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Harvard University Department of Physics

Harvard University Department of Physics

Sponsored Programs


Manager: Kathleen McCloskey     Jefferson 364 | (617)495-3224 |

Managing Your Research:

This all-encompassing manual is now available online . Please refer to it for any question regarding:
  • Obtaining sponsored research
  • PI status
  • Budget policy and preparation
  • The internal process for routing proposals
  • egotiation of grant and contract terms
  • When to contact your program officer (changes in scope/change of PI/transfer of grant/equipment not in original budget/subcontracts not in the original budget)
  • Advice is also provided regarding the various business systems the University has developed to manage post-award responsibilities

Please note: the Compendium of Useful Terms contains links to all of the federal agencies and definitions that may be useful, such as copyright and cost sharing

Export Control:
Harvard University investigators engage in a broad range of innovative and important research both in the United States and overseas. These activities include the sharing and development of products, goods, hardware, software, or materials (collectively, “items”), as well as research involving technology that may be subject to U.S. export control laws and regulations. The purpose of this document is to restate for the Harvard community the essential aspects of the laws and regulations concerning exports, confirm our policy for compliance, and explain how the University will provide our researchers with the assistance they may need to ensure compliance with these complicated laws.

Provost Office link to Export controls and compliance: http://www.provost.harvard.edu/policies.php.

Other Important Forms/Links:
Grant Announcements and opportunities:
Electronic Research:
Federal Agency Links:
Non-Federal Sponsors:
Internal Funding Opportunities

Junior Faculty Opportunities:       Private Foundations:

Internal Funding Opportunities

Harvard offers several internal sources of support for Junior and Senior faculty members. The Clark, Cook and Tozier Funds offer small grants for Faculty support, small equipment purchase and travel. The Milton Fund supports studies of a medical, geographical, historical, or scientific nature. Radcliffe Institute fellowships support scholars, scientists, artists, and writers who wish to pursue work in academic and professional fields and in the creative arts. Guidelines and links are listed below.

The Clark Fund and the Cooke Fund: The original terms of Joseph H. Clark's bequest provide for a permanent fund, "the income of which shall be devoted to the encouragement and advancement of original research in such manner as the President and Fellows of such College shall deem best.” The Committee on Faculty Research Support administers these fund

These funds are to be used for faculty research purposes, such as paying undergraduate and graduate students for research assistance, obtaining or duplicating documents or other research materials, traveling to research sites, or acquiring computers or other equipment needed to carry out research tasks.

The Committee will review requests for funds in accordance with the following guidelines:

1. The maximum award is $6,000 over any three-year period. Junior and senior faculties are encouraged to apply.
2. Applications for travel should explain why the travel is necessary for research purposes.
3. The Committee strongly encourages requests for matching funds and grants that make use of the Faculty Aide program, student work-study program, and graduate students, rather
than more costly alternatives.
4. The Committee is ordinarily unable to provide support for faculty salaries.

In accordance with standard University practice, nonexpendable materials purchased with grant funds revert to the appropriate division of the University upon completion of the work for which a grant is made or when the faculty member leaves the University. Computers and other forms of equipment should remain with the department. Books, microfilms, or photocopies should be deposited with a division of the University Library.

Eligibility:
Voting members of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences and FAS Emeriti Faculty Members.

Application Procedures: An application may be obtained by downloading from the FAS Financial Office website or by calling 5-1525. For deadlines please consult the application.
Submit application to Sue Rose, 1414 Mass. Ave., Room 477.
The maximum award is $6,000 over a three-year period. Grants awarded are available for two years.

The Tozier Fund:Dr. Charles H. Tozier specified that the income from this fund shall "be used for the support of visual education in the sciences, with special consideration to be given to the geological, mineralogical, and geographical sciences, and with the hope that support may also be given from time to time to work in the Department of Landscape Architecture in the School of Design as well as that of other scientific departments of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences that evince interest in visual aids to instruction”. The Committee on Faculty Research Support administers this award.

