LSRF Postdoctoral Fellowship Award

Award Purpose: Three-year postdoctoral research fellowship supporting early-career researchers in life sciences

• Salary/Stipend: $237,000 total ($79,000/year)
• Research Allowance: $18,000 total ($6,000/year)

Geographic Scope:

• U.S. citizens: eligible to work anywhere
• Non-U.S. citizens: must work in U.S. institutions

Research Focus Areas: All areas of basic biological research in life sciences, including:

• Biochemistry
• Cancer Biology
• Cell Biology
• Computational Biology
• Developmental Biology
• Immunology
• Microbiology
• Molecular Biology
• Neurobiology
• Organismal Population & Evolutionary Biology
• Physiology
• Plant Biology
• Structural Biology
• Virology

Eligibility Requirements

ALL of the following must be met:

• U.S. or non-U.S. citizens (non-U.S. citizens must work in U.S. lab)
• PhD/MD/DVM received on or after October 1, 2020 (within 5 years as of October 1, 2025)
• Must have PhD/MD/DVM degree by award activation date (August 1, 2026)
• Must complete postdoctoral training in a different lab from thesis lab
• Requires letter of acceptance from proposed postdoctoral supervisor
• Only one LSRF awardee per laboratory at a time

Award Activation & Timeline

• Award Activation Date: August 1 (only activation date available)
• Quarterly Payments: $21,250 ($19,750 salary + $1,500 research allowance) by bank transfer
• Award Period: 3 years

Salary & Supplementation

• Base salary: $79,000/year (non-negotiable)
• Host institution may supplement to meet institutional stipend levels
• Acceptable supplementation sources: mentor's grants, departmental training grants, general department/division/university funds
• Awardee may not hold another postdoctoral fellowship award concurrently
• May receive additional compensation for lecturing, teaching, or manuscript review

Research Allowance ($6,000/year)

Permitted Uses:

• Travel to initial lab, scientific meetings, LSRF annual meeting
• Publication costs
• Lab supplies and consumables
• Core facility expenses
• Small equipment (computers, laptops, tablets, printers, displays)
• Up to $2,000-$4,000/year for out-of-pocket healthcare and childcare expenses
• Equipment becomes awardee's property upon award completion

Prohibited Uses:

• Salary
• Mentor support
• Visa-related expenses
• Institutional overhead, indirect costs, taxes, or registration fees

Health Benefits & Parental Leave

• IDC: 0% indirect cost
• Health/Fringe Benefits: Host institution must cover costs
• Parental Leave: Up to 10 weeks funded by LSRF; extension of award period by weeks taken (minimum 8 weeks paid leave recommended)

Escrow Accounts

• Awardees may request withholding of up to $5,000/year
• Maximum escrow: $15,000
• Transferred to awardee's new institution when establishing independent lab at non-profit
• Forfeited if awardee joins for-profit entity
• Held up to 5 years after award period

Intellectual Property & Patents

• No prior commitments with for-profit enterprises allowed
• All patents revert to host institution (like NIH grants)
• Standard MTAs for reagents exempt from restrictions

Award Requirements

• All publications/presentations must acknowledge LSRF funding
• Annual visit to sponsor (sponsor-initiated)
• Mandatory attendance at LSRF 2.5-day annual spring meeting
• Year 1-2: Poster presentation required
• Year 3: Short talk presentation required
• Submit 375-word meeting abstract ~1 month before meeting

Reporting Requirements

• Annual Research Reports: Due August 15 (Years 1-2); September 30 (Final report)
• Annual Financial Reports: Due August 15 (Years 1-2); September 30 (Final report)
• Research reports: 1-5 pages (Years 1-2), 1-6 pages (Final)
• Financial reports: Submitted using LSRF Excel template
• Fall year 2-3 payments withheld until reports received
• Unexpended funds returned within 30 days of final report

Award Transfers

• Awardees may transfer to new lab/institution/mentor during award period
• LSRF must be notified in advance
• Non-U.S. citizens cannot transfer to non-U.S. labs

Funding Status

• LSRF receives ~750 applications annually
• Makes 18-27 awards (depends on fundraising)
• No endowment; funds secured each year for finalists
• Awards made as funding is secured

Contact Information

Website: lsrf.org

Tax ID: 52-1231801 (501(c)3 nonprofit)

Timeline

1. August 4, 2026: Changes to award cycle posted on website
2. August 15, 2026: Online application system opens
3. October 31, 2026: Application submission deadline (8:00pm EST)
4. November 1, 2026: Proposed supervisor and reference letters deadline (8:00pm EST)
5. Late November 2026: Applications sent to Peer Review Committee
6. Early February 2027: Peer Review Committee selects ~50-60 finalists
7. Late February 2027: Applicants notified of finalist/non-finalist status
8. March-August 2027: LSRF solicits sponsors to fund finalists
9. August 1, 2027: Award activation date

Application Components

Complete applications require:

1. Applicant Information Tab
   • Current contact information
   • Education history
   • Peer-reviewed publications list (may include "in press" and preprints from BioRxiv, ChemRxiv, etc.)
   • Honors and awards received
   • 300-word thesis dissertation summary
   • Name and contact of grants/sponsored programs official at host institution
2. Research Proposal Tab
   • 250-word abstract: Broad long-term objectives, specific aims, research design and methods
   • Research Proposal File: 7 pages maximum (PDF)
   • 5 single-spaced pages: research plan, figures, tables
   • 2 pages: literature cited
   • Formatting Requirements:
   • 0.5-inch margins on all sides
   • Text: 12-point Times New Roman or 11-point Arial minimum
   • Figures/tables: 10-point Times New Roman or 9-point Arial
   • Content: Complete literature citations (all authors, title, journal, year, volume, pages)
   • Upload as single PDF file (max 5MB recommended)