Early career funding
Some federal sponsoring institutions offer programs designed to encourage early-stage investigators, usually at the rank of assistant professor. Checking the current sponsor website for updates regularly — including immediately prior to submission — is strongly encouraged. While many of these opportunities will recur on a regular (often annual) basis, programs may be discontinued or dates changed at any time. Always obtain and carefully read the most current solicitation documentation prior to preparing an application.
This list is by no means exhaustive. Additional solicitations can be found through online search using such mechanisms as Pivot and Grants.gov.
Sponsor: Department of Agriculture
The AFRI program is the USDA’s largest competitive grants program. AFRI grants cover a broad range of topics touching on areas as diverse as agriculture economics and rural communities, organismal genetic sequencing, renewable energy, water management, food security, and of course, food production. AFRI grants generally use similar criteria for determining eligibility for “new investigator” grants.
Sponsor: National Science Foundation
With the goal of encouraging research independence immediately upon obtaining one's first academic position after receipt of the PhD, the Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE) will award grants to initiate the course of one's independent research.
Learn more about the Computer and Information Science & Engineering Research Initiation Initiative
Sponsor: Department of Energy
The DOE Office of Science Early Career Research Program provides an annual funding opportunity for researchers in universities and DOE national laboratories. Established in 2010, this program supports the individual research programs of outstanding scientists early in their careers and stimulates research careers in the disciplines supported by the DOE Office of Science: Advanced Scientific Computing Research (ASCR), Biological and Environmental Research (BER), Basic Energy Sciences (BES), Fusion Energy Sciences (FES), High Energy Physics (HEP), and Nuclear Physics (NP).
Learn more about the Office of Science Early Career Research Program
Sponsor: National Science Foundation
The Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program is a foundation-wide activity that offers the National Science Foundation's most prestigious awards in support of early-career faculty who have the potential to serve as academic role models in research and education and to lead advances in the mission of their department or organization. Activities pursued by early-career faculty should build a firm foundation for a lifetime of leadership in integrating education and research.
Learn more about the Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program
Sponsor: Library of Congress
The John W. Kluge Center at the Library of Congress invites qualified scholars to conduct research at the Kluge Center using the Library of Congress collections and resources. The Kluge Center furnishes work and discussion space for Kluge Chair holders, distinguished visiting scholars, and post-doctoral Fellows supported by other private foundation gifts.
Scholars who have received a terminal advanced degree within the past seven years in the humanities, social sciences or in a professional field such as architecture or law are eligible.
Sponsor: National Institute of General Medical Sciences
MIRA provides support for the program of research in an investigator's laboratory that falls within the mission of NIGMS. The goal of MIRA is to increase the efficiency and efficacy of NIGMS funding.
Sponsor: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
The goals of the Nancy Grace Roman Technology Fellowship program in astrophysics are to provide early-career researchers the opportunity to develop the skills necessary to lead astrophysics flight instrument development projects, including suborbital investigations, in preparation to become principal investigators of future astrophysics missions; to develop innovative technologies for space astrophysics that have the potential to enable major scientific breakthroughs; and to foster new talent by putting early-career instrument builders on a trajectory towards long-term positions.
Learn more about the Nancy Grace Roman Technology Fellowship
Sponsor: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
The New Investigator Program in Earth Science is designed to support outstanding scientific research and career development of scientists and engineers at the early stage of their professional careers. The program aims to encourage innovative research initiatives and cultivate scientific leadership in Earth system science.
Learn more about the New Investigator Program in Earth Science
Sponsor: U.S. Department of Justice
The New Investigator/Early Career Program in the Social and Behavioral Sciences and Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics provides support for non-tenured assistant professors to conduct applied research on topics relevant to NIJ’s Office of Research and Evaluation and/or Office of Science and Technology. ORE's primary areas of interest include but are not limited to: social science research on criminal justice systems; violence and victimization; and crime control and prevention. OST’s primary areas of interest include but are not limited to: the development and application of technology to criminal justice issues, understanding technology’s impact in the field, and exploring policy-related research questions with regards to technology use and impact.
Sponsor: National Institutes of Health
The New Innovator Award Program (DP2) supports a small number of early stage investigators of exceptional creativity who propose bold and highly innovative new research approaches that have the potential to produce a major impact on broad, important problems in biomedical and behavioral research.
Learn more about the NIH Director’s New Innovator Award Program
Sponsor: National Institutes of Health
The purpose of the NIH Independent Scientist Award (K02) is to foster the development of outstanding scientists and enable them to expand their potential to make significant contributions to their field of research. The award provides three to five years of salary support and "protected time" for newly independent scientists who can demonstrate the need for a period of intensive research focus as a means of enhancing their research careers.
Sponsor: National Institutes of Health
This funding program (R01) has different review criteria that apply for early stage investigators. In addition, this activity code is used for topic-specific funding opportunities that may target new investigators.
Sponsor: National Science Foundation
The Plant Genome Research Program supports genome-scale research in plant genomics that addresses challenging questions of biological importance and of relevance to society. The program encourages the development of innovative tools, technologies and resources that push the boundaries of research capabilities and permit the community to answer seemingly intractable and pressing questions on a genome-wide scale.
Sponsor: Department of Education
The Early Career Development and Mentoring program provides support for an integrated research and career development plan for investigators in the early stages of their academic careers who have established an interest in special education research. The aim of the program is to help launch independent research careers focused on infants, toddlers, children, and youth with or at risk for disabilities.
Sponsor: National Institutes of Health
A number of NIH Institutes make use of the R03 activity code to issue subject-matter-specific funding opportunities targeted to new investigators. As with derivative R01s, the specifics of these targeted funding opportunities will vary.
Sponsor: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
The program is intended for early-career faculty working on specific space high risk/high payoff technologies that are currently at low technology readiness level.
Learn more about the Space Technology Research Program Early Career Faculty
Sponsor: Department of Education
The Statistical and Research Methodology in Education, Early Career grant program supports research to advance education research methods and statistical analyses. The program's goal is to provide a wide range of methodological and statistical tools that will better enable applied education scientists to conduct rigorous education research.
Learn more about the Statistical and Research Methodology in Education, Early Career grant program
Sponsor: Department of Defense
While broad areas of research are supported, the agency will usually evaluate the application in terms of agency need.
Sponsor: Department of Defense
While broad areas of research are supported, the agency will usually evaluate the application in terms of agency need.
Learn more about the Young Investigator Program, Air Force Office of Scientific Research
Sponsor: Department of Defense
While broad areas of research are supported, the agency will usually evaluate the application in terms of agency need.
Learn more about the Young Investigator Program, Office of Naval Research