Upcoming

Four tracks, see limits below: 

• Departmental/Division Transformation Track (DDTT) – No institutional limits on proposals
• Institutional Transformation Track (ITT) - Limit: 1 // Institutionally Coordinated
• Emerging Faculty Research Track (EFRT) – U of A is NOT ELIGIBLE
• HSI Program Resource Hubs (Hubs) – U of A is NOT (currently) ELIGIBLE  

HSI Initiatives must coordinate the submission for the Institutional Transformation Track or future Resource Hubs proposals. If you are interested in this funding opportunity, please contact Riley McIsaac.

Apply to Internal Competition // Limit: 1 // Tickets Available: 1 

Eligibility:
NIGMS will accept only one MSTP application per institution. 

Each application must be submitted by an eligible organization with a Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) and a unique NIH eRA Institutional Profile File (IPF) number. For organizations with multiple campuses, eligibility can be considered for an individual campus (for example, main, satellite, etc.) as the applicant organization only if a UEI and a unique NIH eRA IPF number are established for the individual campus. For organizations that use one UEI or NIH IPF number for multiple campuses, eligibility as the applicant organization is determined for the campuses together.

Purpose: 

Apply to Internal Competition // Limit: 2 (1 Translational nominee, 1 All-Star Translational nominee) // Tickets Available: 2 

The University of Arizona Cancer Center (UACC) can nominate up to two proposals: one Translational nominee and one All-Star Translational nominee (if eligible) for the V Foundation Adult Translational Cancer Research Award 2025. 

For more information please contact: UACC-PreAward.

Purpose of Award:

The UACC is seeking nominations for the Translational Adult Cancer Research Grant which advances basic laboratory discoveries towards clinical use, ultimately improving human health and is restricted to adult cancer research.

This Translational grant is restricted to adult cancer research in the preclinical or translational space with a focus on bench-to-bedside strategies. Research on ANY adult cancer type can be funded. Applicants may propose cancer research that moves a novel strategy from the laboratory into a human clinical trial or uses specimens from a clinical trial to test hypotheses, develop biomarkers, or mechanisms. The research must apply in a direct way to human beings within 3 years from the end of the grant. If biomarker research is undertaken, a validation set or independent clinical trial is essential. A plan for biomarker validation, if applicable, must be included in any proposal. The endpoint of the project should be the planning or initiation of a new clinical trial or conducting an investigator-initiated trial with laboratory correlates that test hypotheses. Research areas not included in this scope are epidemiology, behavioral science, and health services research.

Apply to Internal Competition // Limit: 1 // Tickets Available: 1 

The current grant level is $300,000; $75,000 per year for a four-year period. For the 2026 award, one nomination will be invited from each of the participating institutions listed at the bottom of this page.

Eligibility

• Candidates must meet all of the following eligibility requirements:
• Hold a doctorate in biomedical sciences, medicine, or a related field, including engineering or the physical sciences.
• As of Sept. 3, 2025, run an independent lab and hold a full-time appointment at the rank of assistant professor. (Appointments such as research assistant professor, adjunct assistant professor, assistant professor research track, visiting professor, or instructor are not eligible).
  • Current appointments such as research assistant professor, adjunct assistant professor, assistant professor research track, visiting professor, or instructor are not eligible to apply.
• Must not have been appointed as an assistant professor and run an independent lab at any institution prior to June 11, 2021, whether or not such an appointment was on a tenure track. Time spent in clinical internships, residencies, in work toward board certification, or on parental leave does not count as part of this four-year limit. Candidates who need an exception on the four-year limit should contact Pew’s program office to ensure that application reviewers are aware an exception has been given.
  • Please note that the eligibility criteria above have been temporarily expanded to account for COVID-related lab shutdowns. This extension will end after this upcoming application cycle. Beginning next year, the eligibility window for the 2027 grant will revert to the three-year period. Please direct any questions to the program office at scholarsapp@pewtrusts.org.
• May apply to the program a maximum of two times. All applicants must be nominated by their institution and must complete the 2026 online application.
• If applicants have appointments at more than one eligible nominating institution or affiliate, they may not reapply in a subsequent year from a different nominating entity.
• May not be nominated for the Pew Scholars Program and the Pew-Stewart Scholars Program for Cancer Research in the same year.

Based on their performance during their education and training, candidates should demonstrate outstanding promise as contributors in science relevant to human health. This program does not fund clinical trials research. Strong proposals will incorporate particularly creative and pioneering approaches to basic, translational, and applied biomedical research. Candidates whose work is based on biomedical principles but who bring in concepts and theories from more diverse fields are encouraged to apply.

