Fund Details
Aramont Fellowship Fund for Emerging Science Research - FAS Competition 2020

Brief Description:

The Aramont Fellowship Fund for Emerging Science Research provides critical funding to advance early-career high-risk, high reward science and engineering.


Description:

DEADLINE EXTENDED TO JUNE 11, 2020

The Aramont Fellowship Fund for Emerging Science Research is made possible by a generous gift from the Aramont Charitable Foundation and will provide critical funding to advance early-career high-risk, high reward science and engineering conducted at Harvard Medical School, the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, and the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. Applications should propose research in basic and applied science and engineering, specifically for work that may be considered high-risk, high-reward. Proposals will be evaluated on the basis of intellectual merit, innovation, and likely impact on the field.

Funds will be awarded in two categories:
  • Junior Faculty ($100,000 per award): Two awards will be made to junior faculty members, one in each of the following categories, to support work over one to two years. Each of the four eligible schools (Harvard Medical School, the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, and the Faculty of Arts and Sciences) is invited to submit up to two nominations in each of two junior faculty categories:
  1. A “sustaining award” to a junior faculty member with a promising research portfolio/project who has only one active grant due to end in, or at the conclusion of FY21, or no active grants, excluding school-based support (e.g. start-up funds, dean’s discretionary, etc.)
  2. A “capacity building” award to a junior faculty member with a proposal for a promising new area of their research, seeking to build capacity to expand or initiate work in this area. Special preference will be given to those who intend to use these funds to hire an exceptional graduate student and/or post-doctoral fellow to support this new work.
  • Postdoctoral Fellow ($50,000 per award): Each of the four eligible schools (Harvard Medical School, the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, and the Faculty of Arts and Sciences) is invited to submit one nomination in the postdoctoral fellows category to support work over one year. For the purposes of this competition, the affiliation (and therefore eligibility) of postdoctoral fellows is determined by the school in which they hold their appointment. Nominated postdoctoral fellows must have an identified faculty mentor who will provide a letter of recommendation in support of their independent research. Nominated postdoctoral fellows are expected to be those who may reasonably be expected to begin their faculty careers within academic year 2022, and have a strong, independent research project to propose in the fund’s priority area (high-risk, high reward science).


Application Information:

This competition is to select nominees from FAS to be considered in the University-wide competition. Applicants to this competition must have a primary appointment in FAS. Candidates from HMS, HSPH, or SEAS should contact the administering office at those particular schools to find out how to apply to their respective competitions.

To apply for this opportunity, select the the "Apply" button on the top right corner of this page and submit a complete application by June 11, 2020 by 11:59PM. 

The application will include the following information and documentation in a single pdf:
  1. Contact Information for applicant and any collaborators.
  2. Proposal of up to 1000 words that succinctly describes the proposed research project. Additional two pages permitted (but not required) for citations and/or images related to the proposal.
  3. Curriculum Vitae (please send CV and not e.g. an NIH biosketch) of no more than three pages for the applicant and any named collaborators.
  4. Project budget and budget justification using the forms provided.
  5. Other Support: All applicants must provide a summary of active and pending support using the form provided. Other Support includes all financial resources, whether Federal, non-Federal, commercial or institutional, available in direct support of an individual’s research endeavors, including but not limited to research grants, cooperative agreements, contracts and/or institutional awards. Please include any Harvard internal grants or major, project-specific support. Please do not include any "start-up" packages and/or tenure-transfer funding. Postdocs should include only support for their own research endeavors, NOT that of their faculty advisor.
  6. Letter of support from a faculty mentor for postdoctoral applicants only.

Unallowable expenses:
  • Renovation and capital project costs

Other budget considerations:
  • If the total cost of the proposed project is larger than the award requested from the Fund, please provide brief details of other support in the budget.
  • Applicants should note that any benefits-eligible personnel expenses in the budget must include the appropriate fringe rates for each year of funding. If the application proposes to fund a certain amount of an existing employee’s time, then the budget must also include that percentage of applied fringe. Applicants should consult with their grants managers for applicable rates.
  • Include direct costs only.
FAS nominees in each category will be selected to be considered in the University-wide competition. All applicants will be notified by September 2020 and funds will be dispersed in October 2020.


Additional Information, Related Websites, and Proxy Instructions:

Questions about this competition may be directed to Erin Hale (erin_hale@fas.harvard.edu) or Susan Gomes (sgomes@fas.harvard.edu).

If your primary appointment is through SEAS, the internal competition can be found here.

Previous recipients include:

Junior Faculty Category:
  • 2019: Jia Liu, Bioengineering, SEAS, “Soft nanoelectronics implantation through animal embryo development for whole-brain electro physiology mapping.”
  • 2018: Julia Mundy, Physics, FAS, "Discovery of a topological superconductor for faultless quantum computing"

Postdoctoral Category (Note: In 2018 and 2019 graduate students were also eligible for this award):
  • 2019:
  • Elizabeth May, Molecular and Cellular Biology, FAS, “Molecular mechanisms for establishing neuronal connectivity”
  • Hao Sheng, Bioengineering, SEAS, “In vivo assembly of conductive polymer with stretchable cuff electrode array as cellspecific intrafascicular bioelectrical interface for peripheral nerves.”
  • Jiunn Song, Genetics and Complex Diseases, HSPH, “Protein transport to lipid droplets and implications in lipid storage and metabolic diseases.”
  • Lynn Yap, Neuroscience, HMS, “Activity-regulated neuropeptides in the control of inhibitory synaptic plasticity in the brain.”
  • 2018: 
  • Lital Bentovim, Systems Biology, HMS, "Metabolic control of global gene expression during the maternal-to-zygotic transition"
  • Carlos Giovanni Silva-García, Genetics and Complex Diseases, HSPH, “Role of CREB-regulated transcriptional coactivator CRTC-1 in epigenetic regulation of aging"
  • Po-Yi Ho, Applied Physics, SEAS, “Constructing a quantitative molecular model of the bacterial cell cycle”
  • Rebecca Taylor, Chemistry and Chemical Biology, FAS, “The structure of the membrane-to-membrane protein bridge that transports lipopolysaccharide to the cell surface in Gram-negative bacteria”

This competition is enabled to allow administers to apply on behalf of applicants as proxies. Before beginning an application, proxies will be asked to locate their Principal Investigator in HUFP. If your PI is not registered in HUFP, please ask them to create their profile using their HarvardKey. Proxies should never "Add User" in HUFP.


Search Filters:

Institution
  • Faculty of Arts and Sciences
    Position
    • Postdoc/Fellow
    • Assistant Professor
    • Associate Professor
      Type of Competition
      • Harvard Internal Funding
        Discipline
        • Basic Science
        • Environmental Science
        • Engineering
        • Life Science
        • Population Science
        • Multidisciplinary
        • Physical Science
        • Translational Science
        • Other
          Type of Award
          • Early Career
          • Fellowship
          • Research
            Begin Accepting Applications Date:
            5/07/2020
            Deadline Date (EST Time Zone):
            6/11/2020 11:59 PM