This section includes some of the domestic and international fellowship funding opportunities that support basic and translational research. If you are a fellow and would like to submit a fellowship application, please consult with your faculty supervisor to determine which fellowship opportunity may be suitable for you. Please notify your grant manager as soon as you and your faculty supervisor make a decision. Your grant manager will guide you through the administrative process of application submission, and will assist you with budget preparation if necessary.
Please note that your final application (except for the science and reference letters) should be submitted in GMAS no later than EIGHT business days prior to the sponsor deadline for administrative review. Your final science should be uploaded onto GMAS no later than FIVE business days before the sponsor deadline. If your application requires a submission of LOI (Letter of Intent to submit grant application) prior to submission of a full application, you are still required to create a GMAS record even though LOI does not require institutional signature.
Some foreign or internal Harvard fellowship programs may not require institutional signoff, and/or may award funding directly to the candidate. Such applications may not need to be submitted via GMAS. Therefore, please consult with your grant manager for clarification. Furthermore, sponsors may change application deadlines and eligibility criteria without notice. You should always check sponsor websites for most up-to-date application information.
If you are aware of other funding sources and would like to see it listed below, please let us know.
| Sponsor | Funding Range | Sponsor Deadline | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| NIH Director's Early Independence Award (DP5) | Awards up to $250K in direct costs per year for up to five years. | Please see the most recent RFA | DP5 program supports exceptional investigators who wish to pursue independent research directly after completion of their terminal doctoral degree. |
| NIH Director's New Innovator Award (DP2) | $1.5M disbursed in 2 multi-year segments in 5-year project period. | Mid-August each year. Refer to sponsor website. | DP2 program supports highly innovative research from promising early-stage Investigators. Candidates must be an Early Stage Investigator who are within 10 years of completing doctoral degree or clinical training and have not been awarded substantial NIH independent research grant. Must commit 25% research effort. |
| NIH NRSA Individual Fellowships (F series, all) | Depending on training experience. See the NIH NRSA stipend guideline. | April 8, August 8, December 5 | Funding period is for 3 years. |
| NIH Research Career Development awards (K series,new) | Varies per institute/center. | February 12, June 12, October 12 | Funding period is up to 5 years. Requires a minimum of 75% effort to conduct research. |
| American Cancer Society Postdoctoral Fellowship | $66K - $70K progressively per year, plus $4K yearly fellowship allowance | April 1, October 15 | Funding period is up to 3 years. Supports postdoctoral fellows with less than 4 years of training at the time of submission. |
| American Cancer Society Research Scholar Grants | $215K direct cost per year up to 4 years | April 1, October 15 | Provides support to investigators who are within the first 10 years of an initial independent research career or full-time faculty appointment |
| American Heart Society | Annual stipend matches NIH sliding scale. | Please refer to sponsor website | In addition to stipend, AHS also provides $12,200/yr for health insurance, and $3K/yr for project support. At the time of award activation, the applicant may have no more than five years of research training or experience since obtaining a post-baccalaureate doctoral-level degree (excluding clinical training). |
| American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) | Annual stipend is updated yearly. Refer to the sponsor website. | Please refer to the sponsor website | Supports postdoctoral and clinical research fellows working at an academic, medical or research institution with less than 5 years of postdoctoral training at the start of the grant term. |
| The Banting Postdoctoral Fellowships | $70K CAD per year for up to 2 years | Mid to late September. Please refer to sponsor website. | Please visit the following website for eligibility window for degree completion: http://banting.fellowships-bourses.gc.ca/en/app-dem_elig-adm.html |
| Burroughs Wellcome Fund Postdoctoral Enrichment Program (PDEP) | $60K over three years to support enrichment activities. Salary or indirect expenses are not supported by this fund | Please refer to sponsor website | PDEP supports the career development activities for underrepresented minority postdoc fellows as a supplement for the training of postdocs whose research activities are already supported. |
| Cancer Research Institute Irvington Postdoctoral Fellowship to promote racial diversity | Up to $186K over 3 years to support salary, plus $5K/yr allowance to host institution to defray relevant costs. | March 1, September 1 | Applicants with 5 or more years of relevant postdoctoral experience are not eligible |
| Charles A. King Trust Postdoctoral Research Fellowship | Two-year grants ranging from $194,100 to $215K over 2 years, inclusive of a $25,000 expense allowance | Typically January or February each year. Please refer to sponsor website. | Candidates should have at least 3 years, but no more than 6 years of postdoctoral experience at the time of submission. |
| Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation | From $70K to $76K per year up to 4 years, plus $2k/yr research allowance and $1K dependent child allowance when applicable. | On or about March 15th, August 15th. Please refer to sponsor website. | Basic and physician-scientists must have received their degrees no more than 18 months prior to the application deadline. Applicants must not have been in their Sponsors' labs for more than one year prior to the application deadline date. |
