Funding Opportunities for Early Career Investigators
In an increasingly competitive funding environment, opportunities exist to help researchers at the beginning stages of their careers. Examples of external funding opportunities specifically geared toward early career investigators working at are available in the table below. As with all funding opportunities, it is essential to review the sponsor guidelines to confirm eligibility, deadlines and research priorities.
RIO offers the Principal Investigator (PI) Academy program to orient early career faculty to ’s research community and resources. Through the PI Academy, presenters and facilitators actively engage faculty on a number of “core” research topics to ensure early investigators are well-positioned to apply for and secure external funding for their research, scholarly and creative endeavors.
RIO's NEH Fellowship Peer Editing Workshop Series (January-April Annually)
- : Given that one application per school or college is allowed, those interested should coordinate with their respective college.
- RIO's NSF CAREER Commit-to-Submit Writing Program (February-July Annually)
- : NSF selects its PECASE honorees from the pool of award recipients.
Please click on the Opportunity Title for links to the program webpages to access the most up-to-date information.
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Arts & Humanities Opportunity Title | Deadline | Eligibility |
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September 20, 2024 (Reopens October 1, 2024) $17,000 Canadian Dollars | The Foundation funds young artists who are in the early stage of their career, are working in a representational style of painting, drawing, sculpture or printmaking, and demonstrate the determination and talent to pursue a lifetime career in their art practice. Applicants must be between the ages of 18-41 years of age at the time of submitting. | |
Open Deadline $50,000 | Opportunity Grants are for emergent initiatives, projects, and research; time-sensitive gatherings, retreats, or convenings; and/or critical experiments at the intersection of pop culture and social justice. Rapid Response Grants are intended for cultural organizing efforts, pop culture campaigns or other activations, gatherings/convenings, cultural research, narrative strategy design, and/or implementation that directly anticipates and/or responds to an acute and time-sensitive political and/or cultural moment. | |
Multiple Deadlines, Amounts & Durations Closing dates for application are late February and late April each year for visits in the following academic year. | The Institute is pleased to offer a range of postdoctoral and early-career Fellowships for recent graduates. | |
| Multiple Deadlines, Amounts & Durations | Offer funding in the following categories:
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| Multiple Deadlines, Amounts & Durations | Offer funding in the following categories:
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National Parks Arts Foundation (NPAF) | Multiple Deadlines, Amounts & Durations | The National Parks Arts Foundation (NPAF) works directly with select artists and The National Park Service (and their affiliates) to create unique Artist in Residency programs within the wonders of the National Parks. |
American Antiquarian Society | Due: January 15 (Annual) The National Endowment for the Humanities, funds long-term (four to twelve months) postdoctoral fellowships at AAS. | NEH fellowships are for persons who have already completed their formal professional training. Foreign nationals who have been residents in the United States for at least three years immediately preceding the application deadline for the fellowship are eligible. |
Due: February 10 (Annual) A Fellowship consists of exclusive use of a private studio, accommodations, and three prepared meals a day for two to six weeks. Funding allows for stipends and travel grants. | Artists with professional standing in their fields, as well as emerging artists, are eligible to apply. Find out about their . Journalists who are interested in applying for this initiative should submit an application to our literature nonfiction category. | |
Native Arts & Cultures Foundation | Due: The LIFT grant is closed for applications in 2024. Please check back in early 2025 for information about the next open call One-year awards of $10,000. Professional development, Convening, Culturally Appropriate Evaluation, Communications and marketing support. | The program will provide critical support to early-career Native artists with one-year awards to develop and realize new projects. The primary objectives of this opportunity are to support artists who are developing their voices and for whom the award may serve as a launching point in their career. Includes artists with less than ten years of experience. |
Kala Art Institute | Fellowship application will re-open in December 2024. $3,000 stipend, unlimited access to Kala’s facilities for up to nine months, one Kala class, and a culminating show in the Kala Gallery. | Artists producing innovative work in mediums including printmaking, digital media, installation art, social practice, photography, and book arts are encouraged to apply. Fellowship Awards will be given based on conceptual creativity, originality and artistic excellence as well as project specific technical knowledge. |
American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) | Anticipated Due: March 12, 2025 Application information will be available in January of 2025. Stipend: $66,000 in year one and $70,000 in year two, plus health insurance and professional development funding. | Leading Edge Fellowships place recent humanities PhDs with nonprofit organizations committed to promoting social justice in their communities. 2021 Eligibility Info: Applicants must have a PhD that was/will be formally conferred by their university between September 1, 2016, and October 1, 2021. |
| Anticipated Due: April 28, 2024 $5,000-$10,000 stipend $25,000 USD in Amazon Cloud credits
