Early Career Opportunities
This page highlights key funding opportunities especially appropriate for early-career researchers at the rank of assistant professor or equivalent position. This page will be updated as opportunities are identified. If you have questions or need additional information, please contact assist@ua.edu.
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
Faculty Early Career (ECF)
The Early Career Faculty (ECF) component of the Space Technology Research Grants Program awards grants to accredited U.S. universities on behalf of outstanding faculty researchers early in their careers. ECF challenges early career faculty to examine the theoretical feasibility of ideas and approaches that are critical to making science, space travel, and exploration more effective, affordable, and sustainable. Awards result from successful proposals to the ECF Appendix to the SpaceTech-REDDI NASA Research Announcement. The ECF Appendix is expected to be released annually and will feature specific topics. Awards are expected to be a maximum of three years, and the total award value may not exceed $600K, and the amount in any one year may not exceed $200K.
New (Early Career) Investigator Program in Earth Science (ROSES program element)
NASA’s Early Career Investigator Program in Earth Science (or ECIP-ES), formally known as the New (Early Career) Investigator Program in Earth Science (or NIP), welcomes innovative research initiatives and seeks to cultivate diverse scientific leadership in Earth System Science, specifically for those just having received their PhD.
The ECIP-ES solicitation closed August 11, 2023. Proposals are solicited every 3 years.
National Institutes of Health (NIH)
National Institutes of Health New Investigator Awards Program
In 2009, NIH instituted a new adjunct to the New Investigator policies involving the identification of Early Stage Investigators (ESIs). ESIs are New Investigators who are within 10 years of completing their terminal research degree or within 10 years of completing their medical residency at the time they apply for R01 grants. Investigators must enter the date of their terminal research degree and/or end of post-graduate clinical training date in the Education section of their eRA Commons Personal Profile for ESI eligibility to be calculated.
Standard R01 Deadlines for New Proposals: February 5, June 5, October 5
Standard R01 Deadlines for Renewal, Resubmission, or Revision: March 5, July 5, November 5
National Institutes of Health New Investigator Awards Program
NIH Early Research Career Development Opportunities
National Science Foundation (NSF)
Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program – NSF 22-586
The Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program is a Foundation-wide activity that offers the National Science Foundation’s most prestigious awards in support of junior faculty who exemplify the role of teacher-scholars through outstanding research, excellent education and the integration of education and research within the context of the mission of their organizations.
Sponsor deadline: July 23, 2025; fourth Wednesday in July, annually thereafter
Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE) Research Initiation Initiative (CRII) – NSF 23-576
Funds from the CISE Research Initiation Initiative will be used to support untenured faculty or research scientists (or equivalent) in their first two years in an academic position after the PhD. One may not yet have received any other grants in the PI role from any institution or agency, including from the CAREER program or any other award post-PhD.
Sponsor deadline: September 17, 2025; third Wednesday in September, annually thereafter
ENG Research Initiation in Engineering Formation – NSF 20-558
The PFE: Research Initiation in Engineering Formation (PFE: RIEF) program has two goals: 1) Support research in the Professional Formation of Engineers (PFE), and 2) Increase the community of researchers conducting PFE research. PIs are expected to have little or no experience conducting social science research. PFE: RIEF is not intended for established researchers in engineering education or other social science fields to initiate new projects. Those researchers should consider the Research in the Formation of Engineers program.
Sponsor deadline: November 10, 2020; second Tuesday in November, annually thereafter
EPSCoR Research Infrastructure Improvement (RII): EPSCoR Research Fellows – NSF 24-528
This EPSCoR Research Infrastructure Improvement: EPSCoR Research Fellows solicitation provides an opportunity for early career and non-tenured and tenured assistant/associate professor faculty to establish strong collaborations with the option to spend extended or periodic time (e.g., one, two, or three-month summer extended visit) at the nation’s premier research facilities. The fellowship period may be used to initiate new collaborative relationships, to expand existing partnerships in ambitious new directions, or to make use of unique equipment not available at the PI’s home institution. Successful fellowships will positively impact and potentially transform the recipient’s research career trajectory. This fellowship support is intended to provide opportunities for PIs to establish collaborations and work at facilities of national prominence that would not otherwise be possible without the fellowship.
Sponsor deadline: April 8, 2025; Second Tuesday in April, annually thereafter.