The Committee will review requests for funds in accordance with the following guidelines:

1. The maximum award is $6,000 over any three-year period. Junior and senior faculty are encouraged to apply.
2. The Committee strongly encourages requests for matching funds and grants that make use of the Faculty Aide Program, student work-study program, and graduate students, rather
than more costly alternatives.
3. The Committee is ordinarily unable to provide support for faculty salaries.

Larger awards are sometimes made in support of a departmental program or activity. A letter of endorsement must accompany such applications from the department chair or laboratory director. It is understood that nonexpendable materials purchased with funds assigned through this process revert to the appropriate division of the University when the work for which the grant is made is completed and/or when the faculty member leaves the University. Computers and other forms of equipment should remain with the department. Microfilms, photocopies, or any books purchased because they were not available in our libraries should be deposited with the appropriate division of the University Library.

Eligibility:
Voting members of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, FAS Emeriti Faculty Members and members of the Department of Landscape Architecture at the Graduate School of Design.

Application Procedure:
An application may be obtained by downloading from the FAS Financial Office website or by calling 5-1525.
For deadlines please consult the application.
Submit applications to Sue Rose, 1414 Mass. Ave., Room 477.
Up to $6,000 over three years. Grants awarded remain available for one year from the date of award.

Milton Fund: The bequest of William F. Milton makes research funds available to faculty members of Harvard University. The Milton Fund supports studies of a medical, geographical, historical, or scientific nature, which must be either in the interest of promoting the physical and material welfare of the human race, of assisting in the discovery and perfecting of any special means of alleviating or curing human disease, or of investigating and determining the value and importance of a discovery or invention.

Faculty with voting privileges in their respective faculties holding appointments of three years or more who have not received Milton Fund support during the last five years are eligible. A committee administers the funds to facilitate new approaches, initiate new projects, and in particular, assist junior members of the faculties in establishing their research programs. The awards may not be used for salary support of teaching faculty.
The award amount is currently set at $35,000.

See this page for applications.

Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study Fellowships: Radcliffe Institute fellowships are designed to support scholars, scientists, artists, and writers of exceptional promise and demonstrated accomplishments who wish to pursue work in academic and professional fields and in the creative arts

Please feel free to contact Kathleen McCloskey () if you need more information about the application process, or if you would like assistance in identifying other sources of support. She can be reached at 495-3224

Junior Faculty Grant Opportunities:


Federal Programs

NSF CAREER/PECASE

Applications are due in July; see the NSF website for specific dates.

PECASE—Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, same application as CAREER, must be a U.S. Citizen or Permanent Resident, top group of CAREER awardees.

The Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program offers the NSF’s most prestigious awards for new faculty members. CAREER awardees are selected on the basis of creative, career-development plans that effectively integrate research and education within the context of the mission of their institution.

Minimum: $80,000 a year for 5 years; except for BIO proposals, which have a minimum of $100,000 a year for 5 years.

Applicants must (by the July deadline): 1) hold a doctoral degree in a filed of science or engineering supported by the NSF, 2) be untenured, 3) have not previously received an NSF PECASE or CAREER award, 4) have not competed more than two times in the NSF CAREER Program, and 5) by October 1 be employed in a tenure-track position as an assistant professor.

Requires Chair’s Nomination

Independent Scientist Award/National Institute of Health
The Independent Scientist Award (K02) provides up to five years of salary support for newly independent scientists who can demonstrate the need for a period of intensive research focus as a means of enhancing their research careers. Candidates must have a doctoral degree and independent, peer-reviewed research support before preparing an application. The candidate must also be willing to spend a minimum of 75 percent of full-time professional effort conducting research and research career development during the period of the award. In addition, the candidate must be able to demonstrate that the requested period of salary support and protected time will foster his/her career as a highly productive scientist in the indicated field of research. Scientists whose work is primarily theoretical may apply for this award in the absence of external research grant support.

Applications may be submitted, on behalf of candidates, by domestic, non-Federal organizations, public or private or other institutions of higher education. Minorities, women, and individuals with disabilities are encouraged to apply. At the time of award, candidates must be citizens or non-citizen nationals of the United States, or must have been lawfully admitted to the United States for permanent residence (i.e., in possession of a currently valid Alien Registration Receipt Card I-551, or other legal verification of such status. Individuals on temporary or student visas are not eligible for this award.

