Call for Applications — 2026 Burroughs Wellcome Fund Career Guidance for Trainees Program

About

The Penn postdoctoral community is invited to explore the Burroughs Wellcome Fund’s Career Guidance for Trainees program, which supports innovative projects that improve mentoring, career development, and professional skill-building for graduate students and postdoctoral researchers. This program encourages institutions to experiment with creative, scalable approaches that help trainees prepare for diverse scientific careers.

Eligibility Criteria:

• Open to U.S.-based institutions, organizations, or research groups supporting graduate students or postdocs
• Proposals must address career guidance, mentoring, or professional development
• Applicants may include faculty, administrators, or program leaders
• Projects should demonstrate potential for impact, innovation, or broader adoption

Program Details:

• Supports development of workshops, curricula, pilot programs, or evidence-based interventions
• Awards are granted to institutions—not individual trainees
• Funding may cover personnel, program development, evaluation, materials, and related costs

Program Benefits:

• Flexible funding to build or enhance trainee-support programs
• Encourages sustainable, replicable, and data-informed approaches
• Strengthens institutional capacity for mentoring and professional development

Application Requirements:

• Project proposal outlining goals, design, evaluation plan, and anticipated outcomes
• Detailed budget and justification
• Institutional approval(s) as required by the funder
• Additional supporting materials as requested on the funder website

Submission deadline: Tuesday, March 12th, 2026