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Funding Resources

Northwestern University provides a number of resources to help postdoctoral fellows find and apply to external grants and fellowships that can further their training and professional development.

A list of funding databases, including the broad fields encompassed in each database, are provided below. A Northwestern University login may be required to access some of these resources.

Table caption: Funding databases
Database STEM Humanities/Social Sciences
ProQuest Pivot Comprehensive Database  Yes Yes
NIH Fogarty International Center Postdoctoral Non-NIH Funding Opportunities  Yes Yes
NIH Office of Extramural Research  Yes No
Euraxess: European Researchers in Motion Yes Yes
Minority Postdoc: Diversity Postdoctoral Fellowships and Opportunities Yes Yes
American Association of University Women Educational Foundation Fellowships and Grants Yes Yes
UCLA Graduate & Postdoctoral Fellowships and Opportunities Database Yes Yes
NSF Funding Search Tool Yes Yes
Foundation Directory Online Yes Yes
Pathways to Science Yes No

The following list highlights some key resources available to postdoctoral fellows to assist with the grant writing and submission process. In addition to these resources, many departments and programs at Northwestern organize targeted grant writing workshops for their postdoctoral fellows and graduate students; please reach out to department colleagues, mentors, and staff to learn more about these opportunities.   

  • The Office of Foundation Relations
    The Office of Foundation Relations at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine provides services to postdocs in the Feinberg School of Medicine to help them find and apply to foundations and associations that fund biomedical research, including one-on-one consultations with Michelle Melin-Rogovin, Senior Associate Director of Foundation Relations. The website also provides a list of databases to help find foundation funding opportunities.
  • Office of Fellowships
    Grant writing workshops organized by Northwestern University’s Office of Fellowships are open to all postdoctoral fellows at the University. Beginning in fall 2019, fellowship advisers will also begin offering a limited number of one-on-one advising sessions to postdoctoral fellows.
  • NUCATS Grant Preparation Resources
    Northwestern’s Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute offers services and resources to support and enhance grant submissions, including grant writing workshops and, launching in fall 2019, a Grants Repository to share  funded training, career, and research grant applications, as well as other general stock language, proposal templates, and tools. 
  • Grantsmanship for the Research Professional Course
    This course, offered through Northwestern’s School of Professional Studies, is a two-day executive education-style workshop that introduces and enhances skills associated with effective grant opportunity identification, proposal preparation, grant review process, and team science. Postdoctoral scholars can use the Employee Reduced Tuition Benefit to receive a 90% discount on the cost of the course.
  • Galter Library Research Funding and Grant Writing Resources
    Galter Health Sciences Library & Learning Center at Northwestern provides a number of resources for grant writers, including a guide to best practices for writing an NIH biosketch. 
  • BioSurvival Skills NRSA Workshops
    Northwestern BioProfessionals Program organizes workshops on how to prepare a competitive NRSA grant application. A calendar of upcoming workshops can be found on their website.