Awards and Fellowships

Our office administers several Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (ISMMS) awards and fellowships available to postdocs including the Robin Chemers Neustein Postdoctoral Fellowship, various travel, career development, and recognition awards, and an award for basic science.

Robin Chemers Neustein Postdoctoral Fellowship

The Robin Chemers Neustein Postdoctoral Fellowship was established to encourage women to pursue careers in scientific research, and therefore only female postdoctoral research scientists are eligible. The intent of the award is to help supplement current stipend/salary. The recipient must already be at ISMMS, should be a senior postdoctoral scientist who intends to complete her training within one to two years, and who has demonstrated high impact accomplishments in the life sciences and the potential for an independent scientific career.  An individual may receive this fellowship for only one year.  One fellowship of $25,000 will be awarded each year and the application deadline is in May. 

Applications will be accepted at any time before the due date. They must be submitted, in PDF format, to OPA@mssm.edu and include the following:

  • Candidate's curriculum vitae
  • Candidate's statement of general research interests (maximum 1 page)
  • Sponsoring Scientist's NIH Biosketch
  • Title and Statement of Research Project for the next 1-2 years (maximum 2 pages including title of project and references)
  • Up to four (4) publications
  • Two letters of recommendation (one from the sponsoring scientist) commenting on how the candidate’s research is novel, elegant, interdisciplinary and high impact, as well as the candidate’s potential  for an independent career in science.

The selection will be made by the Neustein Postdoctoral Fellowship Awards Committee comprised of faculty members chosen by the Dean of the Graduate School and CoSA.  Upon selection, the recipients will be notified and an announcement will be sent to all Sponsoring Scientists who submitted applications. For more information, please contact the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs at x40380 or email opa@mssm.edu.

Learn about previous Robin Chemers Neustein Fellowship Award winners

Travel Awards

Travel awards offer support for postdoctoral fellows unable to find sufficient funding through his/her PI or department. Postdocs can apply for funding to attend a conference in which they are either presenting a poster or talk specific to their area of study or a relevant interdisciplinary conference. The Travel Awards can also be used to assist with funding for course registration specific to postdocs area of study. These awards are for $500 and awarded once per calendar year. 

Applications are accepted at any time during the year. To submit an application to the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs please click here.

Postdocs are eligible for only one award per year and award recipients must fill out a travel request form in Sinai Central prior to travel.

Annual Postdoctoral Awards for Basic Science, Research and Leadership

Each year, the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences recognizes several postdoctoral fellows for outstanding contributions to research and to the ISMMS Postdoctoral community. These awards are presented at a Spring Awards Ceremony in April. All nominations for these awards must be received in the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs by March 31. For more information, contact the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs at x40380 or via email to the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs, opa@mssm.edu.

Outstanding Leadership by a Postdoctoral Fellow
This new award, introduced for the first time in 2017, recognizes outstanding leaders in the Mount Sinai Postdoctoral Fellow community who have inspired, who have promoted postdoctoral success, and who have transformed the postdoctoral experience and/or who postdocs view as a role model. To qualify, nominees must be current postdoctoral fellows at ISMMS, and be nominated by other Postdoctoral Fellows or faculty. Self-nominations are not accepted.

Outstanding Research Innovation by a Postdoctoral Fellow
This award, also new in 2017, recognizes the most innovative research by a Postdoctoral Fellow during the year. The award in meant to publicly acknowledge the postdoctoral trainee for their new and exciting research, and its potential for changing scientific approaches, perspective, or understanding.

Best Publication by a Postdoctoral Fellow
This longstanding award is for the best research paper published by a Postdoctoral Fellow during the year. It honors a Postdoctoral trainee for conducting and publishing truly outstanding scientific research which has the potential to advance their field.

To qualify for the Outstanding Research Innovation and Best Publication awards, nominees must be current Postdoctoral Fellows at ISMMS, and their research must have been conducted at ISMMS, on data collected or analyzed at ISMMS, while the nominee was a Postdoctoral Fellow. Research must have been published in the year of the award (including ePub ahead of print, but not in press).

Nominees must be listed as first author. In lieu of an article, nominees for our Outstanding Research Innovation Award may have presented their research at a scientific conference during the year of the award. Postdoctoral nominations must be submitted by Department Chairs, and it is anticipated that Chairs will work closely with PIs to identify the most promising postdoctoral candidates.  Self-nominations are not accepted.