| Halcyon Fellowships equip early-stage impact-driven founders with tools and relationships they need to achieve scalable, lasting impact. Residencies, workshops, training. Access to pro bono legal support, skills development, and mentorship. Join a community of over 300 impact driven entrepreneurs! |
Due: June 1, 2024 Award Amount: $5,000
| The William Nelson Cromwell Foundation makes available a number of $5,000 fellowships to support research and writing in American legal history by early-career scholars. Early-career generally includes those researching or writing a PhD dissertation (or equivalent project) and recent recipients of a graduate degree working on their first major monograph or research project. | |
Anticipated Due: September 10, 2024 A $92,000 a year stipend is provided. Princeton Arts Fellows spend two consecutive academic years (September 1-July 1) at Princeton University and formal teaching is expected. | Applicants should be early career composers, conductors, musicians, choreographers, visual artists, filmmakers, poets, novelists, playwrights, designers, directors and performance artists–this list is not meant to be exhaustive–who would find it beneficial to spend two years teaching and working in an artistically vibrant university community. | |
American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) | Due: September 25, 2024 Maximum award: $60,000 | ACLS invites research proposals from scholars in all disciplines of the humanities and interpretive social sciences. ACLS will continue in the 2023-24 competition year to offer these fellowships solely to untenured scholars who have earned the PhD within eight years of the application deadline. |
Stanford Humanities Center (SHC) | Applications for the 2025–2026 year will be available in August 2024. Stipends of up to $70,000 and a housing and moving allowance of up to $40,000. | Junior fellowships are for scholars who will be at least three and no more than ten years beyond receipt of the PhD by the start of the fellowship year. Fellowships are for one full academic year, and require the fellow to be in residence. |
The Getty Foundation | Due: October 1, 2024 Multiple Amounts & Durations | Open to early career faculty who have recieved their degree in the last 5 years. |
Princeton Institute for Advanced Study | Due: October 15 (Annual) Up to a maximum of $78,000 for two terms (six months, September to April), or a maximum of $39,000 for one term (three months, September to December). | To be eligible, scholars must currently hold the title “Assistant Professor” (not including the title “Visiting Assistant Professor”) at a college or university in the U.S. or Canada and as of the application deadline the scholar must be no more than 6 years beyond the date of the Ph.D. Scholars must also be able to return to their current institution after the fellowship. |
Institute for Citizens & Scholars | Due: October 18, 2024 Fellows receive stipends up to $35,000, funding for travel and research, and attend a retreat to connect with other scholars and mentors. | The Career Enhancement Fellowship Program seeks to increase the presence of minority junior faculty members and other faculty members committed to eradicating racial disparities in core fields in the arts and humanities. Formerly known as the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation. |
American Academy in Rome | Due: November 1 (Annual) Each Rome Prize winner is provided with a stipend, meals, a bedroom with private bath, and a private workspace. Those with children under eighteen live in partially subsidized apartments nearby. Winners of half- and full-term fellowships receive stipends of $16,000 and $30,000, respectively. | For over a century, the American Academy in Rome has awarded the Rome Prize to support innovative and cross-disciplinary work in the arts and humanities. Postdoctoral Fellowships The Academy offers full-term (approximately ten months) and half-term (approximately five months) postdoctoral fellowships in the fields listed above. All applicants for postdoctoral fellowships must hold a PhD at the time of application. Two types of postdoctoral fellowships are available:
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American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) | Due: Information for the 2024-25 competition coming in July 2024. Stipend for flexible fellowships: $15,000 calculated as $5,000 per month for three months’ work accomplished over a twelve-month period. Stipend for long-term fellowships: Minimum $20,000, maximum $40,000 calculated as $5,000 per month for four to eight months’ work accomplished full time, i.e., with leave from all university responsibilities. An additional $5,000 allowance will be provided for attendance at the 2022 summer retreat. | An applicant must hold a PhD degree conferred no earlier than January 1, 201. Applicants who have obtained tenure, or who have submitted tenure materials for review by the application deadline are not eligible. The fellowship period must begin between July 1 of the following year and September 30 the second year after applying. |
American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) | Due: Information for the 2024-25 competition coming in July 2024. Stipend: up to $70,000, to provide release from other duties for devoting full time to the proposed project. The exact stipend will be calculated based on the Fellows’ current academic salary and other fellowships, grants, sabbatical salary to be received during fellowship tenure. A nine-month stipend may not exceed 125% of the annual academic salary. | For pre-tenure scholars who hold the PhD degree, with priority given to those teaching full time. |
Institute for Citizens & Scholars | Due: December 1 (Annual) A $20,000 grant to free the time of junior faculty who have passed their mid-point review so that they may pursue tenure effectively while continuing to engage in campus leadership and service. | Applicants eligible for the Mellon Emerging Faculty Leaders Award will be assistant professors in tenure-track appointments who are pursuing tenure. Building inclusive campus communities through their teaching, scholarship, and service. Awardees are early-career faculty who may be working in any field of the humanities or social sciences. In addition to bringing a diversity of perspectives to their fields, MEFL awardees are building support systems, networks, and affinity groups for their students and peers. Formerly known as the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation. |
