Institutional Nomination Due: Monday, May 18, 2020
The Penn State Cancer Institute has been invited by the Pew Charitable Trusts to nominate a candidate for the 2020 Pew-Stewart Scholars Program for Cancer Research award. In 2014, The Pew Charitable Trusts partnered with the Alexander and Margaret Stewart Trust to establish a national initiative, the Pew-Stewart Scholars Program for Cancer Research. This invitation is independent from the general invitation for the Pew Scholars Program in the Biomedical Sciences that your institution may also be receiving. Please read the details below carefully as nominations will not be accepted after May 18, 2020.
The Pew-Stewart Scholars Program for Cancer Research supports assistant professors of outstanding promise in science relevant to the advancement of a cure for cancer. The award provides $300,000 in flexible support—$75,000 per year for a four-year period.
In line with the Stewart Trust's mission to invest in innovative, cutting-edge, basic cancer research that may accelerate and advance progress toward a cure for cancer, applications are invited from nominees conducting cancer research. As stated above, this program is distinct from the Pew Scholars Program in the Biomedical Sciences, and it follows a different set of guidelines and procedures for nominating an applicant whose research is related to cancer.
Based on their performance during their education and training, candidates should demonstrate outstanding promise as contributors in science relevant to the field of cancer. This program does not fund clinical trials research. Strong proposals will incorporate particularly creative and pioneering approaches to basic, translational, and applied cancer 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 Pew-Stewart 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-Stewart program.
Eligibility for the 2021 award:
Candidates must meet all of the following eligibility requirements:
- Membership in the Penn State Cancer Institute is required.
- Hold a doctorate in biomedical sciences or medicine.
- As of Sept. 3, 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 may apply to the program two times in total.
- 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.
Once the Pew program office has received the name and contact information of the nominee from the institution, login information will be emailed directly to the selected applicant. The online application website will open June 15, 2020, and the submission deadline is Sept. 3, 2020
Interested applicants should submit the following documents in sequence in one PDF file (File name: Last name_Pew_2019.pdf) no later than 4:00 p.m. on the internal submission deadline:
- Research Project Summary (3 pages including references & figures)
- Curriculum vitae (2 pages including publications and external funding)
- Department Head Letter of Support (1 page)
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List of external references (name, title, institution)
- Scientific reference familiar with applicant’s work
- Postdoc Advisor
- Graduate Advisor
The Office of Foundation Relations is the designated institutional contact responsible for communicating with the Foundation and is collaborating with Limited Submissions on the internal downselect process. For questions concerning the application process and other foundation-related questions, University Park and other campus applicants should please contact Alan Gibson, Assistant Director of Foundation Relations, (ajg6181@psu.edu or 814-863-4415); Penn State Health and College of Medicine applicants should please contact Jess Kiely, Associate Director of Corporate and Foundation Relations, (jkiely1@pennstatehealth.psu.edu or 717-531-5827).