Greetings,
We are excited to share this limited submission opportunity from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) National Cancer Institute (NCI) to support the transition of postdoctoral fellows to tenure-track or equivalent faculty positions. Harvard may put forward four nominations per deadline, one under each scientific area as described below, for this funding opportunity. More information about the award and internal selection process can be found in the following synopsis and links.
NCI Pathway to Independence Award for Early-Stage Postdoctoral Researchers (K99/R00)
Harvard Pre-Proposal Deadline: January 10, 2024, at 5 PM EST.
- Please note that while the NIH offers three annual deadlines for this program (February, June, and October) interested applicants should apply internally now to be considered for one of Harvard's 2024 nominations.
OSP Deadline: Five business days in advance of the sponsor deadline.
Departments or areas may require additional time for proposal review and submission. Please discuss a timeline with your grants administrator.
Sponsor Deadlines in 2024 (if nominated):
- February 14
- June 14
- October 15
Award Duration and Amount
Up to five years of support in two phases:
- During the K99 phase, NCI will contribute up to $100,000 per year toward the salary of the recipient and up to $30,000 per year toward the research development costs of the recipient for up to two years.
- For the independent R00 phase, NCI will contribute up to $249,000 per year for up to three years for salary, fringe benefits, research costs, and applicable indirect costs.
- For the extramural K99 phase, indirect costs are reimbursed at 8% of modified total direct costs.
- For the R00 phase, indirect costs will be reimbursed at the extramural sponsoring institution’s indirect cost rate. Indirect costs requested by consortium participants are included in the total cost limitation.
The purpose of the NCI Pathway to Independence Award for Early-Stage Postdoctoral Researchers (K99/R00) program is to increase and maintain a strong cohort of new and talented, NCI-supported, independent investigators. This program is designed for postdoctoral fellows with research and/or clinical doctoral degrees who do not require an extended period of mentored research training beyond their doctoral degrees and to facilitate a timely transition of these fellows from their mentored, postdoctoral research positions to independent tenure-track (or equivalent) faculty positions.
The program will provide independent NCI research support during this transition to help awardees launch competitive, independent research careers. The K99/R00 award will provide up to five years of support in two phases. The initial (K99) phase will support up to two years of mentored postdoctoral research training and career development. The second (R00) phase will provide up to three years of independent research support, which is contingent on satisfactory progress during the K99 phase and an approved, independent tenure-track (or equivalent) faculty position. Researchers in the scientific areas of cancer control, cancer prevention, and cancer data sciences are especially encouraged to work with their institutions to apply. Please note, there are three companion Funding Opportunity Announcements for this program:
Scientific Areas: This is a limited submission opportunity and the University Area (FAS, SEAS, etc.) may submit a combined total of four applications per due date. Each nominated application must be in a different scientific area as defined below:
- Cancer Data Science: For the purposes of this K99/R00 award, cancer data science is defined as an interdisciplinary field of inquiry in which quantitative and analytical approaches, processes, and systems are both developed and used to extract knowledge and insights from increasingly large and/or complex sets of data. This includes cancer-focused data integration and visualization, systems biology, artificial intelligence, machine learning, informatics, genomics, precision oncology, and developing analytics for epidemiological or biostatistical studies.
- Cancer Control Science: For the purposes of this K99/R00 award, cancer control science is defined as basic and applied research in the behavioral, social, and population sciences to create or enhance interventions that, independently or in combination with biomedical approaches reduce cancer risk, incidence, morbidity, and mortality, and improve quality of life. This includes research in epidemiology, behavioral sciences, health services, surveillance, cancer survivorship, and healthcare policy.
- Molecular/Precision Cancer Prevention: For the purposes of this K99/R00 award, early translational research in cancer prevention is defined as basic research to understand mechanisms of cancer formation, development and progression of cancer precursors, and to translate basic biological knowledge into novel human interventions and human-centered adaption of current interventions with the potential to reduce cancer risk, incidence, and mortality, and improve quality of life. This includes but is not limited to research in molecular and systems biology, diagnostics, vaccine and drug development, pharmacology, and biomedical engineering.
- Other Cancer Research: For the purposes of this K99/R00 award, "Other Cancer Research" includes all scientific fields supported by the NCI that are not included in (A), (B), or (C). Applicants proposing research in (D) "Other Cancer Research" may apply only if it is reasonable to expect their candidates to transition to independence with an abbreviated period of mentored research training beyond their original doctoral degrees.
Eligibility: At the time of award, the candidate must have a full-time appointment at their academic institution. Candidates are required to commit a minimum of 75% of full-time professional effort (i.e., a minimum of 9 person-months) to their program of career development. Candidates may engage in other duties as part of the remaining 25% of their full-time professional effort not covered by this award, as long as such duties do not interfere with or detract from the proposed career development program. During the R00 phase, candidates are required to devote no less than 75% of their full-time, 12-month professional effort to research (i.e., full-time for 9 person-months), but the required 9 person-months of research effort need not be devoted exclusively to the R00-supported research. Candidates for this NOFO are strongly encouraged to obtain confirmation of their eligibility from NCI before seeking institutional nomination.
K99/R00 candidates must have no more than two years of postdoctoral research experience as of the relevant application due date.
There is no citizenship requirement for K99 applicants. An applicant may be a citizen or a non-citizen national of the United States, have been lawfully admitted for permanent residence, or be a non-U.S. citizen.
Mentorship: Before applying, the candidate must identify a mentor who will supervise the proposed career development and research experience. The mentor should be an active investigator in the area of the proposed research and be committed both to the career development of the candidate and to the direct supervision of the candidate's research. The mentor must document the availability of sufficient research support and facilities for high-quality research. Candidates are encouraged to identify more than one mentor, that is, a mentoring team, if this is deemed advantageous for providing expert advice in all aspects of the research career development program.
Pre-Proposal Requirements: Potential applicants from the University Area must submit an internal pre-proposal consisting of the following items by email to research_development@fas.harvard.edu by 5:00 pm EST on January 10, 2024, to be considered for one of the institutional nominations for any of the 2024 deadlines:
- Abbreviated research plan (PDF, limit 2 pages). In the header, the candidate should include their lab/departmental affiliation, name of mentor(s), the scientific area from the list above which they are addressing, and the target NIH due date.
- Institutional nomination letter written and signed by the head of the candidate's postdoctoral department or program (PDF, limit 2 pages): The letter must identify one of the four eligible scientific areas listed above. The nomination letter should also describe the institutional commitment to supporting the candidate's search for a tenure-track or equivalent position. It should affirm the candidate's near-readiness to transition to independence and describe the main factors that identify the nominee as likely to obtain a tenure-track or equivalent research position at an early career stage; for example, distinctive attributes of the candidate’s career to date and/or the successful transition to independence of other early-stage postdocs from the candidate's scientific area, affiliated department or program, or the laboratory of the primary mentor.
- Abbreviated statement from the candidate’s primary mentor (PDF, limit 2 pages). More information on mentoring statements can be found at https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PAR-23-286.html#_Section_IV._Application_1.
- NIH Biosketch (PDF)
Questions about this opportunity from University Area applicants may be directed to research_development@fas.harvard.edu.