Outstanding Junior Investigator (OJI) in High Energy Physics/Department of Energy
(Applications due late Fall each year, search for OJI on the grants.gov site)

Applications should be from tenure-track faculty or laboratory staff investigators who are currently involved in experimental or theoretical high energy physics or accelerator physics research. The program supports between five and ten new Outstanding Junior Investigators each year. Applicants should request support under this program for normal research project costs as required to conduct their proposed research activities. The full range of activities currently supported by the Division of High Energy Physics is eligible for support under this program. Funding will be provided on an annual basis subject to availability of funds, and the average grant has been $60,000 for three years.

*A few years ago the DoE put together some notes on the Outstanding Junior Investigator award, including how the proposal review process, this summary may be useful to Junior Faculty who are considering putting together an application.

Outstanding Junior Investigator (OJI) in Nuclear Physics/Department of Energy
The Office of Nuclear Physics invites grant applications for support under the Outstanding Junior Investigator (OJI) Program in nuclear physics. The purpose of this program is to support the development of individual research programs of outstanding scientists early in their careers. Applications should be from tenure-track faculty who are currently involved in experimental or theoretical nuclear physics research, and be submitted through a U.S. academic institution. Solicitations for grant applications generally go out in the summer with a submission deadline in the fall.

*A few years ago the DoE put together some notes on the Outstanding Junior Investigator award, including how the proposal review process, this summary may be useful to Junior Faculty who are considering putting together an application.

Early Career Principal Investigator Program in Applied Mathematics, Computer Science and High-Performance Networks/Department of Energy
This program is for tenure-track faculty no more than 5 years from completing their Ph.D or equivalent, or post-doc to conduct research in applied mathematics, computer science, or high performance networks activities. The maximum grant is $100,000 for up to three years for normal research project costs, but no salary support is allowed for other faculty members or senior personnel.

Energy Sciences Research/Department of Energy
The DoE invites applications for grants in basic energy sciences, high energy and nuclear physics, advanced scientific computing research, fusion energy sciences, biological and environmental research, energy research analyses, and EPSCor, an experimental program to stimulate competitive research.

Young Investigator Program/Army Research Office (ARO)
The ARO Young Investigator Program seeks to attract universities’ outstanding young faculty members by providing awards of a maximum of $50,000 for three years, to support research and encourage teaching and research careers.

Young Investigator Program (YIP)/Office of Naval Research (ONR)
The ONR Young Investigator Program (YIP) aims to attract to naval research outstanding new faculty members at institutions of higher education, to support their research, and to encourage their teaching and research careers. Awards of up to $100,000 per year for three years, with the possibility of additional support for capital equipment or collaborative research with a Navy laboratory, are made, based on research proposals and supporting materials. This program is open to U.S. citizens, nationals, and permanent residents holding tenure track or permanent faculty positions at U.S. institutions of higher education who have received graduate degrees (Ph.D. or equivalent) on or after the date published in the full announcement.

Private Foundations

Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation Young Investigator Award
The Beckman Young Investigators Program is intended to provide research support to the most promising young faculty in the early stages of academic careers in the chemical and life sciences. Awards are typically $240,000 over a three-year period. To be eligible, an applicant should not have completed more than three full years in his or her tenure-track or other comparable independent research appointment, and must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents at the time of application. Projects should show promise for contributing to significant advances in the research fields of interest to the Foundation. Proposals are due in October.

Cottrell Scholars Award of Research Corporation
Awards of $75,000 will be made to U.S. and Canadian universities to further the teaching and research of faculty members in Ph.D.-granting astronomy, chemistry and physics departments. Applicants should be tenure-track beginning faculty members in the third year of their first tenure-track position during the calendar year of the application.

Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation/Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award*
The Camille Dreyfus Teacher Scholar Award program provides a $60,000 unrestricted grant to support the teaching and research careers of talented young faculty in the chemical sciences. Nominees must hold a full-time tenure-track academic appointment in a department focused on the chemical sciences, and are normally expected to be within the first five years of their independent academic careers. Proposals are due each November.

