Attention grad and med students: Are you ready to run your own lab? The NIH has a program that allows exceptional junior scientists to bypass the postdoc and go straight to an independent academic position. Supported by the NIH Common Fund, recipients receive up to $250,000 in direct costs each year for up to 5 years.
We’re sure you have questions, and so we have answers. We’ve also developed a matching portal to help prospective candidates find a host research institute, as well as research institutions seeking to host new investigators. The portal allows institutions to broadly announce their interest in hosting investigators. Institutions are encouraged to advertise on the portal as soon as possible using the submission form for institutions on the portal website. Early posting of information will provide sufficient time for a large pool of prospective candidates to submit supporting information, for the institution to choose up to 2 candidates, and for these candidates and the institution to prepare a compelling application to NIH.
We also plan to host a webinar about the program during the first week of September. This webinar will include presentations by NIH staff, current awardees, and mentors, as well as a question and answer session. The time and date of the webinar will be announced on the program website.
Letters of intent for the 2013 program are due to NIH by December 30, 2012 and applications are due January 30, 2013. For more information about the program, visit the Early Independence Award website or refer to the funding opportunity announcement (RFA RM-12-018).
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