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Apply to Internal Competition // Limit: 2 // Tickets Available: 2

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

Program Description
Full sponsor guidelines are linked here.

The NIH Director's Early Independence Award helps talented new researchers begin their own independent research program soon after finishing their doctoral degree or clinical training, without first doing postdoctoral training.The award accepts applications on any topic fitting the NIH mission. It is part of the NIH Common Fund's High-Risk, High-Reward Research program.

Eligible Individuals (Program Director/Principal Investigator)
Any individual(s) with the skills, knowledge, and resources necessary to carry out the proposed research as the Program Director(s)/Principal Investigator(s) (PD(s)/PI(s)) is invited to work with their organization to develop an application for support. 

Requirements

• One PD/PI only: Applications can have only one PD/PI. Multiple PD/PIs are not allowed. Only the PD/PI may be listed as Senior/Key Personnel and submit a biosketch.
• Citizenship: U.S. citizenship is not required. If the PD/PI is not a U.S. citizen, the institution must ensure the visa permit allows them to do the proposed research in the U.S. for the full project period.
• Degree or clinical training dates: The PD/PI must complete their terminal doctoral degree or post-graduate clinical training between May 1, 2025, and September 30, 2027.
  • The date shown on the official transcript is considered the date the degree was completed.
  • Clinical training includes residency and fellowship.
  • At the time of award, either:
    • The PD/PI must have an eligible doctoral degree from an accredited U.S. or foreign institution, oR
    • An authorized official must confirm all degree requirements are complete and the degree will be awarded before September 30, 2027.
• Post-doctoral experience: The PD/PI must not have more than 12 months of postdoctoral training after an earlier, non-terminal doctoral degree. This applies only to individuals with multiple doctoral degrees.
• Effort required:
  • Years 1-2: At least 9.6 person-months per year (80% effort) on the award project
  • Years 3-5:  At least 9.6 person-months per year (80% effort) on independent research overall, including the award project and any other independent research led by the PD/PI.
• Non-independence required: At the time of application, the PD/PI must still be non-independent. All the following must apply:
  • Research direction requires mentor approval
  • Research is mainly supported through another investigator's funding (mentored fellowships, such as an NIH F31/F32 or NSF Graduate Research Fellowship, do not make an applicant ineligible)
  • No institutionally assigned research space
  • Cannot apply for an NIH R01 without a special institutional waiver or exception

The PD/PI may become independent before the award starts and still remain eligible.

• Independent position required: The PD/PI must have a guaranteed, pending independent research position and be able to begin independent research by the project start date.
  • The position does not have to be permanent or tenure-track.
  • The position may depend on receiving this award.
  • The institution must provide substantial support, as described in the application.
  • Moving to a new institution may be advantageous but is not required.
• Career awards: ThePD/PI may apply for both a K award and DP5 simultaneously, but the projects must not overlap scientifically. A PD/PI cannot hold both simultaneously; if awarded the DP5, the K award must be relinquished.
• Site visit: NIH will conduct a site visit near the end of the first year to assess progress and confirm institutional support and independence. If support is insufficient, NIH may take corrective action, including reducing or terminating funding.

Apply to Internal Competition // Limit: 3 per department* 

*Please note the Department of Astronomy will manage its own internal selection process for this funding opportunity. If you are a faculty member in the Department of Astronomy, please contact Dr. Buell Jannuzi for more information. All other faculty should submit a pre-proposal to this internal competition. 

Limiting Language 
No more than three candidates may be nominated from any one department per fellowship field.   

Program Overview
The Sloan Research Fellowship Program recognizes and rewards outstanding early-career faculty. The two-year $75,000 fellowships are awarded annually to early-career researchers whose creativity, innovation, and research accomplishments make them stand out as the next generation of leaders.

Additional information can be found on the Sloan Foundation's website.

Eligibility 

• Candidates must hold a Ph.D. or equivalent degree in chemistry, computer science, Earth system science, economics, mathematics, neuroscience, physics, or a related field.
• Candidates must be members of the faculty of a college, university, or other degree-granting institution in the U.S. or Canada.
• Candidates must be tenure-track, though untenured, as of September 15 of the nomination year.
• Candidate’s faculty position must carry a regular teaching obligation.

IMPORTNAT NOTE: 
We are proceeding with our normal internal competition schedule even though there is not currently a live solicitation for the NSF Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) program. We are monitoring the program and will provide updates as they are available. If there are major changes in a new solicitation, we will work with applicants to respond accordingly. 

Apply to Internal Competition // Limit: 4 (subject to change, see above) // Tickets Available: 4

Limiting Language
Each performing organization may submit in revised "Tracks" as defined below, with no more than two (2) submissions in Track 1 and no more than one (1) submission in Track 2. For the newly defined Track 3, no more than one (1) submission per competition is permitted. As a result, it is now possible for an institution to submit up to four MRI proposals within the Track limits as described above.