PECASE
The PECASE Awards are intended to recognize some of the finest scientists and engineers who, while early in their research careers, show exceptional potential for leadership at the frontiers of scientific knowledge during the twenty-first century. The Awards foster innovative and far-reaching developments in science and technology, increase awareness of careers in science and engineering, give recognition to the scientific missions of participating agencies, enhance connections between fundamental research and national goals, and highlight the importance of science and technology for the nation’s future.
The PECASE Award is the highest honor bestowed by the U.S. government on outstanding scientists and engineers beginning their independent careers. The awards are conferred annually at the White House following recommendations from participating agencies. To be eligible for a PECASE Award, an individual must be a U.S. citizen, national or permanent resident. Each Presidential award winner receives a citation, a plaque and funding from their agency for up to five years to advance his or her research. Individuals can receive only one PECASE award in their careers.
The agencies participating in the PECASE Awards yearly program are Department of Agriculture, Department of Commerce, Department of Defense, Department of Energy, Department of Education, Department of Health and Human Services: National Institutes of Health, Department of Veterans Affairs, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, National Science Foundation.
U.S. Department of Defense (DoD)
AFOSR Young Investigator Program (YIP)
The objective of the AFOSR Young Investigator Program (YIP) is to foster creative basic research in science and engineering; enhance early career development of outstanding young investigators; and increase opportunities for the young investigator to recognize the Air Force mission and related challenges in science and engineering.
Opportunity Announcement for 2025 has been delayed.
ARO (YIP)
ARO’s Young Investigator Program (YIP) seeks to identify and support academic scientists who have received Ph.D. or equivalent degrees within the last five years and who show exceptional promise for doing creative research. Proposals may request up to $100,000 per year for three years. This program is in addition to a YIP Program described in the open ARO BAA.
2025 Deadline: Anticipated, April 2025
Office of Naval Research (YIP)
The objectives of the Office of Naval Research (YIP) program are to attract outstanding faculty members of Institutions of higher education to the Department of the Navy’s research program, to support their research, and to encourage their teaching and research careers.
Young Faculty Award (YFA) (DARPA)
The Young Faculty Award (YFA) (DARPA) program focuses on untenured faculty, emphasizing those without prior DARPA funding. The long-term goal of the YFA program is to develop the next generation of academic scientists, engineers and mathematicians in key disciplines who will focus a significant portion of their career on DoD and national security issues.
2025 deadline: February 5, 2025; issued annually
U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)
U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science Early Career Research Program
The Early Career Research Program supports the development of individual research programs of outstanding scientists early in their careers and stimulates research careers in the disciplines supported by the DOE Office of Science.
Anticipated announcement of new RFP: January 2025
Non-federal Funding Agencies
Alzheimer’s Association
Alzheimer’s Association Research Fellowship (AARF)
The Alzheimer’s Association Research Fellowship (AARF) program is intended to support exceptional researchers who are engaged in their post-graduate work (i.e. postdoctoral fellows) and before they have their first independent faculty positions (i.e. Assistant Professor) and working in diverse areas of research, including basic, translational, clinical, functional and social-behavioral research. Investigators doing clinically-focused research without clinical practice are encouraged to apply.
This grant is open to U.S. and international researchers. Opportunity anticipated yearly.
Alzheimer’s Association Research Grant (AARG)
The Alzheimer’s Association Research Grant (AARG) program aims to fund early-career investigators who are less than 15 years past their doctoral degree or post-residency (M.D. or D.O.) with funding that will allow them to develop preliminary or pilot data, to test procedures and to develop hypotheses. The intent is to support early-career development that will lay the groundwork for future research grant applications to federal or other funding entities.
This grant is open to U.S. and international researchers. Opportunity anticipated yearly.
Alzheimer’s Association Research Grant – New to the Field (AARG-NTF)
The AARG-NTF grant program aims to fund investigators who are new to Alzheimer’s and all other dementia fields of research, including neuroscience or neurodegeneration (Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, Lewy body dementia, etc.), and provide them with funding to establish a research path in Alzheimer’s and all other dementias, to develop preliminary or pilot data, to test procedures and to develop hypotheses. The intent is to support research that will lay the groundwork for future research grant applications to federal or other funding entities, like the National Institutes of Health, including future proposals to the Alzheimer’s Association.
This grant is open to U.S. and international researchers. Opportunity anticipated yearly.
American Association for the Advancement of Science
AAA Early Career Award for Public Engagement with Science – (Prize via nomination)
The AAAS Early Career Award for Public Engagement with Science, established in 2010, recognizes early-career scientists and engineers who demonstrate excellence in their contribution to public engagement with science activities. A monetary prize of $5,000, a commemorative plaque, complimentary registration to the AAAS Annual Meeting, and reimbursement for reasonable hotel and travel expenses to attend the AAAS Annual Meeting to receive the prize are given to the recipient.
