The Shoshana Levy Early Career Awards to Support Women in Science

The Shoshana Levy Early Career Awards to Support Women in Science aims to promote the advancement of women and/or people of genders who are underrepresented in science. The goal is that recipients will establish and build the research expertise needed to attain a position in academic or industry research. The award is open to all applicants who are postdocs, instructors, or research scientists, regardless of sex or gender. These awards are meant to expand and complement the School of Medicine’s existing funding mechanisms of support for people pursuing careers in biomedical research. Importantly, they will honor Shoshana Levy’s deep commitment to supporting women in science.

Important Dates

Application Deadline: June 30, 2024 at 11:59 pm

• Notification to short-listed applicants for interviews: July 22, 2024
• Interviews of short list: Tuesday, July 30, 2024 between 2pm - 5pm
• Notification of Awards: mid-August
• Award start date: September 01, 2024 (cannot be changed)
• Funding Period: September 01, 2024 through August 31, 2025
• Funding Level: $100,000

Application Materials

Application Link(s): Apply Here!

Honoring Shoshana Levy

Dr. Shoshana Levy was a highly respected and much beloved member of the Stanford community. Born and raised in Israel, she earned a master’s degree in biology from the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel and a PhD in Biochemistry from Tufts University in Boston. Dr. Levy initially came to Stanford as a Research Fellow in 1972, returned first as a Senior Research Associate and again as a Senior Research Scientist and became a member of the faculty in the Division of Oncology in 1994. She and her husband, Ron Levy, MD, had adjacent “mom and pop laboratories” and raised three daughters.

A consummate researcher, Dr. Levy identified a new family of proteins called tetraspanins that affect how cells interact with other cells, move and divide. This family of proteins is thought to be involved in cancer metastasis and may be a target for future cancer therapies. Dr. Levy went on to launch a recurring scientific meeting on tetraspanins and continued to actively pursue this research until her passing on November 16, 2022.

Dr. Levy was a mentor to many students, fellows and early career faculty, and her experience as a woman pursuing a career in science inspired her to encourage and make easier the path for other women to follow. As chair of the Katharine McCormick Advanced Postdoctoral Scholarship to Support Women in Academic Medicine committee from 1997 – until her passing, she saw that there were many more talented applicants than resources to fund them.

About the Award

Established by the Anne Wojcicki Foundation, the Shoshana Levy Early Career Awards to Support Women in Science will support the advancement of women and/or people of genders who are underrepresented in science in a manner that does not violate state or federal law or University policy, with the goal that recipients will establish and build the research expertise needed to attain a position in academic or industry research. The award will be open to all applicants who are postdocs, instructors, or research scientists, regardless of sex or gender. Two flexible awards of $100,000 each will be given annually, for salary, health premiums, travel, and certain other approved expenses. Awards are intended to be spent within two years and are subject to the 8% university infrastructure charge upon expenditure. 

Each fellowship includes $100,000 to be organized in one of the following ways as determined by the awardee’s role:

• For Postdocs
  • $80K in salary, plus fringe benefits, and $5K in supplemental funds
• For Research Scientists
  • $10K supplemental pay with the remaining amount toward the supplemental funds
  • To be provided over 1 or 2 years, as decided by the awardee
• For Instructors
  • $80K in salary, plus fringe benefits, and $5K in supplemental funds
  • A two-year disbursement of the award is possible, pending approval from OPA

The organization of the award cannot be changed once a scholar begins their funding. If an awardee finishes their time at Stanford before the end of their award timeline, they will forfeit the remaining funds in their award. Awardees are required to submit estimated budgets for funding not dedicated to salary.

Finalists will be asked to participate in an interview.

For questions, email opafellowships@stanford.edu

Eligibility

Eligibility requirements:

• Current Instructor, Research Scientist, or Postdoc at Stanford School of Medicine.
• The scholar's faculty mentor must have a primary appointment in the SoM. Acting, consulting, and courtesy faculty are ineligible.
• Commitment between applicant and faculty sponsor to hold regular mentorship meetings with a focus on professional development within academia.
• Commitment to participate in future award alumni events.
• Progress report required at the end of fellowship.

Application

Application Process:

• Complete application
• NIH Biosketch
• Complete CV
• Research proposal: Two page limit, including tables/figures. Proposal is written by the applicant and reviewed by the faculty sponsor. These two pages include a brief statement of proposed investigation in the following sections: background, goals, hypothesis, and experimental methods. Any references must fit within the two pages.
• Three reference letters. One from the Stanford faculty sponsor (mentor). Two letters from other faculty, at Stanford or elsewhere, who are familiar with the candidate’s work and will likely serve as references for the candidate’s job search. Letters are submitted online by the reference writer directly to the application. Letters are due the same day as the application, so request letters at the beginning of the application process via the online application.