Inclusion as a funded subawardee on a development proposal at a level in excess of 20% of the total budget requested from NSF, or as a funded subawardee, when allowed, on any acquisition proposal, will be counted against an organization's proposal submission limit. If you plan to partner at a level in excess of 20%, please notify RDS by the internal deadline. 

Program Description

The NSF Major Research Instrumentation Grant is awaiting a new solicitation. The old solicitation for the program is linked here. The program page is linked here. Details from the previous solicitation are included below.

The Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) Program (MRI Program Website) serves to increase access to multi-user scientific and engineering instrumentation for research and research training in our Nation's institutions of higher education and not-for-profit scientific/engineering research organizations. An MRI award supports the acquisition of a multi-user research instrument that is commercially available through direct purchase from a vendor, or for the personnel costs and equipment that are required for the development of an instrument with new capabilities, thereby advancing instrumentation capabilities and enhancing expertise for instrument design and fabrication at academic institutions. MRI instruments are, in general, too costly and/or not appropriate for support through other NSF programs.

MRI provides support to acquire critical research instrumentation without which advances in fundamental science and engineering research may not otherwise occur. MRI also provides support to obtain next-generation research instruments by developing instruments with new capabilities that open new opportunities to advance the frontiers in science and engineering research. Additionally, an MRI award is expected to enhance research training of students who will become the next generation of instrument users, designers and builders.

An MRI proposal may request from NSF up to $4 million for either acquisition or development of a research instrument. Each performing organization may submit in revised "Tracks" as defined below, with no more than two (2) submissions in Track 1 and no more than one (1) submission in Track 2. For the newly defined Track 3, no more than one (1) submission per competition is permitted. As a result, it is now possible for an institution to submit up to four MRI proposals within the Track limits as described above.

• Track 1: Track 1 MRI proposals are those that request funds from NSF greater than $100,0001 and less than $1,400,000.
• Track 2: Track 2 MRI proposals are those that request funds from NSF greater than or equal to $1,400,000 up to and including $4,000,000.
• Track 3: Track 3 MRI proposals are those that request funds from NSF greater than or equal to $100,0001 and less than or equal to $4,000,000 that include the purchase, installation, operation, and maintenance of equipment and instrumentation to conserve or reduce the consumption of helium. Institutions may submit no more than one Track 3 proposal. Submission of a Track 3 proposal does not impact limits that apply for Track 1 and Track 2 proposals.

Cost sharing requirements for new awards in the MRI Program are waived for a period of 5 years beginning with the FY 2023 MRI competition. Institutional submission limits for Track 1, Track 2 and Track 3 proposals remain.

Apply to Internal Competition // Limit: 1 // Tickets Available: 1

Limiting Language
Limit of one application per institution for either the Collaborative or the Individual grant with the  endorsement of the Chief(s) of the Division(s) of Pediatric Hematology-Oncology.  

Goals and Focus
The goal of these grants is to overcome barriers to the clinical application of new treatment approaches for childhood cancer. A priority is to fund projects that have already shown great promise, but that have a specific funding need to move forward. The three main focus areas for this RFP are: 

• Cancer immunotherapy or targeted therapy  
• High-grade brain tumors or other difficult-to-treat pediatric cancers  
• Epigenetic modifying therapy or gene therapy  

Applications of novel technologies (e.g. nanotechnology, omics, gene editing, bioinformatics, and AI) in these areas are welcome. 

Internal Competition Undergoing Peer Review // Limit: 2 // Tickets Available: 0

Limiting Language 
We welcome you to submit up to two nominations.

Eligibility Criteria
We ask that you only nominate exceptional candidates who satisfy the following criteria:

• Have achieved tenure or an equivalent status prior to the nomination deadline and within the past three calendar years (between January 1, 2023 and August 10, 2026),
• Have a remarkable record of accomplishment in mathematics, computer science, natural sciences, and/or engineering,
• Have a demonstrated history of pursuing and publishing results in more than one field,
• Have a desire and plan to expand their research portfolios by exploring a substantive disciplinary or methodological shift, but have not yet launched such shifts,
• Demonstrate a need for additional funding to enable new experiments, explorations, or shifts in research directions.

Funding Goals
The Schmidt Science Polymath Program seeks to empower intensely creative, mid-career researchers to take adventurous leaps into new research domains, experiment with new methodologies and ideas, and inspire impactful scientific breakthroughs.

The Schmidt Science Polymath Program (“the program”) recognizes extraordinary researchers with remarkable track records, promising futures, and a desire to expand their research portfolios by exploring a substantive disciplinary or methodological shift soon after achieving tenure.

