other physical resources available to the investigators adequate for the project proposed? Will the project benefit from unique features of the scientific environment, subject populations, or collaborative arrangements?

EXPECTATIONS FOR GRANT AWARDEE:

The PI of the awarded grant is expected to satisfy the following requirements:

1. The grant recipient will present their research findings at the subsequent NASBS Annual Meeting.
2. Investigators are encouraged to submit research publication resulting from the awarded grant to the Journal of Neurological Surgery, Part B: Skull Base.
3. The NASBS is credited with grant support in the ‘Acknowledgements’ section of any publications stemming from this grant.
4. Failure to abide by any of these expectations will result in disqualification for future grants.

Application Deadline is November 21, 2025

Please contact grant coordinator Alondra Renteria at [email protected] if you have any questions.