Ideas with the potential to produce an unusually high impact are encouraged. Selection of the successful candidates will be based on a detailed description of the work that the applicant proposes to undertake, evaluations of the candidate’s performance, and notable past accomplishments, including honors, awards, and publications. In evaluating the candidates, the National Advisory Committee gives considerable weight to both the project proposal and the researcher, including evidence that the candidate is a successful independent investigator and has the skill set needed to carry out their high-impact proposal.

Funding from the NIH, other government sources, and project grants from nonprofit associations do not pose a conflict with the Pew scholars program. If you have questions concerning eligibility, please contact Pew Biomedical Programs (scholarsapp@pewtrusts.org) in advance of applying.

Funding Terms

An award of $75,000 per year for four years will be provided to the sponsoring institution for use by the scholar, subject to annual review of the scholar’s progress. Grant agreements will be issued in August of the award year. The awarded funds may be used at the discretion of the Pew scholar, for personnel, equipment, supplies, or travel directly related to the scholar's research and as to best advance his or her research and career.

• The amount of the award that may be used for the principal investigator’s salary is limited to $12,500 per year (including benefits) or $50,000 over the duration of the grant. There are no limits on student or postdoctoral salaries.
• Not more than 8 percent ($24,000) of the total award value may be allocated for facilities and administration (F&A) charges or indirect costs (IDCs).
• Should the funds not be immediately required, they may be accumulated and carried over through the grant period and, with written approval of the program office, the grant may receive a no-cost extension for one additional year (without additional funds).
• Subawards are allowed.

U of A may submit eight (8) concept papers: four (4) in medical sciences and four (4) in science & engineering.

Medical Research: Apply to Internal Competition // Limit: 4 // Available: 4 

Science and Engineering - Apply to Internal Competition // Limit: 4 // Available: 4

Required U or A pre-proposal elements

The U of A pre-proposal contains the following required sections:

1. Overview
2. Methodology
3. Justification for Keck Funding
4. Key Personnel
5. Estimated Budget

A template is provided in the documents section of this limited submission. Use this template, complete it, and upload it as a PDF as part of this limited submission opportunity.

Uploaded as a PDF:

1. One-page Concept Paper based on attached template.
2. PI BioSketch or CV
   Agency-specific BioSketch preferred. There is a 5-page limit on CVs

Program Description

Full sponsor guidelines https://www.wmkeck.org/research-overview/

Post selection as one of the pre-proposals, a concept review Zoom will be held with the W.M. Keck Foundation, RDS, and the UA Foundation in January will determine which one medical research and one science and engineering concept paper will be moved to a Phase 1 Submission.

The W.M. Keck Foundation Research Program uses a three-step process for this opportunity. The first step is a Concept paper. The next steps are by the foundation’s invitation. U of A review criteria reflect previous interactions with the W.M. Keck Foundation. Proposals should focus on basic, fundamental science with broad applications. Grants range from $1 million to $5 million and are typically $2 million or less, and more specifically in the $1.2 to $1.3 million range.

The proposed work should show a significant leap forward rather than an extension of existing work.

To be considered by Keck, applicants must have a statement expressing that the project is not a good fit due to risk (rather than technical or theoretical fit) or a decline from a federal program where the summary statement or individual reviews highlight the incredible novelty, but the high-risk nature that makes it difficult to fund at the federal level.

The Science and Engineering Research Program seeks to benefit humanity by supporting high-risk/high-impact projects that are distinctive and novel in their approach to intractable problems, push the edge of their field, or question the prevailing paradigm. Past grants have been awarded to support pioneering science and engineering research and the development of promising new technologies, instrumentation, or methodologies.

The Medical Research Program seeks to advance the frontiers of medicine to benefit humanity by supporting high-risk/high-impact projects that are distinctive and novel in their approach to intractable problems, push the edge of their field, or question the prevailing paradigm. Past grants have supported pioneering biological research, basic research, and the development of promising new technologies. The Keck Foundation does NOT fund work that is clinical, applied, or translational; treatment trials; or research for the sole purpose of drug development.

Both senior and early career investigators are encouraged to apply. Team approaches, including interdisciplinary teams, are encouraged.

Apply to Internal Competition  // Limit: 1 // Tickets Available: 1

This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) invites applications from institutions proposing to establish, or renew, an Alzheimer's Disease Research Center (ADRC).

NIA-designated ADRCs serve as a national resource for research on the nature of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and AD-related dementias (ADRD) and the development of more effective approaches to prevention, diagnosis, care, and therapy. They create shared resources that support dementia-relevant research, and they collaborate and coordinate their research efforts with other NIH-funded programs and investigators.