Foundation Relations
We work with academic leadership and faculty members to advance university priorities by partnering with philanthropic foundations.
foundationrelations@uoregon.edu
Resources
What are private foundations?
Non-governmental entities, often structured as nonprofits or charitable trusts, that exist for the purpose of making philanthropic grants and gifts to qualifying applicants.
What makes a successful proposal?
Private foundations support well-defined and time-bound projects with measurable outcomes and clearly identified research objectives. Understanding the mission and specific priorities of the foundation is key to a proposal’s success.
Limited Submissions
Funders may limit the number of proposals the university is permitted to submit each funding cycle. In these instances, the limited submission process is handled by the Office of the Vice President for Research and Innovation. A committee is convened to review each proposal. Following the committee’s selection of the most competitive proposal, Foundation Relations will support selected PIs with the development and submission of their proposal.
Tribal Foundations
Foundation Relations manages relationships on behalf of the university with Oregon’s tribal foundations. We’re here to facilitate and support the submission of applications to tribal foundations. Please contact Foundation Relations if you are interested in approaching tribes to support your projects.
Links
Foundation Directory Online
Philanthropy News Digest RFP Alerts
Early Career Opportunities
Pew Biomedical Scholars
The Pew Scholars Program in the Biomedical Sciences provides funding to young investigators of outstanding promise in science relevant to the advancement of human health. The program makes grants to selected academic institutions to support the independent research of outstanding individuals who are in their first few years of their appointment at the assistant professor level.
Please contact UO Foundation Relations for this limited submission opportunity by emailing foundationrelations@uoregon.edu or calling 541-346-5276.
Eligibility for 2021
The current grant level is $300,000; $75,000 per year for a four-year period. For the 2021 award, one nomination will be invited from each of the participating institutions listed at the bottom of this page.
Eligibility for the 2021 Award
Candidates must meet all of the following eligibility requirements:
Hold a doctorate in biomedical sciences, medicine, or a related field.
As of Sept. 10, 2020, hold a full-time appointment at the rank of assistant professor. (Appointments such as research assistant professor, adjunct assistant professor, assistant professor research track, visiting professor, or instructor are not eligible).
Must not have been appointed as an assistant professor at any institution prior to June 15, 2017, whether or not such an appointment was on a tenure track. Time spent in clinical internships, residencies, in work toward board certification, or on parental leave does not count as part of this three-year limit. Candidates who took parental leave should contact Pew’s program office to ensure that application reviewers are aware of their circumstances.
May apply to the program a maximum of two times. All applicants must be nominated by their institution and must complete the 2021 online application.
If applicants have appointments at more than one eligible nominating institution or affiliate, they may not reapply in a subsequent year from a different nominating entity.
May not be nominated for the Pew Scholars Program and the Pew-Stewart Scholars Program for Cancer Research in the same year.
Based on their performance during their education and training, candidates should demonstrate outstanding promise as contributors in science relevant to human health. This program does not fund clinical trials research. Strong proposals will incorporate particularly creative and pioneering approaches to basic, translational, and applied biomedical research. Candidates whose work is based on biomedical principles but who bring in concepts and theories from more diverse fields are encouraged to apply.
Ideas with the potential to produce an unusually high impact are encouraged. Selection of the successful candidates will be based on a detailed description of the work that the applicant proposes to undertake, evaluations of the candidate’s performance, and notable past accomplishments, including honors, awards, and publications. In evaluating the candidates, the National Advisory Committee gives considerable weight to evidence that the candidate is a successful independent investigator and has published significant work.
Funding from the NIH, other government sources, and project grants from nonprofit associations do not pose a conflict with the Pew scholars program.
Learn more about the Pew Biomedical Scholars Program.
Past Pew Scholars
Searle Scholars
The Searle Scholars Program makes grants to selected universitites and research centers to support the independent research of exceptional young faculty in the biomedical sciences and chemistry.
Eligibility
The Searle Scholars Program Scientific Advisory Board is primarily interested in the potential of applicants to make innovative and high-impact contributions to research over an extended period of time.
Applicants for the 2020 competition (awards which will be activated on July 1, 2020) are expected to be pursuing independent research careers in biochemistry, cell biology, genetics, immunology, neuroscience, pharmacology, and related areas in chemistry, medicine, and the biological sciences.
Applicants should have begun their appointment as an independent investigator at the assistant professor level on or after July 1, 2018. The appointment must be their first tenure-track position (or its nearest equivalent) at an invited institution.
Institutions which do not have tenure-track appointments should consult with the Scientific Director of the Program regarding eligibility of selected applicants PRIOR to nominating such individuals.
The Searle Scholars Program does not ordinarily support purely clinical research but has supported research programs that include both clinical and basic components. Potential applicants who are unsure if their research is appropriate for our Program are encouraged to examine the research interests of present and former Searle Scholars on this website.