- Social Sciences Opportunities & Resources
- Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (JEDI) Opportunities & Resources
Social & Behavioral Opportunity Title | Deadline | Eligibility |
|---|---|---|
American Speech-Language-Hearing Foundation (ASHFoundation) | Mandatory Intent to Submit Form: March 1 (Annual) $25,000 | Investigators must have received a Ph.D. or equivalent research doctorate within the discipline of communication sciences and disorders. |
American Speech-Language-Hearing Foundation (ASHFoundation) | Mandatory Intent to Submit Form: March 1 (Annual) $10,000 | Investigators must have completed a PhD or equivalent research doctorate in communication sciences and disorders within the past five years |
Alzheimer’s Association | Mandatory Letter of Intent Due: February 28 (Annual) Due: May 1 (Annual) Each AARG award total is limited to $200,000 (direct and indirect costs) for up to three years (minimum two years = $140,000). Requests may not exceed $70,000 in any given year (direct and indirect costs). Indirect costs are capped at 10% of total direct costs and is inclusive of indirect costs for the implementing institution as well as to any subcontracts. | Applicants must be an Assistant Professors or above at their respective academic institution and less than 15 years past their doctoral degree or post-residency (M.D. or D.O.). |
American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) | Due: March 13, 2024 Information will be available in January 2025 for the next award cycle. Stipend: $66,000 in year one, and $70,000 in year two, plus health insurance and professional development funding. | Leading Edge Fellowships place recent humanities PhDs with nonprofit organizations committed to promoting social justice in their communities. 2023 Eligibility Info: Applicants must have a PhD that was/will be formally conferred by their university between September 1, 2018, and September 1, 2023. |
Brain & Behavior Research Foundation (BBRF) | Anticipated Due: March 11, 2025 Funding amount and duration varies. | Aims to fund early-career investigators who are less than 15 years past their doctoral degree or post-residency (MD or DO). The intent is to support early-career development that will lay the groundwork for future research grant applications to federal or other funding entities. |
Foundation for Child Development | LOI Due: June 17, 2024 Up to $225,000 to be used over a two- to three-year period. | 2024 Eligibility Info: Eligible researchers must have received their doctoral degrees (e.g., Ph.D., Ed.D., Psy.D., J.D., etc.) between January 1, 2014 and June 30, 2022. Physician applicants must have received their M.D. degrees between January 1, 2011 and June 30, 2022. Eligible researchers must have received their doctoral degrees (e.g., Ph.D., Ed.D., Psy.D., J.D., etc.) between January 1, 2014 and June 30, 2022. Physician applicants must have received their M.D. degrees between January 1, 2011 and June 30, 2022. |
Smith Richardson Foundation | Due: June 17, 2024 $60,000 to enable the recipients to research and write a book. | To support young scholars and policy thinkers on American foreign policy, international relations, international security, military policy, and diplomatic and military history. Within the academic community, this program supports junior or adjunct faculty, research associates, and post-docs who are engaged in policy-relevant research and writing. |
Alfred P. Sloan Foundation | Due: September 15 (Annual) Two-year, $75,000 fellowships | 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 tenure-track, though untenured, as of September 15 of the nomination year. Candidate’s faculty position must carry a regular teaching obligation. |
American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) | Due: September 25, 2024 Maximum award: $60,000 | ACLS invites research proposals from scholars in all disciplines of the humanities and interpretive social sciences. ACLS will continue in the 2023-24 competition year to offer these fellowships solely to untenured scholars who have earned the PhD within eight years of the application deadline. |
Stanford Humanities Center (SHC) | Due: October 1 (Annual) Applications for the 2025–2026 year will be available in August 2024. Stipends of up to $70,000 and a housing and moving allowance of up to $40,000. | Junior fellowships are for scholars who will be at least three and no more than ten years beyond receipt of the PhD by the start of the fellowship year. Fellowships are for one full academic year, and require the fellow to be in residence. |
American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) | Anticipated Due: November 16, 2024. Information for the 2024-25 competition coming in July 2024. Stipend for flexible fellowships: $15,000 calculated as $5,000 per month for three months’ work accomplished over a twelve-month period. Stipend for long-term fellowships: Minimum $20,000, maximum $45,000 calculated as $5,000 per month for four to eight months’ work accomplished full time, i.e., with leave from all university responsibilities. | Flexible research fellowships will enable recent PhDs (without tenure and within eight years of the PhD) with heavy teaching and service responsibilities to carry out research and writing towards a significant scholarly product. Long-term research fellowships will enable recent PhDs (without tenure and within eight years of the PhD) to take leave from university responsibilities for four to nine months to carry out research and writing towards a significant scholarly product. |
