External Deadline: September 2026 Anticipated Internal Deadline: June 29, 2026
Virtual Faculty Information Session: Cornell early-career faculty, in both the Ithaca and WCM campuses, interested in applying to the Searle Scholars Program are invited to join an internal information session featuring colleagues from Ithaca and WCM Foundation Relations, Ithaca Office of Sponsored Program Limited Submission Office, and WCM Office of the Research Dean. Date and Time: Friday, May 15, 12 pm to 12:45 pm. Register here.
Instructions for electronic submission: To apply for the Hartwell Foundation, please submit the materials requested below to this link no later than June 29, 2026, at 11:59 PM.
Budget: $300,000 over a three-year period. About 15 awards will be made. Funds provided under this grant may not be used to pay costs associated with general facilities or administrative overhead. – Budget based on last year’s guidelines and subject to change.
Number of Applications: 2 applications from Cornell (including Ithaca)
Program Description:
The Searle Scholars Program is a limited submission award program which makes grants to selected academic and research institutions to support the independent research of outstanding early-career scientists who have recently been appointed as assistant professors on a tenure-track appointment.
The Program’s Scientific Director appoints an Advisory Board of eminent scientists who choose the Scholars based on rigorous standards aimed at finding the most creative talent interested in pursuing an academic research career. The Searle Scholars Program does not ordinarily support purely clinical research but has supported research programs that include both clinical and basic components. Generally, the program makes 15 new grants annually.
“Some of the Scholars are conducting research of a purely basic kind, such as probing the structure and dynamics of protein assemblies, examining the mechanisms of meiosis and gene regulation, and working out what circuits in the brain underlie complex behaviors,” remarked Doug Fambrough, scientific director for the Searle Scholars Program. “Others have developed research projects likely to have immediate application to human health, including cancer, dengue fever, tuberculosis, and infections caused by microsporidia and parasitic worms. A characteristic of all the new Scholars is their willingness to take on ambitious and often risky research projects that, if successful, will have enormous impact in their scientific fields. This has always been a defining attribute of Searle Scholars and it is remarkable how often those projects succeed.”
See the Foundation website for details.
Eligibility
- Applicants for the 2026 competition (awards which will be activated on July 1, 2026) are expected to be pursuing independent research careers in biochemistry, cell biology, genetics, immunology, neuroscience, pharmacology, and related areas in chemistry, medicine, and the biological sciences.
- Applicants should have begun their appointment as an independent investigator at the assistant professor level on or after May 1, 2025. The appointment must be their first tenure-track position (or its nearest equivalent) at an invited institution.
Application Requirements
WCM and Cornell Ithaca are limited to submitting 2 applications jointly. Due to this limitation, an internal competiiton is underway.
Department Chairs/Division Chiefs/Institute and Center Directors may submit no more than one (1) nomination from their department/division/center or institute.
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.
- A 2-page nomination letter (written by the Department Chair/Division Head) detailing why the candidate should be considered;
- A 2-page description of the candidate's proposed research, highlighting particularly creative and risk-taking aspects of the proposed research. Include a brief statement of how receipt of the award would benefit the candidate and why the research is personally significant to them. Any references must be included in the two-page limit;
- A 1-page budget outline in column format showing major categories for each year of the project and detailing how the funds would be utilized; and
- Biosketch (5-page limit) with complete contact information. The Biosketch must include the nominee's appointment date (month/day/year). List all current research support (internal/start-up and external) and pending support, including dollar amounts and start/end dates.
Instructions for Electronic Submission of Nominations:
Submit the above items here no later than June 29, 2026, at 11:59 pm in the order listed in one PDF file using this naming convention: PI last name-first initial_Searle2027.pdf (see example below). Margins should be at least one inch and font size not less than 12 points.
Example: Smith-J_Searle2027.pdf
Past Recipients
- Biochemistry/Biophysics
- Immunology
- Medicine
- Molecular Biology/Cell Biology
- Neuroscience
- Pharmacology
- Junior Faculty
- New Investigator