early career

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Only two applications per institution (normally identified by having a Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) number or NIH IPF number) are allowed.

The NIH Director's Early Independence Award supports rigorous and promising investigators who wish to pursue independent research soon after completion of their terminal doctoral degree or post-graduate clinical training, thereby forgoing the traditional post-doctoral training period and accelerating their entry into an independent research career. To support innovative and novel research across the vast NIH mission, individuals from diverse backgrounds (including those from underrepresented groups; see Notice of NIH’s Interest in Diversity) and from the full spectrum of eligible institutions in all geographic locations are encouraged to apply. Applications in all topics relevant to the broad mission of NIH are welcome, including, but not limited to, topics in the behavioral, social, biomedical, applied, and formal sciences and topics that may involve basic, translational, or clinical research. The NIH Director's Early Independence Award is a component of the High-Risk, High-Reward Research program of the NIH Common Fund.

Requirements:

• Single PD/PI: Only single PD/PI applications are allowed. Multiple PD/PIs applications will not be accepted. Only the PD/PI may be listed as a Senior/Key Person and provide a Biographical Sketch.
• Citizenship: U.S. citizenship is not required. For non-U.S. citizens, the applicant institution is responsible for ensuring the PD/PI's U.S. visa status will allow them to conduct the proposed research at the applicant institution for the entire project period.
• Degree Receipt Date: The receipt date of the PD/PI’s terminal doctoral degree or end of post-graduate clinical training must be between May 1, 2023, and September 30, 2025. The degree receipt date is that which appears on the official transcript for the degree. The end of post-graduate clinical training includes residency and fellowship periods. At the time of award, either:

1. The PD/PI must have received a PhD, MD, DO, DC, DDS, DVM, OD, DPM, ScD, EngD, DrPH, DNSc, ND (Doctor of Naturopathy), PharmD, DSW, PsyD, or equivalent doctoral degree from an accredited domestic or foreign institution (it is the responsibility of the sponsoring institution to determine if a foreign doctoral degree is equivalent).
2. Or an authorized official of the degree-granting or training institution must certify that all degree requirements have been met and that the receipt date of the degree (as will appear on the transcript) will be before September 30, 2025. An authorized official of the host institution must certify that the PD/PI will be able to conduct independent research at the institution at the time of the project start date.

• Post-doctoral Experience: The PD/PI must not have served as a post-doctoral fellow for more than 12 months following a previous, non-terminal doctoral degree (this only applies to PD/PIs with multiple doctoral degrees who served in a 12+ month post-doctoral fellowship before their terminal degree).
• Level of Effort: In the first and second years of the project period, the PD/PI must commit at least 9.6 person-months of effort to the Early Independence Award project each year (80% effort per year). In years 3-5 of the project period, the PD/PI may reduce their effort on the Early Independence Award project but must still conduct at least 9.6 person-months of general independent research each year (80% effort per year). General independent research includes the effort spent on the Early Independence Award project and any other independent research projects the PD/PI is working on.
• Non-independence at Time of Application: Individuals are eligible only if they do not have research independence at the time of application submission. Research non-independence is defined functionally rather than by position title and must have all the following characteristics:
  1. The PD/PI's current research agenda is set through concurrence with mentors.
  2. The PD/PI's research is funded primarily through support to other investigators (mentored fellowships such as NIH F31 or F32 Fellowships or NSF Graduate Research Fellowships do not preclude eligibility).
  3. The PD/PI does not have any space assigned directly by the institution for the conduct of their research.
  4. The PD/PI cannot apply for an NIH R01 grant without a special waiver or exemption from the institution according to institutional policy.

Though PD/PIs must not be functionally independent at the time of application submission, they may become functionally independent prior to time of award and still retain eligibility.

