2023 Career Awards for Medical Scientists (CAMS)

Eligibility

Competitive candidates for the CAMS award will have at least two years of research experience, be up to two years away from becoming an independent investigator, be a first author on at least one publication in a peer-reviewed journal, and have a significant publication record.

Applications must be approved and signed by an official responsible for sponsored programs (generally from the grants office, office of research, or office of sponsored programs) at the degree-granting institution. Candidates should contact one of these offices for an authorized signature before submitting the grant application. The following eligibility requirements must be adhered to and will be strictly enforced:

• Candidates must hold an M.D., D.D.S., D.V.M., V.M.D., or D.O. degree.
• Candidates must have completed clinical training (residency or fellowship) and be board eligible by the award start date.
• Candidates may hold a junior faculty appointment (Lecturer, Instructor, Assistant Professor-non-tenure track, etc.). At the time of application, candidates cannot hold nor have accepted, either in writing or verbally, a faculty appointment as a tenure track Assistant Professor.
• Candidates that have non-tenure track faculty appointments and have been awarded an NIH R01 or Early Independence Investigator award(s), including NIH K99 or NIH DP5 award, are not eligible. Those with substantial institutional start up packages are also ineligible.
• Candidates must submit proposals through accredited, degree-granting institutions in the U.S. or Canada. Candidates must obtain approval and signature by an authorized official at the degreegranting university in the U.S. or Canada.
• If applicable, an authorized official at the degreegranting institution must verify candidate’s immigration status as part of the application.
• The primary mentor or faculty sponsor of a candidate must hold an appointment at the same accredited, degree-granting institution in the U.S. or Canada as the applicant.
• Citizens and non-citizen permanent and temporary residents of the U.S. and Canada who are legally qualified to work in the U.S. or Canada are eligible.
• Candidates who are temporary U.S. residents must hold a valid U.S. visa (J-1, H1B, F-1 or O-1 visas).
• Temporary Canadian residents must hold a valid Canadian visa (Study Permit, C-43, C-44, C-10, or C-20 work permits/visas).
• As a candidate, your visa status must allow you to remain in the U.S. or Canada during the award period of the CAMS grant. If a grant is awarded and your visa does not allow for such a stay, BWF may terminate the grant. BWF will not intercede on behalf of non-citizens whose stay in the U.S. or Canada falls out of visa compliance.
• Proposals must be in the area of basic biomedical, disease-oriented, or translational research. Proposals in health services research or involving large-scale clinical trials will not be considered.
• Candidates with a clinical degree not awarded in the U.S. or Canada must be fully licensed to practice in the U.S. or Canada or have completed a residency in the U.S. or Canada.
• Candidates must be committed to a full-time career in research as an independent investigator at a North American degree-granting institution.
• Award recipients are required to devote at least 75% of their time to research-related activities.

Summary

The Career Awards for Medical Scientists (CAMS) is a highly competitive program that provides $700,000 awards over five years for physician-scientists (M.D., D.O., D.V.M., V.M.D., D.D.S.), who are committed to an academic career, to bridge advanced postdoctoral/fellowship training and the early years of faculty service.

Eligibility Note: BWF will make up to two additional awards to clinically trained psychiatrists who focus on research at the interface between neuroscience and psychiatry. These proposals must clearly demonstrate evidence of integration of neuroscience and psychiatry in project design.

Proposals must be in the area of basic biomedical, disease-oriented, or translational research. Proposals in health services research or involving large-scale clinical trials are not eligible. BWF anticipates making up to 12 awards including up to two awards to clinically trained psychiatrists who focus their research at the interface between psychiatry and neuroscience. Proposals that incorporate artificial intelligence and machine learning or climate change and human health are of particular interest.

Please Visit the BWF CAMS webpage for forms and resources, application instructions, and FAQs. 

Key Dates

Grant application portal available July 2023

Grant application due October 17, 2023, 3:00 pm (Eastern)

Finalist virtual interviews March 20-21, 2024

Notice of award June 2024

Award start date September 1, 2024

Award end date August 31, 2029

Overhead

No indirect costs or institutional overhead can be charged to this grant, as stated in the CAMS Application Instructions. 

Application deadlines

RSO detailed review deadline

RSO final internal review deadline

Program application deadline

NOTE: Consult your Faculty Associate Dean (Research) (ADR) regarding Faculty-specific deadlines and submission processes.

Principal Investigators: Complete a Research Management System (RMS) record, including a copy of your complete application, and submit this for approvals in RMS.

Postdocs, students, and trainees: For fellowships and externally-sponsored research training awards or opportunities, you must complete the Research Funding Application Approval (RFAA) Trainee PDF form, and submit it, along with a complete copy of the application, to Research Services at rsotrainee@ucalgary.ca. Trainees should not use RMS at this time.

Approvals: The University of Calgary requires that all funding applications be approved prior to submission. Approval requires signatures via either RMS or the RFAA Trainee form, in the following order:

• Principal Investigator
• Department Head
• Faculty ADR/Dean
• Research Services (on behalf of the Vice-President Research)

Read the Meaning of Grant Signatures policy to understand what your approval means. Please see the agency guidelines for details about which signatures are required on your application, as it may differ from internal requirements.

Late submissions: Late submissions will only be accepted in cases of medical or family emergencies, or other exceptional circumstances. If you submit your RMS record to Research Services after the internal deadline has passed, you must secure additional approvals. Please read: Late Applications Process.

Questions? Contact Daniel Baroff, Program Associate at dbaroff@bwfund.org

For technical questions regarding use of the ProposalCentral system, contact ProposalCentral Support 1-800-875-2562 (8:30am to 5:00 pm ET M-F, except holidays) pcsupport@altum.com