The Life Sciences Discovery Fund wants to give you some tobacco money -- provided you're an institution committed to advancing health research in the state.

The application process opens today, and candidates eager to share in the $20 million available for the grant competition can fill an application online, or request more information at the Web site. Letters of intent are due Aug. 8, with full proposals expected in October, the Fund said in a news release.

This is the Fund's second grant competition, and it targets universities, non-profit research institutions and hospitals, as well as public health departments. Private, for-profit corporations can participate joint proposals with non-profits.

The money will come from the state's tobacco settlement bonus payments, the first of which is scheduled for April. The awards will be announced on April 9.

The winners of the first grant competition, funded by private sponsors, will be announced in September.

The Life Sciences Discovery Fund was established by the state to help spur biological research, economic growth, and health care improvement. It will receive $35 million a year from the tobacco settlement over 10 years.