• Independent Research Position: An independent research position at a host institution is required, and the PD/PI must be able to begin independent research by the project start date. The position need not be permanent or tenure-track and may be contingent upon receipt of the Early Independence Award. Prospective PD/PIs should contact appropriate institutional leaders to seek an appointment to an independent research position. Alternatively, institutions may actively recruit eligible scientists to apply for support through this initiative. In either case, the institution is expected to provide substantial support to the PD/PI as detailed in the Facilities & Other Resources section. To foster independence, PD/PIs may benefit from being hosted by an institution at which they have not previously studied or trained.
• Career Awards: PD/PIs may apply for a research career development (K) award and DP5 at the same time, but NIH policy prohibits scientific overlap. A PD/PI may not hold a DP5 and career development award concurrently: The career development award must be relinquished to receive the DP5.
• Site Visit: NIH staff will conduct a one-time site visit at the end of the first year to assess the PD/PI's progress and to ensure they are receiving the institutional resources and support outlined in the application. NIH staff will meet with the PD/PI, lab personnel, mentors, faculty, and institutional leadership. Failure to provide independence and/or support may lead to NIH actions, including reduction of funds.

Awards will be for up to $250,000 in direct costs per year, plus applicable Facilities and Administrative (F&A) costs.

The project period is limited to five years.

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S. Soto (Public Health)

To encourage a commitment to breast cancer research, Breast Cancer Alliance invites clinical doctors and research scientists who are in the early stages of their careers, including post docs, whose current proposal is focused on breast cancer, to apply for funding for the Young Investigator Grant. This grant is open to applicants at institutions in the contiguous United States. This is a two-year grant for a total of $125,000, with half the grant award being paid out each year.

Applicants for the 2025 award must (i) not have held a tenure track faculty or tenure track research position for more than four years following completion of their training, as of March 1, 2025; (ii) not have been or are not a principal investigator on an NIH R01 or equivalent national/international non-mentored award as of March 1, 2025; and (iii) dedicate at least 50% of their work effort to research. This grant is intended to help advance the careers of young researchers who do not yet have their own major grant support but who design and conduct their own independent research projects.

The term of the Young Investigator Grant is two years, beginning on March 1, 2025. The grant provides salary support and project costs for a total of $125,000 (distributed over the two-year period as noted above.) Indirect costs, which are included in the $125,000 award, must be limited to 8% of total direct costs. 

Institutionally Coordinated // Limit: 1
Please contact RDS for more information. 

This award recognizes an outstanding assistant-level faculty member who demonstrates leadership potential in addressing inequity in medical education and health care; demonstrates efforts in addressing educational, societal, and health care needs of racial and ethnic minorities in the United States; and is committed to a career in academic medicine.

The recipient receives a $25,000 grant to support a project performed in the United States to support racial and ethnic minorities. Recipients are required to accept the award at Learn Serve Lead 2024: The AAMC Annual Meeting in Atlanta, GA.

A medical school may nominate one current faculty member per year for this award. A candidate must:

• Be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident.
• Hold the rank of full-time assistant professor in a LCME-accredited U.S. medical school department.
• Have held the assistant professor position appointment beginning no earlier than July 1, 2021.
• Have received only one appointment as assistant professor.
• Hold a MD, PhD, or have earned another doctoral degree.

 Limit: 1 // H. Ding (Translational Pharmacogenomics)

One nomination will be invited from each of the participating institutions.

The Pew Scholars Program in the Biomedical Sciences provides funding to young investigators of outstanding promise in science relevant to the advancement of human health. The program makes grants to selected academic institutions to support the independent research of outstanding individuals who are in their first few years of their appointment at the assistant professor level. The current grant level is $300,000; $75,000 per year for a four-year period.

Candidates must hold a doctorate in biomedical sciences, medicine, or a related field, including engineering or the physical sciences.

Based on their performance during their education and training, candidates should demonstrate outstanding promise as contributors in science relevant to human health. This program does not fund clinical trials research. Strong proposals will incorporate particularly creative and pioneering approaches to basic, translational, and applied biomedical research. Candidates whose work is based on biomedical principles but who bring in concepts and theories from more diverse fields are encouraged to apply.

