Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator Program

The Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) invites applications for its Investigator Program, which seeks to expand HHMI’s community of more than 260 Investigators who perform basic biological research at research institutions across the nation.

Approximately 25 new investigators will receive roughly $8 million through the program over a seven-year term, which is renewable, pending favorable scientific review. HHMI encourages Investigators to push their research fields into new areas of inquiry; and do research that radically changes our understanding of how biology works, from molecular, biochemical, and cellular processes to genetics, development, and disease mechanisms, in a wide range of organisms. These fundamental discoveries have been broadly recognized by the scientific community, including Nobel Prizes to more than 30 current or former Investigators.

The program is open to basic researchers and physician-scientists from more than 300 eligible institutions who catalyze research in basic and biomedical sciences, plant biology, evolutionary biology, biophysics, chemical biology, biomedical engineering, and computational biology.

In addition to conducting original research, HHMI Investigators also: direct a research team and create a lab environment suited to tackling fundamental research questions, commit to mentoring and training the next generation of scientists, join an active community of HHMI scientists spanning career stages, and teach and play leadership roles at their host institutions.

To be eligible, applicants must hold a PhD and/or MD (or the equivalent); have a tenured or tenure-track position as an assistant professor or higher academic rank (or the equivalent) at an eligible U.S. institution; and have more than five, but no more than 15, years of post-training, professional experience. To meet this requirement, the applicant’s first post-training professional appointment must have begun no earlier than March 1, 2008, and no later than April 1, 2018, and be the principal investigator on one or more active, national, peer-reviewed research grants with an initial duration of at least three years as of April 1, 2023.

For complete program guidelines, application instructions, and an eligible institution list, see the Howard Hughes Medical Institute website.