Office of Research

2018 Bridge to Independence Award request for applications

Limited Submissions

The Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative (SFARI) is pleased to announce the 2018 Bridge to Independence Award request for applications (RFA).

Grants awarded through this program are intended to invest in the next generation of top autism investigators by identifying talented early-career scientists interested in autism research and facilitating their transition to independent research careers.

One of the most salient milestones in a scientific career is the transition from formal mentorship to an independent position. Unfortunately, this transition has become increasingly tenuous in recent years, in part because of the decreasing number of tenure-track faculty positions, which has been compounded by the increasing number of Ph.D. graduates and postgraduate traineeships. SFARI created the Bridge to Independence Award program to address this issue and to encourage continued excellence in the autism research field.

This RFA is aimed at senior postdoctoral fellows who intend to seek tenure-track faculty positions during the 2018–2019 academic year. We welcome applications that span the breadth of science that SFARI normally supports, including genetics, molecular mechanisms, circuits and systems, and clinical science. While we encourage applications from postdoctoral fellows who are working on autism-related projects, we would like to stress that this award is also open to researchers who are not currently working on autism but who are interested in starting research projects in this area and who have expertise that could be brought to bear on this complex disorder.

The program features a unique timeline in which the applicant submits their proposal as a postdoctoral fellow and receives their Bridge to Independence Award funding only once they assume a tenure-track professorship. Grantees receive a commitment of $495,000 over three years, awarded through their faculty-appointment institution.

The deadline for Letters of Intent is August 6, 2018. Detailed information and application instructions are available here.

Application Instructions

n/a

Opportunity Details

Program web page

Program Announcement No.

2018

Deadlines
07/26/2018 UW Internal Deadline Closed
07/26/2018 OSP Deadline
08/06/2018 Sponsor Deadline
Sponsor

Simons Foundation

Funding amount

$0

Maximum Number of Applications

99 (not a limited submission)

Eligible groups
  • All campus

Inquiries and Contact Information

Investigators who identify a grant, award or fellowship program that restricts the number of applications that can be submitted from an Institution should immediately contact their Chairperson, Associate Dean for Research (or Dean, if no ADR) and the Office of Research (see below) if they intend to prepare a response. Failure to do so, or to meet the deadlines for submission of pre-proposal, will preclude submission of the application through the Office of Sponsored Programs.

For general inquiries, or to request a listing of a limited submission opportunity that should be but is not already listed, please email us at limitedsubs@uw.edu.