Early-Career Awards Giving New Researchers A Leg Up

Sidebar: Some Organizations and Programs That Support New Investigators When it comes to funding, young researchers with minimal track records face a catch-22: They have problems getting funded without preliminary data on which to base their research, yet they lack the money to do that preliminary work. Several programs aim to remedy the situation by providing grants to help new investigators get started. The National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation, as well as several private foundations, offer early-career awards, special grants, and training programs to help new scientists get an extra edge. Many of these awards not only fund research, but also provide money for equipment and both graduate and undergraduate student support. Program officers say that for many scientists, such career-starters are vital for building experience and successfully competing for research grants. But award winners and program officials note that while the awards are invaluable to some scientists, their limited funding-and, in some case, restrictive burdens-can hinder recipients' research efforts in the long run. On the positive side, however, such programs give new scientists "a possible inside track and a relationship with a funding agency," asserts Claire Carlson, director of research and sponsored programs at Ohio University in Athens. "Agencies have recognized that it is difficult for young scientists to compete with veterans who know what reviewers want," she explains. Many observers say that such programs for early-career researchers provide experience for scientists in the grant-writing process. The awards tend to be judged by less demanding criteria than are regular grant proposals because the reviewers take into account that the principal investigator is new at the game. Most of the awards are aimed at those who have not had their own grant as yet. They range from little more than $10,000 to as much as $500,000, and may last for as long as five years. The federal government runs several programs geared specifically toward new investigators. The awards programs differ in makeup and eligibility. NIH's main institutionwide mechanism for young biomedical investigators is the First Independent Research Support and Transition award (FIRST), also known as the R29 award. Begun in 1986, it provides young scientists who have never been NIH principal investigators as much as $350,000 for up to five years to start their own laboratory. Candidates are judged on the strength and justification of their untested research proposals. The FIRST award requires that the receiving scientist devote 50 percent of his or her time working on research supported by the grant. BELIEVER: NIMH's Mary Ellen Oliveri thinks that B/START awards come at a crucial time in some scientists' careers. Another relatively new program-the Behavioral Science Track Award for Rapid Transition (B/START) -was initiated in 1994 by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) to address the dearth of young investigators entering behavioral sciences. B/START awards, which grant $25,000 for one year, are for small, exploratory projects related to mental health. "The idea was to have a quick turnaround time for applications and awarding grants at a point in a scientist's career where preliminary data is important," explains Mary Ellen Oliveri, chief of the behavioral, cognitive and social science research branch at NIMH. She thinks the B/START awards "will ultimately pay off in future R01 awards," but it's too soon to tell. The National Institute on Drug Abuse began a B/START program last fall. NSF also has programs to support the research and teaching efforts of young scientists and engineers. The Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER) award ranges from $200,000 to $500,000 over a four- to five-year period. It is designed to enable faculty scientists with four years' experience or less to establish their own research programs while developing educational activities that incorporate research into undergraduate courses. Fred Stollnitz, NSF program director for cross-directorate activities in the division of integrative biology and neuroscience, notes that the CAREER award program, which began in 1995, is a "recognition of the importance of integrating both research and teaching" in scientists' academic careers. Private foundations also are vital sources of funding, but their programs differ from federal initiatives: In many cases, scientists are nominated for grants. The New York-based Sloan Foundation's Sloan Research Fellowships program was established in 1955 to support young researchers in neuroscience, chemistry, mathematics, physics, economics, and computer science who are attempting to establish their own laboratories and research projects. Candidates are nominated by department chairpersons and other senior scholars familiar with their talents and potential. Each award is for two years and $35,000. WORKS FOR HIM: MIT's Earl K. Miller sees Sloan Fellowships and other awards as "invaluable to a young scientist." "The Sloan Foundation award, as well as other charitable foundation fellowships, are invaluable to a young scientist," contends 1996 Sloan Foundation neuroscience fellowship recipient Earl K. Miller, an assistant professor in the department of brain and cognitive sciences at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. "NIH funding is at a low level, and there needs to be alternate mechanisms [such as Sloan fellowships] to supplement" NIH grants. He explains that his work is "expensive," and "even without an NIH grant, I need to turn to multiple sources. Young scientists without much experience in grantmanship need to count on programs targeted to them." LOOK WHO’S TALKING: Whitaker Foundation's Wolf von Maltzahn notes that some awards encourage interdisciplinary collaboration. Another private organization, the Rosslyn, Va.