RPB Career advancement Award

The Career Advancement Award assists outstanding early-career vision scientists in pursuit of ongoing research of unusual significance and promise.  This one-time award of $150,000 is available to candidates who have already received their first NIH R01 and are collecting new data to secure a second R01.  The award is open to any Assistant or Associate Professors (MDs, PhDs, or MD/PhDs) in any department from any institution of higher education in the U.S.  Candidates must have their first NIH R01 with at least one year remaining by the application deadline.  The candidate can be a multiple principal investigator (MPI) on their first R01.  However, if the candidate has their first R01 and is an MPI on another R01, the candidate is not eligible.  RPB is partnering with Alcon* to co-fund one (1) award focused on glaucoma research.  In addition, another award will be funded by RPB and is open to any topic within vision research.

• The RPB / David Epstein Career Advancement Award in Glaucoma Research sponsored by Alcon* will focus on a research project in glaucoma.
• The RPB Career Advancement Award will not have a specific scientific focus and is open to any topic within vision research.

Full-time department chairs may nominate up to two candidates per department for the Career Advancement Award  -- one candidate per award listed above.  Interim or acting chairs cannot nominate a candidate for this award. 

Awardees will be required to expend the award within two (2) years.

The fall cycle application deadline for the Career Advancement Award is July 1, with nomination forms due no later than June 15.  Applications received without a prior nomination form will not be accepted.  (If nomination or application deadline falls on a weekend or holiday, please consider the deadline to be the following business day.)

* Contingent on partnership funding

The nomination and application forms for this award will be available March / April 2025.