Common Funding Opportunities for ZI Early Career Investigators
- "Early Stage Investigator" (ESI) : A Program Director / Principal Investigator (PD/PI) who has completed their terminal research degree or end of post-graduate clinical training, whichever date is later, within the past 10 years and who has not previously competed successfully as PD/PI for a substantial NIH independent research award. See NIH's list of NIH grants that a PD/PI can hold and still be considered an ESI.
- Extension requests can be submitted for life events that occur within the 10 year time-frame (e.g. childbirth, medical concerns, disability, family care responsibilities, natural disasters, active duty military service)
- More info on ESI
Book a service:
- Funding Search: Schedule a meeting with Arthur and Tori about grant options at your career stage or questions about funding opportunities you are considering
- Grant Kickoff Meeting: Upon request - a meeting with Arthur and Tori, about a specific grant, to set up your Dropbox/Google Drive, receive a checklist, and plan your grant writing
- Grant Editing: Upon request, Tori will provide feedback on your grant application. You can schedule this far ahead of time and send your documents at your editing time slot
- Quick question meeting (15 min)
- Checklist review: Upon request, Arthur, Tori, and Tijana or Jennifer will meet to review your checklist before your grant submission
- Summary statement review + strategy: Set up a meeting with us to discuss the next steps after receiving your summary statement
Common Grants for ZI Early Career Investigators (not limited submission)
- Title and Link
- Klingenstein Fellowship Awards in Neuroscience
- Key Dates
- Full application: Early – Mid February
- Key Deadline Month
- 02
- Total Costs
- $450,000
- Years of Support
- 3
- Years since start of faculty appointment
- 4*
- Other Eligibility
- Maximum of 4 years since completed postdoc
- Title and Link
- McKnight Foundation Scholar Awards
- Key Dates
- Full application: Early January
- Award begins: July 1
- Key Deadline Month
- 12
- Total Costs
- $225,000
- Years of Support
- 3
- Years since start of faculty appointment
- 5
- Other Eligibility
- Assistant professor less than 5 years at application deadline
- Can only apply 2 times
- No other awards from McKnight Endowment Fund for Neuroscience that would overlap
- Title and Link
- Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Sloan Research Fellowships
- Key Dates
- Full application: Early – Mid September
- Key Deadline Month
- 09
- Total Costs
- $75,000 (lump sum)
- Years of Support
- 2
- Years since start of faculty appointment
- Not specified
- Other Eligibility
- Tenure-track (not tenured) faculty with regular teaching obligation
- Must have nomination from department head or other senior researcher
- Title and Link
- IMHRO One Mind Rising Star Awards
- Key Dates
- Full application: Late May
- Key Deadline Month
- 05
- Total Costs
- $300,000
- Years of Support
- 3
- Years since start of faculty appointment
- 8
- Other Eligibility
- Assistant or Associate Professor (or equivalent)
- Should be within up to 8 years of their initial independent appointment
- Cutting edge, high-risk Neuropsychiatric illness research
- Title and Link
- Whitehall Foundation Research Grants
- Key Dates
- Letter of Intent: Mid January + Mid April + Early October
- Application: Early June + Early September + Mid February
- Key Deadline Month
- 01 + 04 + 10
- Total Costs
- $300,000
- Years of Support
- 3
- Years since start of faculty appointment
- Not specified
- Other Eligibility
- Cannot have more than $200,000 per year of extramural direct funding (minus any PI salary/fringe taken from grants).
- Title and Link
- HHMI Freeman Hrabowski Scholars Program
- Key Dates
- Full application: Mid December
- Key Deadline Month
- 12
- Total Costs
- Full salary and benefits + research budget
- Years of Support
- 5 + 5
- Years since start of faculty appointment
- 7
- Other Eligibility
- At most 7 years of lab head experience by application deadline
- Early career faculty at an HHMI eligible institution
- Every other year, starting in 2026
- Title and Link
- McKnight Foundation Neurobiology of Brain Disorders
- Key Dates
- Letter of intent: Early – Mid March
- Full application: Late August – Early September
- Award begins: February 1
- Key Deadline Month
- 12
- Total Costs
- $300,000
- Years of Support
- 3
- Years since start of faculty appointment
- Not specified
- Other Eligibility
- Assistant Professor or higher position
- No other awards from McKnight Endowment Fund for Neuroscience that would overlap
- Title and Link
- NIH Director’s New Innovator Award Program (DP2 Clinical Trial Optional)
- Key Dates
- Full application: Mid August
- Key Deadline Month
- 08
- Total Costs
- $2,375,000
- Years of Support
- 5
- Years since start of faculty appointment
- Not specified
- Other Eligibility
- Early Stage Investigator (completed terminal research degree or end of post-graduate clinical training, whichever date is later, within the past 10 years and who has not previously competed successfully as PD/PI for a substantial NIH independent research award)
- Title and Link
- NSF Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER Award)
- Key Dates
- Full application: Late July
- Key Deadline Month
- 07
- Total Costs
- Minimum $500,000
- Years of Support
- 5
- Years since start of faculty appointment
- Not specified
- Other Eligibility
- U.S. citizen/national/permanent resident
- Tenure-track professor, but prior to earning tenure
- Can apply a maximum of 3 times
Common Grants for ZI Early Career Investigators (limited submission - internal application required)
- Title and Link
- Rita Allen Foundation
- Key Dates
- Call for submissions: Mid – Late July
- Internal application: Early – Mid August
- Letter of Intent: Early September
- Sponsor proposal due: Mid October
- Key Deadline Month
- 08
- Total Costs
- $550,000
- Years of Support
