Call for Applications

2027 Northpond Ventures Postdoctoral Fellowship Award

Deadline: Monday, October 5, 2026 – 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time
Applicants will be notified in December 2026.

Harvard Medical School is pleased to announce a new postdoctoral fellowship program. Made possible by a generous gift from Northpond Ventures, the Northpond Ventures Fellowship Award will support one postdoctoral fellow at Harvard Medical School (HMS) for a period of two years, with preference given to candidates focused on translational research. 

Eligibility

  • Plan to conduct research at an HMS Quadrangle laboratory (Departments of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Biomedical Informatics, Cell Biology, Genetics, Immunology, Microbiology, Neurobiology, Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology, or Systems Biology)
  • Research must be conducted in the laboratory of an assistant professor, associate professor, or professor who holds a primary appointment at HMS and has a lab on the HMS Quadrangle
  • Applicants can be current or prospective postdoctoral fellows who will have begun their research at HMS before initiation of the award
  • Must be no more than 5 years past receiving the terminal advanced degree in their field (PhD, or MD; received on or after 2021)

Area of Research

The purpose of the fellowship is to support the fellow in conducting research with a translational endpoint in mind. Scientific areas of inquiry can include any areas of technology development with the intention of moving the research toward commercialization through company creation or licensure.  Examples include drug discovery, device or diagnostics, tools to support any stage of drug discovery from target identification and other technologies intended to improve human health.

Award Duration

The fellowship will begin between January 4, 2027, and March 1, 2027, depending on the needs of the selected fellow. Each fellowship will continue for up to two years.

Award Amount

Fellows who are accepted into the program will be awarded up to $86,956 direct costs per year for the duration of the fellowship. 

Allowable and Unallowable Costs

Allowable costs include: fellow compensation, fellow fringe benefits, non-equipment research costs, professional development, and costs associated with the publication and dissemination of findings

Unallowable costs include: mentor PI effort, any other cost not explicitly referenced as allowable

Review Process and Criteria

Completed applications submitted by the specified deadline will be reviewed for merit and feasibility. Proposals will be assessed on a competitive basis in a fair and impartial manner based on the criteria set forth below. Funding decisions will be made by the Executive Steering Committee based on the following criteria:

  1. Academic strength of candidate 
  2. Strength of mentor – commitment to the candidate and ability to execute the proposed project will be considered. 
  3. Strength of project – focusing on criteria of relevance to translation, creativity, and impact. 

Application Guidelines

Candidates for the Northpond Ventures Fellowship Award are invited to submit their application by Monday, October 5, 2026, by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time and must include the following in a single PDF file:

Part I: Summary Information [approximately 1/4 page]

  • Name of the supervising PI (a Quad A faculty member) and email contact
  • Name of the supervising PI’s grant manager and email contact
  • Name of the postdoctoral fellow to be supported 
  • Department name for the PI and postdoc
  • Current funding support for the postdoctoral fellow (if applicable)
  • End date of current postdoctoral fellowship award, if relevant.
  • Percentage of the postdoc’s position covered by this funding, per year, over two years.

Part II: Description of Prospective Fellow Qualifications

  • Personal Statement describing applicant’s PhD work and how this fellowship will contribute to the fellow’s academic and personal growth (1-2 pages)
  • NIH-formatted Biosketch for the Postdoctoral Fellow
  • Mentor Letter of Support confirming that the mentor read the research statement, are willing to serve as the fellow’s mentor, will be responsible for providing adequate lab space and funds for the research program, and will be responsible for integrating the fellow into the research group

Part III: Two-year Research Plan [2 pages] 

Section 1: Background and Significance  

  1. Need and Significance: Describe the impact and/or need for the therapeutics technology, its novelty, and the envisioned potential applications.  Compare the potential applications to the current state of the art and competing technologies.  Include a brief justification of the novelty of your strategy based on the current market. 
  2. Briefly describe recent research directly relevant to the proposal, including that of others in the field and, in particular, your own work. 

Section 2: Research Plan 

  1. Specific Aims 
  2. Describe the criteria that will be used to determine whether the specific aims have been achieved, and describe any alternative approaches. 

Please list any references cited on a separate page, and keep the length of the reference list to a maximum of one page.

Part IV: Line-item Budget for Fellowship Costs (PHS 398 Pages 4 and 5) and Budget Justification

Please submit applications to: https://forms.hms.harvard.edu/f/northpondfellowship

Questions? Please contact: therapeuticsinitiative@hms.harvard.edu