-based Whitaker Foundation, offers three-year, $210,000 awards to young biomedical engineers who wish to collaborate with life scientists in cross-disciplinary research. Since 1976, the foundation, which supports research and education in biomedical engineering, has awarded some 100 Biomedical Engineering Research Grants. "We hope the [grants help] engineers and life scientists talk to one another," explains program officer Wolf von Maltzahn. The American Cancer Society has several programs for new investigators. Institutional Research Grants are seed grants averaging $90,000 a year for three years to institutions to initiate projects by junior scientists. The society's Clinical Research Training Grants for Junior Faculty enable scientists within the first four years of their faculty appointment to conduct clinical, health policy, or epidemiological research under a mentor. The American Cancer Society also offers Research Projects Grants, which support research by investigators in the first eight years of their independent research careers. The awards are for two to five years for up to $150,000. Several programs stress the integration of research and education. The Tucson, Ariz.-based Research Corp. has sponsored the Cottrell Scholar award since 1994. The five-year, $50,000 award is designed for third-year faculty at Ph.D.-granting schools in chemistry, physics, and astronomy. The grant not only helps fund research, but also provides money for the recipient to develop course work, at least some of which may involve student participation in research. "There was a concern that teaching and research have been in competition and not complementary," explains program officer Mary Lynn Grayeski. "One should not be done at the expense of the other." Another program, the Cottrell College Science Award, goes to support the research of new chemistry, physics, and astronomy faculty at undergraduate institutions. Beginning this year, the organization is offering the Research Innovation Award to support the research of selected first- and second-year faculty in chemistry, physics, and astronomy at Ph.D.-granting institutions. SHARE THE WEALTH: Dreyfus Foundation's Robert Lichter sees important educational benefits in supporting researchers at undergraduate institutions. The New York-based Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation offers two young faculty awards as well. The Faculty Start-Up Grants for Undergraduate Institutions program, begun in 1993, offers grants of $12,500 to 10 first-year chemistry, biochemistry, and chemical engineering professors at non-Ph.D.-granting institutions. The grants support faculty-undergraduate research. "Carrying out research and publishing research are important ways for students to understand what science is about, while also allowing faculty to maintain their commitment to science," explains executive director Robert Lichter. Since 1979, the Dreyfus Foundation's New Faculty Awards program has provided unrestricted $25,000 grants to new faculty at Ph.D.-granting schools to get their research programs started. The awards are given for past accomplishments, including ground-breaking research, a solid publication record, and notable professional activities. "Many say that getting the award is an affirmation of their potential leadership," notes Lichter. MARKED MAN: Notre Dame's Bradley Smith thinks that early-career awards can earmark a scientist for success. Most young researchers report their awards have enabled them to do things that they otherwise couldn't have done, such as buying equipment or spending more time doing research as opposed to seeing patients or teaching. In addition to experience-and confidence-in applying for future grants, many say their award has brought them new status. "With the label of scholar-teacher, you feel more confident about your ideas and suggestions at meetings," notes 1994 Cottrell Scholar Bradley Smith, an assistant professor of chemistry and biochemistry at the University of Notre Dame. Smith, who also received a subsequent NSF CAREER award, believes such grants add prestige. "You begin to see that people in your department and in the field may pay a little more attention to what you have to say." JUMP-START: Kelle Moley of Washington University says her award "was the only way to get into a research career." Gynecologist and reproductive endocrinologist Kelle H. Moley knew she would need some help to jump-start her career as a research scientist. Moley, an instructor in obstetrics and gynecology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, studies the effects of a mother's diabetes on the early stages of embryo development. She applied for several early-career grants and in 1993 won funding from the Reproductive Scientist Development Program, which is supported by the Reproductive Science Branch of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. This is just one of many of the individual institutes' awards that are designed to help young scientists acquire basic science research skills. The award freed her from clinical duties for three years to focus on research. For Moley, it "was the only way to get into a research career. As a young clinician, you're expected to see patients, teach medical students, and do research. This provided the academic research time I needed." Some awards, however, are geared toward helping young investigators strike a balance between research and teaching. Cottrell scholar Smith, who studies membrane transport processes and their applications in improving drug delivery, notes this was advantageous for him. "[The award is] judged on your performance your first two years, and