Beckman Young Investigator Program

2027 BYI Application Webinar: June 3 @ 10:30 am PT

Registration Required

Program Overview Documents:

2027 BYI Letter of Intent Instructions

2027 Frequently Asked Questions

General Guidance and Appropriately Blinded Application Examples

Examples of Successful Pre-Proposals:

Example One

Example Two

Please note that the 2027 Program pre-proposal must be no more than four pages, including figures and references.

Mentor Office Hours:

The Foundation will host Mentor Office Hour meetings in July. Begin an application for more information on how to sign up.

Recording: 2027 BYI Program Informational Webinar

Projects proposed for the BYI program should be truly innovative, high-risk, and show promise for contributing to significant advances in chemistry and the life sciences. They should represent a departure from current research directions rather than an extension or expansion of existing programs. Proposed research that cuts across traditional boundaries of scientific disciplines is encouraged. Proposals that open new avenues of research in chemistry and life sciences by fostering the invention of methods, instruments and materials will be given additional consideration.

• The BYI program funds promising young scientists early in their careers who have not yet received a major award from another organization. Proposals that already have substantial funding will not be considered for the BYI award (see eligibility for more information).
• The Foundation does not provide for overhead or for indirect costs.

Projects are normally funded for a period of four years. Grants are in the range of $600,000 ($150,000 annually) over the term of the project, contingent upon demonstrated progress after the second year of the award.

Early Tenure-Track

Applicants must hold a tenure-track faculty appointment or an equivalent structured pathway to permanent faculty status, be within the first four years of that appointment, and maintain an active, independent lab and research program. Researchers at institutions that do not offer tenure-track positions remain eligible provided their role includes full-time teaching and independent laboratory research responsibilities and falls within a comparable early-career or probationary period not exceeding four years.

Tenure-Track dates for the 2027 program must start after 1/1/2022, and on or before 7/31/2026.

US Citizenship

Applicants with pending permanent residency are eligible to apply, but official US citizenship or permanent residency documents are required by the BYI Interview (March 16, 2027). Those without permanent residency documents by March 16, 2027 will not be permitted to advance to the BYI Interview.

LOI Application: Pending permanent residency eligible to apply.

Full Application: Pending permanent residency eligible to apply; updated status required.

BYI Interview (March 16, 2027): Official US citizenship or permanent residency documents required.

External Funding

Applicants can have no more than $225,000 in direct, annualized external funding grants at the time of application for either this year (Aug 2026-July 2027) or year one of the BYI award (Aug 2027-July 2028). Start-up funds, department-wide instrumentation grants, and "Transition" grants received as a postdoc (such as NIH K99/R00) are not counted toward this total.

Clinical Research

The Foundation does not support clinical research, clinical trials, or single-target drug discovery projects. Individuals with strictly clinical appointments are not eligible to apply.

Time Frame

Applicants must have no more than 10 years post-terminal degree (PhD earned 1/1/16 or later or for MD or MD/PhD, residency completed no earlier than 1/1/2016), and no more than 5 years’ experience in a non-tenure track (not including postdoc) or industry position. Non-tenure track or industry positions that occurred in 2021 or later are eligible to apply in August 2026 for the 2027 Program.

Leave of Absence/Stop-the-Clock Events:

If you have experienced any stop-the-clock, leave of absence, or work disruption events, you may be eligible to apply, even if you are beyond the above timeframe limits. Events such as childbirth or adoption, personal medical leave, caring for a sick family member, or other significant work disruptions are considered by the Foundation as "stop-the-clock" events. These events may extend your eligibility for the Beckman Young Investigator Award. Please note that the Beckman Foundation offers a full year extension for each child that you added to your family through either birth or adoption, regardless of the length of your leave.

Qualifying leaves may have occurred during your postdoctoral training and/or your current role as a Principal Investigator (PI). For each leave of absence, you must submit one of the following:

• Official stop-the-clock documentation from your institution
• Official leave of absence documentation from your institution
• A signed letter from an institutional contact explaining the nature of the leave and the amount of time taken

If you would like to confirm your eligibility prior to submission, please send your documentation, as well as a short summary of the events, to the BYI Program Officer at [email protected].

Repeat Applications

No individual may apply for a Beckman Young Investigator award more than two times (including submitting a Letter of Intent).

Institutional Requirements

Applicants must be employed by an institution that qualifies as a 501(c)(3) or a similar non-profit organization, as defined by the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation (a Federal Employer Identification Number/FEIN is required).

Government laboratories, such as NIH or federally funded national laboratories are not eligible institutions.

Institutions are not limited in the number of applicants who apply at the Letter of Intent stage.

Institutions with a currently funded BYI are eligible for award consideration.

At the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation, we acknowledge, appreciate and support the fundamental roles that inclusion and diverse perspectives have in scientific progress and innovation. We seek applicants from all backgrounds in our programs and strive to ensure a fair process for selection of awardees, recognizing that excellent science is not the exclusive endeavor of one group of people, but of all. In an effort to avoid implicit and explicit bias in our review process, the Foundation will blind all information pertaining to applicants’ name, gender, ethnicity, citizenship status and institutional information from reviewers during the Letter of Intent reviews.

Read our full statement here.

