Finding Funding

2026 cycle of the Charles A. King Trust Postdoctoral Research Fellowship Award Program.

The Charles A. King Trust Postdoctoral Fellowship Program supports basic and clinical research on the causes of human disease with the mission of improving its treatment. The program provides funding to mid- to late-stage postdoctoral fellows and mentored clinician scientists training in Massachusetts to help them become independent investigators. In keeping with the mission of the Charles A. King Trust, the program is designed to support research across biomedical fields that focuses on the causes of human diseases with the mission of improving treatment. Initial Stage Applications due November 6, 2025 2:00 pm, EST

Azrieli International Visiting PhD Fellowship (Spring 2026)

The online application is now open for the Spring 2026 cohort, with a deadline of October 27, 2025. This fellowship enables PhD candidates to undertake short-term research at leading academic institutions in Israel. Fellows receive 12,000 ILS per month for up to four months. Please note: Applications for the Fall 2026 semester will open in March 2026.

For more than 35 years, the Azrieli Foundation has been dedicated to strengthening communities and improving people’s lives through strategic and impactful giving, supporting initiatives in education, science & healthcare, research and the arts, across communities in Canada and Israel. For more information: https://azrielifoundation.org/.

Call for Applications for the Azrieli International Postdoctoral Fellowship-2026-27

The online application is now open, and closes on November 19, 2025. This fellowship supports postdoctoral researchers from all disciplines to advance their work at Israeli academic institutions. Fellows receive a 14,000 ILS monthly stipend for a period of up to three years.

BWF's Career Awards at the Scientific Interface (CASI) provide $560,000 over five years to bridge advanced postdoctoral training and the first three years of faculty service. These awards are open to U.S. and Canadian citizens, permanent residents, and temporary residents.

The Burroughs Wellcome Fund launched the Career Awards at the Scientific Interface in 1999 to foster the early career development of researchers who are transitioning from training environments in the physical, mathematical, computational sciences and/or engineering into postdoctoral work in the biological sciences, and who are dedicated to pursuing a career in academic research.

Please visit this video overview of the CASI program for more information from Program Officer Dr. Tammy Collins.

Postdoctoral Fellowship Opportunities for Greek Nationals:

George and Marie Vergottis Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship

The George and Marie Vergottis Foundation Research Fellowship was established at Harvard Medical School to provide financial assistance for Greek national postdoctoral fellows pursuing basic biomedical research.

The Michail Papamichail, MD, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellowship

The Michail Papamichail, MD, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellowship was established at Harvard Medical School to provide financial assistance for Greek national postdoctoral fellows pursuing basic biomedical research in the fields of cancer immunotherapy, cancer immunology, or tumor biology. (Posted 7/2/25)

Postdoctoral Fellowship Awards: Call for Applications

The American Diabetes Association® (ADA) is committed to nurturing the next generation of leaders in diabetes research, which is why we are pleased to announce the application period of the Postdoctoral Fellowships Awards is now open!

This award recognizes and supports outstanding researchers in their pursuit of innovative and impactful research projects. As there is a pressing need for more talented, early-stage investigators to join the field of diabetes research and tackle these challenges, postdoctoral training is an essential step in launching a successful research career and making significant contributions to the field.

This call for applications aims to support exceptional training opportunities that will enable fellows to make significant advances in scientific research and contribute to the ADA's mission to prevent and cure diabetes and to improve the lives of people affected by diabetes.

This funding opportunity is open to all areas of diabetes research spanning basic, clinical, and translational research; epidemiology; health services research; and public health. (Posted 5/12/25)