| EMBO Long-term fellowship | Stipend amount variable, support up to 2 years, plus dependent and child care allowance. | No specific application deadline. | Applications should be submitted prior to two annual evaluation deadlines - second Friday of February and second Friday of August. For eligibility, please visit http://www.embo.org/funding-awards/fellowships/long-term-fellowships#eligibility. |
| HMS Foundation Funds | Various funding opportunities for HMS/HSDM faculty and postdoc fellows. | Varies per sponsor. Visit the HMS Foundation Funds website for sponsor-specific guidelines. | The HMS Foundation Funds Program administers the nomination process for HMS/HSDM faculty and postdocs for Limited Submission Funding Opportunities (LSO's) from private foundations. Limited submission opportunities require candidates to be nominated by either Harvard Medical School or Harvard University. Each year, several foundations invite HMS/HSDM junior faculty members and postdocs to apply for their fellowships and grants, which serve as critical funding at the early stages of a research career. Interested investigators must first apply internally through the HMS Foundation Funds, and a committee will select the final candidates who will then submit applications to the foundations. |
| HHMI Hanna H. Gray Fellows Program | Up to 4 years of postdoc training support with a starting salary of $80K and $20K research allowance, followed by a non-renewable grant of $250K and $20K research allowance annually for up to 4 years of the faculty phase. | Please refer to sponsor website. | Supports postdoc fellows from underrepresented groups and early in their training period. Applicants should have no more than 24 months of postdoctoral training at the time of the application due date. Please refer to sponsor website for more detailed eligibility criteria. |
| The Helen Hay Whitney Foundation Research Fellowship | $70K - $74K progressively per year, plus $1,500 yearly research allowance | June. Refer to the sponsor website for exact deadline | Eligible candidates would have no more than one year of postdoctoral research experience at the time of the deadline for submitting the application, and who have received a PhD (or D.Phil. or equivalent) degree no more than two years before the deadline. |
| Human Frontier Science Program Postdoctoral Long-Term Fellowship (LTF) | Stipend support up to three years. | LOI due in or around May. Full proposal due in August or September of each year. Please refer to sponsor website. | Funding priority on innovative, high-risk research that represents a significant departure from the candidate’s past research. Applicants must also propose to work in a country different from the one they did their PhD or other postdoc research in to be eligible. |
| Jane Coffin Childs Memorial Fund for Medical Research | $216K over three years, plus $2k/yr research allowance to sponsoring lab and $1K for each dependent child. | Online application open on October 1st. Application due on January 31st or February 1. Please refer to sponsor website | Applicants should have no more than 18 months of postdoctoral experience at the time of application. |
| The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Fellowship | $70K per year for up to 3 years | Eligibility phase deadline 10/18/24; LOI due 11/1/24; full application due 11/15/24 | Should have less than two years of postdoc research training experience as of January of the application year |
| Life Sciences Research Foundation Fellowship | $198K for three years (stipend), plus $11K/yr research allowance | October 1 | Individuals who held PhD/MD degree(s) for more than 5 years at the time of application are not eligible. |
| Muscular Dystrophy Association Development Grants | $70K per year for up to 3 years. | Refer to sponsor website | Development grants are awarded to senior postdoc researchers on the brink of becoming independent PI. Must have a minimum of 18 months of post-degree research training but no more than 7 years from receiving their most recent advanced degree. |
| National Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Postdoctoral Fellowship | $45K CAD per year for 2 years | Mid-October. Refer to sponsor website | Candidate must be a Canadian citizen or a permanent resident of Canada as of the application deadline date, and hold a doctorate in one of the fields of research that NSERC supports. Please see the sponsor website for additional eligibility criteria |
| National Science Foundation Postdoctoral fellowship in Biology | Please refer to sponsor RFA | First Tuesday in November. Please refer to sponsor website. | US Citizens or Permanent Residents only. All payments are paid directly to the fellow. |
| Rita Allen Foundation Scholars | $110,000 per year for up to five years | Please refer to sponsor website | The Rita Allen Foundation Scholars program funds basic biomedical research in the fields of cancer, immunology and neuroscience. Limited to one nomination per institution. |
| Searle Scholars Program | $300K for a three-year period | February 1 | Applicants should hold an independent investigator position at the assistant professor level. The appointment must be their first tenure-track position. Must go through a nomination process. |
| Sloan Research Fellowships | $75,000 up to 2 years | 2025 applications are due 9/15/2024. | Candidates must hold a tenure track or equivalent position at a degree-granting institution in the US or Canada. Please refer to sponsor website for more detailed eligibility criteria. |
| Smith Family Awards Program in Excellence in Biomedical Research | $400K for 3 years, inclusive 5% IDC. | 2025 initial proposal due 6/18/24 | Program supports new faculty who are within 3.5 years of their first independent faculty appointment by the start of funding on April 1. |
Additionally, the Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology offers The Merck Postdoctoral Fellowship in BCMP annually. This fellowship is available only to on-quad investigators. Application deadline for this fellowship is on or around May 15th each year. For more information, please contact KyungAh.