How to Apply

Changes to Application for 2027

In our new grantmaking system, applicants will need to submit their application first, and then the system will collect your letters of reference with the email addresses that you provide. 

Application Support

If your institution has received one or fewer McKnight awards, you are eligible to request support from a previous McKnight awardee from a different institution to review your application materials prior to submission. Please send any requests to jkrogstad@mcknight.org before October 10, 2026 in order to be paired with a previous awardee. This is designed to help promote a greater diversity of applications from institutions who may have less in-house experience with our awards.

Webinar with Scholar Awards Committee

View a recorded webinar to learn more about the Scholars Program and recommendations for the application process which is due November 3, 2026. The webinar contains advice from three McKnight Scholar Awards Committee members: Dr. Vanessa Ruta (Chair), Dr. Jennifer Raymond, and Dr. Marlene Cohen, as well as previous McKnight awardee, Dr. Abigail Person. This webinar was designed to be inclusive of applicants and development staff who have little to no prior knowledge of the Scholars program. The committee is especially interested in the addition of applications from institutions who have never received a McKnight award, as well as applicants underrepresented in the neuroscience field and neuroscientists committed to creating equitable lab environments as well as developing outreach programs aimed at changing the landscape of science. Webinar was recorded August 27, 2026.

Eligibility

Applicants for the McKnight Scholar Award must be independent investigators at not-for-profit research institutions in the United States; must hold a faculty position at the rank of Assistant Professor (or equivalent, see below) and must have served at that rank for less than five years at the time of the application deadline (exceptions may be made for family leave). For this year’s round, that means that the applicant must not have started serving in the rank of Assistant Professor any earlier than December 1, 2021. The five year limit is cumulative, so if the applicant has served as assistant professor at more than one institution, the clock begins at the time of the first position even if that is not where the applicant is currently serving. The applicant must hold an official appointment as Assistant Professor (or equivalent) on the date of application submission to be eligible.

Individuals holding other titles in non-tenure track positions such as Instructor, Research Assistant Professor, Adjunct Assistant Professor, or Instructor are not eligible. If the host institution does not use professorial titles, a letter from a senior institutional official (e.g. Dean or Director of Research) must confirm that the applicant controls their own dedicated institutional resources, laboratory space, and/or facilities. Please submit this letter along with the application materials below, and also email jkrogstad@mcknight.org to provide advance notification of the letter. We seek to enhance geographic, gender, and racial diversity in neuroscience, and we encourage women, members of communities of color, and faculty at institutions that have never previously received a McKnight award to apply.  

Applicants to the Scholar Award may not apply in more than two rounds of competition, have already been granted tenure, or hold another award from the McKnight Endowment Fund. A candidate may not apply for both Scholar and Neurobiology of Brain Disorders Award during the same funding cycle.  

There is no limit to how many applications we can receive from the same institution in the same funding round, and while we strive for institutional diversity, multiple Scholar Awardees from the same institution can be awarded in the same grant period. 

Application

The application process is completely online, and the portal will open for submission by early August 2026.    

Applications are due by no later than Tuesday November 3, 2026, at 5 PM Central. 

To apply, the principal investigator will need to follow these steps once the portal opens: 

• Set up a username and password using the “Start Application” link located on the right sidebar. (Please retain your username and password for future use.) 

• Below are main application components that you will need to upload within the portal:

1. 1. The proposal should be introduced with an abstract of 200 words or less, followed by a detailed statement of plans. The proposed work need not present a totally new line of research but should represent one of your lab’s most innovative and impactful directions. Successful proposals clearly communicate a vision of how success would advance our understanding of the brain, delineate clear hypotheses and consider alternative outcomes. Proposals are often most compelling when they are ambitious yet grounded in the applicant’s prior work or preliminary data and prioritize transformative potential over whether the full vision can be completed within the award’s time or budget. The proposal (abstract, narrative and figures, but not referenced literature) must not exceed four numbered single-spaced pages in 12-point arial font with 1-inch margins. Text within figures may be less than 12 font as long as easily readable. Your proposal should not include a cover page, although you should include your name and proposal title on the first page.
   2. Diversity & Inclusion Statement. A defining principle of the McKnight Endowment Fund for Neuroscience is to foster community and support mentorship. Submit a half-page narrative with the same formatting guidelines as the proposal describing how you are addressing diversity, equity, and inclusion in science beyond the confines of your lab. Keep the focus on personal experience and specific actions you have taken, and not just philosophy or planned activities.
   3. CV. Please ensure it includes the following: header with applicant’s name, current position title, current institution/department, ORCID ID (if available), website (if available); listing of education and training (degree, institution, dates, advisor/mentor); Professional Experience and Scientific Appointments (title, institution, dates); Honors and Awards; Teaching Mentoring and Service; and a full bibliography as space allows. The CV should not exceed five pages.
   4. List of other support including all resources (both start-up support and external funding) available in support of their research. Please include amounts for each award listed, e.g., R01, $100,000 annual direct costs, project title. You do not need to list proposals currently under consideration that have not yet been awarded. List start-up funding at the beginning of the document and then follow NIH guidelines for external funding. But different from NIH, no signature is required.
   5. Titles and links to 5 recent publicly accessible publications (can include pre-prints e.g. on BioRxiv).

We also require three references from former teachers, mentors, or senior colleagues familiar with the applicant’s work. Once you submit your application, the system will send an email to your references.  Please follow up with your references to confirm that they received the email and that they can submit your letter by the deadline.   Here is sample language you could send to your references:

The McKnight Endowment Fund for Neuroscience Scholar Awards support young applicants embarking on an independent research career in neuroscience. We would appreciate your candid comments on the applicant’s training and research accomplishments, and on the applicant’s potential as an independent investigator in neuroscience. We also welcome comments on the applicant’s commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion in neuroscience. There is no specific format for the letter. The letter will be submitted directly to McKnight through the link that you will receive upon application submission. Your comments will be seen by the McKnight Scholar Awards Review Committee and will otherwise be held in confidence. You will need to submit your letter by no later than November 24, 2026.

There is no budget required in the application submission. Awardees will need to submit annual financial and scientific reports to McKnight for second and third payments. Allowable budget items include salaries and fringe benefits (including principal investigators), tuition, equipment, supplies, animal costs, costs for technical services, etc. Funds cannot be used for indirect costs. 

Selection Process

The McKnight Scholar Awards Review committee will evaluate the applications and invite approximately 20 finalists to interview with the committee. Applicants invited to interview will be notified in March 2027. The interviews will be scheduled soon after and will be conducted remotely. The committee will then recommend candidates to the Board of Directors of the Endowment Fund for final decision. Awards will start June 1, 2027. 

Questions?

Email: Joel Krogstad, Program Manager, McKnight Endowment Fund for Neuroscience