PECASE

IMPORTANT UPDATES TO THE CAREER SOLICITATION
image saying "Update!" Image credit: SergioVas/Shutterstock.com
Image credit: SergioVas/Shutterstock.com

The Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER) solicitation (NSF 20-525) contains key updates this year:

  • A single deadline has been implemented for all directorates. The deadline is July 27, 2020 and the fourth Monday of July annually thereafter.
  • Principal Investigators must hold at least a 50% tenure-track or equivalent position as an assistant professor to be eligible to apply.
  • This year’s applicants must meet all eligibility criteria as of July 27; future applicants must meet all eligibility criteria by each year’s respective deadline of the fourth Monday of July.

The CAREER Program offers the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) most prestigious awards in support of early-career faculty. Each year, NSF also selects nominees for the Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) from recent CAREER awardees. Approximately 500 CAREER awards are made each year; the total anticipated funding amount for this year’s awards is $250,000,000.  

To assist applicants in meeting the deadline, NSF has developed supplementary guidance on key milestones to complete before submitting your CAREER proposal. For example, CAREER proposals submitted through Grants.gov should be submitted by July 17 to allow for the additional processing required before they can be accepted by NSF. If submitting through FastLane or Research.gov, submit by July 20 to allow time for resolving any system errors and also to avoid high volume delays at NSF’s Help Desk.

MCB Congratulates Three 2019 PECASE Recipients

Three MCB-funded researchers are among 314 recipients of the 2019 Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE). The selections were recently announced by President Trump. The three are among 80 nominated by NSF. A total of nine recipients are from NSF’s Directorate of Biology.

The PECASE is the highest honor bestowed by the United States Government to outstanding scientists and engineers who are beginning their independent research careers and who show exceptional promise for leadership in science and technology. The award was established in 1996 and is coordinated by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.

Congratulations to:

Dr. Lynette Cegelski, Stanford University (Award #1453247), “for her outstanding research in the field of solid-state NMR spectroscopy to develop novel strategies to examine bacterial amyloid fibers, and for providing unparalleled detail into the structure and function of native curli amyloid fibers and their interactions with amyloid dyes and their cognate biofilm polysaccharide partners at the atomic and molecular levels;”

Dr. Megan Thielges, Indiana University, Bloomington (Award #1552996), “for her leadership in the development and application of high-resolution infrared spectroscopy to protein dynamics and function, and for her commitment to reduce barriers for female participation in science;” and

Dr. Edward O’Brien, Pennsylvania State University (Award #1553291), “for his outstanding research in the field of computational molecular biophysics, for increasing the understanding of the influence of protein synthesis on nascent protein behavior, and for developing a creative outreach program to introduce high school students to cutting edge research opportunities.”

CONGRATULATIONS TO 2017 PRESIDENTIAL EARLY CAREER AWARDEE, DR. AHMAD KHALIL!

Dr. Ahmad Khalil is smiling, arms crossed, standing in front of his lab bench while wearing a blue and white checked shirt and glasses.

MCB would like to congratulate Dr. Ahmad (Mo) Khalil, recipient of the 2017 Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE). The PECASE award is the most prestigious honor a scientist or engineer can receive from the U.S. government early in their independent research career.

PECASE selection is a highly competitive process. As we previously noted on the MCB Blog, awardees must first receive a Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) award. Dr. Khalil received his CAREER award from the Systems and Synthetic Biology Cluster in the Division of MCB. The National Science Foundation annually nominates up to twenty CAREER awardees for the PECASE award, and the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy makes the final selection of PECASE awardees.

Dr. Khalil was selected to receive a PECASE award because his work is an outstanding example of innovative research at the frontiers of science and technology and because of his strong commitment to service, scientific leadership, education, and outreach. His research uses synthetic biology to engineer cellular networks; the specific focus of his CAREER award is to develop synthetic tools to study the function of prions in yeast cells and populations. You can read more about his research at Boston University on his lab’s website or in a post we featured via the Share MCB Science blog theme.

Please join us in congratulating Dr. Khalil!

This work is partially funded by the Systems and Synthetic Biology Cluster of the Division of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences, CAREER Award #MCB-1350949.