The program will offer research support to professors who have achieved tenure or an equivalent status within the past three calendar years with remarkable track records and highly promising futures. Each professor will be awarded $500,000 per year, paid through their institution, for up to five years to help support a research group through talent, collaboration, equipment, and/or other resources. These grants are intended to make possible the exploration of new ideas across disciplines, using emerging technologies to test risky theories that may not otherwise receive funding or support. They are not intended to relieve the researcher of pursuing other grants to continue their mainstream work, nor to be large enough to fully support a modern lab.

Schmidt Sciences are especially interested in supporting highly creative, original, and risky research that is clearly distinct from past areas and directions.

Apply to Internal Competition // Limit: 2 // Tickets Available: 2

The University of Arizona Cancer Center (UACC) is coordinating this limited submission. For more information please contact: UACC-PreAward.

Limiting Language
The University of Arizona Cancer Center (UACC) can nominate up to two applicants for the FY27 Susan G Komen Career Catalyst Research Grant.

Purpose of Award
For more than a decade, Susan G. Komen Career Catalyst Research (CCR) Grants have fostered promising breast cancer researchers who are in the early stages of their faculty careers by providing support for up to three years of “protected time” for research career development under the guidance of a Mentor Committee. We seek to support those who will emerge as the next key leaders in the fight against breast cancer.

The goal of the FY27 CCR Grant is to support early career investigators to advance these research goals. We are especially interested in hypothesis-driven studies that target breast cancer, in the development of strategies for earlier diagnosis, reduce risk of breast cancer, or increase the effectiveness of current therapies to lead to longer and better-quality outcomes for patients. Research projects must be hypothesis-driven, breast cancer-focused studies. They may be considered basic, translational, clinical and/or population science in nature and should align with Komen’s research priorities and/or mission to save lives from breast cancer.

Letters of Intent addressing topics not breast cancer focused, as described above, will be administratively withdrawn from consideration without an opportunity for appeal.

Internal Competition Undergoing Peer Review // Limit: 1 // Tickets Available 0 

Limiting Language 
The University of Arizona is invited to nominate 1 individual to apply.

Program Description
Full sponsor guidelines are linked here.

The Searle Scholars Scientific Advisory Board is primarily interested in the potential of applicants to make innovative and high-impact contributions to research over an extended period of time.

Applicants for the 2027 competition (awards which will be activated on July 1, 2027) are expected to be pursuing independent research careers in biochemistry, cell biology, genetics, immunology, neuroscience, pharmacology, and related areas in chemistry, medicine, and the biological sciences.

Applicants should have begun their appointment as an independent investigator at the assistant professor level on or after May 1, 2025. The appointment must be their first tenure-track position (or its nearest equivalent).

Institutions which do not have tenure-track appointments should consult with the Scientific Director of the Program regarding eligibility of selected applicants PRIOR to nominating such individuals.

The Searle Scholars Program does not ordinarily support purely clinical research but has supported research programs that include both clinical and basic components. Potential applicants who are unsure if their research is appropriate for our Program are encouraged to examine the research interests of present and former Searle Scholars on this website.

Applicants who were nominated for awards in the previous competition year but were not awarded may still meet the eligibility criteria for the current competition. Institutions should consult with the Scientific Director of the Program regarding renomination of such individuals.

Institutionally Coordinated - contact RDS if you are interested in this funding opportunity // Limit: 2 (lead organization)

Limiting Language 
An eligible organization can submit a maximum of two Written Proposals per Topic Announcement for Phase 0 as a lead organization. Senior/Key Personnel may be listed on a maximum of one Written Proposal per Topic Announcement.

Topic Description

Every revolution in science has been preceded by a revolution in what we can measure, from the telescope to modern Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) machines. Today, the frontier is starved for radically new modalities for sensing and imaging. We cannot watch a non-crystalline enzyme work at atomic resolution, probe the full dynamics of a working synapse, or identify the most reactive surface defect structures on advanced catalytic materials.

NSF X-Labs in this Topic will target specific platform technologies in sensing, imaging and supporting technologies that will form the basis for revolutionary new capabilities in scientific discovery and technology sectors. Teams might, for example, draw on quantum sensing, artificial intelligence (AI)-driven computational imaging, adaptive AI-based sensing algorithms, and/or entirely new modalities to redefine what we consider knowable. 

Examples of relevant, currently unmet R&D challenges may include, but are not limited to: detection of molecular-scale single-reaction events across timescales of femtoseconds to seconds; MRI-free deep-tissue imaging; non-destructive biomolecule microscopy at exquisite resolution; high-sensitivity quantum sensors suitable for operation in a variety of environments; instruments intentionally engineered for next-generation AI training pipelines; and sensors to resolve whole-brain activity at cellular resolution across long timescales. 

