Blavatnik Institute Early Career Investigator Awards

 

The 2025 BIECIA RFP is now closed

Please visit Award Recipients for details on selected proposals.

 

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS

 

Release Date: Thursday, July 31, 2025
Deadline: Monday, September 15, 2025
Project Start Date: November 1, 2025

Updated August 25, 2025

RFP changes:

  • Removed “basic science departments” as an eligibility requirement. The RFP is open to assistant professors and associate professors who have research programs located in Blavatnik Institute departments on the HMS Quadrangle and are within the first ten years of their faculty appointments.
  • Adjusted the evaluation criteria to emphasize prioritization for projects that will be in a later translational stage within two years. While BIECIA awards will not be as translational as projects funded under the Blavatnik Therapeutics Challenge Award (BTCA) program, the selection committee will prioritize research projects that, if successful, will be in that later stage within two years.
  • Clarified bibliographic references may be cited within the description of the research program and prioritized project. Please list references on a separate page, which will not count against the 3-page limit.

Background and Purpose:  The Blavatnik Family Foundation (BFF) has given Harvard Medical School (HMS) the largest gift in its history, with the aim of spurring scientific advances and accelerating therapeutic discovery. The $200+ million commitment is helping to propel the School’s mission of transforming health through curiosity-driven research that stimulates the development of new therapies and the creation of new tools to diagnose, prevent, and treat disease. As part of this generous gift, the Blavatnik Institute Early Career Investigator Awards (BIECIA) are being launched as a pilot program to complement the Blavatnik Therapeutics Challenge Awards (BTCA) initiative. Distinguished awards, issued with the prominence and prestige of this program, will serve as funding catalysts and prospectively as markers of singular potential.

This RFP will be overseen by a Review Committee comprised of prominent senior faculty from multiple HMS Quad departments. The program will be managed by the Office for Research Initiatives and Global Programs working in collaboration with HMS quadrangle departments. The resulting grants are designed to fuel high-potential research by the most exceptional early career faculty on the HMS Quad.

I. Application Timeline

  • RFP Release: Thursday, July 31, 2025
  • Proposal Deadline: Monday, September 15, 2025
  • Notification of Award Status: Early October 2025
  • Project Start Date: November 1, 2025

II. Program Eligibility

Applicants Eligible for Funding: 

Assistant professors and associate professors who have research programs located in Blavatnik Institute departments on the HMS Quadrangle and are within the first ten years of their faculty appointments are eligible to apply for funding. Applications cannot include Co-PIs.

While the Blavatnik awards are not anticipated to be as translational as projects funded under the BTCA program, priority for the BIECIA awards will be given to projects that have the potential to be competitive for BTCA funding within two years.

III. Funding Amount and Duration

Up to 10 BIECIA awardees will be funded at a level of up to $575,000 total costs ($500,000 direct) each.  Awards are expected to begin on November 1, 2025, and continue for two years. Each award will be issued on an annual basis. For this reason, funding will not exceed $250,000 direct costs per annum.

IV. Proposal Submission, Review, and Selection Process

  1. Proposals (submission deadline: September 15, 2025 at 11:59 p.m. ET) 

    The proposal submission process is described in the Appendix. Each proposal will undergo a confidential review process by the Review Committee. BIECIA awards will be made in rank order based on the committee’s recommendations. 

  2. Evaluation Criteria

    The goal of this funding mechanism is to fuel high-potential research by the most exceptional early career investigators on the HMS Quad. Selection criteria therefore prioritize quality of the candidate, impact of the overall program, and scientific and technical merit of the highlighted project. Investigators focused on both basic and translational research are encouraged to apply. While these awards will not be as translational as projects funded under the BTCA program, the selection committee will prioritize research projects that, if successful, will be in that later stage within two years.

  3. Budget and Funding Period

    Time and Effort: All personnel on funded projects must commit time and effort appropriate to their roles on the project. PIs are expected to allocate at least 1% effort. 

    Budget: Funding may be used only for research expenses directly related to and budgeted under the project and may not be used for any other purpose. Funding may be spent on personnel, equipment, supplies, and related costs that maximize support for investigator labs. Subawards are not allowed. The annual funding amount available will be up to $250,000 for direct costs.

  4. Intellectual Property and Investment Right
    1. Intellectual Property:  No background intellectual property is required for this proposal. However, any existing background intellectual property must have been assigned, at least in part, to Harvard or an HMS-affiliated institution. If such background intellectual property is jointly owned with one or more other institutions, then an inter-institutional agreement between Harvard or the HMS-affiliated institution and the co-owning institution(s) must be put in place prior to approval of funding.
    2. Investment Right: In the event that HMS exclusively licenses its rights in any patent or patent application claiming an invention made or practiced by researchers in the performance of the BIECIA project to a newly-formed start-up venture (a “New Venture”), HMS will ensure that any such exclusive license will require that the BFF (or its designated affiliate) be afforded the right, but not the obligation, to invest, or commit to invest, funds in the New Venture to inure to the benefit of charity in an amount up to and equal to the amount committed by any lead investor of an investment syndicate offering cash in exchange for equity or equity-linked securities issued by the New Venture and on the same terms and conditions available to the lead investor.

  5. Requirements: Terms and Conditions of the Award 

    Awards will be made one year at a time, with automatic carry forward. Awardees will submit an annual progress report and a final report.

Appendix: Proposal template

Proposal submission deadline:  September 15, 2025 at 11:59 p.m. ET

Submission: Proposals must be received as a single PDF file. Applications should be submitted via the Harvard Medical School online submission system: https://forms.hms.harvard.edu/f/biecia

Only one proposal per applicant (PI) will be considered.  

All text material must be in a readable font (at least Arial 11 point), and margins must be at least 0.5 inches.

Cover Page (not included in page limit)

  1. PI name, academic rank, department
  2. Research program title
  3. Total budget request (total costs, up to $575,000 maximum; corresponds to $500,000 direct costs)
  4. Project period of performance (two years maximum)

Description of Research Program and Prioritized Project (not to exceed 3 pages):

  • Please provide an overview of your long-term research program goals and vision for the next five years.
  • Clearly highlight one project that will be prioritized for use of BIECIA funding over the course of the award duration.
  • Preliminary data are helpful but not required.
  • Bibliographic references may be cited within the description of the research program and prioritized project. Please list references on a separate page, which will not count against the 3-page limit.

Biosketch: Submit the applicant’s biosketch or curriculum vitae in the Harvard format (duration at HMS, publication record, awards and honors, etc.)

Research Publications: Briefly describe the two most impactful recent research publications, including how the publication relates to the proposed research program. (approximate length is 1-2 paragraphs or ½ page per research publication)

Budget (PHS 398 Page 4, Page 5, Checklist) and Budget Justification: Please include 15% indirect costs. Direct costs can be up to $500,000 ($250,000 per year) and total costs can be up to $575,000.

Other Support: Please include all awarded grants and other funding sources supporting research, including terminated federal grants subject to ongoing litigation between Harvard University and the United States federal government.