Yearly nomination window is anticipated to be April 15 – June 30
American Cancer Society
Research Scholar Grants, American Cancer Society, support investigator-initiated projects across the cancer research continuum. Independent investigators in the first six years of an independent research career or faculty appointment are eligible.
Application Deadline: June 1, 2025; anticipated June 1 yearly
American Diabetes Association
These Postdoctoral Fellowships are focused on supporting exceptional training opportunities for postdoctoral researchers as they begin their professional career in diabetes research.
Deadline anticipated in July yearly
American Federation for Aging Research
New Investigator, American Federation for Aging Research
AFAR Junior Faculty Grants provides up to $150,000 for a one- to two-year award to junior faculty to conduct research that will serve as the basis for longer term research efforts. New Investigator awards of $150,000 for one or two years support research in areas in which more scientific investigation is needed to improve the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of Alzheimer’s disease.
LOI due December, yearly.
American Heart Association
AHA Postdoctoral Fellowship
The AHA Postdoctoral Fellowship enhances the training of postdoctoral applicants who are not yet independent. The applicant must be embedded in an appropriate investigative group with the mentorship, support, and relevant scientific guidance of a research mentor.
Deadline has passed for funding in 2025
Career Development Award
The Career Development Award supports highly promising healthcare and academic professionals in the early years of first professional appointment to assure the applicant’s future success as a research scientist in the field of cardiovascular and/or cerebrovascular disease research.
Deadline has passed for funding in 2025
Implementation Science Award
The Implementation Science Award is for early and mid-career investigators proposing innovative implementation science studies that align with AHA’s mission and provide optimal approaches to improving public health. Implementation science uses evidence-based theories and frameworks to identify strategies that facilitate the uptake of evidence to improve health. Implementation science studies can use qualitative studies, mixed-methods, quasi-experimental designs, randomized controlled trials, and community-based participatory research.
Proposal deadline: Wednesday, February 5, 2025
Ralph L. Sacco Scholarships in Brain Health
The Ralph L. Sacco Scholarships in Brain Health are jointly funded by the American Academy of Neurology and the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association, with funds from a generous bequest by Dr. Ralph L. Sacco, this program enables early career trainees to undertake a mentored two-year research project targeting various aspects of brain health. The 2025 awards are for MD or PhD (or equivalent doctoral degree) applicants in postdoctoral fellowship training with a focus on brain health as of July 1, 2025. Projects for this cycle must focus on prevention.
Proposal deadline:Thursday, January 30, 2025
American Society for Mass Spectrometry
The Research Awards program is open to academic scientists within four years of joining the tenure track faculty or equivalent. Awards are $35,000.
Deadline anticipated November 30 yearly
Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation
The Beckman Young Investigator Program provides research support to young faculty members in the early stages of 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. The program is open to those within the first three years of a tenure-track position, or an equivalent independent research appointment.
LOI deadline of August 1 anticipated yearly
Breakthrough T1D (formerly JDRF)
The Diabetes Psychology Fellowship Program is to increase capacity in type 1 diabetes related clinical psychology and type 1 diabetes related psychology research, Breakthrough T1D has created a Diabetes Psychology Fellowship program. The applicant is required to work with a mentor who can provide a training environment conducive to a career in type 1 diabetes-relevant psychosocial research. At the time of award activation, the applicant must have a doctoral degree (PhD, PsyD, MD), or an equivalent from an accredited institution and must not be simultaneously serving an internship or residency.
Anticipated deadline: Yearly in October
National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)
Early Career Research Awards for the Study of the Economics of AD/ADRD: To promote research on economic aspects of the prevention and treatment of Alzheimer’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease-related dementias (AD/ADRD), and the care of persons living with dementia (PLWD), the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) plans to award five EC-READ (Early Career — Research on Economics of Alzheimer’s/Dementia) grants to support early-career scholars. These grants will be administered by the NBER’s Coordinating Center on the Economics of AD/ADRD, which is supported by the National Institute on Aging (NIA) and links together a consortium of AD/ADRD-related research projects. EC-READ grants are designed to support early-stage investigators, defined as those who completed their graduate training in the last decade and have not yet served as the Principal Investigator on a National Institute of Health (NIH) research grant. They are aimed at researchers who are interested in launching projects on economic issues related to AD/ADRD, especially researchers who have not worked in this area before.
