Claflin Career Development Award 2026

Investing in Early-Career Scholars with Dependent Care Responsibilities 

NEW DEADLINE! – Thursday, April 9, 2026 at 5:00PM 

  

DESCRIPTION OF THE AWARDS 

The MGB Research Oversight Committee (ROC) in collaboration with the Office for Work-Life Integration (OWLI) are now accepting applications for the Claflin Career Development Award.  This award continues the work of Mrs. Jane D. Claflin who was an Honorary Trustee of The Women in Academic Medicine Committee.

MGB recognizes that a significant obstacle to career advancement is the difficulty of maintaining research productivity alongside increasing family responsibilities. For this reason, the purpose of the award is to provide funding to early career investigators* who have family care giving responsibilities so that they may maintain research productivity at a critical point in their careers.   

*Early career investigators are defined as those who are within 10 years of their first full-time faculty appointment (not postdoctoral research fellows). 

In order to represent early career faculty at all stages, we are offering two tracks for this award. The tracks are based on the applicant’s career stage and level of independence. 

 

Track 1: Mentored Career Stage 

  • Early career research faculty, including those who are entering their K award stage. 
  • The applicant should be in the “mentored” phase of their career, moving towards an independent research career.  

 

Track 2: Early Independent Scientists 

  • Early career faculty who recently established independent research groups and have secured or are applying for their first extramural independent funding (NIH R funding or equivalent).  
  • The applicant should have a robust publication record. 

*UPDATE*

 

Clinical researchers in the first two years of their K years should select track 1, and applicants in mid-late stages of their K, years 3-5, should select track 2

 

Fundamental researchers still working solely on their mentor’s research should select track 1, while researchers who have their own area of research and assigned research space should select track 2.

 

 

AWARD EXPENDITURE AND START DATE 

Each award is $100,000 (plus 20% indirect costs) and will be funded at $50,000 per year over two years. The funding start date is July 1, 2026.  Funds may be used for support of a technician, postdoctoral fellow or graduate student and supplies. Funds cannot be used for support of the principal investigator's salary, food, parking, or travel expenses. Equipment, both capital and non-capital, may not be purchased with the funds. Exceptions require prior written approval from MGB ROC. 

All applicants will be notified of the results of the review process by e-mail in June 2026.  

  

ELIGIBILITY 

  • All early career faculty (Instructor and Assistant Professor) who are responsible for the care of dependent children and/or other family dependents 
  • MD, PhD, or equivalent degree 
  • Applicants must have a primary full-time appointment at an MGB institution and have an MGB job title indicating that you are conducting research (Investigator, Instructor; Investigator, Assistant Professor; Clinical Investigator, Instructor, etc.) 
  • Candidate must be within 10 years of their first full-time faculty appointment at the time the award is initiated, cumulative of all institutions, inside or outside the United States. 
  • If the applicant's academic appointment or promotion is pending, a signed letter from the applicant's Chief must be included with the application. The letter should explain the status of the applicant's academic appointment. The Instructor or Assistant Professor appointment must be finalized before the review committee meeting 
  • Applicants should have evidence of salary support from a grant or other research funding source; for example, the applicant may be a principal investigator or co-investigator with active federal or non-federal funding salary support, such as a K award, R award, or a foundation grant. Note: funds are not meant to be used towards the principal investigator's salary 
  • Recipients of the Eleanor and Miles Shore Faculty Development Awards Program (Shore Fellowship) are not eligible to apply. 
  • Award recipients will be recognized at the annual Eleanor and Miles Shore Faculty Development Awards Program (Shore Program) . 

 

 

REVIEW PROCESS AND CRITERIA 

Applications will be evaluated and ranked for funding priority by a special review panel whose recommendations will be submitted to MGB ROC for final approval.  The review committee will consider the following review criteria: 

  • Strong academic track record 
  • Applicant’s potential for a successful academic career 
  • Science 
  • References (letters of support) 
  • Funding  

  

 

SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS 

The application process requires the following eleven items to be submitted: 

1. Select the award track (Track 1: Mentored Career Stage or Track 2: Early Independent Scientists) 

2. Title of Research Project 

3. Month and year of the applicant's first faculty appointment. 

4. Attestation of salary support from a grant or other research funding source; for example, the applicant may be a principal investigator or co-investigator with active federal or non-federal funding salary support, such as a K award, R award, or a foundation grant. Is your salary supported from a grant or other federal or non-federal source, e.g. federal grant or foundation grant? Are you the principal investigator (PI) or PI on a multi-PI award? Please click yes or no in the application form. Note: The funds are not intended to support the principal investigator's salary.  