Russell Sage Foundation | Due: October 22, 2023 Assistant professors (tenure and non-tenure track) are eligible to apply for grants of up to $30,000. | For early-career researchers in collaboration with the Economic Mobility and Opportunity program at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The competition seeks to promote diversity in the social sciences broadly, including racial, ethnic, gender, disciplinary, institutional, and geographic diversity. Early-career faculty who have not previously received support from RSF in the form of a Trustee or Presidential research grant or a visiting fellowship from RSF are eligible to apply. |
American Foundation for Suicide Prevention | Due: November 15 (Annual) Up to $140,000 over 2 years | Grants awarded to investigators at or below the level of assistant professor. |
American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) | Anticipated Due: November 30, 2024 Information for the 2024-25 competition coming in July 2024. Stipend: up to $70,000, to provide release from other duties for devoting full time to the proposed project. The exact stipend will be calculated based on the Fellows’ current academic salary and other fellowships, grants, sabbatical salary to be received during fellowship tenure. A nine-month stipend may not exceed 125% of the annual academic salary. | For pre-tenure scholars who hold the PhD degree, with priority given to those teaching full time. |
Health & Life Sciences Opportunity Title | Deadline | Eligibility |
|---|---|---|
PhRMA Foundation | Multiple Deadlines $100,000 for one year | Research Starter Grants offer financial support to individuals beginning independent research careers at the faculty level. |
Cure Epilepsy | Mandatory LOI Due: January 9, 2024 Due: March 26, 2024 Up to $100,000 for one year. | You must fall into one of the following categories to be eligible for the Taking Flight Award:
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McKnight Foundation | Due: January 13, 2025 Currently, awards are $75,000 per year for 3 years. | The Scholar Awards support young scientists who: hold an M.D. and/or Ph.D. degree; have completed formal postdoctoral training; and demonstrate a commitment to neuroscience. |
Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging | January (Annual) Applications will open in October 2024 $25,000 | The pilot research grant is designed to help a basic or clinical scientist in the early stages of their career conduct research that may lead to further funding. Applicant must be no more than five years post training (most recent training; training includes residency, MD/PhD training, professional school, graduate school, post doc, or fellowship). Applicant must not have served as the principal investigator of a peer-reviewed grant for more than $50,000 in a single calendar year. |
Whitehall Foundation | Mandatory LOI: January 15, April 15, and October 1 (Annual) Due: June 1, September 1, and February 15 (Annual) Awarded for a one-year period and do not exceed $30,000. | The Grants-in-Aid program is designed for researchers at the assistant professor level who experience difficulty in competing for research funds because they have not yet become firmly established. The Foundation is currently interested in basic research in neurobiology. |
Health Effects Institute (HEI) | Preliminary Application Anticipated Due: February The RFA for this award is posted in December of each year. Provides funding for one or two studies with a funding cap of $500,000 each. | Scientists of any nationality holding a PhD, ScD, MD, DVM, or DrPH degree or equivalent are eligible to apply. At the time of application the candidate should have two to seven years of research experience after obtaining the highest degree and must be at the Assistant Professor level or equivalent at an academic or research institution. |
National Hemophilia Foundation (NHF) | LOI Due: May 6 Due: June 3 Awards up to $70,000 annually for a maximum of three years. | Candidates must hold a MD, PhD, or equivalent degree, with no more than six years of postdoctoral years of experience in hematology, nor more than six years since completion of medical training. |
National Institutes of Health () | February 12 (Annual) $90,000 for PhDs or $100,000 for MDs per year toward the salary of the career award recipient. | The Mentored Career Transition Award for NIMH Intramural Fellows (K22) is a two-phase, mentored career development award program that is intended to facilitate a timely transition of qualified postdoctoral fellows in the NIMH Division of Intramural Programs (DIRP) from intramural postdoctoral research positions to extramural, academic tenure-track or equivalent faculty positions at eligible U.S. institutions. Both the intramural and extramural phases will be mentored, and the award will provide research support during the extramural phase to help awardees launch competitive, independent research programs. |
Klingenstein Philanthropies | February 1 (Annual) $300,000 payable over a three-year period ($100,000 per year) | To qualify for an award, investigators must hold a Ph.D. and/or an M.D, and have completed all research training, including post-doctoral training. The candidate must have a tenure track appointment or equivalent. The candidate must be an independent investigator at a university, medical center, or research institute with a maximum of four years between the completion of last postdoc and the application deadline. |
LUNGevity | Mandatory LOI Due: February 26, 2024 Due: May15, 2024 Maximum of $300,000: $100,000 per year for 3 years | LUNGevity’s Career Development Award in Lung Cancer Translational Research program supports future research leaders who will keep the field of lung cancer research vibrant with new ideas. Applicants must be within the first five years of their faculty appointment. |
American Speech-Language-Hearing Foundation (ASHFoundation) | Intent to Submit Form Due: March 1 (Annual) Next program opens in 2025 $10,000 | The investigator must have completed a PhD or equivalent research doctorate in communication sciences and disorders within the past five years. The investigator must not yet have received external research funding since completion of the PhD; prior internal university funding is accepted. Note that training grants (for example, NIH F32) do not disqualify the investigator from the New Investigators Research Grant. |
