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Early-career & new PI funding calls

Open calls reserved for, or aimed at, early-career researchers and new principal investigators: young-investigator programmes, new-investigator awards, junior group leader schemes and early-career fellowships. Each funder defines “early career” differently (years since PhD, first faculty post, no previous major grant), so check the plain-language note on every call.

12 open calls as of 15 October 2026. The next deadline is 30 October 2026. Updated weekly.

Filter by scheme: instrument / beamtime (1)

ONR FY27 NOFO for Young Investigator Program

Office of Naval Research · United States
Deadline: 30 Oct 2026 (15 days)
Amount: see call
chemistryearly-careerestablished / PIearly-career / new PIneeds review

Cottrell Scholar Award 2027

Research Corporation for Science Advancement (RCSA) · United States & Canada
Deadline: 04 Nov 2026 (20 days)
$120,000
chemistryearly-careerearly-career / new PI

Air Force Fiscal Year 2027 Young Investigator Program (YIP)

Air Force Office of Scientific Research · United States
Deadline: 04 Dec 2026 (50 days)
Up to $450,000
chemistryearly-careerestablished / PIearly-career / new PI

ACS Petroleum Research Fund – Doctoral New Investigator (DNI) Grants

American Chemical Society – Petroleum Research Fund · United States
Deadline: 12 Mar 2027 (148 days)
$110,000 over 2 years
chemistrymaterialsearly-careerearly-career / new PI

RSC Research Fund 2027

Royal Society of Chemistry · International (RSC members)
Deadline: 15 Mar 2027 (151 days)
Up to £5,000 for 12 months
chemistryearly-careerestablished / PIearly-career / new PIinstrument / beamtime

Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER)

U.S. National Science Foundation · United States
Deadline: 28 Jul 2027 (286 days)
Total program funding $250,000,000
chemistryearly-careerestablished / PIearly-career / new PI

MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2027

European Commission – Horizon Europe · EU Member States & Horizon Europe associated countries
Deadline: 08 Sep 2027 (328 days)
Total call budget EUR 388.6 million (EUR 330.3M European + EUR 58.3M Global Fellowships)
chemistrymaterialsearly-careerearly-career / new PI

Engineering Research Initiation (ERI)

U.S. National Science Foundation · United States
Deadline: 16 Sep 2027 (336 days)
Total program funding $11,000,000
chemistryearly-careerestablished / PIearly-career / new PIneeds review

Maximizing Investigators’ Research Award (MIRA) for Early Stage Investigators (ESI)

National Institutes of Health · United States
Deadline: 06 Feb 2029 (845 days)
Amount: see call
chemistryearly-careerestablished / PIearly-career / new PIneeds review

MRC: new investigator research grant: applicant-led

UKRI – Medical Research Council (MRC) · United Kingdom
Deadline: Rolling / no fixed deadline
Amount: see call
chemistryearly-careerestablished / PIearly-career / new PIneeds review

EPSRC new investigator award: applicant-led mode

UKRI – Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) · United Kingdom
Deadline: Rolling / no fixed deadline
Amount: see call
chemistryearly-careerestablished / PIearly-career / new PIneeds review

DFG Emmy Noether Programme (independent junior research groups)

Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) · Germany (applicants from abroad welcome)
Deadline: Rolling / no fixed deadline
Group leader position and group funding for 6 years
chemistrymaterialsearly-careerearly-career / new PI

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