An NSF X-Labs Mission in this Topic must be transformative, accelerating breakthrough R&D in scientific instrumentation towards creating or reshaping new lines of research and technologies. Successful teams will overcome technical barriers facing sensing and imaging, develop platform technologies, demonstrate measurable impact on the U.S. science and technology landscape, and position their technologies for widespread use and investment in research and/or other sectors. 

Examples of challenges not considered in scope for this Topic include computational or software solutions without practical integration into an instrumentation system, development of technologies where the impact is narrow and not widely deployable, fundamental research without potential for application in platform technologies, incremental advancement of the state of the art, or advancement of technologies that are already appropriately developed to the point of full-scale commercialization.

Full sponsor guidelines are linked here. 

Upcoming Webinars
Thursday, May 28, 1–2 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) 
Introduction to NSF X-Labs Funding Opportunity – Scientific Instrumentation for Sensing and Imaging
Register for the May 28 webinar.

Tuesday June 23, 2:30–3:30 p.m. EDT
Q&A for NSF X-Labs – Scientific Instrumentation for Sensing and Imaging
Register for the June 23 Q&A session.

Institutionally Coordinated - contact RDS if you are interested in this funding opportunity // Limit: 2 (lead organization) // Tickets Available: 1

N. Peyghambarian (Center for Semiconductor Manufacturing) 

Limiting Language 
An eligible organization can submit a maximum of two Written Proposals per Topic Announcement for Phase 0 as a lead organization. Senior/Key Personnel may be listed on a maximum of one Written Proposal per Topic Announcement.

Topic Description
Quantum computing and quantum information processing systems sit at the cusp of a watershed moment: through years of federally funded foundational discovery in quantum phenomena coupled with more recent industry investment in the buildout of quantum components and systems, the world is about to witness a new era in modern computation. Future quantum computing is expected to rapidly accelerate scientific discovery and use-driven applications in a range of technology sectors, while unlocking entirely new frontiers beyond the reach of classical computing. But to realize future functional and connected quantum systems will require further investment in foundational platform technologies centered on quantum interconnects and integrated quantum photonics, which will be key enablers to combine different quantum capabilities into a single system. 

Future quantum systems are expected to rely on interconnects to transfer quantum information – coherence and entanglement – between discrete physical subsystems. Quantum photonic technologies that utilize photons as robust carriers of quantum information in distributed architectures offer a compelling pathway toward scalable quantum computing, sensing and metrology, and networking. Integrated quantum photonics will further extend this capacity by enabling dense integration of optical components (e.g., entangled sources, interferometers, filters, switches, and detectors) onto compact chips and packages. 

NSF X-Labs in this Topic will focus on the research and development of technologies to enable next-generation quantum interconnects, integrated quantum photonics and/or their supporting technologies. NSF X-Labs teams will target specific platform technologies that, if successful, will provide a roadmap for the integration of second-generation quantum systems. Examples of relevant, currently unmet R&D challenges may include, but are not limited to: scalable modular architectures based on the interconnection of discrete processing units; interconnection of heterogeneous quantum sub-systems via quantum transducers; reconfigurable quantum photonic circuits for compact multi-qubit operations; and next-generation quantum light sources, low-loss waveguides, and integrated single-photon detectors. NSF X-Labs in this Topic will aim to develop foundational platform solutions that can form the basis for broad industry adoption and integrated, system-level capabilities. 

An NSF X-Labs Mission in this Topic must be transformative, accelerating breakthrough R&D in quantum technologies towards creating or reshaping new lines of research and technologies. Successful teams will develop platform technologies, overcome technical barriers facing quantum systems, demonstrate measurable impact on the U.S. science and technology landscape, and position their technologies for widespread use and investment. 

Examples of challenges not considered in scope for this Topic include computational or software solutions without practical integration into a quantum system, solutions that are inherently unsuitable for future scaling and commercial adoption, development of technologies where the impact is narrow and not widely deployable, fundamental research without potential for application in platform technologies, incremental advancement of the state-of-the-art, or advancement of technologies that are already appropriately developed to the point of full-scale commercialization.

Full sponsor guidelines are linked here. 

Upcoming Webinars 

Thursday, June 4, 2–3 p.m. EDT
Introduction to NSF X-Labs Funding Opportunity - Quantum Systems: Interconnects and Integrated Photonics
Register for the June 4 webinar.

Tuesday, June 30, 2–3 p.m. EDT
Q&A for NSF X-Labs - Quantum Systems: Interconnects and Integrated Photonics 
Register for the June 30 Q&A session.

If you are interested in the FY 2027 Fulbright Specialist Program, please reach out to Danielle Barefoot, Associate for International Research Development and Fulbright Scholar Liaison.