The Office of Foundation Relations is pleased to share this open call for funding from the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation.
UCSC Contact: Caroline Rodriguez | caroline@ucsc.edu
Funder: Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation
Opportunity: Beckman Young Investigator Program
Award Amount: $150,000/year for 4 years ($600,000)
Eligibility: Tenure-Track dates for the 2024 program must start after 1/1/2019 and before 8/1/2023.
Overview
The Beckman Young Investigator (BYI) Program provides research support to the most promising young faculty members in the early stages of their academic careers in the chemical and life sciences, particularly to foster the invention of methods, instruments and materials that will open up new avenues of research in science.
Projects proposed for the BYI program should be truly innovative, high-risk, and show promise for contributing to significant advances in chemistry and the life sciences. They should represent a departure from current research directions rather than an extension or expansion of existing programs.
Proposed research that cuts across traditional boundaries of scientific disciplines is encouraged. Proposals that open new avenues of research in chemistry and life sciences by fostering the invention of methods, instruments and materials will be given additional consideration.
The BYI program funds promising young scientists early in their careers who have not yet received a major award from another organization. Proposals that already have substantial funding will not be considered for the BYI award (see eligibility for more information).
Eligibility
The BYI program is open to those within the first four years of a tenure-track position, or an equivalent independent research appointment, at a United States academic or non-profit institution that conducts research in chemical and life sciences.
- Tenure-Track dates for the 2024 program must start after 1/1/2019 and before 8/1/2023.
- Applicants must have no more than 10 years post terminal degree; and no more than 5 years experience in a non-tenure track (not including postdoc position) or industry position.
- Applicants must be citizens or permanent residents of the United States prior to the BYI Interview (late March/ early April). Persons who have applied for permanent residency but have not received their government documentation are eligible to apply. Applicants with conditional permanent residency who have received Form I-797 are eligible to apply.
- No individual may apply for a Beckman Young Investigator award more than two times.
- Investigators can have no more than $225,000 in direct, annualized external funding grants during any BYI Program Year (Aug-July) at the time of application. Start-up funds, department-wide instrumentation grants, and “Transition” grants (such as NIH K99/R00) are not counted toward this total.
- Institutions are not limited in the number of applicants who apply at the Letter of Intent stage.
Award Amount & Terms
- $150,000/year for 4 years ($600,000)
- Projects are normally funded for a period of four years. Grants are in the range of $600,000 over the term of the project, contingent upon demonstrated progress after the second year of the award.
- The Foundation does not provide for overhead or for indirect costs.
Timeline
- June 5, 2023, 9 a.m. Letter of Intent Opens
- August 1, 2023, 5 p.m. Letter of Intent Due
- Nov. 14, 2023, 5 p.m. Applicants Notified
- Jan. 16, 2024, 5 p.m. Full Application Due
- April 9, 2024, 5 p.m. Applicants Notified
- April 23 – 24, 2024 Interviews
Please see FAQs and program guidance for more information.
Special Requirements
While it is NOT a limited submission program, any application does require institutional endorsement. Please let Foundation Relations (cfr@ucsc.edu) know if you are moving forward with this LOI so we can support this endorsement.
An Institutional Endorsement:
Two required electronic signatures submitted through the online application from
(1) Chief Academic Officer (President, Chancellor, Provost) or similarly authorized signatory and
(2) Dean of the College/School/Division for the participating Academic Unit or similarly authorized signatory. Further instructions can be found here.
Please notify the Office of Foundation Relations if you are interested in applying to this opportunity (cfr@ucsc.edu). For support developing your LOI, please contact the Research Development Specialist (RDS) assigned to your unit or send a request to resdev@ucsc.edu. If invited to submit a full proposal, please submit a proposal intake form prior to UCSC’s internal Institutional Deadlines. Your RDS can also help you develop your proposal. Within the Division of Social Sciences, please contact Ashlee Tews (ashleeac@ucsc.edu) to initiate notification and proposal support.
The Office of Foundation Relations is a unit of University Relations. The FR team creates and maintains mutually beneficial, long-term relationships with private organizations, matching grant initiatives with educational and research programs and centers. FR supports faculty and staff to identify and approach these and other private foundations and corporations for funding, to assist in strategic positioning of the grant application, and to facilitate funder campus visits.
For a list of recent funding opportunities, please visit the FR website. FR Calls for Funding