This pilot project is an exploratory effort to determine (1) if there is a need within the postdoc community and (2) the capacity that we will need within our own research institute to help a select cohort of researchers complete defunded work.

Public Invention will provide at no cost a combination of research administration and grant hosting services that professional consulting firms offer at around $7500/month to startups and SBIR clients to spin up tech transfer teams.  Our application form is here, and it will walk you through the basic eligibility criteria for the bridge initiative. 

We will work with postdocs on a case-by-case basis to determine what they need to complete their work as a sponsored project, if they qualify for affiliation with Public Invention.  Public Invention is an open hardware nonprofit research institute, and we work with open research sponsors.  We will provide resources, guidance, and assistance with finding new funding opportunities and other non-research pre-award activities, such as proposal & budget development and review; institutional affiliation for the submission process; post-award grant management, mentoring, and project management as warranted; and closeout services to ensure compliance with sponsor requirements and expectations.

We strongly prefer to work with supervisors like you, to ease the process and assist us on behalf of the postdoc to secure equipment, data, software, and facilities that might be needed to complete the original project.  For example, many universities offer a mechanism for unpaid researchers to access specific buildings, library services, and software licenses so that they can participate in campus research.  When such arrangements are not possible, we will use private sector services and/or Open Science/Open Access (OS/OA) facilities.

I am not a postdoc, but my sponsored project has been defunded.  Can you help?

• Maybe!  Complete the short application and we will follow up with you.

I am a defunded postdoc, but my research area is outside the defined scope.  Can you help?

• Maybe!  Complete the short application and we will follow up with you.

I am a supervisor, advisor, or mentor.  How can I help?

• Go to the application and answer No to the first question, which will take you to a section where you can share ideas, intel, advice, resources, and offer further assistance as a mentor, proposal developer, fundraiser, writer and reviewer, project manager, or other expertise that might help our postdocs succeed.

How much time and effort will it take to get back to work?

• Unfortunately, we cannot guarantee funding, but we plan to try our best.   The pre-award process can take a very long time, but we will leverage the merit of prior work by modifying awarded proposals that have already passed the high rigor of the federal proposal review process, and which have already produced project assets, like data.  The only advantage that our cohort will have in this DOGE catastrophe is proof that their work has merit, and that it can be completed at a lower cost and in less time than the previously awarded project.

What kind of information and materials are needed to apply? 

• In this pilot phase, we have a very short enrollment process that asks very basic information about your prior award and your willingness to comply with Public Invention's affiliation criteria.  It should take about 5-10 minutes to complete the application form.

What happens after I fill out the form?

• We will contact you directly within 2 business days to confirm your eligibility status.

What happens if I am not eligible?

• We will add you to a waiting list for a separate program that is in development for roll-out later in the year.  All enrolled applicants will receive guidance and access to the resources that we curate for this program.

What happens after the pilot project ends?

• If we succeed in meeting our pilot objectives, will begin Phase II of the initiative in mid-July.  

Why are you doing this?  What's in it for you?

• We will offset our costs and labor with de minimis indirects, and expect to operate at a loss.  Nonetheless, we launched this initiative to rally around our most promising early career talent in the hope that they will stay in the US and keep moving forward with the work that they are passionate about and uniquely qualified to do.  The research landscape is changing, but we have the only pathway in the whole ecosystem with the capacity, mission, and plan to get DOGEd postdocs back on track at no cost to them.