Alzheimer’s Association | Mandatory Letter of Intent Due: Each AARG award total is limited to $200,000 (direct and indirect costs) for up to three years (minimum two years = $140,000). Requests may not exceed $70,000 in any given year (direct and indirect costs). Indirect costs are capped at 10% of total direct costs and is inclusive of indirect costs for the implementing institution as well as to any subcontracts. | Applications will be accepted from postdoctoral fellows (or an equivalent level position) with full-time positions at their respective academic institutions and less than 10 years of research experience after receipt of their terminal degree. |
Alzheimer’s Association | Mandatory Letter of Intent Due: Each AARG award total is limited to $200,000 (direct and indirect costs) for up to three years (minimum two years = $140,000). Requests may not exceed $70,000 in any given year (direct and indirect costs). Indirect costs are capped at 10% of total direct costs and is inclusive of indirect costs for the implementing institution as well as to any subcontracts. | Applicants must be an Assistant Professors or above at their respective academic institution and less than 15 years past their doctoral degree or post-residency (M.D. or D.O.). |
Sontag Foundation | Due: March 13, 2024 (Annual) This prestigious $750,000 award is paid over a five-year period at $150,000 per year. | Applicants must hold a doctoral degree in a discipline with applicability to brain cancer research. Applicants must have received their first independent faculty appointment within the last 5 years at a tax-exempt academic, research, or medical institution within the United States or an equivalent institution in Canada. The qualifying appointment must be on the tenure track. |
Human Frontier Science Program (HFSP) | Letter of Intent: March 28, 2024 $300,000 for a team of 2; $400,000 for a team of 3; $500,000 for a team | All members of an RG-Early Career team must be within 5 years of obtaining an independent position and must have obtained their first doctoral degree (PhD, MD or equivalent) no longer than 10 years before the deadline for submission of the letter of intent. FSP Research Grants support innovative basic research into fundamental biological problems with emphasis placed on novel and interdisciplinary approaches that involve scientific exchanges across national and disciplinary boundaries. |
Brain & Behavior Research Foundation (BBRF) | Due: March 31, 2024 Funding amount and duration varies. | Aims to fund early-career investigators who are less than 15 years past their doctoral degree or post-residency (MD or DO). The intent is to support early-career development that will lay the groundwork for future research grant applications to federal or other funding entities. |
American Cancer Society | April 1 (Annual) Awards are for up to 4 years with up to $200,000 a year for direct costs, plus 20% allowable indirect costs. | Independent investigators and clinician scientists in the first ten years of an |
Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation | Due: June 27, 2024 200,000 USD maximum/year for up to 5 years, including up to 10% for indirect costs and generally not renewable after 5 years | Researchers who have received their first faculty-level appointment less than 3 years before the submission date are eligible to apply for this award. The applicant must hold an academic faculty-level position (including assistant professor or equivalent) at the time of submission of the proposal, at a university, health science center, or comparable institution with strong, well-established research and training programs for the chosen area of interest. |
Foundation for Child Development | LOI Due: June 7, 2024 Up to $225,000 to be used over a two- to three-year period. | 2024 Eligibility Info: Eligible researchers must have received their doctoral degrees (e.g., Ph.D., Ed.D., Psy.D., J.D., etc.) between January 1, 2014 and June 30, 2022. Physician applicants must have received their M.D. degrees between January 1, 2011 and June 30, 2022. |
Human Vaccines Project | Anticipated Last Due: June 11, 2024 $150,000 given annually | To support promising early-career researchers who possess novel ideas and who have significant potential to execute these ideas to affect transformative change in their respective fields. Open to early-career researchers under 35 at the time of application, and will focus on human immunology, vaccine discovery and immunotherapy research. |
Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation | Due: July 8 (Annual) The Stage 1 award will be for two years, $200,000 per year ($400,000 total) with the opportunity for up to two additional years of funding (up to four years total for $800,000). | Tenure-track Assistant Professors within the first five (5) years of obtaining their initial Assistant Professor position. Basic and translational/clinical projects will be considered. Applications will be accepted from all scientific disciplines provided that the proposed research meets the selection criteria. |
National Institutes of Health () | LOI Due: 30 days prior to the application due date Due: August 21, 2024 NCI, $3M, five to seven awards; NIBIB, $1M, one to two awards; NIDA, up to $1M, up to three awards. | Through this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA), the National Cancer Institute (NCI), National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB), and National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) intend to support early-career academic scientists interested in transitioning to entrepreneurship while also supporting the transfer of technology from academic laboratories into small businesses. |
Arnold & Mabel Beckman Foundation | LOI Due: August 1, 2024 (Annual) Projects are normally funded for a period of four years. Grants are in the range of $600,000 ($150,000 annually) over the term of the project, contingent upon demonstrated progress after the second year of the award. | The BYI program is open to those within the first four years of a tenure-track position, or an equivalent independent research appointment, at a United States academic or non-profit institution that conducts research in chemical and life sciences. |
