CFR

The Chan Zuckerberg Biohub Network (CZ Biohub Network) and the Stellar Science Foundation (SS-F) invite applications for the Global Science Scholars program, an up to two-year international postdoctoral fellowship program between the U.S. and Japan designed to advance excellence in bioengineering and biomedical research by supporting early-career researchers to advance their careers and conduct groundbreaking science in U.S. and Japanese research labs.

The program provides up to two years designed to advance early-stage careers and catalyze groundbreaking science globally and aims to support cutting-edge science in bioengineering and biomedical domains and, in particular, people who are committed to pursuing up to two years of research directed at creating a better future for all by conducting research outside of their degree granting country. There are two types of fellowships:

Global Science Scholars in residence in Japan: The postdoctoral fellowship is open to early career applicants who have recently earned their doctoral degree and wish to conduct research activities at a Japanese research institution with selected research leaders. Candidates must have received their doctoral degree on or after July 1, 2021. For placement in Japan, the applicant must have received their undergraduate or doctoral degree from a U.S. degree-granting institution, and eligibility for a Japanese visa is required. Funding for the Global Science Scholars in residence in Japan extends only until March 2027, thus the duration of support is up to two years, depending on start date.

Global Science Scholars in residence in the U.S.: The postdoctoral fellowship is open to early-career applicants who have recently earned their doctoral degree and wish to conduct research activities at a CZ Biohub Network partner university (in San Francisco, Chicago, or New York areas) with selected research leaders. Candidates must have received their doctoral degree on or after July 1, 2021. For placement in the U.S., the applicant must have received their undergraduate or doctoral degree from a Japanese degree-granting institution, and eligibility for a U.S. visa is required. Funding for the Global Science Scholars in residence in the CZ Biohub Network is available for a two-year fellowship.

Each postdoctoral fellowship in the U.S. will be supported by a stipend of $75,000 per year and up to $5,000 per year for reimbursable expenses (up to $10,000 in total over the course of two years) to offset the cost of relocation for the first and final year of the fellowship. Each postdoctoral fellowship in Japan is supported by a stipend of 9,600,000 JPY per year and up to 749,000 JPY per year for reimbursable expenses (up to 1,498,000 JPY in total over the course of two years) to offset the cost of relocation for each the first and final year of the fellowship. Please note that funding for the fellowship in residence Japan program is available until March 2027, so the fellowship may be less than two years in duration, depending on start date. The program also provides travel funds to participate in a required scientific convening associated with the fellowship program (approximately $4,000 or 600,000 JPY) per year.

To be eligible, candidates must have a doctoral degree conferred by July 1, 2025. Candidates must be eligible to start their fellowship position (including providing proof of doctoral degree conferral) by July 1, 2025. Because the program is an early-career fellowship, candidates must not have received their doctoral degree before July 1, 2021. Applicants must have a level of English proficiency sufficient to conduct research and communicate effectively in English.

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The Sloan Foundation is accepting application for the Matther-to-Life program. The program aims to sharpen our scientific understanding of the physical principles and mechanisms that distinguish living systems from inanimate matter, and to explore the conditions under which physical principles and mechanisms guide the complexification of matter towards life.

Research grants in Sloan’s Matter-to-Life program seek to advance theoretical and experimental efforts aimed at unraveling the physical principles and mechanisms that distinguish living systems from inanimate matter, and that explore whether and how physical principles guide the complexification of matter towards life.

The program will prioritize those projects making the most compelling case for how the proposed research will advance our scientific understanding of life’s distinctiveness, and that pursue research directions not already well supported by federal funders. The program will not support biomedical or disease-related research. Sloan seeks to support well-conceived biology/physics/chemistry/engineering projects that explore the matter-life boundary in comparatively simple systems, rather than animal-based or social-science experiments that study complex higher-level organism behaviors. They recognize that both multi-disciplinary and exploratory work is needed to advance matter-to-life science, and the program is open to projects with these features when they are important to advancing the proposed science.

Grantmaking proceeds along three interrelated focus areas: Building Life, Principles of Life, and Signs of Life.

Grant-seekers with a relevant research project or meeting idea should submit a Letter of Inquiry of no more than two pages to Program Director Ernie Glover at mattertolife@sloan.org. For more about what to include in a Letter of Inquiry, please refer to our Letter of Inquiry Guidelines.

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