Gulf Research Program's Early-Career Research Fellowship (Community Track) is a fellowship grant from the National Academies' Gulf Research Program that funds applied research on how climate-related stressors—heat, flooding, and pollution—affect human health, community resilience, and regional economies in the U.S. Gulf region (Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas).

Each fellow receives $76,000 paid to their institution over two years: $75,000 for research expenses including salary, equipment, and travel, plus $1,000 as a mentor honorarium. Eligible applicants are early-career researchers who hold a doctoral degree, have received it within the past 10 years, hold an independent position (not postdoc), and are affiliated with a non-federal U.S. institution.

Applications for the 2026-2028 cycle closed March 25, 2026.

Community Track: Early-Career Research Fellowship Fellowship/Professional Development Program Community Track: Early-Career Research Fellowship For the 2026-2028 Application Cycle, the Community track focuses on Climate Risk, Heath & Decision Making. The track invites applied research that identifies how climate-related stressors (e.g., heat, flooding, pollution) affect human health, community resilience, and regional economies.

Based on stakeholder or community demand and consultation, fellows should collect and analyze data, create tools, models, or communication approaches that connect climate science to local decision-making and public health interventions. All proposed projects must focus on communities within the U.S. Gulf region, defined as Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas, consistent with the scope of the Gulf Research Program.

Until March 25, 2026 5:00 PM March 26, 2026 - June 14, 2026 Application and Review Process February 4, 2026: Applications open March 25, 2026, 5:00 pm ET: Application Deadline April-June 2026: Review of written applications and selection of fellows June 2026: All applicants notified of funding decisions October 1, 2026: Fellowships begin October 1, 2026: Required virtual fellowship orientation October 31, 2027: Progress reports due September 30, 2028: End of fellowship October 31, 2028: Final reports due An award of $76,000 is paid to each fellow’s institution in the form of a two-year grant.

Potential fellows must ensure compliance with their institution’s requirements for applications for external funding. Funds cannot be used on institutional overhead or indirect charges. Detailed information can be found in the Early-Career Research Fellowship sample grant agreement for public and private institutions.

$75,000 is available for the fellow to use for research-related expenses, including equipment purchases, professional travel, professional development courses, trainee support, salary, or any other costs directly related to the fellow’s research. The use of these funds for any other expenses requires pre-approval from the Gulf Research Program. The remaining $1,000 of the award serves as an honorarium for a mentor.

Applicants must identify a senior-level researcher at their affiliated institution willing to serve as a career mentor. All fellows will attend a required virtual orientation near the start of their fellowship term. Fellows may be required to attend other events/conferences during their fellowship term, which may include a fellows and/or alumni networking event.

Travel expenses for these events will be covered by the Gulf Research Program; they are in addition to the $76,000 fellowship award. The Community Track invites applied research that identifies how climate-related stressors (e.g., heat, flooding, pollution) affect human health, community resilience, and regional economies.

Based on stakeholder/community demand and consultation, fellows should collect and analyze data, create tools, models, or communication approaches that connect climate science to local decision-making and public health interventions.

Applicants must, at the time of application: Hold a permanent, fully independent position as an investigator, faculty member, clinician scientist, or scientific team lead in industry, academia, or a research organization. A postdoc is not considered a fully independent position. Be an early-career scientist who has received their eligible degree within the past 10 years (on or after Jan 1, 2016).

Hold a doctoral degree (e.g., PhD, ScD, EngD, MD, DrPH, EdD, DSW or DVM) in the social and behavioral sciences, health sciences and medicine, engineering and physical sciences, earth and life sciences, or interdisciplinary scientific fields relevant to the charge of the Gulf Research Program. Be affiliated with a non-federal U.S. institution that has a valid tax ID number. Not be currently employed by the U.S. federal government.

Applications can be submitted through our online application system . Required application materials: Your resume or CV (up to 5 pages). A series of personal essays that respond to the following prompts: Relevance (1000 words total): Using language for a lay audience, explain how your research has contributed to and will contribute to the Community Track Goal.

This track invites applied research that identifies how climate-related stressors (e.g., heat, flooding, pollution) affect human health, community resilience, and regional economies. Based on stakeholder or community demand and consultation, fellows should collect and analyze data, create tools, models, or communication approaches that connect climate science to local decision-making and public health interventions.

In your response, include: Key characteristics of the populations and/or communities you currently work with or plan to work with that are relevant to understanding the health, social, or economic impacts of climate-related stressors.

Describe how your research contributes and/or will contribute to a better understanding of climate-related stressors (e.g., heat, flooding, pollution) on human health, community resilience, and regional economies. Describe how you use and/or will use new data, tools, models, or communication approaches to connect climate science to local decision-making and public health interventions.

