RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. – The Burroughs Wellcome Fund (BWF), a private foundation dedicated to advancing biomedical sciences, is excited to announce significant enhancements to its Career Awards at the Scientific Interfaces (CASI) program. This highly competitive award recognizes exceptional early-career scientists who possess diverse expertise at the interface of biology and other scientific disciplines.
The Career Awards at the Scientific Interfaces program is a postdoctoral scholar-to-faculty transition award that seeks to bridge traditional scientific boundaries and encourage interdisciplinary research that addresses complex biological questions. With a focus on collaboration and innovation, the program provides financial support and professional development opportunities to talented researchers with diverse scientific backgrounds.
Selected awardees of the Career Awards at the Scientific Interfaces will now receive increased postdoctoral stipend support of $80,000 & $85,000 for the first and second years of the CASI postdoctoral phase, respectively. Additionally, BWF recognizes the challenges faced by early-career scientists with caregiving responsibilities and is introducing a new provision that will allow CASI awardees to allocate up to $5000/year to cover childcare expenses. In total, the grant will now provide up to $560,000 over five years.
This funding enables the recipients to establish their independent research programs, hire personnel, acquire necessary equipment and supplies, and attend conferences and workshops relevant to their interdisciplinary pursuits.
“We recognize the reality that postdoctoral stipends have simply not kept pace with inflation over the decades, which leaves postdoctoral scholars facing untenable financial pressure to subsist when this attention would be better spent focused on science,” said Program Officer Dr. Tammy Collins. “For those with families, financial pressures are further amplified by the increasing costs of childcare, which Burroughs Wellcome Fund is now helping to offset.”
Eligible candidates for the CASI program should hold a doctoral degree in one of the fields of physics, chemistry, computer science, statistics, engineering, or mathematics, and have demonstrated a commitment to interdisciplinary research to address pressing biomedical challenges. Recognizing that a diverse scientific workforce is essential to the advancement of research innovation and academic discovery, the program strongly encourages applications from individuals historically underrepresented in the research enterprise.
“The Career Awards at the Scientific Interfaces program aims to support exceptional scientists who are breaking new ground at the intersections of different scientific fields,” said Dr. Louis Muglia, president and CEO of the Burroughs Wellcome Fund. “We recognize the power of interdisciplinary collaboration in driving scientific progress and tackling complex biological problems. Through the CASI program, we provide the necessary resources and support to enable talented researchers to pursue innovative and transformative research projects.”
Letter of Intent (LOI) applications for the Career Awards at the Scientific Interfaces program are now open. Interested candidates are invited to submit their LOI applications online through the Burroughs Wellcome Fund’s website at bwfund.org. The application deadline is September 1, 2023.
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