National Multiple Sclerosis Society | Anticipated Due: August 2024 The Principal Investigator may request up to 75% salary, but not more than $75,000/year for salary plus applicable fringe benefits in the first year. A 3% annual increase in salary is allowed. | The awards support candidates who have concluded their research training and begun academic careers as independent investigators in an area related to multiple sclerosis. |
Alfred P. Sloan Foundation | Due: September 15 (Annual) Nominations for the 2025 Sloan Research Fellowships will open July 15, 2024. Two-year, $75,000 fellowships | 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 tenure-track, though untenured, as of September 15 of the nomination year. Candidate’s faculty position must carry a regular teaching obligation. |
Scleroderma Foundation | Due: September 16 (Annual) Three-year award in the amount of $200,000 total | The Foundation seeks applications from promising new investigators who hold faculty or equivalent positions and who wish to pursue a career in research related to scleroderma. Applicants must have a doctoral degree in Medicine, Osteopathy, Veterinary Medicine or one of the sciences; and must have completed a postdoctoral fellowship by the grant award date. Applicants who have been a principal investigator on grants from the Scleroderma Foundation or other national, private or government agencies other than fellowship grants are not eligible for this award. |
National Ataxia Foundation | Mandatory LOI: September 6 (Annual) Up to $50,000 for 1 year. | Must have attained an MD or PhD degree. |
Michelson Philanthropies and AAAS/Science | Due: October 1 (Annual) One $30,000 grand prize with an essay printed in Science and two $10,000 finalist awards with essays published in Science Online | Intended to encourage and support early-career investigators who perform immunology research with trans-disease applications to accelerate vaccine and immunotherapeutic discovery. Researchers 35 years of age and under are eligible. Awards are for research conducted in the past 3 years. |
California Breast Cancer Research Program | Mandatory LOI: October 19, 2023 (Annual) Due: March 5, 2024 Budget cap for total project direct costs is either $100,000 or $150,000 (higher cap is for projects using animal or human participants). Non-UC institutions are entitled to full F&A of the Modified Total Direct Cost base (MTDC). | Researchers at a career level beyond postdoctoral training and less than three years as an independent investigator, or entering research from another field, are encouraged to apply for IDEA grants. |
Melanoma Research Alliance | Anticipated LOI Due: September 20, 2024 Anticipated Eligibility Checklist Due: October 20, 2024 Up to $85,000 per year for three years (up to $255,000 total) | Young Investigator Awards aim to attract early career faculty with original ideas into the field of melanoma, thereby recruiting and supporting the next generation of melanoma research leaders. Awardees will be provided funding to accomplish innovative and original, preclinical, translational, and/or early clinical research projects. Young Investigators are scientists within the first five years of their first academic faculty appointment. A mentorship commitment from a senior investigator is required. |
American Auditory Society | Abstract Due: November 1 (Annual) Intended to provide travel support to new investigators. | Completed a doctoral degree (or post-doc training or residency) within the past five years. Applicants with appointments in academic programs should be at junior faculty levels (e.g., instructor, assistant professor). All applicants must have completed a degree in an area of research falling within . |
American Heart Association | Due: December 5, 2024 $77,000 per year, including 10% institutional indirect costs. | Postdoctoral fellows are eligible to apply but must have attained faculty appointment by the time of award activation. An awardee must hold a faculty/staff position up to and including the rank of assistant professor (or equivalent). No more than six years may have elapsed since the first faculty/staff appointment (after receipt of doctoral degree) at the assistant professor level or equivalent (including, but not limited to, instructor, research assistant professor, research scientist, staff scientist, etc.). |
STEM Opportunity Title | Deadline | Eligibility |
|---|---|---|
Research Corporation for Science Advancement | Varies | Fellows are early career faculty at universities and colleges in the United States and Canada, with “early career” defined as anytime from just joining an institution as a beginning assistant professor through one- or two-years post-tenure. |
PhRMA Foundation | Multiple Deadlines $100,000 for one year | Research Starter Grants offer financial support to individuals beginning independent research careers at the faculty level. |
Cure Epilepsy | Mandatory LOI Due: January 9, 2024 Due: March 26, 2024 Up to $100,000 for one year. | You must fall into one of the following categories to be eligible for the Taking Flight Award:
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McKnight Foundation | January 15 (Annual) Application reopens Monday, August 12, 2024 Currently, awards are $75,000 per year for 3 years. | The Scholar Awards support young scientists who: hold an M.D. and/or Ph.D. degree; have completed formal postdoctoral training; and demonstrate a commitment to neuroscience. |
Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging | January (Annual) $25,000 | The pilot research grant is designed to help a basic or clinical scientist in the early stages of their career conduct research that may lead to further funding. Applicant must be no more than five years post training (most recent training; training includes residency, MD/PhD training, professional school, graduate school, post doc, or fellowship). Applicant must not have served as the principal investigator of a peer-reviewed grant for more than $50,000 in a single calendar year. |
