Beckman Young Investigator Program
FAS Deadline to Request Endorsement from the Dean: July 17, 2023
SEAS Deadline to Request Endorsement from the Dean: July 25, 2023
Sponsor LOI Deadline: August 1, 2023
Award Amount: $600,000 over four years
Eligible Faculty: Faculty within the first four years of a tenure-track position, or an equivalent independent research appointment. Tenure track dates for the 2024 program must start after January 1, 2019 and before August 1, 2023. Applicants must have no more than 10 years post-terminal degree; and no more than 5 years experience in a non-tenure track (not including postdoc position) or industry position. Candidates must be citizens or permanent residents of the United States prior to the BYI Interview (late March/ early April).

The Beckman Young Investigator (BYI) Program provides research support to the most promising young faculty members in the early stages of their academic careers in the chemical and life sciences, particularly to foster the invention of methods, instruments and materials that will open up new avenues of research in science. Projects proposed for the BYI program should be truly innovative, high-risk, and show promise for contributing to significant advances in chemistry and the life sciences. They should represent a departure from current research directions rather than an extension or expansion of existing programs. Proposed research that cuts across traditional boundaries of scientific disciplines is encouraged. Proposals that open up new avenues of research in chemistry and the life sciences by fostering the invention of methods, instruments and materials will be given additional consideration. 

Investigators can have no more than $225,000 in direct, annualized external funding grants during any BYI Program Year (Aug-July) at time of application. Start-up funds, department-wide instrumentation grants, and "Transition" grants (such as NIH K99/R00) are not counted toward this total. No individual may apply for a Beckman Young Investigator award more than two times.

Past award recipients from Harvard FAS/SEAS include Jarad Mason (CCB, 2019), Kang-Kuen Ni (CCB, 2015), Hopi Hoekstra (OEB, 2006), Xiaowei Zhuang (CCB, 2003), and David Liu (CCB, 2002).

This is not a limited submission opportunity but does require electronic endorsement by the relevant school or divisional dean and Colleen Shanahan (“Chief Academic Officer or authorized signatory”). The process to obtain the required endorsements is as follows:

1. Prepare the LOI using the application instructions at the Beckman website. The LOI should be complete before requesting the required institutional endorsements.
2. To request endorsement of the Chief Academic Officer or authorized signatory:
   1. Send an email to Colleen Shanahan, Manager of Grants and Contracts Operations (colleen_shanahan@harvard.edu) no later than July 25, 2023. This email should include a PDF of the LOI and a brief note alerting Colleen that an automated email will be forthcoming from the Beckman application portal.
   2. The online portal will have a section to provide the email address for the Chief Academic Officer or authorized signatory, and applicants should provide colleen_shanahan@harvard.eduas the recipient address for this endorsement.
3. FAS Faculty: To obtain endorsement from Dean Christopher Stubbs:
   1. Send an email to sciencedean@fas.harvard.edu with a cc to laura_wipf@fas.harvard.edu and research_development@fas.harvard.edu nolater than July 17, 2023. This email should include a PDF of the LOI and a brief note alerting the Dean’s Office that an automated email will be forthcoming from the Beckman application portal.
   2. The online portal will have a section to provide an email address for the Dean, and applicants should provide sciencedean@fas.harvard.edu as the recipient address for this endorsement.
4. SEAS Faculty: To obtain endorsement from Interim Dean Michael Smith:
   1. Send an email to dean@seas.harvard.edu with cc to research_development@fas.harvard.eduno later than July 25, 2022. This email should include a PDF of the LOI and a brief note alerting the Dean’s Office that an automated email will be forthcoming from the Beckman application portal.
   2. The online portal will have a section to provide an email address for the dean, and applicants should provide dean@seas.harvard.edu as the recipient address for this endorsement.