is not just a research award-it's more balanced for both research and teaching, which impresses those in the department." He sees "a real swing to integrating both research and teaching" by award programs. "It's clearly a recognition that too much emphasis has been put on just research, and not enough on teaching." Though this practice may be slowly changing, he's not convinced that all university departments have quite bought into equal parts researcher and professor as yet. Shenda M. Baker, Clare Booth Luce Assistant Professor of Chemistry at Harvey Mudd College in Claremont, Calif., has garnered an NSF CAREER award and a Cottrell College Science Award. Baker uses neutrons to study the geometry of polymer thin films at solid-liquid interfaces, which could lead to enhanced environmental cleanup methods, particularly in oil recovery. She contends that such awards have been indispensable for her to secure research equipment, as well as to support a postdoctoral fellow and undergraduate student-researchers. She's been able to take students to major professional meetings and to Department of Energy labs. "I wouldn't have been able to do as much without the grants," says Baker. JURY IS OUT: NIGMS's Marion Zatz contends that additional study is needed to tell whether or not FIRST awards ultimately aid careers. TOUGH DECISION: Ohio University's Gerald Harp advises award winners to plan carefully how they will use the money But such grant programs are not necessarily a panacea for advancing the career of a young investigator. NIH currently is reevaluating whether the FIRST program is actually aiding researchers in getting ahead in their careers and is looking at other ways across the agency to help young researchers. "The jury is still out whether the R29 has helped researchers' future careers," maintains Marion Zatz, chief of the Developmental and Cellular Processes Branch at the National Institute of General Medical Sciences. Zatz chaired an NIH committee that reviewed the FIRST awards program. One point under discussion is the FIRST award amount, which has not changed-not even for inflation adjustments-since 1986. Zatz suggests that the relatively low budget cap of $350,000-R01s are usually several times as much-may be one reason that only one-quarter of first-time NIH grant applicants apply for the awards. While a FIRST award is easier to obtain, many new investigators apply for more lucrative, less restrictive R01s. The NSF CAREER award also has a potential downside. While Gerald Harp, an assistant professor of physics at Ohio University, isn't complaining about his 1996 CAREER award, he notes that researchers can't apply for another NSF grant when applying for the CAREER program, so some are left scrambling for funds. "You have to make a choice about what you want to apply for," says Harp. To some researchers, such limited funding is a concern. Harp's award is for $350,000 over four years. "A researcher has to plan carefully how he will use that amount," he notes, pointing out that for some equipment needs and other factors, $350,000 may not be enough. But limited funding seems to be a way of life for scientists-whether they are new investigators or established principal investigators looking for federal dollars. "The federal funding scene can be discouraging," contends NIMH's Oliveri. "Every step of the funding process, whether applying for young investigator awards or R01s, is hard." But early career awards, she notes, "help junior investigators get a leg up in the funding process." Behavioral Science Track Award for Rapid Transition (B/START) Mary Ellen Oliveri, Chief Behavioral, Cognitive and Social Sciences Research Branch National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health 5600 Fishers Lane, Room 11C-16, Rockville, Md. 20857 (301) 443-3942 - Fax: (301) 443-4822 E-mail: moliveri@nih.gov Web site: http://www.nih.nimh.gov First Independent Research Support and Transition Award (FIRST) Office of Extramural Research Office of the Director 6701 Rockledge Dr., Suite 6095, Bethesda, Md. 20892-7910 (301) 435-0714 - Fax: (301) 480-0525 E-mail: asknih@odrockm1.od.nih.gov Web site: http://www.nih.gov/grants Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER) Margaret Cavanaugh, Program Director, Division of Chemistry National Science Foundation 4201 Wilson Blvd., Arlington, Va. 22230 (703) 306-1842 - Fax: (703) 306-0534 E-mail: mcavanau@nsf.gov Web site: http://www.nsf.gov Cottrell Scholars Award Research Innovation Award Research Corp. 101 North Wilmot Rd., Suite 250, Tucson, Ariz. 85711-3332 (520) 571-1111 - Fax: (520) 571-1119 E-mail: awards@rescorp.org Web site: http://www.rescorp.org Faculty Start-Up Grants for Undergraduate Institutions New Faculty Awards Program Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation 555 Madison Ave., New York, N.Y. 10022 (212) 753-1760 - Fax: (212) 593-2256 E-mail: admin@dreyfus.org Web site: http://www.dreyfus.org Sloan Research Fellowships Alfred P. Sloan Foundation 630 Fifth Ave., Suite 2550, New York, N.Y. 10111-0242 (212) 649-1649 - Fax: (212) 757-5117 E-mail: gassman@sloan.org Web site: http://www.sloan.org Biomedical Engineering Research Grant Wolf von Maltzahn, program director The Whitaker Foundation 1700 N. Moore St., Suite 2200, Rosslyn, Va. 22209 (703) 528-2430 - Fax: (703) 528-2431 E-mail: info@whitaker.org Web site: http://www.whitaker.org Institutional Research Grants Research Projects Grants Clinical Research Training Grants for Junior Faculty Dawn Willis, Extramural Grants Department American Cancer Society Inc. 1599 Clifton Rd., N.E., Atlanta, Ga. 30329-4251 (404) 329-7558 - Fax: (404) 321-4669 E-mail: grants@cancer.org Web site: http://www.cancer.org

Early-Career Awards Giving New Researchers A Leg Up

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