Current Open Limited Submission Funding Opportunities

Brain Research Foundation Seed Grant Program

Apply through the Harvard University Funding Portal

Eligible Faculty: Assistant and Associate Professors at HMS and HMS Affiliated Hospitals.

To be eligible, PI must be a full-time Assistant or Associate Professor at an invited US academic institution, working in the area of studies of brain function. This includes molecular and clinical neuroscience as well as studies of neural, sensory, motor, cognitive, behavioral and emotional functioning in health and disease. The grant proposal must detail a new research project that is not funded by other sources. This grant is not to be used as bridge funding.

Focus Area: Neuroscience research related to cognition, neurodegeneration, learning and development or other neurological diseases

Nominations Available to HMS: 2    HMS Faculty at the affiliated hospitals must apply through the Foundation funds.  Harvard University is the official nominating institution.  HMS Nominees will move on to the Harvard-wide competition offered through the Office of the Vice Provost for Research.

Funding and Award Period: Each total grant is limited to $100,000 for a two year grant period.*

Program Description:  The objective of the BRF Seed Grant Program is to support new and innovative projects, especially those of junior faculty, who are working in new research directions. BRF Seed Grant awards are not intended to supplement existing grants.

1.  Funding is to be directed at pilot research projects that are both innovative and will likely lead to successful grant applications to NIH and other public and private funding entities.

2.  Assistant Professor – Junior faculty with a new research project that will generate pilot data that will lead to RO1 funding or a comparable outside grant will be first priority. • Must provide abstract and specific aims for current grants and indicate if there is any overlap.

3.  Associate Professor – Faculty who are pursuing new research directions.  Must explain how the project is a new research direction. • Must provide abstract and specific aims for current grant(s) and indicate if there is any overlap.

4.  A new technique is not considered a new direction unless it pertains to a different area of study.

5.  Seed Grants are NOT to be used for bridge funding between grants.

Applicants will be asked to upload a single PDF with the following materials:

• PI Name, title, department, school
• Name and email address of PI's Grant Administrator
• Proposal Title
• PI NIH Biosketch with other support. List current grants, include abstracts, specific aims and indicate if there is any overlap with the proposal being submitted for internal review. 
• For the internal application there is no page limit placed on the Biosketch. If selected for nomination, the Biosketch must be prepared as instructed by the sponsor.
•  A brief summary (1,400 word count max.) of the proposed research project. Include a closing paragraph that explains how the research will develop/next steps. Figures, images and references are not included in the word count. This information should be included on additional page(s) after the written summary, as applicable.
•  

*Allowable costs under this award: 100% of these Seed Grant funds must be utilized for direct costs.

Apply through the Harvard University Funding Portal

Additional information about this opportunity is available on the Brain Research Foundation website

Eligible Faculty:   HMS Quad and HSDM faculty at any career stage

Research Focus:  Breast cancer.

Nominations Available to HMS: 1

Funding and Award Period: $100,000 for one year (Administrative costs, which are included in the $100,000 award, must be limited to 8% of grant funds.)

Program Description:  The mission of the Breast Cancer Alliance is to improve survival rates and quality of life for those impacted by breast cancer through better prevention, early detection, treatment and cure. 

Breast Cancer Alliance invites clinical doctors and research scientists at any stage of their careers, including post docs, whose current proposal is focused on breast cancer, to apply for an Exceptional Project Grant. This award recognizes creative, unique and innovative research and is open to applicants at institutions throughout the contiguous United States.

The research project must be directly related to the field of breast cancer. Areas of relevant research may include but are not limited to: diagnosis, etiology, immunology, genetics, therapies, prevention and clinical studies.

Eligibility Criteria: HMS Quad and HSDM faculty at any stage of their careers whose primary focus is breast cancer.  

HMS faculty at the affiliated hospitals must apply through their primary institution.

*Allowable costs under this award:  8% of the total $100,000 grant may be utilized for indirect costs.

Apply Here for the Breast Cancer Alliance Exceptional Projects Grant

Additional information about this opportunity is available on Breast Cancer Alliance Exceptional Projects Grants website
 

Eligible Faculty:   Postdocs and Junior Faculty at HMS and HSDM

Research Focus:  Breast cancer.

Nominations Available to HMS: 1

Funding and Award Period: $125,000 over two years (administrative costs, which are included in the award, must be limited to 8% of grant funds). 

Program Description:  Breast Cancer Alliance invites clinical doctors and research scientists who are in the early stages of their careers, including post docs, whose research is focused on breast cancer, to apply for the Young Investigator Grant. 

