Interfaces in Science

Career Awards at the Scientific Interface

Program Information

Program Background
Program
Guidelines
Selection
Terms

PROGRAM BACKGROUND

Advances in genomics, quantitative structural biology, and modeling of complex systems have created opportunities for an exciting research career at the interface between the physical/computational sciences and the biological sciences. Tackling key problems in biology will require scientists trained in areas such as chemistry, physics, applied mathematics, computer science, and engineering.

Recognizing the vital role such cross-trained scientists will play in furthering biomedical science, the Burroughs Wellcome Fund has developed the Career Awards at the Scientific Interface. These grants are intended to foster the early career development of researchers with backgrounds in the physical/computational sciences whose work addresses biological questions and who are dedicated to pursuing a career in academic research.

Candidates are expected to draw from their training in a scientific field other than biology to propose innovative approaches to answer important questions in the biological sciences. Examples of approaches include, but are not limited to, physical measurement of biological phenomena, computer simulation of complex processes in physiological systems, mathematical modeling of self-organizing behavior, building probabilistic tools for medical diagnosis, developing novel imaging tools or biosensors, applying nanotechnology to manipulate cellular systems, predicting cellular responses to topological clues and mechanical forces, and developing a new conceptual understanding of the complexity of living organisms. Proposals that include experimental validation of theoretical models are particularly encouraged.

PROGRAM

Career Awards at the Scientific Interface provide $500,000 over five years to support up to two years of advanced postdoctoral training and the first three years of a faculty appointment.

General Requirements

• During the postdoctoral and faculty periods, grants must be made to degree-granting institutions in the U.S. or Canada on behalf of the award recipient.
• Award recipients are required to devote at least 80 percent of their time to research-related activities.
• Note--Indirect costs may not be charged against BWF grants.

Career Awards at the Scientific Interface provide the following levels of support:

Postdoctoral Portion of the Award:

• Should last a minimum of one year and a maximum of two years.
• Allows maximum salary support of $47,000 in year one and $51,000 in year two. Awardee salary may be supplemented from other sources. BWF expects that support must meet or exceed the NIH pay scale appropriate to the trainee’s level of experience. BWF does not set or cap the salary level of its awardees.
• Requires that any equipment purchased by the award recipient be transferable to the institution providing the faculty appointment.
• Encourages award recipients to use funds for advanced course work in biology (at any institution). Applicants should present a training plan in the proposal if they intend to use award funds for this purpose.
• Allows the unpaid balance of the postdoctoral portion of the award to be added to the faculty portion of the award if an award recipient moves to a faculty position in less than two years.

Faculty Portion of the Award

• Will be $500,000 minus the portion used during the postdoctoral year(s).
• Normally will be five years minus the postdoctoral portion of the award. 
• Allows no more than 50 percent of the awardee’s salary to be charged to the grant.
• Allows awardees demonstrating adequate progress to be granted no-cost extensions up to the time they are reviewed for tenure. 

Salary and Fringe Benefits

• If an institution’s salary scale for the position is higher than the salary amounts provided by the award, then the institution must supplement the awardee’s salary.
• It is anticipated that institutions will make a contribution to the awardee’s salary to maximize the amount that can be used for research.
• BWF will pay an administrative fee to the institution to cover a portion of the awardee’s fringe benefits, such as health insurance and retirement.
• Institutions that pay for fringe benefits from their own funds may keep the fee as reimbursement for administering the grant or reallocate the fee to the investigator’s research expenses.  
• The balance of the award is to be used to cover research expenses, at the discretion of the award recipient. These funds may be used flexibly for items such as equipment, consumable supplies, travel to scientific meetings, or laboratory personnel.

Faculty Appointments

• Most award recipients will accept a faculty position at a different institution.
• Before approving the faculty portion of the award, BWF requires the hiring institution to make a significant commitment to the award recipient’s career development as represented by the financial and professional situation offered.
• BWF strongly prefers tenure-track faculty appointments, accompanied by salary support and support for starting up a laboratory or research group.
• If an award recipient chooses to accept a faculty position at a research institute, the research institute must be closely affiliated with a degree-granting institution, and the degree-granting institution must offer the award recipient a joint tenure-track faculty position with some commitment to the award recipient.
• If the institutional commitment to the award recipient is deemed inadequate, BWF reserves the right to terminate the faculty portion of the grant.
• Award recipients must be given the opportunity to take an adjunct or joint appointment in a second department, if desired.
• The institution must name at least one tenured faculty member in a discipline complementary to the award recipient’s primary discipline who is willing to serve as a faculty mentor.

Application materials must be received by BWF by 4 p.m. Eastern Time, April 15, 2008. BWF will interview finalists. Candidates will be notified by mid-August about interviews, which will be conducted on September 10 or 11, 2008. The awards will be announced in early November and will begin in January 2009.

Consult this website for a list of frequently asked questions.

GUIDELINES

Candidate Eligibility Guidelines

• Candidates must hold a Ph.D. degree in one of the fields of mathematics, physics, chemistry (physical, theoretical, or computational), computer science, statistics, or engineering. Exceptions will be made only if the applicant can demonstrate significant expertise in one of these areas, evidenced by publications or advanced course work.
• Candidates must have completed at least 12 months but not more than 48 months of postdoctoral research at the time of application. No exceptions to this requirement will be made.
• Candidates cannot hold nor have accepted, either in writing or verbally, a faculty appointment as a tenure-track assistant professor at the time of application.
• Candidates must be committed to a full-time career in research as an independent investigator at a North American degree-granting institution.
• Citizens of the U.S. and Canada are eligible.
• Non-citizen Permanent Residents of the U.S. and Canada are eligible with certification by the nominating institution.
• Temporary residents of the U.S. are eligible, however see “Institutional Nomination Guidelines” for restrictions.
• Temporary residents of Canada are not eligible.
• All candidates must be nominated by accredited, degree-granting institutions in the U.S. or Canada.