Applicants who were nominated for awards in the previous competition year but were not awarded may still meet the eligibility criteria for the current competition. Institutions should consult with the Scientific Director of the Program regarding renomination of such individuals.
Learn more about the Searle Scholars Program.
Past Searle Scholars:
Sloan Research Fellowships
The Sloan Research Fellowships seek to stimulate fundamental research by early-career scientist and scholars of outstanding promise.
These two-year fellowships are awarded yearly to 126 researchers in recognition of distinguished performance and a unique potential to make substantial contributions to their field. The 2020 Sloan Research Fellows will receive fellowships in the amount of $75,000.
Eligibility
Candidates must hold a Ph.D. or equivalent degree in chemistry, computer science, economics, mathematics, molecular biology, neuroscience, ocean sciences, physics, or a related field.
Candidates must be members of the faculty of a college, university, or other degree-granting institution in the U.S. or Canada.
Candidates must be tenure-track, though untenured, as of September 16, 2019.
Candidate’s faculty position must carry a regular teaching obligation.
The Sloan Research Fellowship Program recognizes and rewards outstanding early-career faculty who have the potential to revolutionize their fields of study.
Learn more about Sloan Research Fellowships.
Past Sloan Research Fellows:
2016: Benjamin Elias for Mathematics
2016: Kelly Sutherland for Ocean Sciences
2015: Shannon Boettcher for Chemistry
2015: Michael Harms for Computational & Evolutionary Molecular Biology
2015: Michael Pluth for Chemistry
2012: Cristopher Niell for Neuroscience
Moore Inventor Fellows
The Moore Inventor Fellowship supports scientist-inventors who create new tools and technologies with a high potential to accelerate progress in the foundation’s areas of interest: scientific discovery, environmental conservation and patient care.
Please contact UO Foundation Relations for this limited submission opportunity by emailing foundationrelations@uoregon.edu or calling 541-346-5276.
Eligibility
Candidates must be faculty, research scientists, postdocs or other full-time staff at eligible institutions. Candidates must be no more than 10 years past receiving the terminal advanced degree in their field (M.S., Ph.D., or M.D.).
The scope of this call is intentionally wide: proposed projects do not need to fall within our current funding priorities but should be broadly within the program areas of foundation interest (science, environmental conservation and patient care). The exception is for nominees proposing ideas and inventions that target patient care. Within this realm, we seek overlap with our current emphasis on improving the experience and outcomes of patients, including solutions in the areas of diagnostic excellence, medication safety in the community and community-based serious illness care.
We aim to support inventions at an early stage that could lead to proof-of-concept work on an invention or advance an existing prototype that tackles an important problem. We seek innovations with the promise of making a long-lasting impact by addressing underlying problems in their field, but a clear path toward commercialization is not a requirement. We are not interested in supporting projects that are already at a stage where significant venture capital is available. As with all our grants, we seek to measure progress toward a defined goal during the three years of support. The foundation’s policy is that intellectual property that results from a grant must be managed and disseminated in a manner that leads to the greatest impact. Each award will include IP terms to reflect the needs of that project. We recognize that real invention can take surprising turns, so we seek creative individuals who have big ideas, deep knowledge and the courage to take smart risks.
We recognize that inventors and innovators come from a diversity of backgrounds, disciplines and experiences, and seek creative individuals across a broad array of academic programs and research departments. Examples of such programs include, but are not limited to environmental science and conservation, oceanography, biology, engineering, physics, chemistry, materials science, neuroscience, public health and gerontology.
Learn more about Moore Young Inventors.
Beckman Young Investigators
The Beckman Young Investigator (BYI) Program provides research support to the most promising young faculty members in the early stages of their academic careers in the chemical and life sciences, particularly to foster the invention of methods, instruments, and materials that will open up new avenues of research in science.
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).
Projects are normally funded for a period of four years. Grants are in the range of $600,000 over the term of the project, contingent upon demonstrated progress after the second year of the award.
The Foundation does not provide for overhead or for indirect costs.
Eligibility
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).
Projects are normally funded for a period of four years. Grants are in the range of $600,000 over the term of the project, contingent upon demonstrated progress after the second year of the award.
The Foundation does not provide for overhead or for indirect costs.
Learn more about the Beckman Young Investigator program.
Past Award Recipient
1998: Dr. Mark Lonergan in Chemistry, Materials Science and Development
Mallinckrodt Grants
The Edward Mallinckrodt, Jr. Foundation is a private foundation that funds basic biomedical research in St. Louis and throughout the United States.
The mission of the Foundation is to support early stage investigators engaged in basic biomedical research that has the potential to significantly advance the understanding, diagnosis, or treatment of a disease.
Please contact UO Foundation Relations for this limited submission opportunity by emailing foundationrelations@uoregon.edu or calling 541-346-5276.