Thrasher Research Fund Early Career Award, 2027 Spring cycle

Who can apply: Two routes. Physicians in a residency or fellowship training programme, or who completed that programme no more than one year before the concept paper deadline; or postdoctoral researchers who received their doctoral-level degree no more than three years before the concept paper deadline. Eligibility is calculated by… What is funded: Small research grants for new researchers in child health, intended to help them reach independence. The grant amount is set by the actual budgetary needs of the project up to a maximum of USD 25,000, and projects should be feasible in one to two years. Up to 32 awards are made a year across two cycles of 16. Each… Deadline: 16 March 2027, for the concept paper. This is the binding stage: only concept papers accepted by 8 April 2027 are invited to submit a full proposal in early May 2027, so missing the concept paper closes the whole 2027 Spring cycle. Round: 2027 Spring cycle. The 2026 Fall cycle concept paper closed on 1 September 2026 and only invited full proposals remain in it. A 2027 Fall cycle follows, with concept papers due 30 August 2027.

Read the full call and apply on the official page: Thrasher Research Fund, official page.

Who can apply

• Two routes. Physicians in a residency or fellowship training programme, or who completed that programme no more than one year before the concept paper deadline; or postdoctoral researchers who received their doctoral-level degree no more than three years before the concept paper deadline. Eligibility is calculated by year, and extensions may be granted for parental, family or medical leave. OPEN WORLDWIDE, WHICH IS RARE FOR A US FUNDER: the Fund states there are no restrictions with regard to citizenship and that it accepts applications from institutions both inside and outside the United States, adding that the guidelines were written from the perspective of a US training system and that it is happy to discuss eligibility under other training systems. Anyone who holds or has held an NIH K award (including K12) or a Clinical and Translational Science Award is not eligible, and the award may be received only once. A mentor is required.

Stage dates

Dates come from the funder's page for this round. When a round closes, the next round's dates replace these once the funder publishes them.

See all current funding opportunities