The Foundation uses a three-step application process:

Step 1: Letter of Intent

The Letter of Intent portal will generally be open for submissions in the June – August timeframe. Please check the online portal and with your Institution’s grants administration office for exact deadlines each year.

To submit a Letter of Intent:

1. Review the above eligibility and program guidelines to determine if you are eligible to apply.
2. Set up an account with our Online Grant System to see the full list of required documents and terms of the award from the "Apply Now" link on this page.
3. Complete and submit the online application.

Step 2: Full Proposal

Based on review of the submitted Letters of Intent, the Foundation will invite some applicants to submit a Full Proposal. You will be notified if you are invited to submit a Full Proposal. Full Proposals will be submitted through the same application portal as the Letter of Intent.

Step 3: Interview

The Foundation conducts interviews to make a final selection decision for the BYI awards. You will be notified if you are invited to an interview.

Prior to the application deadline, the following documents will be required through the application portal:

1. PI profile including scanned copies of documentation of Citizenship/Permanent Residency
2. Four-page Pre-Proposal, inclusive of images and citations
3. Biosketch (template provided in application)
4. Current Funding Chart (e-form included in application portal)
5. Institutional endorsements from the Chief Academic Officer and Dean (or similarly authorized signatories). Please note that these are electronic signatures and not Letters of Recommendation.

IMPORTANT!

In an effort to avoid bias in our review process, the Foundation will hide information pertaining to applicants’ name, gender, ethnicity, citizenship status, and institutional information from all reviewers.

To assist in this process, please follow the below instructions for your pre-proposal:

• Do not include your name, gender, gender-identifying pronouns, or institutional information in the technical pre-proposal. Applicants with identifying information in the pre-proposal will not be reviewed.
• If you include references to your own publications in the technical pre-proposal, do not use any formatting markings (asterisk, bolding, italics, etc.) to identify yourself within the list of authors.
• File Naming Convention: Title the document “Proposal” when uploading. Do not include your name or the name of your institution.

What is an Institutional Endorsement?

An Institutional Endorsement is an electronic signature required to complete the Letter of Intent. The Beckman Young Investigator Letter of Intent requires that you secure two (2) appropriate Institutional Endorsements from:

1) Chief Academic Officer (President, Chancellor, Provost or similarly authorized signatory)
2) Dean of the College/School/Division for the Participating Academic Unit to which you are appointed (or similarly authorized signatory)

Please Note: Endorsements are NOT letter of recommendation and no documentation is required to be uploaded.

How do I obtain Institutional Endorsements?

1. On the application dashboard, the tasks are titled “BYI Institutional Endorsement 1: Chief Academic Officer” and “Institutional Endorsement 2: Dean”
2. Instructions can be found in the task titled "BYI Institutional Endorsement Instructions"
3. Endorsers will receive a unique link to complete their endorsement, which will be valid for 14 days from when you request it.

Steps to complete the application once Endorsement Requests have been sent:

You will receive an automated email from the application system ([email protected]) once the endorsement email is accepted and the endorsement is submitted. These emails may end up in your junk/spam folder. To finalize the task, you will need to access your application and select "Mark as Complete". BOTH endorsements must be received and finalized by the application deadline.

How do Endorsers sign and what will they be agreeing to?

Applicants will solicit for an endorsement via the online application which will be received in the form of an email. The email will provide instructions to endorsers to create an account and sign the application electronically. Their signature signifies the following:

1. Endorser has reviewed the applicant’s LOI materials to be submitted to the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation for the 2027 Program Award; AND
2. All parties agree to the terms of the Beckman Young Investigator Program as stated in the Guidelines
3. The Institution continues ongoing current support levels of the applicant

Generative artificial intelligence tools, such as ChatGPT or AI, are evolving into essential software in the researcher’s toolkit. Just as graphing and statistical software aid in data analysis and presentation, AI tools can assist authors in their work. The Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation supports the use of these tools as supplementary resources when used in an ethical and responsible manner. Accountability lies with the human authors, who remain responsible for the proper application of AI and the critical review and reporting of its output. All awardees and applicants are expected to comply with best practice in research and publishing ethics, take full responsibility for any errors made by an AI tool, and are expected to cooperate with questions relating to the accuracy or integrity of any part of their work, including data analyses and representation.

Search all BYI Awardees (1993 to Present) Here

BYI Awardee Videos 2015- Present

Logos

Access the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation logo in vertical orientation or horizontal orientation.

Publishing

1. All research outputs should acknowledge the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation as a source of funding.
2. For those publishers and databases that use CrossRef, the Foundation's CrossRef ID is: dx.doi.org/10.13039/100000997.
3. For those publishers and databases that do not yet use CrossRef, include "funding provided by the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation Beckman Young Investigator Award” in the funding acknowledgement section.
4. Refer to the Grant as:

• Beckman Young Investigator Award; or
• Beckman Young Investigator Program; or
• BYI Program; or
• BYI Award

Each year the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation sponsors a symposium that highlights the work of the recipients of the Beckman consortium of programs.

The format for the Beckman Symposium is updated annually and may be offered as an in-person or virtual event, as a single gathering or as regional events. Staff at the Beckman Foundation will coordinate all arrangements and reservations for the symposium. Symposium-related travel and lodging for Awardees will be paid for by the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation (for in-person events only). Specific details will be provided well in advance of each Symposium.

Click here for updated information on our Foundation's Symposium website page.