Candidates must meet all of the following eligibility requirements:

• Hold a doctorate in biomedical sciences, medicine, or a related field, including engineering or the physical sciences.
• As of Sept. 7, 2024, run an independent lab and hold a full-time appointment at the rank of assistant professor.
• Must not have been appointed as an assistant professor at any institution prior to June 12, 2020, whether or not such an appointment was on a tenure track. Time spent in clinical internships, residencies, in work toward board certification, or on parental leave does not count as part of this four-year limit. Candidates who need an exception on the four-year limit should contact Pew’s program office to ensure that application reviewers are aware an exception has been given.
  • Please note that the eligibility criteria above have been temporarily expanded to account for COVID-related lab shutdowns. Please direct any questions to the program office at scholarsapp@pewtrusts.org.
• May apply to the program a maximum of two times. 
• If applicants have appointments at more than one eligible nominating institution or affiliate, they may not reapply in a subsequent year from a different nominating entity.
• May not be nominated for the Pew Scholars Program and the Pew-Stewart Scholars Program for Cancer Research in the same year.

Institutionally Coordinated // Limit: 1
Please contact RDS for more information. 

The Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Awards Program supports the research and teaching careers of talented young faculty in the chemical sciences. Based on institutional nominations, the program provides discretionary funding to faculty at an early stage in their careers. Criteria for selection include an independent body of scholarship attained in the early years of their appointment (see below), and a demonstrated commitment to education, signaling the promise of continuing outstanding contributions to both research and teaching. The Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Awards Program provides an unrestricted research grant of $100,000.

Eligibility

The Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Awards Program is open to academic institutions in the States, Districts, and Territories of the United States of America that grant a bachelor’s or higher degree in the chemical sciences, including biochemistry, materials chemistry, and chemical engineering. Nominees must hold a full-time tenure-track academic appointment, and are normally expected to have been appointed no earlier than mid-year 2017. Awardees are from Ph.D. granting departments in which scholarly research is a principal activity. Undergraduate education is an important component. Institutions may submit only one Camille Dreyfus nomination annually. Renominations are accepted.

Selection

The Foundation seeks Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholars who demonstrate leadership in research and education. Nominations must provide compelling evidence of the advance of important knowledge in the chemical sciences by the nominee. Further, the nomination should describe dedication and contributions to education in the chemical sciences, particularly with respect to undergraduates.

The nominee’s scholarly research achievements are assessed by a panel of distinguished faculty in the chemical sciences. The letters of recommendation should address the nominee’s research accomplishments as an independent faculty member. Other considered factors are: awards and honors, publication of research achievements in leading journals, and success in attracting research funding.

Budget

The Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award provides a $100,000 unrestricted research grant. Of the total amount, $7,500 is for departmental expenses associated with research and education. Charges associated with indirect costs or institutional overhead are not allowed. Defrayal of academic-year salary is not permitted. Funds are normally expended over a period of five years. Foundation approval is not required for budgetary changes after an award is made. If the awardee leaves the institution, the transfer of the remaining funds requires prior Foundation approval.

Nomination Procedure

Institutions may make only one nomination annually for the Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Awards Program. All nomination materials, including the letters of support, must be received at the Foundation office by the deadline noted above. Nominations recommended for approval are presented to the Foundation’s Board of Directors in time for award announcements by early May 2023. The nomination consists of:

1. The online nomination form 
2. A letter of nomination from an institutional representative highlighting the nominee’s achievements, and the basis for selection (limited to two pages)
3. A summary description of the nominee’s research accomplishments as an independent faculty member, and a description of research plans (limited to five pages, including references, with use of at least one graphic being encouraged)
4. A statement intended to convince the reviewers of the nominee’s dedication to education in the chemical sciences (limited to two pages)
5. A CV (limited to four pages) including a list of publications in which independent contributions and undergraduate coauthors are clearly identified. Research support should be indicated
6. A budget (limited to one page) describing how award funds are anticipated to be used