Applications are due by 11:59 PM PST on the application deadline.

Selection Process:

The committee reviews applications using this criteria:

1. Academic qualifications including scientific track record, publications, presentations, and mentoring.
2. Readiness for academic faculty positions: years of postdoc training; past participation in, and future plan towards, job preparation such as courses/workshops attended; formal/informal meetings and networking; and teaching statement for candidates interested in teaching careers.
3. Quality of research proposal: Does the proposal present a research direction that the scholar may continue after Stanford? What progress has been made on the proposal to date? What are two aims to be achieved during the award year(s)?
4. Support of women in academic medicine: How has the candidate supported (through professional association) the advancement of women in medicine and/or scientific research?
5. Reference letters: Do they support the application and proposal? Letters should address the candidate’s productivity and quality of research work to date, readiness for assistant professorship positions in the coming 12-18 months, and the candidate’s personal qualities regarding leadership in academic medicine. The letter from the Stanford faculty mentor addresses how the mentor plans to work with the candidate towards independence and in the job selection process.
6. Additional criteria include the applicant’s record of winning competitive fellowships/grants, the faculty mentor’s record of other trainees in faculty positions, and personal or professional circumstances overcome during graduate studies, postdoctoral training, or current role.

Additional Information

Program Requirements:

Awards are made as salary to support the proposal. The fellowship may not support faculty sponsor’s research; the fellowship aims to facilitate the recipient’s development of their research agenda with the goal of preparing the recipients for their move toward independent labs.

Awardees must be active Stanford postdocs, instructors, or research scientists in the School of Medicine for the duration of the award.

If the proposed research involves animal and/or human subjects/protocols, applicants should apply for the required protocols at the time of submission and not wait to be funded. Funding of the fellowship cannot begin until all protocols are approved. Protocols must list the School of Medicine The Shoshana Levy Early Career Award in Support of Advancement of Women in Science as a possible funding source.

This award is intended to offset existing support from other sources rather than add to existing support.

In accepting this award, the recipient’s department is responsible for adhering to the funding requirements/guidelines. If guidelines are ignored, the recipient may be asked to return all or part of the award, if:

• overspending occurs,
• incorrect expenditure code(s) are used, or
• falsified or misrepresented information that affects eligibility is discovered.

Other Concurrent Fellowship Support and Combination of Awards

If an Awardee receives another fellowship, OPA must be notified. Concurrent funding may be permitted upon discussion with OPA; if concurrent funding is allowed, it would not exceed $10K above the postdoc minimum or pay equity standards set by the awardees department. The committee expects recipients and faculty mentors to report to OPA, in writing, additional external support during the award period or towards the same research proposal or conference trip.

FAQs

Do I have to apply for the McCormick and Shoshana Levy Fellowships separately? No. The application process for the Katharine McCormick Award is combined with the application for the Shoshana Levy Award. Under the newly combined application process, applicants can apply for both awards through the same application. However, only postdocs will be considered for the Katharine McCormick Award, while postdocs, research scientists, and instructors will be considered for the Shoshana Levy Award.

What happens if I can’t attend the interview? Finalists will be asked to participate in a virtual interview. If you will not be available to interview during the interview week (see Important Dates section), you should not apply.

Can funds be carried over beyond 12 months?

• Postdocs who have received the McCormick Award cannot carry the funds beyond 12 months.
• Research Scientists who have received the Shoshana Levy award can carry it over 1-2 years but need to notify OPA at the beginning of the award period.
• Instructors who have received the Shoshana Levy award can do a 2-year disbursement of the award but need approval from OPA.

Can I change the organization of the award? No. The organization of the award cannot be changed once a scholar begins their funding. If an awardee finishes their time at Stanford before the end of their award timeline, they will forfeit the remaining funds in their award. Awardees are required to submit estimated budgets for funding not dedicated to salary.

Who should I put down as my reference? You will need three references - one from the Stanford faculty sponsor and two letters from other faculty, at Stanford or elsewhere.

How does my reference know what the prompts are? There is a section in the application that asks you to provide your reference’s email address. They will be emailed instructions. You can start an application, provide your email address, and complete your application later.

I have a question not addressed here. Who do I talk to? opafellowships@stanford.edu

If I am selected, can I defer? No. Your choices are to accept the Fellowship with the start date of the current cycle, or reject it.

When will I know if I was selected or not? Decisions are communicated to applicants two to three weeks before the start of the cycle.