Research Portfolio (2 parts, 2,000-word limit): The Gulf Research Program Early-Career Research Fellowship funds people, not projects. Therefore, your research portfolio statement should include information about your research portfolio as a whole, not a specific project.

We encourage you to write your research portfolio statement in a way that is understandable to a scientifically literate lay reader and to make the best use of the space provided by utilizing the entire word count, rather than uploading images, diagrams, or figures. The use of references should be minimal and only when absolutely needed.

If references are included, they will be counted toward the total word count, and we do not have a preference as to citation style. Your research portfolio statement should include: A description of your relevant research and projects to date. A description of future work and the research goals you hope to accomplish in the next two years.

Please note, a budget is NOT required and should not be included in the research statement. You may upload a budget as a separate task if your university requires that one be submitted.

Special Skill Essay (2 parts, 600 word-limit): Addressing the health, social, and economic impacts of climate-related stressors such as heat, flooding, and pollution requires collaboration across disciplines and sectors, as well as research approaches that are grounded in real-world contexts and responsive to stakeholder needs.

(600-word limit) Describe your experience, including challenges and successes, incorporating non-extractive research methods and multi-, inter-, and trans-disciplinary approaches in research or applied efforts that engage stakeholders (e.g., community members, practitioners, planners, or public officials) to inform analysis, planning, or communication related to climate-related stressors and their health, social, or economic impacts.

Describe lessons learned from both challenges and successes and how you would apply these lessons in your future research efforts. Personal Growth and Mentoring: How will the mentoring provided by the fellowship help you to address your career goals and challenges? What is your strategy to be a productive mentee?

(400- word limit) How will you know when you have achieved professional success in your career? What skills or characteristics do you need to work on in order to achieve this success? (350-word limit) How have your lived experiences, educational journey, and/or understanding of the world shaped your identity as a scientist and an early-career researcher?

If applicable, we invite you to share your lived experiences of overcoming barriers in your academic journey, along with the strategies you employed to overcome these challenges. (500-word limit) A statement (up to 1,000 words) from your selected mentor. Your selected mentor must be in a senior-level position at your affiliated college, university, research institution, or organization.

Do not choose a mentor for a research collaboration. Choose a mentor who is willing and able to meet at least twice a month to provide guidance and advice on professional development and career topics beyond merely promotion and tenure, such as work/life balance, time and project management, teaching and mentorship, committee and other professional service, community engagement and outreach, lab and research management.

In their statement, your mentor should address how you, the applicant, will benefit from mentoring. Your mentor should consider your professional development holistically, beyond research productivity alone, and identify areas for improvement or potential growth.

If you are unable to find a mentor at your affiliated organization, the mentor honorarium will be waived and you will be asked to answer an additional question justifying your selection of an external mentor. Once you have created an account and started an application, you can enter the contact information for your mentor.

The system will generate an email to the mentor with instructions for logging in and uploading the mentor statement. We encourage applicants to complete this task as soon as possible because final applications cannot be submitted until the mentor statement have been completed. Incomplete or late applications will not be considered.

All application materials, including the mentor statement, must be submitted through our online application system by March 25, 2026 at 5:00 PM ET / 4:00 PM CT / 2:00 PM PT. If you have difficulties submitting materials through our online application system, contact us at, GulfFellowships@nas. edu .

Requesting mentor statement Once you have created an account and started an application, you can enter the contact information for your mentor. The system will generate an email to the mentor with instructions for logging in and uploading the mentor statement. We encourage applicants to complete this task as soon as possible because final applications cannot be submitted until the mentor statement has been completed.

Incomplete or late applications will not be considered. 2026 ECRF Community Track Q&A - Office Hour 2026 ECRF Community Track Office Hour Presentation Fellows are selected based on a set of review criteria . The 2026 Early-Career Research Fellowship application review will be conducted in two stages.

Applications will first go through an eligibility review conducted by Gulf Research Program Fellowship staff. Applications that are eligible will proceed to the second review stage focused on relevance, merit, and impact and will be reviewed by at least three peer-reviewers.

In addition, the Gulf Research Program will be considering how applicants fit into our overall goals as well as balancing fellows across scientific disciplines and institutional affiliations. All applicants will be notified of final funding decisions in June 2026.

Before submitting an application, we encourage you to familiarize yourself with the review criteria and the fellowship grant agreement (sample for public and private institutions). Space, Security, and Conflicts Our peer-reviewed reports present the evidence-based consensus of committees of experts. Explore the Latest News and Stories The latest news and stories, with context you can trust.

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