The document outlines various foundation awards and grant opportunities available for early career faculty, emphasizing alignment with foundation goals and the importance of institutional nomination processes. It details specific major foundation programs, eligibility requirements, and competitive aspects of grant applications across diverse fields such as sciences, engineering, and medical research. Additionally, it lists numerous other foundations that offer resources for early career faculty in various research areas.

1. Foundation
Awards and Grant Opportunities
for Early Career Faculty
November 20, 2014
Corporate and Foundation Relations Office

2. Source: Foundation Center

3. Source: Foundation Center

4. Source: Foundation Center

5. Source: Foundation Center

6. Source: Foundation Center

7. • Most of the large national foundations have multiple program areas consisting of numerous
sub-programs. For example, the Gates Foundation:
• Global Development: Agricultural Development; Financial Services for the Poor; Water,
Sanitation, and Hygiene, etc.
• Global Health: HIV, Malaria, Tuberculosis, Neglected Infectious Diseases, Pneumonia
• U.S. Program: College-Ready Education, Postsecondary Success, Washington State
• Proposals should align with the strategic programmatic goals and objectives of the foundation
as well as the specific goals and objectives of the individual programs
• Program officers are typically experts in their fields
• Foundations tend to know who the top academics/researchers are in their respective fields
and often use them as consultants on new program development or strategy refreshes
• Grantees are more often than not sourced by the foundation rather than the result of an
individual “cold” submission
• Proposals are often co-created by the prospective grantee and the foundation
• Typically support projects that are national or international in scope, impact large numbers of
people, can serve as a model for others, and have the capacity to become self-sustaining after
a period of years
National Foundation Opportunities: Program/Project Grants

8. • Many are institutionally limited and will require an internal review by the VPRGS Office to
determine which proposal goes forward (if multiple faculty members want to apply)
• Many require nomination by the university
• Strong emphasis on early career faculty
• Most have very specific eligibility requirements
• Focus tends to be on the sciences, engineering, and medical disciplines
• Most are multiyear awards (2-5 years)
• Application process may have multiple phases
• Highly competitive
• Expert review panels
• At MSU these types of opportunities are coordinated out of the VPRGS Office (Doug Gage) and
are listed on the Institutionally Limited Proposals website, which will also include an internal
deadline well before the actual submission deadline allowing time for internal review and
approval:
• http://vprgs.msu.edu/ilp
National Foundation Opportunities: Awards & Competitions

9. Major Foundation Awards and Competitions
for Early Career Faculty
ARNOLD AND MABEL BECKMAN FOUNDATION
- Beckman Young Investigators ($750,000) / Chemical and Life Sciences
BURROUGHS WELLCOME FUND
- Career Awards at the Scientific Interface $500,000 / Math, Physics, Chemistry,
Computer Science, Statistics, Engineering
- Career Awards for Medical Scientists (IL) $700,000 / Basic Biomedical, Disease-
Oriented, or Translational Research; Reproductive Science. No Health Services
Research or Large-Scale Clinical Trials
- Investigators in the Pathogenesis of Infectious Disease (IL) $500,000 / Pathogenesis
with a Focus on the Interplay between Human and Microbial Biology; Pathogenetic
Helminths, Mycology, and Reproductive Science
(IL) = Institutionally Limited

10. THE CAMILLE & HENRY DREYFUS FOUNDATION
- Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Awards (IL) $75,000 / Chemical Sciences including
Biochemistry, Materials Chemistry, and Chemical Engineering
- Henry Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Awards (IL) $60,000 / Chemical Sciences including
Biochemistry, Materials Chemistry, and Chemical Engineering (Awardees are typically in
departments that do not grant a doctoral degree)
- Special Grant Program in the Chemical Sciences $100,000 / Chemical Sciences including
Biochemistry, Materials Chemistry, and Chemical Engineering
DORIS DUKE CHARITABLE FOUNDATION
- Clinical Scientist Development Award $486,000 / Etiology, Prevention, Diagnosis, or
Treatment of Human Disease using Human Subjects, Human Populations, or Materials of
Human Origin
WILLIAM T. GRANT FOUNDATION
- William T. Grant Scholars Program (IL) $350,000 / Social, Behavioral, and Health Sciences

11. W. M. KECK FOUNDATION
- Science and Engineering/Medical Research Awards (IL) $1 million / Biological and
Physical Sciences; Engineering
MCKNIGHT FOUNDATION
- Memory and Cognitive Disorders Award $300,000 / Neuroscience
- McKnight Scholar Awards $225,000 / Neuroscience
- Technological Innovations in Neuroscience Awards $200,000 / Neuroscience
DAVID AND LUCILE PACKARD FOUNDATION
- Packard Fellowships for Science and Engineering (IL) $875,000 / Physics, Chemistry,
Mathematics, Biology, Astronomy, Computer Science, Earth Science, Ocean Science, and
All Branches of Engineering
PEW CHARITABLE TRUSTS
- Pew Scholars Program in the Biomedical Sciences (IL) $240,000 / Biomedical Sciences,
Medicine, or Related Field

12. SEARLE FUNDS AT THE CHICAGO COMMUNITY TRUST
- Searle Scholars Program (IL) $300,000 / Biochemistry, Cell Biology, Genetics,
Immunology, Neuroscience, Pharmacology, and Related Areas of Chemistry, Medicine, and
the Biological Sciences; Focus is on Basic not Clinical Research
ALFRED P. SLOAN FOUNDATION
- Sloan Research Fellowships (IL) $50,000 / Chemistry, Computational or Evolutionary
Molecular Biology, Computer Science, Economics, Math, Neuroscience, Ocean Sciences,
Physics

13. Other Foundations that offer Opportunities
for Early Career Faculty
BRAIN & BEHAVIOR RESEARCH FOUNDATION (Mental Illness)
BRIGHTFOCUS FOUNDATION (Alzheimer’s, Macular Degeneration, Glaucoma)
CONCERN FOUNDATION (Cancer)
DAMON RUNYAN CANCER RESEARCH FOUNDATION (Cancer)
FOUNDATION FOR CHILD DEVELOPMENT (Development and Learning Needs of Young Children)
FOUNDATION FOR DIGESTIVE HEALTH AND NUTRITION (Digestive Diseases; Nutrition)
GREENWALL FOUNDATION (Bioethics)
JUVENILE DIABETES RESEARCH FOUNDATION (Type 1 Diabetes)
Esther A. & Joseph Klingenstein Fund (Neuroscience)
KNOWLES SCIENCE TEACHING FOUNDATION (Critical Research in Education; Science/Math)
RESEARCH CORP FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE, COTTRELL SCHOLARS (Physical Sciences)
RITA ALLEN FOUNDATION (Biomedical Research: Cancer, Immunology, and Neuroscience)
SMITH RICHARDSON FOUNDATION (Foreign Policy, International Relations)
THRASHER RESEARCH FUND (Children’s Health)
WHITEHALL FOUNDATION (Life Sciences)