NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) — The National Institutes of Health has set aside $1 million in fiscal 2019 to fund its Genomic Innovator Awards, which aim to enable investigators working within groups to pursue independent research.
"Many investigators in genomics start their careers in such groups, which do not always provide traditional opportunities for career development such as leading independent research projects and writing first-author publications," the NIH said. "Such individuals can face hurdles when applying for standard NIH awards, since their contributions and creativity can be difficult to recognize."
To help address this issue, the NIH has earmarked $1 million in the coming year to fund two awards for genomics investigators who are making important contributions to team science efforts and show considerable promise for launching their own independent research careers.
While the NIH does not have specific aims for research funded under this program, it is focused on the development of approaches that can be applied generally to the genomics field. "Studies that focus on one or a few specific genes should be paradigm-setting and yield findings relevant at the genomic level," the agency noted.
Additional details about the funding opportunity can be found here.