American Statistical Association | Due: January 15 (Annual) The honoree is presented with an engraved award and $2,500 the year they are selected and delivers a lecture at the Joint Statistical Meetings the year of their award. | The Noether Early Career Scholar Award is given each year to an accomplished young researcher. This award is made to foster, encourage, and support both research and teaching in nonparametric statistics. Eligibility for this award is for those who obtained their PhD degree or an equivalent degree in the past eight years. |
Whitehall Foundation | Mandatory LOI: January 15, April 15, and October 1 (Annual) Awarded for a one-year period and do not exceed $30,000. | The Grants-in-Aid program is designed for researchers at the assistant professor level who experience difficulty in competing for research funds because they have not yet become firmly established. The Foundation is currently interested in basic research in neurobiology. |
National Hemophilia Foundation (NHF) | LOI Due: May 6 (Annual) Due: June 3, 2024 Awards up to $70,000 annually for a maximum of three years. | Candidates must hold a MD, PhD, or equivalent degree, with no more than six years of postdoctoral years of experience in hematology, nor more than six years since completion of medical training. |
: Neuroscience Klingenstein Philanthropies | February 1 (Annual) Application portal opens annually on September 15 and closes on February 1. $300,000 payable over a three-year period ($100,000 per year) | To qualify for an award, investigators must hold a Ph.D. and/or an M.D, and have completed all research training, including post-doctoral training. The candidate must have a tenure track appointment or equivalent. The candidate must be an independent investigator at a university, medical center, or research institute with a maximum of four years between the completion of last postdoc and the application deadline. |
Human Frontier Science Program (HFSP) | LOI Anticipated Due: Late March $300,000 for a team of 2; $400,000 for a team of 3; $500,000 for a team of 4 or more members. These figures represent the amount awarded to the whole team per year for a period of 3 years. | All members of an RG-Early Career team must be within 5 years of obtaining an independent position and must have obtained their first doctoral degree (PhD, MD or equivalent) no longer than 10 years before the deadline for submission of the letter of intent. FSP Research Grants support innovative basic research into fundamental biological problems with emphasis placed on novel and interdisciplinary approaches that involve scientific exchanges across national and disciplinary boundaries. |
Health Effects Institute (HEI) | Preliminary Application Anticipated Due: February The RFA for this award is posted in December of each year. Provides funding for one or two studies with a funding cap of $500,000 each. | Scientists of any nationality holding a PhD, ScD, MD, DVM, or DrPH degree or equivalent are eligible to apply. At the time of application the candidate should have two to seven years of research experience after obtaining the highest degree and must be at the Assistant Professor level or equivalent at an academic or research institution. |
Human Vaccines Project | Due: July 1, 2024 $150,000 given annually | To support promising early-career researchers who possess novel ideas and who have significant potential to execute these ideas to affect transformative change in their respective fields. Open to early-career researchers under 35 at the time of application, and will focus on human immunology, vaccine discovery and immunotherapy research. |
Research Corporation for Science Advancement | July 1 (Annual) $120,000 over 3 years | Eligible applicants are tenure-track faculty who hold primary or courtesy appointments in chemistry, physics, or astronomy departments that offer bachelor's and/or graduate degrees in the applicant's discipline. For the 2023 proposal cycle, eligibility is limited to faculty members who started their first tenure-track appointment anytime in calendar year 2020. |
Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation | July (Annual) The Stage 1 award will be for two years, $200,000 per year ($400,000 total) with the opportunity for up to two additional years of funding (up to four years total for $800,000). | Tenure-track Assistant Professors within the first five (5) years of obtaining their initial Assistant Professor position. Basic and translational/clinical projects will be considered. Applications will be accepted from all scientific disciplines provided that the proposed research meets the selection criteria. |
Arnold & Mabel Beckman Foundation | LOI: August 1, 2024 (Annual) Projects are normally funded for a period of four years. Grants are in the range of $600,000 ($150,000 annually) over the term of the project, contingent upon demonstrated progress after the second year of the award. | The BYI program is open to those within the first four years of a tenure-track position, or an equivalent independent research appointment, at a United States academic or non-profit institution that conducts research in chemical and life sciences. |
Alfred P. Sloan Foundation | September (Annual) Two-year, $75,000 fellowships | 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 tenure-track, though untenured, as of September 15 of the nomination year. Candidate’s faculty position must carry a regular teaching obligation. |
Scleroderma Foundation | September 16 (Annual) Three-year award in the amount of $200,000 total | The Foundation seeks applications from promising new investigators who hold faculty or equivalent positions and who wish to pursue a career in research related to scleroderma. Applicants must have a doctoral degree in Medicine, Osteopathy, Veterinary Medicine or one of the sciences; and must have completed a postdoctoral fellowship by the grant award date. Applicants who have been a principal investigator on grants from the Scleroderma Foundation or other national, private or government agencies other than fellowship grants are not eligible for this award. |
