Brief Description:

The NIH Director’s Early Independence Award Program supports exceptional investigators who wish to pursue independent research directly after completion of their terminal doctoral/research degree or clinical residency, thereby forgoing the traditional post-doctoral training period and accelerating their entry into an independent research career.
Harvard University is viewed as three separate institutions for this opportunity. The Office of the Vice Provost for Research is facilitating an internal application process for eligible candidates from the Cambridge Campus of Harvard. Applicants who hold a primary appointment at HMS or T.H. Chan are asked to contact the research offices at their respective schools.

Description:

Application Information:

Eligible applicants are asked to submit the following
(this information is repeated within each applicant's dashboard should they select to apply):

A two page research proposal (associated graphics and or references should be placed on consecutive blank pages after the written work)

A recent CV (no preferred format)

A one page resources/facilities statement (size of laboratory space if needed. Use of/availability of equipment/supplies/resources)

A nomination letter from the Host Department Chair or Center Director

Eligibility Criteria:

Time window for eligibility: At the time of application, the individual either
1) within the preceding twelve months must have received a terminal doctoral degree or completed medical residency, OR
2) within the following twelve months must complete all the requirements for a doctoral degree or complete a medical residency.
The fellowship training period is NOT included in the clinical residency or equivalent training period. The date of degree receipt is that which appears on the official transcript for the degree. The time of application is the date when the application is submitted electronically to NIH through Grants.gov. In addition, at the time of application, the PD/PI must not have served as a post-doctoral fellow following a previous doctoral degree for more than one year.

At the time of award to the grantee Institution, either
1) the Early Independence investigator must have received a PhD, MD, DO, DC, DDS, DVM, OD, DPM, ScD, EngD, Dr PH, DNSc, ND (Doctor of Naturopathy), PharmD, DSW, PsyD, or equivalent doctoral degree from an accredited domestic or foreign institution (it is the responsibility of the sponsoring institution to determine if a foreign doctoral degree is equivalent), OR
2) an authorized official of the degree-granting institution must certify that all degree requirements have been met and that the date of graduation as appearing on the transcript will be within one year of the date of application submission. In addition, the candidate must not already be a PD/PI on an NIH R01 or R01-equivalent award.

Level of effort: Individuals must commit at least 9.6 person-months (80% effort) during the first two years of the project period to research supported by the Early Independence Award. In the final three years of the project period, awardees may reduce effort toward the Early Independence Award, but the total effort towards independent research must still be at least 9.6 person-months (80% effort).

Research independence at time of application: Individuals are eligible only if they, at the time of application submission, do not have research independence. Lack of research independence is defined functionally rather than by position title. Eligible individuals must have all the following characteristics:

The candidate's current research agenda is set through concurrence with mentors.
The candidate's research is funded primarily through support to other investigators (mentored fellowships such as NIH F31/F32 Fellowships or NSF Graduate Research Fellowships do not preclude eligibility).
The candidate does not have any space assigned directly by the institution for the conduct of his or her research.
The candidate, according to institutional policy, cannot apply for an NIH R01 grant without special waiver or exemption from the institution.

Though candidates must not be functionally independent at the time of application submission, they may become functionally independent prior to time of award and still retain eligibility for the award.

Applicants with questions about eligibility are encouraged to contact the research administration office at the place of their primary appointment

Additional Information, Related Websites, and Proxy Instructions:

The NIH RFP for the 2017 NIH Director's Early Independence Award opportunity is available here

Applicants from the Cambridge Campus with questions about this opportunity or other funding offers should contact the research administrator at the school where they hold a primary appointment

Questions or problems with the Harvard University Funding Portal (HUFP) are asked to contact Autumn Bennett in the Office of the Vice Provost for Research.

Contact Information:

For questions about this application, please contact Autumn Bennett at autumn_bennett@harvard.edu

Search Filters:

Institution

Faculty of Arts and Sciences
Graduate School of Education
Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences
Harvard Law School

Position

Postdoc/Fellow

Type of Competition

Limited Submission

Type of Award

Early Career
Research