Beckman Young Investigators Program 2020

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).
• 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.

Eligibility Requirements

• The BYI program is open to those within the first three 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 2020 program must start after 8/6/2016 AND before 8/6/2019.
• NOTICE: The Foundation will be moving to a static tenure track date for our 2020 Program and beyond. 
• Candidates must be citizens or permanent residents of the United States at the time of application. Persons who have applied for permanent residency but have not received their government documentation by the time of application are not eligible.
• 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 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.
• Institutions with a currently funded BYI are eligible for award consideration.

Application Instructions

The Beckman Foundation requires institutional endorsements to complete applications for the Beckman Young Investigator award program. See

http://www.beckman-foundation.org/programs/beckman-young-investigators-program-information . The endorsements are completed via Beckman’s online system.

Endorsement: Faculty should enter their dean’s information in the online form and Provost Mark Richard’s information in the Chief Academic Officer section of the form. That will trigger requests to the faculty member’s Dean and the Provost to endorse the application.

Internally, here is the procedure to follow to secure both endorsements:

Assurance: Faculty should submit their materials to Caroline Harwood, Associate Vice Provost for Research (csh5@uw.edu), who will review them for completeness and to ensure they meet Beckman’s criteria.

Documentation: Please ensure that faculty submit a paper trail documenting the dean’s endorsement to Carrie Harwood when they send her the pdf of their application materials. The Provost endorses after the dean endorses, so Carrie will need that documented before she can let the Provost’s Office know the application is ready for endorsement.

Timing: Please submit all materials to Carrie no later than July 25, 2019 to ensure her ability to secure Provost Richard’s endorsement. Please do not contact the Provost’s Office directly. If you have questions about the Provost’s endorsement, please contact the Office of Research. You may also direct questions about procedure to Kim Johnson-Bogart at kbogart@uw.edu.

DEADLINE: Beckman’s deadline is Friday, August 9, 2019.