Physician Scientist Training Grant

The Physician Scientist Training Grant is a research funding opportunity designed to support early-career physician-scientists who are committed to advancing sleep and circadian science. This grant, funded by the AASM Foundation with support from the American Board of Sleep Medicine, provides crucial protected time for investigators to engage in mentored research. Its goal is to help recipients establish a track record of external funding, enhance their competitiveness for future large-scale grants, and prepare them for conducting independent studies in this field. Applicants to the program must hold an MD, DO, or equivalent medical degree and must be within 10 years of completing their postdoctoral or clinical training, or within 10 years of starting their first faculty position. Both U.S. and international candidates are eligible, provided they are not subject to U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctions. Certain individuals are excluded from eligibility, such as those with previous independent research funding exceeding $250,000 (excluding training grants), those with significant financial conflicts of interest, and current members of the AASM and AASM Foundation Board of Directors or anyone listed in roles such as PI, co-PI, mentor, or paid consultant during or within a year after their term. The grant funds projects that address critical unanswered scientific questions related to sleep health, sleep disorders, or circadian science. A key feature of this career development grant is its requirement for a formal mentorship structure. Each applicant must identify a research mentor (or mentoring team) with relevant expertise and commit to working collaboratively with them in preparing the application and carrying out the project. The AASM Foundation encourages mentorship structures that support comprehensive guidance throughout the research and career development process. The grant provides up to $100,000 in total over a two-year period. While there are no restrictions on the distribution of expenses within the award, indirect costs are capped at 8%. The award is administered as a contractual agreement between the AASM Foundation and the recipient's institution, and a sample contract is available for reference. Applicants may submit multiple proposals to the AASM Foundation, but submissions with budgetary or scientific overlap in the same cycle are not allowed. If overlap exists with an existing AASM Foundation grant, applicants must provide a plan to resolve it. Similarly, successful applicants who receive additional overlapping funding must either relinquish AASM funds or submit a revision plan subject to approval. Applications must be submitted through the AASM Foundation Online Portal. The application period opens on November 24, 2025, and closes on January 5, 2026, at 11:59 PM Eastern Time. Notifications of selection will be made by May 22, 2026. Applicants must complete the full application and submit it electronically through the online system. A resubmission policy is in place allowing one revised submission within 12 months of an initial rejection, as long as eligibility criteria are still met. The revised application must include a response to prior reviewer critiques. Applications will be reviewed by a grant review committee appointed by the AASM Foundation Executive Committee. Evaluation criteria include the significance of the scientific problem addressed, the quality of the proposed research methodology, the suitability of the mentoring team, the plan for the applicant’s career development, and the research environment and institutional support. Final funding decisions are made by the AASM Foundation Board of Directors based on these evaluations. For questions about the grant, applicants may contact the foundation at [email protected] or +1 630 737 9778 during business hours from Monday to Friday.

Align proposal with sleep science aims and clearly define mentorship structure.