NIH Director's Early Independence Award
Harvard Pre-Proposal Deadline: June 30, 2021 by 5:00PM
Sponsor Letters of Intent Deadline (optional): August 3, 2021
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline (if nominated): August 27, 2021
Sponsor Full Proposal Deadline (if nominated): September 3, 2021
Award Amount: Up to $250,000/year in direct costs for up to 5 years plus applicable indirect costs
Eligible Applicants: Date of terminal doctoral degree or completion of post-graduate clinical training of the PI must be between June 1, 2020 and September 30, 2022. The PI must not yet have research independence and must not have served as a post-doctoral fellow for more than 12 months following a previous doctoral degree.

The NIH Director's Early Independence Award Program supports exceptional investigators who wish to pursue independent research directly after completion of their terminal doctoral degree or post-graduate clinical training, thereby forgoing the traditional post-doctoral training period and accelerating their entry into an independent research career. Though most newly graduated doctoral-level researchers would benefit from post-doctoral training, a small number of outstanding junior investigators would benefit instead by launching directly into an independent research career. Applications in all topics relevant to the broad mission of NIH are welcome, including, but not limited to, topics in the behavioral, social, biomedical, applied, and formal sciences and topics that may involve basic, translational, or clinical research. The primary requirements are that the research be highly innovative and have the potential for unusually broad impact.

To be eligible, at the time of application, candidates must have received their most recent doctoral degree or completed clinical training within the previous fifteen months or expect to do so within the following twelve months. By the end of the award period, Early Independence Award investigators are expected to be competitive for continued funding of their research program through other NIH funding activities and for permanent research-oriented positions.

This is a limited submission opportunity and only two applications may be submitted by Harvard University from the University Area (Cambridge Campus). Potential applicants to be hosted by Harvard schools in the University Area must submit a pre-proposal to Erin Hale via email at erin_hale@fas.harvard.edu no later than 5PM on June 30, 2021 in order to be considered for the Harvard nominations. The pre-proposal should include:

• A two-page research proposal. Subsequent pages for references and/or graphics may be included and do not count toward the page limit.
• A current CV
• A letter of support from the department chair or program director of the candidate’s proposed host department/program at Harvard. The letter should describe the position details, the institutional space and resources to be committed, and the commitment of the host to the career development of the applicant.