This grant is intended to help advance the careers of the young researchers who do not yet have their own major grant support but who design and conduct their own independent research projects. The research project must be directly related to the field of breast cancer. Areas of relevant research may include but are not limited to: diagnosis, etiology, immunology, genetics, therapies, prevention and clinical studies.

Eligible applicants:

• Must not have held a tenure track faculty or tenure track research position for more than four years following completion of their training, as of March 1, 2028
• Must not have been or are not a principal investigator on an NIH R01 or equivalent national/international non-mentored award as of March 1, 2028
• Must dedicate at least 50% of their work effort to research.

*Allowable costs under this award:  8% of the total $125,000 grant may be utilized for indirect costs.

Apply Here for the Breast Cancer Alliance Young Investigator Grants

Additional information about this opportunity is available on Breast Cancer Alliance Young Investigator Grants

Eligible Faculty: Assistant Professors within the first three years of their faculty careers at HMS, HSDM and HMS Affiliated Hospitals

Focus: Biomedical Science and Engineering

Nominations Available to HMS:  2    Harvard University is the official nominating institution.  HMS Nominees will move on to the Harvard-wide competition offered through the Office of the Vice Provost for Research.   

Funding and Award period:  $875,000 over a five year grant period.*

Program Description:  The Fellowship Program provides support for highly creative researchers early in their careers; faculty members who are well established and well-funded are less likely to receive the award. Packard Fellows are inquisitive, passionate scientists and engineers who take a creative approach to their research, dare to think big, and follow new ideas wherever they lead. The Foundation emphasizes support for innovative individual research that involves the Fellows, their students, and junior colleagues, rather than extensions or components of large-scale, ongoing research programs

Candidates must be faculty members who are eligible to serve as principal investigators engaged in research in the natural and physical sciences or engineering and must be within the first three years of their faculty careers. Disciplines that will be considered include physics, chemistry, mathematics, biology, astronomy, computer science, earth science, ocean science, and all branches of engineering. Candidates engaged in research in the social sciences will not be considered. 

Eligibility Criteria:

1.  Candidates must be within the first three years of their faculty careers.  Specifically, the initial faculty appointment, whether at HMS or another institution before HMS must have begun no earlier than May 31, 2024.   Note: While instructors at HMS are often considered junior faculty and eligible to apply for foundation grants, they may be at a competitive disadvantage in the national selection process.  Instructors should only apply if they had demonstrated academic independence and research that is not an extension of a senior mentor.  Instructors interested in applying should contact the HMS Foundation Funds Coordinator.

2.  Candidates must be engaged in research in the natural sciences or engineering.  Disciplines that will be considered include physics, chemistry, mathematics, biology, astronomy, computer science, earth science, ocean science, and all branches of engineering.  This program does not fund clinical research.

1. Summary of the proposed research. (Limit 2 pages and a third page may be used for references)
2. Nominating letter signed by your department or division head.
department/division head is your research mentor, then only one signature is required. (Limit 2 pages)
3. Statement of the resources/facilities available for the project as is standard for NIH grants. (Limit 1 page)
4. Up-to-date biosketch in NIH format, including publications and listing of current, past and pending sources of funding
(Limit 10 pages)

*Allowable Costs Under this Award:  $17,500 of the award is available to the institution to compensate for administrative costs.

Apply through the Harvard University Funding Portal

Additional information about this opportunity is available on the Packard Foundation Fellowship website

Eligible Faculty: Assistant, Associate and Full Professors at HMS and HMS affiliated hospitals, HSDM and HSPH. HMS is the sole nominating institution in the Harvard community for this award.   

Focus: Research on ovarian, uterine, breast or cervical cancer

Nominations Available to HMS:  1   

Funding and Award period:  $100,000 for a two year grant period.*

Eligible Faculty:  Assistant, Associate and Full Professors at HMS, HSDM and HSPH.   HMS is the sole nominating institution in the Harvard community for this award.  HMS Faculty at the affiliated hospitals and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health must apply through the Foundation Funds Program.

Program Description:  The Mary Kay Foundation Cancer Research Program supports innovative translational researches in ovarian, uterine, breast or cervical cancer. Goal is to improve diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, or treatment of cancers that affect women.

Eligibility Criteria:

1.  Faculty member with ranking of Assistant, Associate or Full-time Professor

2.  Postdoctoral trainees and instructors are NOT eligible

3.  Translational research focused on ovarian, uterine, breast or cervical cancer

*Allowable Costs Under this Award:  Up to 15% of the award may be utilized for indirect costs.

Apply through the Harvard University Funding Portal

Additional information about this opportunity is available on the Mary Kay Foundation website