Postdoctoral Funding Opportunities

We recognize that a successful postdoctoral research period is very important in order to be competitive in the job market. Although some post-doctoral positions are available from faculty awarded research grants, we encourage you to apply for postdoctoral fellowships. Having your own postdoctoral fellowship provides you with a competitive edge and shows initiative.

We recognize that a successful postdoctoral research period is very important in order to be competitive in the job market. Although some post-doctoral positions are available from faculty awarded research grants, we encourage you to apply for postdoctoral fellowships. Having your own postdoctoral fellowship provides you with a competitive edge and shows initiative.

There are several national and international postdoctoral fellowships opportunities available, and we are here to assist you in every possible way we can.

Preparation for a fellowship application

Before you apply, gather as much information as possible about the selection criteria and number of awards for the fellowships you have selected. This can be achieved in several ways:

  • Contact the administrators/program offices of the relevant fellowship programs and the Office of Grants and Sponsored Research.
  • Consult faculty members and colleagues in your field who have gone through a similar process.
  • Identify a faculty advisor that would act as your sponsor and who would assist you with your fellowship application. Your application is most probably part of an ongoing research program and input from the selected faculty advisor is very important.
  • When you have a draft application completed, seek advice from colleagues in your field and the faculty advisor.
  • As you are most probably applying for a number of different fellowships, the applications must be adapted so that the proposal matches the individual fellowship guidelines.

National Funding Opportunities

There are several national fellowship opportunities available for individuals wishing to pursue a postdoctoral research period at St. John’s University. Key opportunities afforded through the National Institutes of Health include:

New and Early Stage Investigators

View the resources for new investigators, including postdoctoral researchers.

Extramural Training Mechanisms

View this site.

Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) Individual Postdoctoral Fellowship

The purpose of the Ruth L. Kirchstein NRSA program is to support promising applicants during their mentored postdoctoral training under the guidance of outstanding faculty sponsors. The overall goal of the program is to help ensure that a diverse pool of highly trained scientists is available in appropriate scientific disciplines to address the Nation's biomedical, behavioral, and clinical research needs. In order to accomplish this goal, NRSA training programs are designed to train individuals to conduct research and to prepare for research careers. More information about NRSA programs may be found at the website.

Pathways to Independence Award

This Pathways to Independence program provides up to five years of support consisting of two phases. The initial phase will provide up to two years of mentored support for postdoctoral research scientists. This phase will be followed up to three years of independent support contingent in securing and independent tenure-track or equivalent research position.

Resources for postdoctoral researchers seeking funding through the National Science Foundation (NSF) include:

  • Specialized Information for Postdoctoral Fellows
  • Postdoctoral Research Fellows in Biology
    Fellowships support recent recipients of the doctoral degree for research and training in selected areas supported by the Directorate for Biological Sciences. Applicants must be U.S. citizens, nationals, or permanent residents.
  • NSF Earth Sciences Postdoctoral Fellowships
    The Division of Earth Sciences awards fellowships to highly qualified investigators within three years of obtaining their PhD to carry out an integrated program of independent research and education. Applicants must be U.S. citizens, nationals, or permanent residents.
  • SBE Postdoctoral Research Fellowships
    The Directorate for Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences offers Postdoctoral Research Fellowships in two tracks: (i) Broadening Participation (SPRF-BP), and (ii) Interdisciplinary Research in Behavioral and Social Sciences (SPRF-IBSS). Applicants must be U.S. citizens, nationals, or permanent residents.

Private Funding Opportunities

Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (MHSAS) Postdoctoral Fellowship

The goal of the Postdoctoral MHSAS Fellowship Program is to encourage and facilitate the specialized training of postdoctoral psychologists who maintain a professional focus on behavioral health services or policy for ethnic minorities. The program seeks to accomplish the following objectives: promote culturally competent behavioral health services and policy for ethnic minority populations and increase the number of ethnic minority psychologists providing behavioral health services and developing policy for ethnic minority populations.

International Funding Opportunities

There are a number of international fellowship opportunities available for individuals wishing to pursue a postdoctoral research period at St. John’s University. Our Office of Grants and Sponsored Research will not only assist you in identifying the correct sponsor, but will also provide documentation and resources necessary for your fellowship application.

Human Frontier Science Program (HFSP)

HFSP is a program that provides funding for research in the life sciences. It is implemented by the International Human Frontier Science Program Organization (HFSPO) with its office in Strasbourg, France.

The members of the HFSPO are Australia, Canada, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Norway, New Zealand, Singapore, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, the United States of America and the European Union.

European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO)

EMBO is an organization of more than 1700 leading researchers that promotes excellence in the life sciences. EMBO supports talented researchers, selected through impartial evaluation processes, to allow them to do great science. The wide scientific scope across the full range of life science research coupled with the broad geographical reach of more than 1700 members and associate members – some of the best researchers in Europe and around the world – positions EMBO optimally to serve Europe’s life science community.

  • Postdoctoral Funding Opportunities
    • Young scientists actively seek EMBO Long-Term Fellowships for postdoctoral research to fund and support their internationally mobile careers. Hundreds of scientists also benefit each year from EMBO Short-Term Fellowships, returning to their home laboratories with new skills as well as contacts for future collaborations. EMBO Members and EMBO Young Investigators rigorously review all applications to EMBO Fellowships for their scientific potential. A core program since the 1960s, EMBO Fellowships has benefited thousands of early career scientists.

Short-Term Fellowships fund research visits of up to three months to laboratories in Europe and elsewhere in the world. The aim is to facilitate valuable collaborations with research groups applying techniques that are unavailable in the applicant's laboratory. Short-Term Fellowships are not awarded for exchanges between two laboratories within the same country. Short-Term Fellowships are intended for joint research work rather than consultations.

All applications should focus on the benefit to the home laboratory and involve movement between countries – one of which must be an EMBC Member State. (For applicants from a laboratory within a non-member state, the Short-Term Fellowships are for a fixed duration of 90 days). The fellowships cover travel plus subsistence of the fellow only and not of dependents.

Long-Term Fellowships are awarded for a period of up to two years and support post-doctoral research visits to laboratories throughout Europe and the world. International exchange is a key feature in the application process. All fellowships must involve movement between countries.