The National Science Foundation, Directorate for Biological Sciences (BIO) awards Postdoctoral Research Fellowships in Biology (PRFB) to recent recipients of the doctoral degree for research and training in selected areas supported by BIO and with special goals for human resource development in biology. The fellowships encourage independence at an early stage of the research career to permit Fellows to pursue their research and training goals in the most appropriate research locations regardless of the availability of funding for the Fellows at that site. For applications under this solicitation (19-597) , these areas are (1) Broadening Participation of Groups Underrepresented in Biology, (2) Interdisciplinary Research Using Biological Collections, (3) National Plant Genome Initiative (NPGI) Postdoctoral Research Fellowships and (4) Integrative Research Investigating the Rules of Life Governing Interactions Between Genomes, Environment and Phenotypes.

The fellowships are also designed to provide active mentoring of the Fellows by the sponsoring scientists who will benefit from having these talented young scientists in their research groups. The research and training plan of each fellowship must address important scientific questions within the scope of BIO and the specific guidelines in this fellowship program solicitation. Because the fellowships are offered to postdoctoral scientists only early in their careers, NSF encourages doctoral students to discuss the availability of these postdoctoral fellowships with their doctoral mentors and potential postdoctoral sponsors early in their doctoral programs to take advantage of this funding opportunity. Fellowships are awards to individuals, not institutions, and are administered by the Fellows.

If you are interesting in applying for this funding opportunity, please start a routing sheet as soon as possible. As a reminder, proposals must be completed and submitted to OSRP at least 2 business days prior to the proposal deadline of November 19, 2019.  If you should have any questions, please contact OSRP.