Sleep Research Program for Advancing Careers

Issue Date: February 3, 2025
Application Due Date: March 17, 2025 by 11:59 pm ET
Selection Notification: By May 30, 2025
Start/End of Program: Online: September 2025 – March 2026
In-Person: April 2026 in Bethesda, MD
Amount of Funding: Selected Sleep Research Program for Advancing Career fellows will be provided a travel scholarship that includes travel and lodging funded by the AASM Foundation to the in-person meeting in Bethesda, MD.

The AASM Foundation is committed to growing and supporting the pipeline of sleep scientists by investing in the research careers of new investigators through mentorship and grantsmanship training opportunities.

The Sleep Research Program for Advancing Careers is a research training program designed to support early career sleep and circadian investigators through a structured and mentored grant writing curriculum. At the end of the program, the early career investigators will be expected to have a completed grant application to submit for a federal career development grant such as an NIH K award. This program aims to increase the number of early-career investigators who successfully apply for and secure external sleep research funding by:

  • Supporting early-career investigators in sleep and circadian science by providing a structured and mentored grant writing curriculum.
  • Increasing the number of early-career investigators who successfully secure federal and external funding for career development in sleep research.
  • Providing participants with the tools, resources, and mentorship necessary to complete and submit a competitive career development grant application, such as an NIH K award
  • Foster the professional development of participants by encouraging collaboration with SOAR faculty, site mentors, and peers.
View the 2025 Program

About the Sleep Research Program for Advancing Careers

The 2025 Sleep Research Program for Advancing Careers (SOAR) will start with an orientation in September 2025 and officially run from October 2025 to April 2026. The program will match each accepted applicant to faculty who will review and provide feedback on components of the grant through grant review sessions for the duration of the program. Accepted applicants will have access to grant writing lectures focused on career development grants and participate in live grant review sessions with SOAR faculty to get feedback on different components of their grant.

Accepted applicants are expected to complete components of their grant application on time, attend the grant review session, work with their site mentor to revise their grant based on feedback provided by the SOAR faculty, and have a completed career development grant application at the end of the program that they can submit to federal funding agency for funding within 1 year of ending the program.

Final dates and times will be provided to accepted applicants so they can accommodate their schedule with plenty of notice.

SOAR provides invaluable access to diverse faculty who are leading expert sleep investigators and access to curated lectures on building various components of a competitive research grant.

In addition, SOAR provides a travel scholarship that includes travel and lodging funded by the AASM Foundation to the in-person meeting in Bethesda, MD in April 2026.

The following individuals are eligible to apply:

  • Sleep scientists (MD, DO, DDS, DMD, DNP, DNSc, PharmD, PhD, or equivalent) who are eligible to apply for a federal career development grant at the completion of the Sleep Research Program for Advancing Careers.

The following individuals are NOT eligible to apply:

  • Individuals who have received a federal career development award (NIH K grant, VA Career Development Award, or equivalent), or independent federal research funding (NIH R01 or equivalent) are not eligible to apply.
  • Individuals who are at an institution outside of the United States.

The AASM Foundation Research Career Development Committee will evaluate and score all submitted applications. Factors that will be taken into consideration include:

  1. Contribution to Science: Clear commitment to an academic sleep research career based on training to date, research activities, scholarly productivity, and institutional commitment towards a research career.
  2. Specific Aims: Well-articulated research question in the sleep or circadian field that addresses a significant gap in current evidence and a plan towards addressing this gap. Note: While the committee will help develop the aims, this document will serve as the primary basis for deciding which candidates are most likely to benefit from the program.
  3. Career Plan: Strong short-term and long-term career goals in sleep research. Specific career development award/grant identified and clear description of how submitting a grant application at the end of the Sleep Research Program for Advancing Careers will facilitate advancement in a sleep research career.
  4. Grant Writing Expectations and Needs: There is a clear need for SOAR’s structured grant writing program. Plan and expectations for how SOAR faculty will help fill gaps in knowledge, skillset, and abilities and how the applicant will work with their site mentor to integrate grant feedback given by SOAR faculty.

We encourage potential applicants to contact us early in the application process with questions. Eligibility questions may need to be reviewed by a member of the AASM Foundation Executive Committee, so please allow for at least a 1-week response time for eligibility questions. For all other inquiries, please allow a minimum of two business days for a response. Please note that inquiries submitted two business days prior to an application deadline may not be answered in time.

View 2024-2025 SOAR Fellows
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