Grants & Fellowships

What grants are available for early-career researchers? This index collects mechanism names, eligibility by career stage (undergrad through faculty), award amounts, and cycle-year deadlines — with confirmed vs. estimated status — so you can quickly identify which programs fit your current position.

• National Institutes of Health (NIH) / NCI

  Ruth L. Kirschstein NRSA Individual Predoctoral Fellowships — F31 and F30

  The NIH F31 supports PhD students at the dissertation stage; the F30 supports MD/PhD (and other dual-degree) students. The FY2025–26 predoctoral stipend is $29,364/yr, plus partial tuition/fees and an institutional allowance. You must be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident enrolled in a research doctoral program. Standard (non-AIDS) deadlines are April 8, August 8, and December 8. Undergraduates are NOT eligible.

  Predoctoral

  Amount$25DeadlineApril 8, A (2025)confirmed

• American Cancer Society (ACS)

  ACS Postdoctoral Fellowships & Diversity in Cancer Research (DICR) programs

  Two relevant ACS tracks. (1) The DICR Internship pays underrepresented undergraduates $500/week for a 10-week summer ($5,000 total) of mentored cancer research at a participating institution — apply through the host institution, which sets its own criteria. (2) The ACS Postdoctoral Fellowship pays $66k/$68k/$70k across three years plus a $4,000/yr allowance, with deadlines June 1 and December 1 — but that is a postdoc award, not for undergraduates.

  UndergradFaculty

  Amount$500DeadlineDICR inter (2025)confirmed

• National Science Foundation (NSF)

  Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP)

  The NSF GRFP pays a $37,000 annual stipend plus a $16,000 cost-of-education allowance for three years (over a five-year window). Apply as a college senior heading to grad school, or in your first year of a research-based STEM master's/PhD. You must be a U.S. citizen, national, or permanent resident. Deadlines fall in early-to-mid November by field (Life Sciences ~Nov 10 in the 2025 cycle).

  UndergradPredoctoral

  Amount$37,000DeadlineEarly-to-m (2025)confirmed

• Mountain West HPV Vaccination Coalition (HCI-based)

  Org profile — regional coalition & funding landscape

  The Mountain West HPV Vaccination Coalition, led by Dr. Deanna Kepka at Huntsman Cancer Institute, is a 500-member regional network (launched 2014, 10th anniversary celebrated) working to raise HPV vaccination rates across the Mountain West. It is a convening and capacity-building body — not itself a grant program — but it anchors the regional population-science landscape where NCI (DCCPS), CDC (cancer prevention), and HRSA (rural health) funding is applied. It is the research community a Kepka-mentored undergraduate enters.

  Undergradpost-baccPredoctoralFaculty

  DeadlineNot a fund (2025)estimated

• NIH / NCI

  Ruth L. Kirschstein NRSA Institutional Research Training Grant (Parent T32)

  The T32 is an INSTITUTIONAL training grant — a cancer center or department holds it and appoints trainees to funded 'slots.' A predoctoral student does not apply to NIH for a T32; you compete locally for a slot in an existing program. FY2026 predoctoral stipend is $29,364/yr plus ~$4,750 training-related expenses and ~$800 travel. NRSA support is capped at 6 years predoctoral aggregate. Undergraduates are not T32-eligible.

  PredoctoralFaculty

  Amount$2,026DeadlineParent T32 (2026)estimated

• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) — Division of Cancer Prevention and Control

  Org profile — federal cancer prevention funder

  The CDC's Division of Cancer Prevention and Control funds population-level cancer prevention — chiefly the National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program (NBCCEDP) and the National Comprehensive Cancer Control Program (NCCCP), which fund all 50 states plus territories and tribes. These are PROGRAM grants to public-health agencies, not individual fellowships. They are the public-health delivery counterpart to NCI's research funding, and directly relevant to HPV/cervical-cancer prevention work.

  Faculty

  DeadlinePer NOFO — (2025)estimated

• Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA) — Federal Office of Rural Health Policy (FORHP)

  Org profile — federal rural health funder

  HRSA's Federal Office of Rural Health Policy (FORHP) funds rural-health programs and research — relevant to Mountain West cancer-prevention work because several programs (e.g., the Rural Health Care Services Outreach Program and Healthy Rural Hometown Initiative) explicitly address cancer among rural health disparities. These are organizational/institutional grants held by faculty PIs and agencies, NOT individual student fellowships. Undergraduates engage only as staff/students on a funded project.

  Faculty

  DeadlinePer NOFO — (2025)estimated

• Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF)

  Org profile — health-equity philanthropic funder

  The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is the largest U.S. philanthropy focused on health, funding population-health and health-equity work. Its most trainee-relevant program, Health Policy Research Scholars (HPRS), is a 4-year leadership program for doctoral students from underrepresented/marginalized backgrounds, providing ~$25,000/yr. Note: RWJF welcomed its NINTH AND FINAL HPRS cohort in September 2025 — verify current program status. RWJF is a doctoral-and-up funder, not an undergraduate one.

