The Blavatnik National Awards for Young Scientists recognize the country's most promising faculty-rank researchers in Life Sciences, Physical Sciences & Engineering, and Chemical Sciences. These awards celebrate the past accomplishments and future potential of young faculty members working in the 3 disciplinary categories of Life Sciences, Physical Sciences & Engineering, and Chemical Sciences.

Budget: $250,000 in unrestricted funds
Nominations Allowed: 1

Key Dates

2027 UTMB Internal RFA

The Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation’s Clinical Investigator Award supports independent early career physician-scientists conducting disease-oriented research that demonstrates a high level of innovation and creativity. The goal is to support the best early career physician-scientists doing work aimed at improving the practice of cancer medicine, and to increase the number of physicians capable of moving seamlessly between the laboratory and the patient’s bedside in search of breakthrough treatments. The applicant must be involved in patient care and be conducting research that has the potential to be translated to impact patients. 
The applicant is required to apply in conjunction with a Mentor. The Mentor’s role is to foster the development of the applicant’s knowledge, technical and analytical skills, and capacity for scientific inquiry in the field of human disease-oriented clinical and translational research. The Mentor also acts as an advocate for the applicant at the departmental, institutional, and professional levels.

Budget: $200,000/year for 3 years ($600,000 total; direct costs only)
Nominations Allowed: 3

Key Dates

2027 UTMB Internal RFA

The W.M. Keck Foundation Research Program seeks to benefit humanity by supporting Basic Science Research projects that are distinctive and novel in their approach, question the prevailing paradigm, or have the potential to break open new territory in their field. The Research Program supports early-stage, high-risk research in basic physical, life, and biomedical sciences, including instrumentation and engineering in service of basic science, with the potential to open new fields or rewrite textbooks. The Foundation welcomes work that other funders consider too early, too speculative, or too far from the prevailing paradigm. Proposed work should be focused on fundamental basic science, rather than applied or translational research. The Foundation is not a funder of disease-specific research, translational or applied work, optimization of existing techniques, or incremental extensions of established research directions or methods. The Research Program does not require preliminary data or evidence that a federal agency has declined funding for the proposed work.

Budget: $1-1.3M total over 3 years (no indirect costs)
Nominations Allowed: 3 (from non-overlapping fields)

Key Dates

June 2027 Internal RFA