Fellowship Training Grants

Fellowship Training Grants provide salary support for training opportunities that will help biomedical scientists launch a career in companion animal or wildlife research. Applicants are paired with seasoned research mentors. Applicants with a DVM or PhD are preferred, but exceptional predoctoral students will be considered. The prospective fellow cannot have completed more than two years of full-time postdoctoral research training. Fellows must provide a letter from their department chair or dean of research that documents the applicant’s appointment as a full-time graduate student or postdoctoral research associate. Successful candidates must devote at least 90 percent of their time to the funded research. Applications for support of training positions with clinical service requirements will not be considered. Applicants are not eligible to activate this award while in a residency.

Deadlines for Fellowship Training proposals are as follows:

• The next call for Large Companion Animal Proposals will be in mid-April, 2012 with proposals due in mid-July, 2012.
• Small Companion Animal (Dogs and Cats): Proposals on topics relevant to companion health and welfare are due by 11:59 p.m. EST on March 21, 2012. Online application instructions and proposal guidelines are available at the link below. Funding decisions will be made in June, 2012 with grant awards starting as early as August 1, 2012.
•  Wildlife: Proposals on topics relevant to wildlife health and welfare were due on November 15, 2011. Funding decisions will be made in March, 2012 with grant awards starting as early as July 1, 2012. The next call for Wildlife Proposals will be in mid-August, 2012 with proposals due in mid-November, 2012.

Click here for Small Animal Online Application Instructions

Complete guidelines for proposal preparation and submission can be found in the online application form. Requirements of a full proposal include scientific abstract, resubmission summary (if applicable), hypothesis and objectives, justification, literature review, preliminary data, experimental methods and design, project timeline and animal involvement justification. Applicants are also asked to provide information on project facilities and equipment, cited references, budget justification, other funding support for the principal investigator, past Foundation support and biographical data on the investigators. Fellowship training proposals have additional requirements, including a candidate statement, letter from proposed mentor, letter from department head and salary verification.

Budget
Two years of salary support up to a maximum of $50,000 per year (inclusive of benefits and a maximum of 8 percent indirect costs  - see proposal guidelines. Tuition is not supported by this award.