External Deadline: June 2026 Internal Deadline: May 7, 2026
Instructions for electronic submission: To apply for the Hartwell Foundation, please submit the materials requested below to this link no later than May 7, 2026, at 11:59 PM.
Budget: $50,000 per year for 2 years. Fellows may generally use funds for salary, health insurance, or travel related to a scientific meeting, but not for the purchase of supplies or equipment or other fringe benefits without permission of the Foundation; no part of the Fellowship may cover institutional overhead or other indirect costs
Number of Applications: 1 application from WCM (not including Ithaca)
Program Description:
The Hartwell Foundation has invited WCM to submit one application for a Hartwell Postdoctoral Fellowship. The Fellowship will support individuals who have completed a Ph.D. or equivalent and are still in the early stages of career development, and who exemplify the values of the Foundation by benefiting children’s health in the U.S. Fellowship funds may not be used to extend or complete clinical training.
Note that the Foundation does not fund research in public health epidemiology, social science, ecology, environmental impacts, botany, or anthropology. The Foundation will not fund “studies”, surveys, health services research or stand-alone clinical trials; and will not consider biomedical research in areas generally associated with adult health unless there is a readily apparent and particularly convincing benefit to children in the United States.
See the Foundation website for details.
Eligibility
- Research must focus in benefiting children's health in the US.
- Candidates must hold a Ph.D. or equivalent doctorate and be citizens of the United States.
- The Fellowship mentor may not be a Hartwell Investigator currently funded by the Foundation.
- Fellowship research training must be in an area of science or engineering related to biomedical science.
- Fellows must commence their postdoctoral training no later than November 1, 2026.
- The fellowship is not intended to extend or complete clinical training.
Application Requirements
WCM is limited to submitting one application; therefore, an internal selection process will be conducted. Chairpersons/Division Heads/Institute or Center Directors may submit no more than one (1) nomination from their department/division/institute or center. Note that one (1) postdoctoral candidate may be nominated by each lab head.
Internal submissions should contain the following information:
- 30-lines scientific abstract explaining the qualifications of the applicant and fit of the project for this funding mechanism.
- Letter or Nomination: One-two page letter of nomination co-signed by the candidate's mentor and by the Department Chair/Division Chief/Inst Director detailing why the nominee should be considered. Only one (1) candidate can be nominated by each lab mentor;
- Research Statement: One page from the nominee outlining their intended research/training during the Fellowship period; and
- Nominee’s biosketch. Include all current research support (internal and external) and pending support, including dollar amounts and start/end dates.
- Brief budget justification on how funds will be spent.
Submit the above items here no later than May 7, 2026 at 11:59 pm in the order listed in one PDF file using this naming convention: PI last name-first initial_Hartwell-PD2026.pdf (see example below). Margins should be at least one inch and font size not less than 12 points.
Example: Smith-J_Hartwell-PD2026.pdf
Past Recipients
- Basic Science
- Biochemistry/Biophysics
- Clinical Science
- Medicine
- Molecular Biology/Cell Biology
- Translational Science
- Postdoc/Residents/Fellows