  PredoctoralFaculty

  Amount$25,000DeadlinePer active (2025)estimated

• Huntsman Cancer Institute (HCI), University of Utah

  Org profile — NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center

  Huntsman Cancer Institute is the ONLY NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center in the Mountain West, serving Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, Nevada, and Montana. It hosts the training infrastructure an undergraduate actually uses — PathMaker Scholars (10-week summer, up to $4,000, with a rural/frontier Mountain West focus), NIH-funded T32 slots, and faculty grants that can carry diversity supplements. HCI is home base for Dr. Deanna Kepka's HPV-vaccination and population-science work.

  Undergradpost-baccPredoctoralFaculty

  Amount$25DeadlineProgram-sp (2025)estimated

• NIH / NCI (R25) and AHRQ/NIH (R36)

  R25 Cancer Research Education Grants & R36 Dissertation Award

  Two different things. The R25 is a grant to an INSTITUTION/faculty PI to run a cancer research-education program — undergraduates and students benefit by joining a funded R25 program, but a student does not hold an R25 personally. The R36 is a DISSERTATION award held by a late-stage doctoral candidate (qualifying exams done); the AHRQ R36 pays a stipend up to the NRSA predoctoral level plus up to $15,000 in costs, with deadlines Feb 1 / May 1 / Aug 1 / Nov 1.

  UndergradPredoctoralFaculty

  Amount$25DeadlineR25 (PAR-2 (2025)confirmed

• National Institutes of Health (NIH) / NCI

  Research Supplements to Promote Diversity in Health-Related Research (PA-23-189)

  NIH diversity supplements (PA-23-189) add funding to an existing NIH grant to support a trainee from an underrepresented group — including undergraduates, post-baccs, predoctoral, and postdoctoral candidates. The KEY point for an undergrad: YOU do not apply directly; your faculty mentor (the parent-grant PI) submits on your behalf. Applications are rolling. The parent grant must have enough time remaining (e.g., ~1 year for post-bacc, ~2 years for predoctoral).

  Undergradpost-baccPredoctoralFaculty

  DeadlineRolling — (2025)estimated

• American Cancer Society (ACS)

  Org profile — nonprofit cancer research funder

  The American Cancer Society is the largest private, nonprofit funder of cancer research in the U.S. Its grants run from undergraduate internships (DICR, $5,000/summer) through postdoctoral fellowships ($66k–$70k/yr) to faculty investigator grants. ACS places explicit emphasis on research relevant to diverse populations, making it a strong fit for population-science and health-equity work. Extramural funding is managed by its Extramural Discovery Science team.

  UndergradPredoctoralFaculty

  Amount$5,000DeadlineVaries by (2025)estimated

• Multiple (NSF, NIH/NCI, ACS, HCI)

  Trainee & fellowship pipeline (overview)

  The research-funding ladder runs roughly: paid summer/undergrad internships (PathMaker, ACS DICR, NIH/NCI summer) → post-bacc research awards (NIH Postbac IRTA/CRTA) → predoctoral fellowships in grad school (NSF GRFP, NIH F31/F30, R36, diversity supplements, T32 slots) → postdoctoral and faculty awards (NIH F32/K, ACS postdoc). An undergraduate cannot hold an R01 or an F31; match the mechanism to your current stage.

  Undergradpost-baccPredoctoralFaculty

  Amount$5,000DeadlineVaries by (2025)estimated

• National Cancer Institute (NCI), NIH

  Org profile — federal cancer research funder

  The NCI is the largest funder of cancer research in the world, with a FY2026 appropriation of about $7.35 billion, ~43% of which goes to Research Project Grants (R01, R37). It funds the entire training ladder — summer internships, F31 fellowships, T32 institutional grants, diversity supplements — and explicitly supports cancer prevention, control, behavioral, and population sciences through its Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences (DCCPS). Undergraduates engage through internships and diversity supplements, not investigator grants.

  Undergradpost-baccPredoctoralFaculty

  Amount$2,026DeadlineVaries by (2026)estimated

• HCI (PathMaker), NIH/NCI (SIP, IRTA/CRTA), ACS (DICR)

  Undergraduate & post-baccalaureate research on-ramps

  The realistic entry points for an undergraduate in cancer research: HCI PathMaker Scholars (10-week residential summer, up to $4,000, serves Mountain West and rural students), ACS DICR Internship ($5,000/summer), and the NIH/NCI Summer Internship Program plus Student/Postbac IRTA/CRTA (intramural, stipend by education level). Post-bacc graduates use the NIH Postbac IRTA/CRTA to do 1–2 years of full-time research before a PhD. These are NOT national fellowships you 'win' against a R01 — they are mentored training positions.

  Undergradpost-bacc

  Amount$4,000DeadlineVary by pr (2025)estimated