2024 Blavatnik Therapeutics Challenge Awards - 2024 application is closed
HMS is pleased to announce the 2024 cycle of the Blavatnik Therapeutics Challenge Awards. These awards, part of the historic $200 million commitment from the Blavatnik Family Foundation to HMS, will help propel the School’s mission of transforming health through curiosity-driven research that stimulates the development of new therapies and the creation of new tools to diagnose, prevent, and treat disease.
The intent of the these awards is to accelerate the development of therapeutics throughout HMS and its affiliated hospitals, with the goal of achieving licensable intellectual property and potentially creating new companies within a two-year time frame. The awards program will help investigators overcome obstacles to commercial translation by funding promising technologies and positioning them to attract venture and industry partners. Awards will include significant financial resources in addition to therapeutic development and project management expertise.
All faculty at the rank of assistant, associate, or full professor in the Faculty of Medicine (i.e., faculty at HMS, HMS-affiliated institutions, and HSDM) are eligible to apply for funding as lead PI. Postdocs with ideas that fit the RFP are encouraged to discuss and work with their faculty mentor. The Blavatnik Family Foundation will provide the funds for the awards, which will be administered by Harvard via a grant to the PI’s institution and funded at a level of up to $1 million (total costs) over a period of two years.

Q-FASTR, the Quadrangle Fund for Advancing and Seeding Translational Research at Harvard Medical School
The deadline for this funding opportunity has passed - We are pleased to announce the next round of funding for Q-FASTR, the Quadrangle Fund for Advancing and Seeding Translational Research at Harvard Medical School. Funds will be available to support innovative translational research projects based in laboratories in the Blavatnik Institute at HMS. Since the start of the program in 2016, HMS has funded 57 awards. These awards have already yielded more than $100 million in follow-on funding, three startup companies, 47 patents, and 10 publications.
Assistant professors, associate professors, and professors who have research programs located in the Blavatnik Institute at HMS and assign intellectual property (IP) to Harvard University are eligible to apply for funding as lead principal investigators. Postdocs with ideas that fit the RFP are encouraged to discuss and work with their faculty mentor
This includes Harvard Department of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology faculty who assign IP to Harvard University and Laboratory of Systems Pharmacology investigators whose IP is governed by joint Harvard-affiliate institutional agreements.
The deadline for this funding opportunity has passed - We are soliciting proposals for Pilot Awards of up to $100,000 and Development Awards of up to $300,000. Please review the request for proposals on the program website, as we have modified the criteria to include earlier projects.
Please direct any questions to Ifat Rubin-Bejerano, HMS senior director, translational research.

Harvard Catalyst Grant Writing On-Demand Course
This online course is designed to provide an overview of the requisite skills and comprehensive considerations needed to give participants an in-depth introduction to the grant writing process. Participants in this course will learn grant writing strategies firsthand from researchers who have successfully applied for funding from a variety of sources.

Harvard Catalyst: Writing and Communication Center - Grant Writing Tips
Obtaining and maintaining funding is critical to sustaining your research career. Whether that support comes from a foundation or philanthropy, the National Institutes of Health (NIH), or another government agency, the resources at Harvard Catalyst provide training and advice to help you to navigate the grant application process.

Policy on PI Eligibilty and Responsibilities (HERE)
- Postdocs: Individuals who are trainees may serve as PI on fellowships and career development awards for which holding PI status is a requirement with approval from their faculty mentor and Department Chair or designee.

Postdoc Funding Opportunities

HMS Foundation Funds
- The HMS Foundation Funds Program administers the nomination process for HMS/HSDM faculty and postdocs for funding opportunities from private foundations that are limited submission and 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.

Harvard University Funding Portal (HUFP)
- The Harvard University Funding Portal contains information on all active limited submission opportunity competitions throughout Harvard. Researchers interested in applying for limited competitions will submit applications through this portal.

Harvard Office of the Vice Provost for Research (OVPR) Funding Overview
- The Office of the Vice Provost for Research seeks to create an environment that fosters the success of Harvard’s researchers.

Office of Technology Development Accelerators
- Accelerator programs combine funding strategies, technical support, and business expertise to help promising innovations make the leap from the lab to the commercial sphere.

Q-FASTR
- The Quadrangle Fund for Advancing and Seeding Translational Research (Q-FASTR) at HMS, identifies, supports, and expedites early-stage research with eventual commercialization potential.

HMS Research Administration
- The Office of Research Administration is comprised of distinct teams, with its core operations separated into functional areas: pre-award, post-award, operations, research finance, reporting and analytics, and communications.

