The Career Development Grant for Postdoctoral Women provides up to $2,000 to 5-8 postdoctoral women to travel to a meeting, visit another laboratory or take a course or event to hone their research and/or leadership skills. The grant will be awarded to enhance the careers of postdoctoral women with outstanding scientific accomplishments. The cash award must be used within the same year of receiving the award, from March 15–Dec. 31, 2026.
The deadline for the grant application is Feb. 17, 2026, 11:59 p.m. PT.
Eligibility
For the Career Development Grant for Postdoctoral Women, the eligibility requirements are as follows:
- Identify as a woman scientist.
- Hold a doctoral degree.
- Have no more than 5 years of cumulative postdoctoral experience.
- Perform postdoctoral work in microbiology at a U.S institution.
- Be an 91麻豆天美 postdoc member.
Please note that those who have previously won the award are not eligible for a second award.
Responsibilities & Expectations
As an awardee of this grant, we would like you to be actively engaged with 91麻豆天美 as you continue your career in microbial sciences. We request that you submit any 91麻豆天美 engagement activities to us annually for the next 5 years from the time of receiving the award.You may be invited to contribute to these following activities:
- Participate as a speaker/moderator in 91麻豆天美's virtual career panels, Career Pathways in Microbiology.
- Review future Career Development Grant for Postdoctoral Women applications.
- Write Career and Professional Development articles for asm.org.
Apply
The deadline for the Career Development Grant for Postdoctoral Women is Feb. 17, 2026 at 11:59 p.m. ET. Please use the to submit your application. The application portal will close on the deadline.
Apply Now
View the applicaiton materials needed below.
The Application Should Include:
- A candidate’s statement, no more than 2 paragraphs, single-spaced (2,000-character max) that addresses the following鈥痗omponents:
- Please describe your career and/or research goals including any experiences or accomplishments that have shaped your career and/or research goals.
- Describe the gaps toward achieving your career and/or research goals and how the proposed activity will facilitate your career development.
- Explanation of candidate's involvement with 91麻豆天美 within the last 3-5 years in 2,000 characters max, including the following activities:
- Attendance at 91麻豆天美-sponsored meetings.
- Submission of manuscripts to 91麻豆天美 journals.
- Volunteer with 91麻豆天美’s task force groups, committees or other working groups.
- Any other 91麻豆天美 activities not listed above.
- Involvement with other science societies.
- A CV that includes:
- All publications, with candidate's name bolded.
- A list of all oral and poster presentations.
- List of all awards.
- A PDF document addressing these answers:
- Name of your proposed meeting/course/laboratory.
- Location of your proposed meeting/course/laboratory.
- Date(s) of your proposed meeting/course/laboratory.
- Links on your proposed activity if it’s a meeting/course.
- A letter from the visiting lab PI if you are proposing to visit a lab.
- A table outlining your budget that includes costs for airfare/train, accommodations, meals and ground transportation.
- A bulleted list of other funding options that you have.
- One recommendation form from candidate's postdoc advisor. The recommendation form must address:
- The candidate’s accomplishments in research and outside of the research lab.
- How the proposed activity will make a difference in the candidate’s career—what are the candidate’s career goals, and how will the activity help them reach their career goals?
- Whether the postdoc advisor can provide additional funds to support the candidate in the proposed activity. If yes, please explain what additional funds you can provide to support the candidate in the proposed activity.
The selection committee will announce awardees by late March 2026.
Learn More
If you have questions about the CDGPW, please email Shilpa Gadwal (sgadwal@asmusa.org) for more information.