Harvard Medical School is accepting postdoctoral fellowship applications from candidates who wish to perform research in Harvard Medical School laboratories in collaboration with senior scientists at Bristol Myers Squibb. Selected fellows will be awarded a fellowship of up to three (3) years.
Letter of Intent Deadline: September 28, 2026 at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time
Download Request for Proposals (PDF)
Letter of Intent Form
Program Overview
This collaborative research fellowship program is made possible through the generous support of the Bristol Myers Squibb Company (BMS).
The Bristol Myers Squibb Collaborative Research Fellowship Program is designed to support postdoctoral fellows conducting cutting edge research that creates new avenues for the discovery and development of future medicines. The program aims to advance the novel science, ranging from basic inquiry through early translation, that fuels medical breakthroughs while fostering meaningful collaboration with industry. A short-term path to therapeutic translation is not required. The fellowships support laboratory based and computational research across all basic science disciplines at HMS. Projects will be conducted as a collaboration involving the postdoctoral fellow, their HMS mentor, and a senior scientist(s) at BMS.
Applications will be evaluated based on their potential for broad impact in advancing novel areas of inquiry. Examples of projects include advancing our basic understanding of cellular mechanisms or targets related to human disease, novel approaches to measuring human biology and pathophysiology both at the bench level and at scale, novel computational methods to analyze arising data sets, and advances in understanding protein structure in complex macromolecular systems, among others. While not required, applications with linkage to cardiovascular disease, immunology, or oncology are preferred.
This Request for Proposals (RFP) will be overseen by a Joint Steering Committee (JSC) including BMS scientists and HMS senior leadership. The program will be managed by the HMS Therapeutics Initiative. Each fellowship will be governed by a distinct agreement between BMS and the fellow’s department.
Application Timeline
Letter of Intent Deadline: September 28, 2026 at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time
Notification of Applicants Invited to Submit Full Proposals: October 2026
Full Proposal Deadline: December 1, 2026 at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time
Fellowship Decision Announcement: January 2027
Anticipated Fellowship Start: February 1, 2027
Eligibility
The program welcomes fellowship applications from individuals who meet the following criteria:
- Plan to conduct lab or computational research at an HMS “Quadrangle” basic science department (Departments of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Biomedical Informatics, Cell Biology, Genetics, Immunology, Microbiology, Neurobiology, Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology, or Systems Biology)
- Apply together with a mentor who is an Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, or Professor who holds a primary appointment at HMS and has a laboratory on the HMS Quad or, for SCRB faculty only, on the Faculty of Arts & Sciences campus
- Applicants can be either current or incoming postdoctoral fellows at HMS. Incoming fellows must have accepted a position, signed Harvard’s standard Participation Agreement, and begun their appointment in the sponsoring lab no later than February 1, 2027 to be eligible for the fellowship
Each HMS faculty mentor can support one application, and each applicant can submit only one (1) application. If desired, the applicant has the option to submit one (1) application with multiple HMS co-mentors. If multiple HMS co-mentors are listed, one (1) mentor must be listed as the lead HMS mentor to accept and manage fellowship funds.
The anticipated start date of the fellowship is February 1, 2027. Alternative later start dates may be acceptable upon request and should be justified in the application.
Award Amount
The Fellows who are accepted into the program will be awarded standard postdoctoral fellowship compensation commensurate with postdoc year, up to $76,000 salary plus fringe benefits per year for the duration of the fellowship and an amount of up to $50,000 per year to support lab research. The maximum annual direct cost award per fellow is $142,872. The fellowships provide up to three (3) years of direct funding support for the fellow and associated research costs. Funding for the first two (2) years is committed upon award. Continued funding for a third (3rd) year is contingent upon satisfactory progress and funding availability.
If the fellow moves out of the HMS mentor’s lab prior to the end of the fellowship, the funding will remain with the mentor’s lab following consultation with the JSC. The fellowship amount can be applied to allowable costs, as outlined below.
Allowable and Unallowable Costs
Allowable costs include: fellow compensation, fellow fringe benefits, lab supplies, other direct research costs
Unallowable costs include: mentor PI effort, any other cost not explicitly referenced as allowable (e.g., travel expenses, computers, clinical trials, etc.)
IRB and IACUC Requirements
The Fellow and department are responsible for meeting all compliance requirements associated with the award, including any IRB or animal research approvals, and providing documentation of any needed approvals to the HMS Office of Research Administration (ORA) prior to the activation of the fellowship.
Intellectual Property Terms
See Appendix B for full Intellectual Property terms applying to this program.
Review Process and Criteria
Completed applications submitted by the specified deadline will be reviewed for merit and feasibility. Funding decisions will be made by the Joint Steering Committee based on the following criteria:
- Academic strength of candidate
- Strength of mentor
- Merit and relevance of project, and alignment with RFP criteria.
Application Instructions
Applications will be submitted through the Harvard Medical School Office for Research Initiatives and Global Programs.
Letter of Intent (LOI) Requirements
Submission Deadline: September 28, 2026, at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time
Submission Format: LOIs should be submitted as a single PDF file via the Harvard Medical School online system: https://forms.hms.harvard.edu/f/bms-loi
Required Components
- Cover Page (1 page)
Include:- Applicant name and email
- HMS mentor name, email, and department
- Project title
- Project Description (1 page)
A brief summary of the proposed research aims and project - Applicant Biosketch and Publication List
Full Proposal Submission Requirements
Submission Deadline: December 1, 2026, at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time
Submission Format: Full proposals should be submitted as a single PDF file via the Harvard Medical School online system. Applicants invited to the full proposal stage will receive the submission link by email.
Required Components
- Cover Page (1 page)
Include:- Applicant name and email
- HMS mentor name, email, and department
- HMS mentor’s grant manager name and email
- Project title
- Requested budget
- Anticipated fellowship start date (if not February 1, 2027)
- Departmental administrator’s signature to indicate awareness of proposal
Research Plan (3 pages)
A detailed description of the proposed 3-year research project at HMS
- Research plans should be written in the third-person. Do not use first-person pronouns (e.g., “I” or “we”); instead, use phrasing such as “The Institution will…” or “[PI]’s lab will…”
- Research should be broken down into discrete, specific aims. Inclusion of sub aims are fine but not necessary.
- Budget and Justification
- Provide a 3-year budget using the template in Appendix A
- The maximum total direct cost budget is $142,782 per year
- The postdoctoral compensation amount can be found on https://postdoc.hms.harvard.edu/guidelines
- Fringe is currently calculated at 22.2% of compensation
- Allowable research costs up to $50,000 per year can also be included
- For budgeting purposes, assume an indirect rate of 46.05% applies to all direct cost lines
- Applicant Biosketch and Publication List
- PhD Research Statement (1 page)
A summary of the applicant’s PhD and/or recent postdoctoral work - Applicant Statement (1 page)
A statement about how this fellowship will contribute to your academic and personal growth - HMS Mentor Biosketch
- HMS Mentor Letter of Support
The letter must confirm that the HMS mentor has reviewed the research proposal and, contingent upon the applicant’s acceptance, agrees to:- Serve as the applicant’s HMS mentor
- Provide adequate lab space and supplemental research funding as needed to complete the proposed project
- Identify the extent to which the Research Plan will be funded by any federal government (including any of its agencies), non-profit organizations, or state or local agencies
- Integrate the applicant into their research group, if not already a part of the lab
- Letters of Reference
Up to 2 letters of reference in addition to the HMS Mentor Letter of Support
Contact
For any inquiries about RFP or the fellowship program, please contact therapeuticsinitiative@hms.harvard.edu.