Institutional Nomination Guidelines

• A degree-granting institution—including its medical school, graduate schools, and all affiliated hospitals and research institutes—may nominate up to two candidates for the award.

• To encourage applications from women, institutions that nominate a female candidate will be allowed three nominations.

• To encourage applications from members of underrepresented minority groups, institutions may have a single additional nomination if they nominate an African-American, Hispanic, or Native American candidate.

• No more than one of an institution’s nominees may be a temporary resident of the U.S. No exceptions will be made.
  
• Institutions with questions about the eligibility of nominees, on the basis of immigration status, must contact BWF in advance of the application deadline. BWF will make no exceptions to its policies.
  
• For temporary residents, institutions must certify that the applicant’s visa will allow him/her to remain in the U.S. long enough for him/her to be productive on the project. Note—If a grant is awarded and the individual’s visa does not allow for such a stay, BWF may terminate the grant.

• The U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) may nominate candidates from its intramural program, with the same restrictions listed above. The NIH will support these award recipients during the postdoctoral years, and BWF will support them for the faculty portion of the award only, for a total of $360,000. Postdoctoral fellows at the NIH should contact its Office of Intramural Studies for information about its nomination procedures.

Questions regarding candidate or institutional eligibility should be directed in advance to BWF by calling (919) 991-5116.

SELECTION

The Interfaces Advisory Committee will review all applications, interview finalists, and make recommendations for awards to the BWF’s board of directors. Selection will be based on:

• Depth and rigor of training in a scientific discipline other than biology.
• Importance of biological questions identified in the proposal, and innovation in the approaches chosen to answer them. Candidates should present clear evidence of already beginning to tackle a biological problem.
• Interdisciplinary nature of research plan, the degree to which non-biological methods are integrated, and the degree to which the proposed work will open new fields of inquiry.
• Potential of candidate to establish a successful independent research career, evidenced by productivity during the postdoctoral period prior to application.
• Potential of candidate to establish a successful independent research career.
• Quality of proposed collaborations.

Candidates not selected may be renominated in the next award cycle, provided they still meet the eligibility requirements. BWF does not provide critiques of unfunded proposals.

TERMS

Grants are made to institutions on behalf of the named award recipients. The institutions are responsible for disbursing the funds and for maintaining adequate supporting records and receipts of expenditures. Indirect costs may not be charged against the grants.

Award recipients must provide BWF with an annual progress report, and institutions must provide an annual financial report, using forms provided by BWF. Continued funding will depend on both the timely submission of these reports and their favorable review by BWF and its program advisory committee.

Award recipients may obtain funds from other sources for research in the same or similar areas as that conducted under these grants, so long as there is no conflict with meeting the terms of BWF’s award. Award recipients may not hold concurrent BWF awards or NIH K99/R00 awards.

The support allocated for research is under the control of the award recipient and may be used flexibly for such items as equipment, consumable supplies, travel to scientific meetings, and laboratory personnel working with the award recipient. Prior approval by BWF is required when, within an award year, purchases of equipment exceed $20,000 or travel costs exceed $8,000.

During the award period, unused research funds may be carried over to the succeeding year. Any unused funds held by institutions when grants expire or are terminated must be returned to BWF, unless the Fund has granted prior permission to retain the funds. Award recipients may receive a no-cost extension of up to 24 months; requests explaining why an extension is needed must be submitted in writing at least four months prior to the end of the award.

For award recipients in the U.S., the administrative fee is intended to cover the cost of medical insurance and other benefits, such as retirement. For award recipients in Canada, the fee is to be used as a contribution to the employer’s benefit plan.

BWF acknowledges that most postdoctoral fellows will receive offers from and will move to new institutions to begin their independent research careers; therefore, this award is “portable.” Written approval from BWF is required, however, in order for the grant to be transferred to the new institution. Requests must be received at least four months prior to any move, and approval will be based on whether the move will enhance the award recipient’s scientific growth and development, and whether the hiring institution demonstrates adequate commitment to the award recipient’s career. Award recipients who change institutions may take with them any equipment or supplies purchased under the award, as well as the balance of any unused award funds.

When hiring a BWF award recipient to a tenure-track faculty position, the hiring institution must state in writing its intention to support an application for permanent residency if requested by the award recipient and if the permanent residency would take effect during the period of employment by the institution.

BWF prefers that award recipients do not move from one institution to another during their three years of faculty service. Special training opportunities that require faculty-level award recipients to spend up to a year away from their base institution may be considered; award recipients must submit to BWF a written request that explains why the training is needed.

Scientific publications or presentations that result from these awards must acknowledge the award recipient’s receipt of a Burroughs Wellcome Fund Career Award at the Scientific Interface. Copies of journal articles and other publications should be sent to BWF along with the annual progress report.

Award recipients should follow their institutions’ patent, copyright, and intellectual property policies regarding discoveries that result from research conducted under these awards. Award recipients are expected to adhere to all federal, state, and local regulations regarding the participation of human subjects, and the use of animals, radioactive and hazardous materials, and recombinant DNA in their research projects. BWF expects that appropriate federal, state, and local guidelines with regard to scientific misconduct are in place and enforced at all institutions with which BWF award recipients are affiliated.

Award recipients should share scientific findings in a timely manner via the standard means of scientific communication, including publications and/or presentations in scientific forums. BWF will not retain any rights to published results or patents that result from the research.