Anticipated yearly in January
Craig H. Nielsen Foundation
Pilot Research Grants – Spinal Cord Injury: Two-year Pilot Research Grants help to establish new investigators in the field of spinal cord injury research and support studies by established investigators who are undertaking new directions in their work. Postdoctoral Fellowship and Pilot Research Grants application guide can be found here.
Anticipated deadline for LOI: Yearly, June 1
Petroleum Research Fund/American Chemical Society
Doctoral New Investigator Grants (DNI) grants provide start-up funding for scientists and engineers in the United States who are within the first three years of their first academic appointment at the level of Assistant Professor or the equivalent. Applicants may have limited or no preliminary results for a research project they wish to pursue, with the intention of using the preliminary results obtained to seek continuation funding from other agencies. The DNI grants are to be used to illustrate proof of principle or concept, to test a hypothesis, or to demonstrate feasibility of an approach.
Spring Submission window: February 10, 2025 – March 7, 2025, anticipated fall and spring submission windows yearly
Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation
The PFF Scholars Program is designed to support early stage researchers and provide career development opportunities to future leaders in the field of pulmonary fibrosis. Awards will be offered for $100,000 USD to be given over a two-year period to encourage early stage investigators (individuals must be post-doctoral trainees, instructors, or Assistant professors) to support them as they seek “K” or “R”-level funding. Those who have completed their terminal degree 12 years or more from the date of the application deadline are not eligible. The PFF will support additional scholarly activities, including supplementary mentorship by a PFF Scholar Sponsor, participation in PFF Scholar activities throughout the year and at the PFF Summit and Volunteer meetings, and the opportunity to invite a PFF Scholar Sponsor to their home institution or to visit theirs. The PFF allows no more than 8% of indirect costs for these awards, which is already included in the total award amount.
Anticipated deadline for LOI: Yearly in November
Research Corporation for Science Advancement
Cottrell Scholars: Eligible applicants are tenure-track faculty members whose primary appointment is in a department of astronomy, chemistry or physics. Eligibility is limited to faculty in the third year after their first tenure-track appointment.
Deadline anticipated to be yearly on July 1
Scialog, Research Corporation for Science Advancement: Scialog supports early career faculty to expand research in a focused area of high scientific importance. Within each multi-year initiative, Fellows collaborate in high-risk discovery research on untested ideas and communicate their progress in annual closed conferences.
Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation
Innovation Award
The Damon Runyon-Rachleff Innovation Award is designed to provide support for the next generation of exceptionally creative thinkers with “high risk/high reward” ideas that have the potential to significantly impact our understanding of and/or approaches to the prevention, diagnosis or treatment of cancer.
The Innovation Award is specifically designed to provide funding to extraordinary early career researchers who have an innovative new idea but lack sufficient preliminary data to obtain traditional funding. It is not designed to fund incremental advances. The research supported by the award must be novel, exceptionally creative and, if successful, have the strong potential for high impact in the cancer field.
Anticipated deadline: Yearly in July
Quantitative Biology Fellowship Award
Quantitative Biology Fellowship Award: Computational biologists apply theoretical principles and develop analysis and inference methods to decipher and understand biological systems. They are experts in quantitative approaches, data science and algorithms, while also having in-depth knowledge of complex biological processes. Particularly in cancer biology, there is a growing need for computational biology leaders with expertise and understanding in both quantitative and biological sciences.
Anticipated deadline: Yearly in December
The Sagol Network GerOmic Award for Junior Faculty
Given the biological complexity and heterogeneity of the aging process, the emerging field of various -omics research can play an important role in providing important insights into the aging process and many age-related diseases. The major goal of this program is to assist in the development of the careers of early career investigators committed to pursuing careers in the field of aging research and ger-omics, –omics research focused on aging and/or age-related disease research in particular.
The Sagol Network GerOmic Award will provide up to $150,000 for a one- to two-year award to junior faculty (MDs and PhDs) to conduct aging-related -omics research.
LOI due December, yearly
Scialog, Research Corporation for Science Advancement
Scialog supports early career faculty to expand research in a focused area of high scientific importance. Within each multi-year initiative, Fellows collaborate in high-risk discovery research on untested ideas and communicate their progress in annual closed conferences.
Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
Sloan Research Fellowships support fundamental research by early-career scientists and scholars. Candidates must 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.
Opportunity anticipated yearly