Biophysical Society Newsletter | September 2017

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BIOPHYSICAL SOCIETY NEWSLETTER 14 SEPTEMBER 2017
Molly Cule
Tips for Securing a Predoctoral
Fellowship in the
Biomedical Field
Securing an individual predoctoral fellowship is
one of the most impressive ways to demonstrate
your scientific independence. It readily places you
in a stronger negotiating position when hunting
for research-related jobs after graduation.
Funding opportunities for graduate students are
often offered as individual fellowships or train-
ing grants, as exemplified by the National Sci-
ence Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship
Program and the National Research Service Award
Individual Predoctoral Fellowship (F31) offered
by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). To be
eligible for these federal grants, the applicant has
to be a US citizen or permanent resident enrolled
in a research doctoral degree program. Advanced
graduate students considering transitioning into
postdoctoral positions should consider the
Predoctoral to Postdoctoral Fellows Transition
Award (F99/K00), a new program launched by
the National Cancer Institute that aims to facili-
tate the transition of talented graduate students
into successful careers as independent scientists.
Opportunities are also offered by private research
foundations, and they may have less stringent
requirements for citizenship. Therefore, interna-
tional students who hold F1 visas may be eligible.
See individual awards for requirements. For gradu-
ate students majoring in biophysics, the American
Heart Association is a good fit given the many
common research interests shared by biophysicists
and cardiovascular researchers. A comprehensive
list of non-NIH funding opportunities for predoc-
toral and graduate researchers can be found here:
Pages/predoctoral-graduate.aspx.
A critical part of writing a successful grant ap-
plication is having a thorough understanding of
the mission of the funding agencies and the types
of projects they support. A careful study of the
funding opportunity announcement as well as
direct contact with the program staff is strongly
recommended prior to the submission of your ap-
plication. An application for a typical predoctoral
fellowship contains not only the research plan for
the project, but also two or three letters of recom-
mendation, a personal statement of your career
goals, and a detailed mentoring plan that you need
to work out carefully with your mentor. In addi-
tion to a well-thought-out research plan consoli-
dated by compelling preliminary data, an impres-
sive mentoring plan indicating strong support
from your mentor(s) and collaborators is equally
important to convince the reviewers that you are
a worthy candidate. Though it varies by funding
agency, the success rate of predoctoral fellowships
is in the range of 10 to 35 percent.
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