  • If you select no, please explain why the funds are needed for salary (ex. “I will use Claflin funds to buy out some of my clinic time.”)  

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5. Research plan (3-page limit, excluding references). The research plan should address the significance of the project.  This section should be readily understood by reviewers who may be outside of the research field of the applicant.  This section should include:     

  • Brief description of goals during the mentored stage (Track 1 only, no more than 3 paragraphs.) 
  • Brief statement of independence (Track 2 only, no more than 3 paragraphs) 
    • ​Provide clear evidence of how the applicant’s research project is independent of their mentor. 

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For Tracks 1 and 2: 

  • Specific aims 
  • Background and significance 
  • Preliminary data 
  • Experimental design and methods 
  • References    

6. NIH Biosketch of the applicant (not a CV). We would accept both the old biosketch and the new version of the NIH Common Forms (SciENcv) for Biosketch & Current/Pending Support. Please click here for a sample NIH Biosketch. If the candidate's Instructor or Assistant Professor appointment is pending, include a signed letter from the Department Chief explaining the status of the appointment. The Instructor or Assistant Professor appointment must be finalized before the review committee meeting. 

7. Full List of Publications – List original publications from “my bibliography” only. Do not include abstracts or articles that are in press. A link to the applicant’s publication should not be provided.  

8. NIH formatted Other Support. Be sure to list all current and pending research support including person months and dollar amounts. List any sundry accounts as well as any limitations on these sundry funds. Please list any startup funding if applicable and the fund balance. If the funds have been spent down, please indicate a balance of $0. Include the project start date, initial balance and current balance. Please click here for a sample NIH formatted Other Support. 

9. Proposed Use of Funds ($50,000 direct costs per year for 2 years maximum, plus 20% for indirect costs) (1-page limit). Please describe in detail how you would use the award funds. How will the award help you maintain research productivity and get you to the next step in your career? 

10. Letters of support (one from each category):

  • Unit, Service, or Department Chief.  This letter should include the following: 

  • How and why is this research important to the department and/or the thematic center (the merit/value to the department/center/hospital)? 

  • Please discuss the PI’s career trajectory towards an independent research career and importance to the institution 

  • Research Colleague or Former Mentor (Track 2).  This letter should be from an individual outside the applicant’s current department whenever possible. In the absence of training outside of MGB, this letter may be from a mentor within their department. 

​Note: Those in Track 1 should get the second letter from a current mentor or colleague.

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11. Briefly describe how this award would help you to maintain research productivity alongside your caregiving responsibilities – no longer than 150 words.  Please note that the degree of “need” is not a primary criterion for selecting awardees.   

 

 

FORMAT GUIDELINES 

  • Use margins of 0.5 inch or greater and 11pt font size or greater for the Statement of Independence, Research Plan, Full list of publications, Letters of Support, and Description of child-rearing responsibilities. 
  • Upload PDF documents only.  Limit characters to A-Z, a-z and 0-9 when naming PDF documents. Do not use periods, commas, or dashes in the file name. 

 

 

HOW TO APPLY 

MGB Research is now accepting applications online via the MGB Online Grant Management Portal. 

This user-friendly system allows MGB researchers to submit electronic applications to MGB Research. The system has been designed to allow users to: 

  • Create a personal profile which will auto populate your future applications 
  • View current calls and apply to open opportunities 
  • Assign a delegate to submit an application to MGB Research on behalf of the applicant (optional) 
  • Save and edit current applications in progress 
  • Submit completed applications 
  • View all your applications that have been submitted via the online grants system 

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Instructions for Applying Online 

  1. Create your account: Login using your MGB credentials and fill-out the profile information. 

  1. Complete the application: once your profile is complete, you will automatically progress through the online application. If you cannot complete the application at one time, “save” the application and return to it at a later time to finish. Before submitting your application, you will have the ability to make changes to the application. 

  1. Submit your application: once you have completed the application click on the “submit” button at the bottom of the page. Once you submit it, you will not be able to make further changes unless you send a request to MGB Research (note that once the deadline passes, request to make changes will not be accepted). 

  2.  

Useful tips: 

  • To avoid losing your work, remember to save frequently 
  • You can only upload PDF documents. Limit characters to A-Z, a-z and 0-9 when naming PDF documents. Do not use periods, commas, or dashes in the file name.   
  • If you previously created a profile, please ensure your information is current 

Click "Apply" below to begin the application. 

  

 

QUESTIONS 

Please visit the Claflin FAQ page. 

If you still have questions remaining, please submit them via e-mail to mgbresearch@mgb.org