Postdoctoral Research Fellowships in Biology

The Directorate for Biological Sciences (BIO) awards Postdoctoral Research Fellowships in Biology to recent recipients of the doctoral degree for research and training in selected areas of biology supported by BIO and with special goals for human resource development in biology. The fellowships encourage independence at an early stage of the research career to permit Fellows to pursue their research and training goals in the most appropriate research locations regardless of the availability of funding for the Fellows at that site. For FY 2010, these BIO programs are (1) Broadening Participation in Biology and (2) Biological Informatics. In future years, these areas will change as new scientific and infrastructure opportunities present themselves; and this solicitation will be changed to reflect the areas being funded. The fellowships are also designed to provide active mentoring of the Fellows by the sponsoring scientists who will benefit from having these talented young scientists in their research groups. The research and training plan of each fellowship must address important scientific questions in contemporary biology within the scope of the BIO Directorate and the specific guidelines in this fellowship program solicitation. Because the fellowships are offered only to postdoctoral scientists early in their careers, doctoral advisors are encouraged to discuss the availability of BIO fellowships with their graduate students early in their doctoral programs. Fellowships are awards to individuals, not institutions, and are administered by the Fellows.