Grants & Funding

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…

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) is seeking applications for predoctoral and postdoctoral fellowships offered through the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) and its Education and Literacy Initiative. The fellowships will support training and students and postdocs relevant to AFRI’s six identified challenge areas: childhood obesity prevention, climate change,…

GSA is pleased to announce the recipients of the DeLill Nasser Award for Professional Development in Genetics for Spring 2016. The award is given twice a year to graduate students and postdoctoral trainees to support the costs of attending national and international meetings and enroll in laboratory courses. It also provides young geneticists the opportunity to…

For an American biologist, submitting a grant application to the NIH may feel like buying a lottery ticket for Powerball. Or perhaps it’s more like the inside of the bottlecap that reads, “Each participant has a 1 in 250,000 chance of winning the big prize.” Yet there may be a way to make the likelihood…