Damon Runyon Fellowship Award (Postdoctoral Research Fellowships for Basic and Physician Scientists)

Due to COVID-19 related laboratory closures earlier this year, Damon Runyon is extending its application eligibility requirements for the March 15, 2021 application deadline by three months. (This is a one-time extension and will not apply to future deadlines.)

• Applicants must have received their degrees no more than 18 months 21 months prior to the application deadline date.
• Applicants must not have been in their Sponsors' labs for more than one year 15 months prior to the application deadline date.

Please refer to the eligibility chart under Application Guidelines. Extension beyond the time frames listed in the table will not be considered.-=

• Applicants must have completed one or more of the following degrees or its equivalent: MD, PhD, MD/PhD, DDS, DVM.  The applicant must include a copy of his/her diploma to confirm date of conferral.
  (If an applicant has not yet received his/her PhD diploma but has successfully completed all PhD requirements, including PhD defense, he/she may submit a letter from the graduate school explicitly stating such, with the date of the successful PhD defense and date of degree conferral.)
• Level 1 Funding: Basic and physician-scientists must have received their degrees no more than one year prior to the FAC meeting at which their applications are to be considered.*  Applicants must not have been in their Sponsors' labs for more than one year prior to the date of the FAC meeting at which their applications are to be considered* and are expected to devote 100% of their time and effort to Damon Runyon-supported research activities.
• Level 2 Funding: Physician-scientist applicants (MD, MD/PhD, DDS, DVM or the equivalent) must have completed their residencies and clinical training, must be board eligible at the start date of the Damon Runyon-Sohn Fellowship, and be able to devote at least 80% of their time and effort to Damon Runyon-Sohn supported research activities. Applicants may apply at any time prior to their initial assistant professorship appointment (or equivalent); postdoctoral fellows, clinical fellows and clinical instructors are eligible to apply. Candidates holding or awarded NIH K awards at the time of application are not eligible to apply.

*The cut-off date is day 15 of the month immediately preceding the month FAC meets.  The applicant must include a copy of his/her diploma to confirm date of conferral.  (See chart in Deadlines section.) 

**For foreign-trained physicians, equivalency will be determined on a case-by-case basis.

• The proposed research must be conducted at a university, hospital or research institution.
• No more than two Damon Runyon Fellows will be funded to work with the same Sponsor at any given time.
• Only one fellowship application will be accepted from a Sponsor or Fellow per review session; there is no limit, however, to the number of applications from an institution.
• Postdoctoral training in the same institution in which the applicant received his/her degree is discouraged, particularly if it is in the same department.  (If either situation applies, the applicant must address the reason(s) in his/her application.)  Proposals to continue training in the laboratory where the applicant received his/her PhD will not be considered.  Proposals that are direct extensions of graduate work will not be funded.
• Candidates who have already accepted a postdoctoral research fellowship award are not eligible.
• Candidates who are pursuing a degree are not eligible.
• Candidates applying to work in foreign-based or United States government laboratories may be awarded a fellowship if they are considered to be especially meritorious or if the program represents an unusual opportunity for postdoctoral training.
• Foreign candidates may apply to do their research only in the United States.