Harvard FAS Research Administration Services
- The FAS Research Development team has developed resources and information to facilitate a funding search. They are also available to work directly with Harvard faculty and administrators to conduct customized funding searches based on specific funding needs and priorities.

Harvard Catalyst
- Harvard Catalyst offers pilot grants to Harvard investigators who need seed funds for early stage research anywhere along the translational spectrum, from basic/preclinical investigation to practice- or population-based research.

^{K99/R00 Sample Applications - NIH via National Institute on Aging}
An NIA Investigator has graciously agreed to share their exceptional applications and summary statements as samples to help the research community. The resources below represent the initial submission and subsequent resubmission of a K99/R00 application from a single applicant, who received an excellent score and was funded upon resubmission. This is only one example of a successful K99/R00 application and is not meant to be a template for future applicants. Please make sure that your application is tailored to your specific research and career development plan, and seek individual advice from mentors and peers as you prepare your application. Read more about K99/R00 funding opportunities at NIA.

Postdoc Office Funding Resources
Office of Postdoctoral Fellows Lending Library
- The OPF Lending Library has a number of books about funding funding and grant writing on loan in the Postdoc Lending Library. Click on the link above for a complete list.

NRSA Sample Proposals
- The OPF has a sample of previously funded NRSA proposals, some of which include reviewer comments and scores. The proposals are only available to view in the Postdoc Office. Please email postdoc_office@hms.harvard.edu to set-up a time to visit the office. (Please note: this resource is only available to HMS quad-based postdocs.)

Searchable Databases for Funding Opportunities
Pivot
- This database contains information about government, non-profit, industry and international funding opportunities in all fields. Pivot allows users to create their own profiles and receive customized funding alerts. Log-in to COS Pivot using your Harvard Key.
PDF Guide

Foundation Directory Online (FDO)
- This database contains information on private foundations and the grants they support, as well as funding opportunities available through corporate sponsors.
Access requires a subscription. Anyone associated with Harvard should be able to access the Foundation Directory Online by going to https://library.harvard.edu/; Click on the "My HOLLIS" link, then select "Databases” and then searching by keyword for “Foundation.”. Click on the "ONLINE ACCESS" link to open databse (Harvard Key required)

Grants.gov
- This database includes all current funding opportunities from 26 agencies of the United States government, including the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, the Department of Energy, and many others.

Additional Links to Funding Opportunities & Resources

Johns Hopkins Postdoc Funding Opportunities
A curated and regularly-updated list of funding opportunities for postdocs (not specific to JHU)

NIH Funding | NIH Awards by Career Stage | NIAID Sample Proposals

NIH Fogarty International Center - Non-NIH Funding Opportunities - Grants and Fellowships

NIH Loan Repayment Programs (LRPs)
- Established by Congress designed to recruit and retain highly qualified health professionals into biomedical or biobehavioral research careers. The NIH LRPs pay up to $35,000 annually of qualified educational debt in return for a commitment to engage in NIH mission-relevant research. Applicants must hold an M.D., Ph.D., Psy.D., Pharm.D., D.O., D.D.S., D.M.D., D.P.M., D.C., N.D., O.D., D.V.M., or equivalent doctoral-level degree. More information about eligibility requirements can be found here: https://www.lrp.nih.gov/eligibility-programs

K99/R00 Sample Applications - NIH via National Institute on Aging
An NIA Investigator has graciously agreed to share their exceptional applications and summary statements as samples to help the research community. The resources below represent the initial submission and subsequent resubmission of a K99/R00 application from a single applicant, who received an excellent score and was funded upon resubmission. This is only one example of a successful K99/R00 application and is not meant to be a template for future applicants. Please make sure that your application is tailored to your specific research and career development plan, and seek individual advice from mentors and peers as you prepare your application. Read more about K99/R00 funding opportunities at NIA.

NSF Funding

NASA Funding

Center for Disease Control Funding

Non-NIH Funding Opportunites - compiled by the Fogarty International Center

Environmental Protection Agency Funding

"Grant Proposals Guide" - created by The Writing Center, UNC-Chapel Hill

Career Development Funding for Biomedical Research

Research & Funding Timeline | Federal Research Funding Agencies | Non-Federal Research Funding Agencies