What funding mechanisms can postdocs at Emory apply for?

Funding mechanisms can be split into two basic sources:

• Non-Federal Funding which includes foundations, industry, societies and other sources
• Federal Funding which includes the National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Science Foundation (NSF), and the Department of Defense (DOD) among others

Non-Federal Funding opportunities

Non-Federal Funding opportunities for Emory postdocs include: Foundations, industry, societies, etc, all of which fund different types of grants:

• Fellowships
• Career Development Awards
• Young Investigator Awards
• Pilot / Exploratory / Discovery
• Small Grant
• Travel

Postdoc eligibility for non-federal funding will depend primarily on the rules of the funder. If you have questions about eligibility, Emory Postdocs can ask:

• Their PI
• The Emory Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP) at osp [at] emory [dot] edu
• The funder – contact information posted with the funding opportunity

Federal Funding Opportunities

Federal funding opportunities are available to Emory postdocs from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Science Foundation (NSF), and the Department of Defense (DOD) among others

Information in this post will focus on NIH funding opportunities for several reasons:

• NIH funding is the gold standard for research success
• All academic institutes, medical schools and departments in the United States are ranked by the amount of NIH funding. For example, Emory University School of Medicine has the following information on their website

“Medical school faculty received $456.3 million in sponsored research funding in fiscal year 2018, …. Ranked 18th nationally in NIH dollars received, the school is best known for its work in infectious disease, brain health, heart disease, cancer, transplantation, orthopaedics, pediatrics, renal disease, ophthalmology, and geriatrics.”

Postdocs at Emory are eligible to apply for the following types of NIH grants:

• NIH Individual Fellowships (F series)
• NIH Research Career Development Awards (K series)
• NIH Small Grant Program (R03)
• NIH Exploratory/Developmental Research (R21)

F32 Fellowship Award

• The F32 Postdoctoral Fellowships are restricted to postdoctoral fellows (or equivalent) with US citizenship or permanent residency
• You must have a dedicated sponsor/s (ie already accepted in a lab)
• Secure research environment (ie Sponsor has money)
• You desire a career in research as an independent professional in the biomedical workforce

NIH K – Career Development Award

• There are multiple kinds of K awards (see the NIH Career Development page for a full listing) – 
  • Not all K awards are listed here; so be sure to search each Institute/Center web pages
• You must desire a career as an independent research (academic) scientist
• There are K awards for clinical versus non-clinical degrees
• There are K awards for mentored versus not mentored projects
• Some K awards serve as a transition to independence (K99/R00, K22) versus already have faculty status (or soon to have it) (K01)
• Postdocs can apply to some, but not all of the K series

NIH R03 Small Grant

• Emory postdocs can serve as the PI of an R03 grant, but successful funding of the R03 could disqualify you from applying for an F or K series award in the future.
• The R03 grants fund small research projects that can be carried out in a short period of time with limited resources (They are 2 years in length and $50,000/year)
• Types of projects that fit in the scope of an R03 are:
  • Pilot or feasibility studies
  • Secondary analysis of existing data
  • Small, self-contained research projects
  • Development of research methodology or technology

NIH R21 Exploratory/Developmental Research Grant

• Emory postdocs can serve as the PI of an R21 grant, but successful funding of the R21 could disqualify you from applying for an F or K series award in the future.
• R21 projects are considered high risk / high reward including exploratory, novel studies that break new ground or extend previous discoveries toward new directions or applications
• R21 grants can be used for funding in the early and conceptual stages of a research project
• Project length is 2 years; $275,000 total

A summary of NIH grants on which Emory Postdocs can serve as the Principle Investigator is shown in the table.