National Ataxia Foundation | Mandatory LOI: September 6 (Annual) Up to $50,000 for 1 year. | Must have attained an MD or PhD degree. |
California Breast Cancer Research Program | Mandatory LOI: October 19, 2023 Due: March 5, 2024 Budget cap for total project direct costs is either $100,000 or $150,000 (higher cap is for projects using animal or human participants). Non-UC institutions are entitled to full F&A of the Modified Total Direct Cost base (MTDC). | Researchers at a career level beyond postdoctoral training and less than three years as an independent investigator, or entering research from another field, are encouraged to apply for IDEA grants. |
Simons Foundation | Mandatory LOI: November 1, 2023 Due: February 29, 2024 Grants will be for $270,000 USD per year, including indirect costs (limited to 20 percent of modified total direct costs), for a period of three years, subject to annual reviews and continuation of research in areas relevant to the purpose of this program. | Applicants must hold a Ph.D. or equivalent degree. They must currently hold a tenure-track, tenured or, for institutions with no tenure track, an equivalent independent position in an institution in the U.S. or Canada (in a campus within these countries) and have carried out research in such a position for at least one year and no more than five years. They must be the principal investigator (PI) or co-PI currently or within the past year on a research grant from a national governmental agency or major national or international foundation that awards direct funding to their institution for their research in the field of microbial ecology and/or evolution in marine or natural freshwater systems. |
U.S.-Israel Binational Science Foundation (BSF) | Due: [November 20, 2024 (Annual) Do not exceed $250,000 and this support is divided among the PIs and spread over the lifetime of the program (up to four years). | Projects must have a strong element of cooperation between an Israeli and an American scientist(s), and fall within the areas of research supported in that year by the BSF. At least one of the PIs should have attained his/her Ph.D., M.D. degree or equivalent, no more than ten years prior to submitting the proposal. |
American Society for Mass Spectrometry (ASMS) | November 30 (Annual) $35,000 | Open to academic scientists within four years (at time award is presented) of joining their first tenure track faculty position or equivalent in a North American university at the time award is conferred. Applicants may not have previously received an award under this program. Applicants must be members of ASMS. |
American Heart Association | Due: December 5, 2024 $77,000 per year, including 10% institutional indirect costs. | Postdoctoral fellows are eligible to apply but must have attained faculty appointment by the time of award activation. An awardee must hold a faculty/staff position up to and including the rank of assistant professor (or equivalent). No more than six years may have elapsed since the first faculty/staff appointment (after receipt of doctoral degree) at the assistant professor level or equivalent (including, but not limited to, instructor, research assistant professor, research scientist, staff scientist, etc.). |
American Mathematical Society (AMS) | September 30, 2024 Expected to be in the amount of $50,000. | A recipient of the fellowship shall have held their doctoral degree for at least three years and not more than twelve years at the inception of the award. |
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- Seed Grant Program: Designed to catalyze new areas of research and creative work, the Seed Grant Program awards nearly $1 million annually to Boulder faculty across all disciplines. Recent winners included faculty from the Departments of Geological Sciences, Linguistics, Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences, and Sociology.
- Faculty Conference Awards: These awards provide partial support for planning and hosting conferences at that promote and encourage the scholarship, research and creative work of the Boulder campus faculty.
- RIO Travel Grants: Designed to facilitate faculty-funder relationships, travel grants provide funding up to $1,500 for faculty to visit extramural sponsors.
Other CU Funding Opportunities: Opportunities available through and the greater CU System.
- Arts & Humanities Opportunities & Resources: Webpage curated by RIO with information on Art & Humanities based funding opportunities.
Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (JEDI) Opportunities & Resources: Webpage curated by RIO with information on Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (JEDI) based funding opportunities.
Social Sciences Opportunities & Resources: Webpage curated by RIO with information on Social Sciences based funding opportunities.
- SPIN: SPIN is a web-based, searchable funding opportunities database available to all CU Boulder faculty, staff, and students.
- Foundation Directory Online (FDO): FDO includes more than 140,000 foundations, corporate giving programs and grantmaking public charities in the U.S.; a database of more than 4,000 sponsoring companies, offering a quick pathway to corporate funders; and much more.
- Dimensions: Dimensions is an innovative grants and funder database providing insights into research activities from multiple perspectives allowing stakeholders to analyze and understand the funding landscape across the U.S. and around the globe.
- Research Development and Grant Writing Newsletter: Log in with your CU credentials and access “Documents” for university subscribed research funding newsletters and guides.
- Philanthropy News Digest (PND): PND publishes RFPs and notices of awards as a free service for grant-making organizations and nonprofits. Sign up for free email alerts for funding opportunities in your academic area.
Do you have suggestions about how RIO can better support your research and creative works? We welcome your feedback and suggestions. Email us: rio@colorado.edu