FAQ, Terms and Conditions
Q: Can patients apply to receive funding for Focused Ultrasound treatments?
A: No.
Q: Do you fund projects outside the United States?
A: Yes, we currently fund projects in over 30 different countries.
Q: Who are your reviewers?
A: Though anonymous, our reviewers are experts in focused ultrasound, engineering, and various medical and scientific specialties. Reviewers for each application are selected to have the most relevant areas of expertise.
Q: What are the Focused Ultrasound Foundation’s current funding priorities?
A: See About our Awards.
Q: I have an idea, but it doesn’t fit into one of your categories. Will you still consider funding my project?
A: Yes, please email Chrit Moonen, PhD, at cmoonen@fusfoundation.org to discuss.
Q: I want to do a collaborative project; how should I structure the proposal?
A: Yes, please email Chrit Moonen, PhD, at cmoonen@fusfoundation.org to discuss.
Q: Who is eligible for funding?
A: MD and PhD level scientists affiliated with a research institution are eligible to apply for funding. Post-doctoral researchers are encouraged to apply for funding but will need to list themselves as co-principal investigator (PI) along with the lab PI.
Q: What types of projects do you fund?
A: See About our Awards.
Q: What is the timeline cycle for an application? What are the submission deadlines?
A: See Application Timeline
Abstracts are accepted any time for all Program Track funding requests. Foundation staff strive to review abstracts within two weeks of receipt. Following abstract approval, proposal submissions for all programs are accepted on a rolling basis within the 90-day period following invitation of the proposal. Funding decisions are completed on a rolling schedule as well.
Q: Why are the terms different in this contract from one that I previously received from Focused Ultrasound Foundation?
A: Our contract templates are reviewed annually and updated to reflect best practices among health research funding organizations.
Q: How are funds/awards disbursed?
A: Funds are disbursed based on the completion of milestones as detailed in you research funding agreement. There is generally a start up payment and then payments after milestones are met.
Q: Are there restrictions on what funds can be used for?
A: Yes. Allowable costs are listed in our Terms & Conditions section below. If you have questions about restrictions that are not detailed on the Terms & Conditions page, please contact Chrit Moonen, PhD, at cmoonen@fusfoundation.org to discuss.
Q: What is your IP policy for funding?
A: Our IP policy is detailed in our Terms & Conditions section below.
Q: What is the Foundation’s Data Sharing Policy?
A: The Foundation requires that research it funds be published with a Data Availability Statement, which specifies how data generated will be archived or made available to other researchers. The Foundation reserves the right to request that funded researchers deposit their study data in a public repository or provide it to the Foundation so that we may deposit it ourselves. For immuno-oncology projects, we require that researchers deposit data in our immuno-oncology repository. Learn More.
Q: Do you provide funds to support the requirements for data conversion?
A: Data curation for inclusion in data collaboratives is an allowable cost. For more information on allowable costs, please see our Terms & Conditions page below.
Terms and Conditions
Use of Funds
Award funds may only be used to pay for costs that are directly allocable to the proposed research project. Award funds MAY NOT be used to cover institutional overhead or indirect costs.
Allowable Costs
- Salary (plus benefits) for the principal investigator as well as any scientific and/or clinical research personnel directly involved in the conduct of the project, limited by the current NIH annual salary cap and pro-rated by percent effort of involved personnel; consumable supplies; animal and vivarium costs; costs associated with data collection and analysis; central lab fees; IRB review fees; and travel costs incurred either as a direct result of conducting the research or for the purpose of presenting the results of the project at scientific or medical meetings.
- Costs related to the publication of a manuscript to be included in open access formatting are reimbursable up to $2000.
- Data curation for inclusion in data collaboratives
Unallowable Costs
- Indirects
- Overhead
- Capital Equipment
- Product Development
- Tuition
Project Co-Funding
It is considered advantageous if institutional/departmental support and/or support from other sources—such as the NIH, foundations, or other philanthropic organizations—is available for the research project for which Focused Ultrasound Foundation funding is requested.
However, the Focused Ultrasound Foundation will not award funds to duplicate any work that is being supported by other funding agencies. Budgetary overlap is not permitted; however, scientific overlap will be evaluated on an individual basis. In cases of significant scientific overlap, a successful applicant will have the option to choose between the Focused Ultrasound Foundation award and that of the other organization.
Statement of Work
Once the Foundation and Institution mutually agree upon a statement of work for the study this document will be included as an exhibit in the research funding agreement. Any new activities, budget changes, or variations in details of the statement of work require a change request and an amended statement of work to be approved and signed by both the Foundation and Institution.
Intellectual Property
All intellectual property, data, records, or other work product developed during or arising from the Study would be owned solely by the Institution with an investigator initiated study. However, all inventions/discoveries, whether or not patentable, developed during the study must be disclosed to the Focused Ultrasound Foundation.
Academic Institution: Should that intellectual property be licensed for commercialization the Focused Ultrasound Foundation requests 20% of such net annual income, up to 5 times the initial research funding award be paid to the Foundation. This is a non-negotiable term of our funding. Such payments are further defined using customary terms in an ancillary agreement.
Organizational Assurances
Prior to release of any funds for approved projects the Foundation requires proof of Compliance with Human Subjects and Animal Care Assurance committees as applicable.
In the cases of clinical trials with human subjects, we require proof of compliance with the local Internal Review Board and an FDA Investigational Device Exemption (IDE) Approval (or European/Asian equivalent) along with a copy of the approved clinical trial protocol.
Industry Funded Projects
The Focused Ultrasound Foundation does in certain instances fund industry-proposed projects. This funding is not non-dilutive. If the company is pre-revenue our preferred funding mechanism is a SAFE (Simple Agreement for Future Equity). Our template is based on the 5 page Y-Combinator template. We only have to negotiate one number – the valuation cap. For later stage companies we generally propose a royalty agreement. Terms to be negotiated on a case by case basis.