2025 ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA


For purposes of this program, an eligible Early-Career Investigator (ECI) is defined as:

  1. An investigator who is four years or fewer from their initial career-track academic appointment as of January 1 of the award/selection year (i.e., whose initial career-track academic appointments began no earlier than January 1, 2021). The initial career-track academic appointment includes appointments at other institutions.  These are faculty appointments with significant expectations regarding research, and/or teaching, and/or clinical activities and may be tenure-track or non-tenure track. For the University of Colorado, qualified “career-track academic appointments” based on the faculty titles are:
    • Tenure Track:  Assistant Professor, Associate Professor
       
    • Research or Clinical Track :  Assistant Professor, Associate Professor
  2. An investigator who HAS NOT previously received a major independent research award. A major independent research award is determined to be a National Institutes of Health [NIH] R01 or similar grant which provides independent research support of at least $175,000 direct costs (either single-year or multiple-year award), and which was awarded through a peer review process conducted by a public or private institution. Multiple independent awards that are, as of May 1 of the award/selection year, each less than $175,000, but that total more than $175,000 will not impact eligibility.

    Training grants, mentored/supervised grants, and career development grants are not considered to be independent awards. There is no limit on the amount of these types of awards that an ECI can receive to maintain eligibility.

    NIH “K” series grants are generally mentored grants. Holders of K99/R00 or equivalent grants can be eligible if they clearly demonstrate that their proposed Webb-Waring Biomedical Awards research is distinct from their R00 funding (and meet other eligibility criteria). Applicants must provide a written summary of the R00 and an explanation discussing how their proposal addresses a novel area of research that will take the applicant into a new research direction (max: 1 page). (Complete Supplemental Form for Holders of K99-R00 Grants and submit with Eligibility Certification and Verification form). Applications with specific aims overlap between the R00 and ECI proposals will be administratively withdrawn prior to review.
  3. An investigator who received a terminal degree or completed their initial medical residency within 10 years of January 1 of the award/selection year (i.e., on or after January 1, 2015)1; and
     
  4. An investigator who is either a U.S. Citizen or Permanent Resident, as of date of application in the award/selection year.
  • 1. Individual institutions can accommodate exceptions on the basis of individual review and consultation.  Applicants that have received application extensions from NIH due to parental or family medical leave, for example, should contact the university program manager prior to submitting an application to confirm eligibility.