1907 Trailblazer Award for 2024

No Applicants // Limit: 3 // Tickets Available: 3 

**Please note, 1907 Foundation would like all applicants to additionally apply in Atala with the same five-part application (regardless of if they are selected in this internal competition) so they can share their ideas with other funding organizations who use Atala. Register in the Atala system and submit your application prior to April 15, 2024.

The 1907 Trailblazer Award was established to encourage high-impact, step-change approaches to research in the brain and mind sciences for psychiatric health. In addition to supporting a specific research project, the Award intends to increase the size of the talent pool of early career investigators researching causes & cures for psychiatric illness. The 1907 Foundation promotes these aims by providing a $100,000 research grant on an unrestricted basis, a $20,000 prize to enhance the economic security of the scientist, and travel & expense coverage for attendance to in-person annual meetings. Each winner will be invited to present interim findings (year 1) and final findings (year 2), where they can form scientific relationships with other Fellows, the Science Innovation Committee and the Science Selection Committee. The Foundation aims to build community and provide value to the scientist in excess of the monetary element.

1907 Foundation fosters a culture of innovation, encourages risk-taking and assesses applications based on the merit of the novel idea, not the identity of the applicant. It seeks to attract scientists who can think creatively across disciplines and who are motivated to swim against the tides of consensus. 1907 Foundation wants to see your outside-the-box ideas and methods, and encourages applicants who have never received a major grant to apply.

Projects must be grounded in the study of biological mechanisms underlying brain function, cognitive processes, and/or consciousness. Supported projects are for basic science in addition to near-term applications (e.g. disruptive technologies and potential clinical interventions).

• UArizona may nominate three individuals.
• 1907 Foundation strongly encourages faculty with specialization outside of psychiatry to apply as well (e.g. endocrinology, genetics, radiology, etc.) and outside of medicine (e.g. psychology, neuroscience, engineering, informatics, physics, maths, etc.) to apply.
• Eligibility:
  • Applicants must be within ten years of the date when PhD/MD degree was awarded (whichever came later and with exceptions for maternity leave, paternity leave and other excused absences).For clinical scientists, the 10-year clock starts upon completion of all residency and fellowships.
    • Please use February 23, 2024, as the end date for calculation of the 10-year period.
• Funding:
  • Awards of $100,000 will be made to successful applicants, via their institutions, for research costs. Funding is to be spent over a two-year duration and can support (examples):
  • Stipends for research staff within the Award recipient’s lab
  • Equipment, supplies, laboratory costs and/or technician
  • Imaging costs
  • Publication fees
  • Patient participant expenses
  • Travel
  • In addition to the $100,000, US$20,000 will be awarded as a cash prize payable directly to the recipient (50% after year 1, 50% after year 2). Lastly, 1907 Foundation will cover travel and expenses for in-person annual meetings.
  • As a charitable organization, 1907 Foundation prefers that institutions do not apply indirect costs or overheads to these awards. They ask that applicants gain the agreement of their department head that the Award can be used by the Awardee. If some contribution to indirect costs is needed, the letter of support should state how much of the $100,000 (up to a maximum $10,000) will be used in this way and explain why. Administrative overhead will not count against an Applicant so long as it falls within $10,000.