- 5
- Years since start of faculty appointment
- 3
- Other Eligibility
- Title and Link
- Pew Biomedical Scholars
- Key Dates
- Call for submissions: Early – Mid March
- Internal application: Early April
- Sponsor proposal due: Early August – Late September
- Key Deadline Month
- 04
- Total Costs
- $300,000
- Years of Support
- 4
- Years since start of faculty appointment
- 3
- Other Eligibility
- Can only apply twice
- Applicants with recent breakthrough publication are favored
- Must spend at least 80% of time on your overall research goals
- Title and Link
- Searle Scholars Program
- Key Dates
- Call for submissions: Early August
- Internal application: Late August
- Sponsor Application: Mid – Late September
- Key Deadline Month
- 08
- Total Costs
- $300,000
- Years of Support
- 3
- Years since start of faculty appointment
- 1
- Other Eligibility
- Assistant professor in first tenure-track position
- Only have been appointed faculty member for about a year (or less) at internal deadline
- Title and Link
- 1907 Foundation Trailblazer Award
- Key Dates
- Call for submissions: Mid April
- Internal application: Early – Mid May
- Key Deadline Month
- 05
- Total Costs
- $120,000
- Years of Support
- 2
- Years since start of faculty appointment
- Not specified
- Other Eligibility
- No more than 10 years since terminal degree received
- Title and Link
- Irma T. Hirschl Research Awards
- Key Dates
- Call for submissions: Early – Mid October
- Internal application: Late October
- Sponsor application due: Mid November
- Key Deadline Month
- 10
- Total Costs
- $175,000
- Years of Support
- 5
- Years since start of faculty appointment
- Not specified
- Other Eligibility
- Tenure-track assistant professor for at least a year
- Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons Appointment
- Title and Link
- Greenwall Foundation Faculty Scholars Program
- Key Dates
- Internal application: Late August
- Letter of intent: Early - Mid September
- Sponsor application due: Early January
- Key Deadline Month
- 08
- Total Costs
- 50% salary support
- Years of Support
- 3
- Years since start of faculty appointment
- Not specified
- Other Eligibility
- Junior faculty (preference for those not yet considered for tenure)
- Proposed work aims to advance Bioethics field
- Title and Link
- Moore Inventor Fellows
- Key Dates
- Call for submissions: Mid-Late September
- Internal application: Early - Mid October
- Sponsor application due: Early – Mid November
- Key Deadline Month
- 10
- Total Costs
- $600,000
- Years of Support
- 3
- Years since start of faculty appointment
- Not specified
- Other Eligibility
- No more than 10 years since terminal degree received
- Title and Link
- Edward Mallinckrodt Jr. Foundation Grants
- Key Dates
- Call for submissions: Mid June
- Internal application: Early July
- Sponsor proposal due: Late July – Early August
- Key Deadline Month
- 07
- Total Costs
- $180,000
- Years of Support
- 3
- Years since start of faculty appointment
- 4
- Other Eligibility
- High risk/high reward proposal
View currently open limited submissions
Additional Funding Opportunities for ZI Early Career Investigators
- Name and Link
- Brain & Behavior Research Foundation Young Investigator Grants
- Key Dates
- Full application: Mid – Late March
- Key Deadline Month
- 03
- Total Costs
- $70,000
- Years of Support
- 2
- Years since start of faculty appointment
- Not specified
- Other Eligibility
- For beginning career as independent research faculty
- Can only apply 3 times
- Name and Link
- Rita Allen Foundation Award in Pain Scholars
- Key Dates
- Application opens: Mid April
- Application due: Early August
- Key Deadline Month
- 08
- Total Costs
- $150,000
- Years of Support
- 3
- Years since start of faculty appointment
- 3
- Other Eligibility
- Research in pain field
- Name and Link
- Greenwall Foundation About Making a Difference Grants
- Key Dates
- Fall Cycle
- Letter of intent: Mid – Late June
- Full application: Late August – Early September
- Letter of intent: TBD
- Full application: TBD
- Key Deadline Month
- 06
- Total Costs
- Up to 1.5X NIH salary budget + 10% indirect (salary and benefits only) + can request additional funds for research
- Years of Support
- 3
- Years since start of faculty appointment
- Not specified
- Other Eligibility
- Must focus your research on its contributions to bioethics
- Name and Link
- DoD Young Investigator Program
- Key Dates
- Full Proposal: Early July
- Key Deadline Month
- 07
- Total Costs
- $510,000
- Years of Support
- 3
- Years since start of faculty appointment
- Not specified
- Other Eligibility
- U.S. citizen/national/permanent resident
- First or second tenure-track position
- Received Ph.D. within the past 7 years
- Name and Link
- William T. Grant Foundation Scholars Program
- Key Dates
- Internal application: unclear when
- Finalist interviews: February
- Key Deadline Month
- Total Costs
- $350,000
- Years of Support
- 5
- Years since start of faculty appointment
- Not specified
- Other Eligibility
- Relate research to young people ages 5-25 in the U.S.
- Terminal degree conferred within 7 years of application
- Name and Link
- Bumpus Foundation Innovation Award
- Key Dates
- Call for submissions: Mid September
- Internal application: Late September
- Sponsor proposal due: Late October – Early November
- Key Deadline Month
- 09
- Total Costs
- $300,000
- Years of Support
- 3
- Years since start of faculty appointment
- 3
- Other Eligibility
- Limited submission
- Cannot have an R01
- Name and Link
- Feldstein Medical Foundation Research Grants
- Key Dates
- Call for submissions: January/February
- Internal application: Late February
- Sponsor proposal due: Late March
- Key Deadline Month
- 02
- Total Costs
- $80,000
- Years of Support
- 1
- Years since start of faculty appointment
- Not specified
- Other Eligibility
- Limited submission
- Assistant professor in VP&S, MSPH, or Nursing with a history of some prior funding