*Application to this program is subject to a restricted nomination process.

The David and Lucile Packard Foundation/Fellowships for Sciences and Engineering*
Fellowships for Sciences and Engineering Guidelines
University may submit 2 applications per year.
Provost decides which departments get the nominations.
Awards $125,000 each year for 5 years (10% overhead).
Nomination letters due to Provost in late March.
Proposals due in late April.

Requires:
• Online submission
• University President endorsement
• Department chair recommendation, plus three other letters of recommendation from persons outside the university.

*Application to this program is subject to a restricted nomination process.

The Petroleum Research Fund of the American Chemical Society
Starter grants for new faculty and Grants-in-Aid suitable for student participation are made for fundamental research projects in the petroleum field or in any field of pure science related to the petroleum field. Although there are no deadlines, proposals are reviewed in October, February, and May and should be received at least five months in advance.

Searle Scholars Program of The Chicago Community Trust*
Grants of $80,000 per year for three years are made to ladder faculty in their first or second year of their first appointment at the assistant professor level in the fields of biochemistry, cell biology, genetics, immunology, neuroscience, pharmacology, and related areas in chemistry, medicine and biological sciences. Institutions are limited to two applications.

*Application to this program is subject to a restricted nomination process.

Alfred P. Sloan Foundation/Fellowships
(Usually due in late August)
Sloan Research Fellowships are intended to provide support and recognition to young scientists, often in their first appointments to university faculties, who were endeavoring to set up laboratories and establish their independent research projects with little or no outside support.

All are eligible to apply, and grants are $20,000 per year for 2 years.

Requires:
• A departmental faculty sponsor
• Three letters of recommendation, preferably including those from recommenders at other institutions
• Application is online but we also need to route the application through the Office for Sponsored Research (OSR).

US-Israel Binational Science Foundation (BSF) Start-Up Grant Program
The objective of the Start-Up Grant Program is to provide seed money to young independent scientists to develop new research projects and demonstrate the merits of their research ideas. These grants are intended to support the first investigative efforts of an individual, i.e., to provide a reasonable opportunity to demonstrate originality, productivity, innovation and further promise, to facilitate a feasibility study and to help the transition to traditional types of BSF grants. Start-Up Grants are intended to support 18 months of a 2-year research program. The proposed research has to have a strong element of cooperation between an Israeli and an American scientist(s) and fall within the areas of research supported by the BSF. In addition, at least one of the principal investigators should have attained his/her Ph.D., M.D. degree, or equivalent, no more than 7 years prior to submitting this proposal. A Start-Up Grant will be awarded for a period of 18 months. The home institutions will be asked to supplement this award by assuring their support for the last 6 months of the program, thus enabling the grantees to carry out their research work for a full 2-year period. The award will provide a maximum of $ 45,000 for the 18 month period, to cover personnel, consultants, supplies, small equipment and travel required by the project. The grant will not cover any part of the PI's salary.

University Committee on Biological Sciences
This committee meets once annually to select the nominees for a number of limited nomination grants and fellowships. Below please find some excerpted information regarding the role of this committee:

Each year a number of Postdoctoral and Faculty Fellowships and Grants in the biological sciences are available by invitation only. Potential candidates may not apply directly to the specific foundations for these programs. The selection of nominees for these awards is made annually by the University Committee on Biological Sciences (UCBS), composed of representatives from the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, the Medical School, and the School of Public Health. The Chair of the committee is appointed by the Provost.

Most Faculty Award opportunities are directed toward junior faculty members, but a small number are unrestricted as to rank. The Committee invites Department Chairs to submit nominations for eligible faculty members whose research they feel would be competitive for one or more of the funding opportunities described on this web site. In addition, we encourage postdoctoral and junior faculty members to discuss their eligibility for these awards with their Faculty Sponsors/Mentors who, with the approval of their Department Chairs, make the nominations to the UCBS.

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  • Page updated: 13-Oct-2007
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