Deadlines are quickly approaching for four foundation grants for early and midcareer faculty: the 2017 Beckman Young Investigator Award, the 2017 Sloan Research Fellowships, the Spencer Foundation Midcareer Grants, and the Burroughs Wellcome Fund Career Awards at the Scientific Interface.
2017 Beckman Young Investigator Award
The 2017 Beckman Young Investigator Award will support the most promising young faculty members in the early stages of their academic careers in the chemical and life sciences, particularly to foster the invention of methods, instruments and materials that will open up new avenues of research in science. Grants are $750,000 for a four-year period. A list of the previous year’s award recipients is available at http://www.beckman-foundation.org/beckman-news/2016-2017-beckman-scholars. (Institutions are not limited in the number of nominations at the Letter of Intent stage.)
Notable eligibility criteria:
- The BYI program is open to those within the first three years of a tenure-track position, or an equivalent independent research appointment, at an academic or nonprofit institution that conducts research in the chemical and life sciences.
- No individual may apply for a Beckman Young Investigator Award more than two times.
- The BYI program funds promising young scientists early in their careers who have not yet received a major award from another organization. Investigators can have no more than $225,000 in direct, annualized external funding grants during any BYI program year (August-July) at time of application. Startup funds, department-wide instrumentation grants, and “transition” grants (such as NIH K99/R00) are not counted toward this total.
The 2017 Letter of Intent will require completion of the following by the application deadline:
- PI profile including scanned copies of documentation of citizenship/permanent residency
- 1,200-word proposal
- Biosketch (template provided in application)
- Research support form (template provided in application)
- Institutional endorsements from the chief academic officer and dean (or similarly authorized signatories)
Letters of Intent are due online by Aug. 15, 2016, at 5 p.m. Pacific/8 p.m. Eastern. The Letter of Intent application procedure is very specific and is submitted through the foundation’s online portal. Please visit http://www.beckman-foundation.org/programs/beckman-young-investigators-program-information for application instructions and for the link to the online portal.
Please contact Vivian Carmichael (vivian.carmichael@vanderbilt.edu), executive director, Corporate and Foundation Relations at 615- 875-4915 if you intend to apply.
2017 Sloan Research Fellowships
The 2017 Sloan Research Fellowships support the independent research of early career scientists and scholars of outstanding promise who hold a tenure-track (or equivalent) position. Each department may nominate up to three candidates. These are relatively small but highly prestigious awards. Grants are $60,000 for a two-year period. A list of the previous year’s award recipients is available at http://www.sloan.org/sloan-research-fellowships/2015-sloan-research-fellows/.
Notable eligibility criteria:
- Applicants are expected to hold a Ph.D. (or equivalent) in chemistry, computational or evolutionary molecular biology, computer science, economics, mathematics, neuroscience, ocean sciences, physics or a related field.
- Candidates most recent Ph.D. (or equivalent) must have been awarded on or after Sept. 1, 2010. Candidates in all fields are normally below the rank of associate professor and do not yet hold tenure.
- Candidates must be nominated by a department head or other senior researcher. More than one candidate from a department may be nominated, but not more than three.
The foundation’s eligibility requirements and nomination process are very specific. Please visit http://www.sloan.org/sloan-research-fellowships/ for more details. Nominations for the 2017 Sloan Research Fellowships open on July 15, 2016, and are due to the foundation no later than 11:59 EDT on Sept. 15, 2016.
If you have any questions about the foundation or its interests and priorities, please contact Melissa Vandewater (melissa.vandewater@vanderbilt.edu), development coordinator, Corporate and Foundation Relations, at 615-343-4574.
Spencer Foundation Midcareer Grant
The 2016 Midcareer Grant Program provides support for those who are interested in advancing their understanding of a compelling problem of education by acquiring new skills, substantive knowledge, theoretical perspectives or methodological tools. Grants are limited to a total of $150,000 for a one-year period. A list of the previous year’s award recipients is available at http://www.spencer.org/grants—select Midcareer Grant from the “Grant Type” menu.
Applicants for the 2016 application deadline must have received their Ph.D., Ed.D., or equivalent research degree between Jan. 1, 1996, and Dec. 31, 2009.
The deadline for proposal submissions to this program is 4 p.m. CDT Sept. 13, 2016. Please visit http://www.spencer.org/midcareer-grant-program-guidelines for detailed application instructions.
Interested faculty are encouraged to contact Jessica Robinson, director of corporate and foundation relations, at jessica.robinson@vanderbilt.edu or 615-875-9022.
The Burroughs Wellcome Fund Career Awards at the Scientific Interface
The 2017 Burroughs Wellcome Fund Career Awards at the Scientific Interface (CASI) support the very early career development of researchers in the physical, mathematical, computational sciences, or engineering to transition into postdoctoral work in the biological sciences. Candidates cannot hold nor have accepted, either in writing or verbally, a faculty appointment as a tenure-track assistant professor at the time of application—both pre-proposal and full application. Grants are $500,000 for a five-year period. A list of the previous year’s award recipients is available at http://www.bwfund.org/grant-programs/interfaces-science/career-awards-scientific-interface/grant-recipients#2016.
Notable eligibility criteria:
- Candidates must hold a Ph.D. degree in one of the fields of mathematics, physics, chemistry, computer science, statistics or engineering. This includes related areas of physical, mathematical, computational, theoretical and engineering science.
- Candidates must have completed at least 12 months but not more than 48 months of postdoctoral research by the date of the full invited application deadline.
- Candidates must have at least one first-author publication, including papers on which “first authorship” is shared.
- BWF strongly encourages applications from women and underrepresented minorities, including blacks or African Americans, Hispanics or Latinos, native Americans, Alaskan natives or native Hawaiians.
The competition will employ a two-stage process. Preproposals are due Sept. 6, 2016. Full proposal invitations will be sent by Nov. 14, 2016. For a full explanation of the eligibility requirements, view the Request for Proposals.
Interested faculty are encouraged to contact Jessica Robinson, director of corporate and foundation relations, at Jessica.robinson@vanderbilt.edu or 615-875-9022.