Skip to main content
College of Veterinary Medicine

Guidelines For Proposals For Pilot Grants In Equine Clinical And Translational Research

The objective of this Pilot Grant Program in Equine Research is to provide support for preliminary and proof-of-concept studies critical to moving basic discoveries into clinical applications addressing issues of importance to the health and performance of Indiana horses. Pilot funding will be targeted at research proposals that demonstrate how results from the proposed research will strengthen future applications for extramural support or help the researcher advance their program in a new direction. The ultimate decision to fund a proposal will be based on the scientific merit of the proposal. All Purdue Veterinary Medicine (PVM) faculty and their collaborators are urged to apply. Interdisciplinary proposals are encouraged, and the principal investigator must be a PVM faculty member.

General Information Regarding Proposal Preparation And Submission

All proposals for PVM internal pilot equine research funds must be submitted electronically to the Office of Research Programs (c/o jholdman@purdue.edu) by 12pm Monday, December 8, 2025. The size of the awards will be $10,000 maximum; the proposals will be ranked, and awards will be made on the basis of scientific merit and available funds. Critiques of proposals will be provided to all submitting investigators. Competitively awarded internal PVM moneys will target preliminary stages of a research program or development of new research directions that address issues of importance to the health and performance of horses in Indiana.

Funds for each project will be awarded for use over a maximum period of 12 months. Submission of no more than one research proposal will be accepted per principal investigator per year. Unspent funds by the time the funding period end will revert to the equine research fund unless a no-cost extension is requested by the PI. No-cost extension may be requested for up to one additional year by sending a justification for this request to Dr. Laurent Couetil (couetill@purdue.edu) prior to the end of the funding period.

Pilot Equine Research Proposal Guidelines

Compile Proposal Pieces in the Following Order

  1. TITLE PAGE
    Title page must provide information requested in Appendix A (title, PI name and affiliation, coinvestigators’ name and affiliation, funds requested, signatures)

  2. RESEARCH PROPOSAL

    1. Hypothesis and specific aims
    2. Background, statement of the problem
    3. Methods, experimental design, data analysis
    4. References

  3. BUDGET
    The budget categories are materials and supplies and non-expendable equipment. Salaries and wages are not permitted. Article publication fees are not permitted. Unspent funds by the end of the funding period will revert to the Equine Fund unless the PI sends an email to the chair of the ERAB before the end of the funding period to request a no-cost extension and to explain the reason and duration of extension (up to 12 months maximum).

  4. STATEMENT OF NEEDS
    Explain how the funds would allow you to strengthen future applications for extramural support or advance your research program in a new direction.

  5. BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION FOR PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
    Not to exceed 2 pages (Appendix B).

  6. PROPOSAL FORMAT

    1. The proposal must be electronically submitted on not more than 8 single-spaced, 8 1/2” x 11” pages (1 title page, 5 pages maximum for items 2 through 4, 2 pages maximum for bio).

    2. The pages are to have a minimum of 1-inch margins on the sides, top and bottom. All lettering must be in 12-point font.

    3. One Electronic copy of the proposal in Word or PDF format must be received by the Office of Research Programs, Joy Nix (jholdman@purdue.edu) by the set deadline. The submission is to be sent in one file only and should be titled as: Last name of PI~ERAB Pilot Proposal2025.doc or PDF, whichever applies.

  7. PROPOSAL REVIEW PROCESS

    Each proposal will be assigned a primary reviewer and two secondary reviewers who are members of the Equine Research Advisory Board (ERAB). Where needed, expert opinion will be sought on ad hoc basis. The reviewers will present their reports on the scientific merit of assigned proposal to the ERAB. The proposal will then be discussed by the Board, and its funding priority will be determined. The director of Equine Research Programs will chair the review session. He/she will moderate the discussions for consistency and fairness. He/she will not review any individual proposal.

    The review of proposals will be completed by the end of February 2026. Notification of awards will be made soon thereafter.

    2024–25 Equine Research Advisory Board
    Name Year Serving Address Phone Email
    Dr. Kate Hudson 3 Indiana Association of Equine Practitioners (IAEP) hodsonfarms@gmail.com
    Dr. Casie S. Bass 2 ANSC – CRTN 3054 765-496-7718 csbass@purdue.edu
    Dr. Laurent Couëtil Chair VCS-Lynn G408 765-494-6808 couetill@purdue.edu
    Dr. Tim Lescun 1 VCS tlescun@purdue.edu
    Mrs. Sarah Conrad 3 Indiana Standardbred Association
    7990 N 475E
    Rochester, IN 46975    		 conradstable@msn.com
    Dr. Steve Hooser 3 CPB 765-494-6931 shooser1@purdue.edu
    Dr. Kari Ekenstedt 2 BMS 765-496-1637 kje0003@purdue.edu

     

    Direct questions to the Office of Research Programs at 1177D Lynn Hall or 63487.

  8. REQUIREMENTS UPON RECEIPT OF PILOT EQUINE RESEARCH FUNDING

    1. REPORTING: At the end of the one-year funding period (by April 30), a written report must be submitted for evaluation by the Equine Research Advisory Board. The report is to be submitted electronically to couetill@purdue.edu as a Microsoft Word or PDF document before the deadline. There is no specific format for the progress report. However, it should be brief (1 page) and include information regarding current or pending applications for external grants or how the findings contributed to advancing the PI’s research in a new direction.

    2. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: The following statement is required in the funding acknowledgement section of any scientific manuscript submitted for publication based on work supported by the Pilot Equine Research Fund: “Supported by the state of Indiana and the Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine research account funded by the total wager tax.”

Appendices