Grants & Funding

GSA has been hearing from our community about their experience with the Maximizing Investigators’ Research Award (MIRA) program from NIH’s National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS). Although there’s almost universal support for the goals of the program—providing a greater degree of flexibility and stability for investigators—and for the application and review process, there is significant disagreement…

The Howard Hughes Medical Institute—in partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Wellcome Trust, and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation—has launched the International Research Scholars Program, which will support up to 50 outstanding early career scientists around the world. The competition is open to scientists who have run their own labs for less than…

NIH Director Francis Collins, along with the leaders of NIH’s institutes, centers, and offices, have written a letter emphasizing their continuing commitment to basic science. Despite past assurances to this effect (e.g., Collins 2012), the NIH leadership is concerned that the community may feel that NIH has moved away from basic research. The letter, which was published…

GSA has begun to receive feedback from our members about the Maximizing Investigators’ Research Award (MIRA) program from NIH’s National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS). And we are interested to hear your perspective, especially if you were eligible to apply for MIRA.   Please let us know what you consider the strengths and weaknesses of…

NIH’s Office of Research Infrastructure Programs (ORIP) has issued a program announcement for the Development of Animal Models and Related Biological Materials for Research. This opportunity “encourages highly innovative research to develop, characterize or improve animal models and related biological materials for human health and disease or to improve diagnosis and control of diseases that…

The Genetics Society of America (GSA) is pleased to support a new round of GSA Trainee-Organized Symposia, which are organized by student and postdoctoral members of the Society. These outstanding events will receive up to $2,000 each in funding to cover direct meeting costs, such as speaker travel, facility rental, and promotional supplies. The goal…

NIH’s National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) has issued a new funding opportunity announcement (FOA) for the second year of its Maximizing Investigators’ Research Award (MIRA) program. The new FOA continues the pilot phase of the MIRA program and is limited to established investigators with two or more R01 equivalent awards or a single…

In 1996, when I started researching the conservation genetics of New Zealand’s critically endangered parrot, the kākāpō (Strigops habroptilus), little was known of the species’ genome.  On many occasions after a long day in the molecular lab on the hunt for an elusive gene, I found myself imagining that I had the complete genome of…

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture is seeking applications for its Research and Extension Experiential Learning for Undergraduates (REEU) program offered through the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) and its Education and Literacy Initiative. The program seeks to “promote research and extension experiential learning for undergraduates such that upon…

GSA member Erin K. O’Shea has been selected by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) as its sixth president and will assume the top position on September 1, 2016. O’Shea has served as HHMI’S vice president and chief scientific officer since 2013. She is also a professor at Harvard University. With a background in yeast research, O’Shea’s…

Following the much appreciated budget increases for scientific agencies in December, science and health advocates alike were ecstatic at the mention of a “cancer moonshot” in President Obama’s final State of the Union Address to the House of Representatives. It is reported that the White House  plans to request $755 million for cancer research funding as…