Howard Hughes opens competition to fund early-career scientists

The Howard Hughes Medical Institute, an $18.7 billion philanthropy devoted to biological and medical research, said today it will invest more than $300 million in up to 70 scientists who have run their own labs for two to six years but are now running into federal funding constraints.

The budget for the National Institutes of Health has stayed flat for five years -- a decrease when inflation is taken into account -- stunting the progress of investigators looking for their first research project grants, as a story in today's Globe explains.

The Howard Hughes Early Career Scientist Competition is aimed at scientists who will likely be assistant professors looking for their first grants or facing renewal of one. In addition to biological and biomedical research, their fields can be chemistry, physics, computer science, or engineering related to biology or medicine.

Candidates should indicate their interest by April 30 and file applications by June 10. Decisions will be made by February 2009. Those whom Howard Hughes selects will receive one-time, six-year appointments with full salary and research support while remaining connected to their home institutions.