Drug Discovery
Faculty Starter Grant

Drug discovery involves the innovative application and integration of multiple scientific disciplines to create efficacious, safe, and differentiated treatment options for patients. The PhRMA Foundation seeks to fund novel early-stage, drug discovery research with a clear potential for translation to humans. Proposals should focus on biological validation of potential drug targets, such as molecular targets, targetable pathways, or targetable systems.

Research areas could include, but are not limited to: 

• Cellular and Molecular Biology
• Design and Generation of Pharmacological Tools 
• In Vitro and/or In Vivo Pharmacology 
• Protein Biochemistry 
• Molecular Modelling 
• Structural Biology and Computational Structural Biology
• Biomedical Imaging (e.g., cellular)
• Single Cell Analysis (e.g., CRISPR screens) 
• Spatial Omics 
• Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Computational Approaches   

Projects that focus exclusively on single aspects such as identification of and development of assays for single targets, chemical probes, biomarkers, chemical library screening, or diagnostics will not be considered. Studies considered exploratory in nature should contain a rigor and reproducibility plan. 

Proposals that involve AI approaches (i.e., data-driven ML/DL) should clearly document and reference the methodology, explain the data curation process (sources, quality, quantity), and discuss the wet lab validation process. Expected pitfalls and alternative strategies should be described as well. 

Note: Please ensure you are applying to the correct PhRMA Foundation program. If your project does not align with the goals of the Drug Discovery Program, as outlined above, please review the PhRMA Foundation’s Drug Delivery and Translational Medicine programs to see whether your project fits into one of those programs. Contact the PhRMA Foundation (info@phrmafoundation.org) with your project description if you need further clarification. 

• Applicants (U.S. and non-U.S. citizens) must be full-time, promotion-eligible, research-intensive faculty at a PhD and/or MS degree-granting accredited U.S. university by the time of award activation. (Awards may be activated between January 1, 2026, and August 1, 2026.)
• You are not eligible if your faculty status began before January 1, 2023.
• Applicants who have taken leave from their career (e.g., parenting of a child, childbirth, long-term care of a parent/spouse/child/dependent, personal health issues) that puts them outside of the eligibility time frame can reach out to PhRMA Foundation staff ahead of their LOI submission to determine their eligibility. The Foundation aims to be flexible and adjust these time frames if necessary and appropriate.
• Applicants must be eligible to apply for independent external research funding by their university.
• Applicants should not have other substantial sources of research funding, excluding intramural funding or start-up funding from their university. Applicants are ineligible if they are the principal investigator (PI) of an R or K series award from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), a CAREER award from the National Science Foundation, or other significant financial award from any grant-making institution. Generally, funding over $150,000 a year is considered substantial, unless you are the PI of a grant where funds go to training others. If this is the case, explain in your extended letter.
• The Foundation will not consider multiple applications for similar efforts on the same project. For instance, if a predoc, postdoc, and faculty member from the same lab are all submitting applications for proposed efforts on the same project, the efforts must be separate activities and not duplicative.

• The PhRMA Foundation Faculty Starter Grant in Drug Discovery provides funding of $100,000 for one year.
• Funding is conditional upon the awardee’s continued employment with the university, which will be assessed on a quarterly basis prior to payment. Awardees are required to notify the PhRMA Foundation if they leave the university. Payments will be made directly to the university on behalf of the awardee, with the understanding the university will administer the funds.
• Funds must be used to conduct the proposed research. Funds may not be used for salary support of the awardee, fringe benefits, or indirect costs.
• Funds may be budgeted to include the support of a technician, graduate student, or postdoctoral fellow at an hourly rate. The funds may not be used to provide tuition, fringe benefits, or indirect costs for said personnel. Said personnel may not be an active award recipient of the PhRMA Foundation.
• Up to $1,500 may be used for travel to professional meetings by the awardee.
• Funds may be used to purchase equipment and/or data to support the research efforts.
• Funding may begin as early as January 1, 2026, or on the first day of any month thereafter, up to and including August 1, 2026.
• If you are offered a PhRMA Foundation award, the Foundation will reconfirm your external grant support. Should you receive additional funding in excess of $150,000 in annual direct costs, the PhRMA Foundation award will be withdrawn.
• A final progress report and financial report will be required within 60 days of the grant’s conclusion.
• Unspent funds are to be returned to the PhRMA Foundation upon the grant’s conclusion.
• Any changes to the proposed project must be approved by the PhRMA Foundation.
• Funds are non-transferable.

This is a two-step process. Step one is submitting a letter of intent (LOI) by April 15, 2025, at 12:00 p.m. (noon) ET. If your LOI is accepted, you will be notified by July 1, 2025, that you should proceed to the second step of submitting a full application, due August 28, 2025, at 12:00 p.m. (noon) ET.

To start a letter of intent, go to the ProposalCentral website at proposalcentral.com. If you are a new user of ProposalCentral, follow the link “Create an Account” and complete the registration process. If you are already a registered user, login with your username and password. If you have forgotten your password, click the “Forgot your Password?” link.

Once you are logged in, please click the “Professional Profile” tab at the top and complete steps 1-11 or update with your current information. Your name, degrees, position/title, academic rank, department, and address will be pulled from this page in ProposalCentral.

Step 1: Letter of Intent (LOI)

To submit an LOI, select the “Grant Opportunities” tab in ProposalCentral and a list of applications will be displayed. Find “PhRMA Foundation” and click the “Apply Now” link next to the Faculty Starter Grant in Drug Discovery Program.

Candidates are required to submit the following items at this stage:

1. NIH Biosketch

2. Project Abstract

3. 600-Word LOI

The LOI must describe the research project and its aims. It should be written by the applicant on U.S. letter-sized 8.5” x 11” pages with .5” margin and 11-point font. The first use of any abbreviation or acronym should be preceded by the full name or description. Citations and figures do not count toward the 600-word LOI limit.

4. Research Impact Questions

Provide responses to the Research Impact Questions using the template provided in Proposal Central.

LOIs are due by April 15, 2025, at 12:00 p.m. (noon) ET.

Step 2: Full Application (by invitation)

Applicants whose LOIs are selected by the review committee will be notified by July 1, 2025, and invited to submit a full application.

Full application deadline is August 28, 2025, at 12:00 p.m. (noon) EDT. Late submissions will not be accepted.

To submit a full application, please complete and/or review for accuracy the following sections in ProposalCentral. Submissions that do not meet the requirements will not be considered.

Section 1: General Information

On this page, enter your project title and how much funding you are seeking.

Section 2: Download Templates and Instructions

Use this page to download copies of the program instructions, as well as templates that you must use for the Research Impact Questions and Training Plan.

Section 3: Applicant

The information you provided in the LOI stage will remain in your historical data in ProposalCentral. If needed, update your Professional Profile to include your degrees and a biosketch, as these are required to complete this page of the proposal.

Section 4: Institution Details

The information on this page will be populated from the institutional profile in ProposalCentral’s database. If any information is missing or incorrect, contact the PC Support Team at pcsupport@altum.com or 800-875-2562 (Monday-Friday 8:30 a.m.- 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time).

Section 5: Key Personnel

Use this page to add any Key Personnel to your project. Adding them on this page does not grant them access to your proposal — that must be done on the “Enable Other Users to Access This Proposal” page.

You are required to add your Department Chair.

Section 6: Letters of Reference

The system will NOT accept your application unless the letters of support from your references have been successfully uploaded.

You are required to submit contact information for the following personnel:

• General References: 1-3 people who are familiar with you and your scientific career
• Collaborators: If you have collaborators, they must submit a letter of support. Each collaborator (up to 2) should submit their own letter of support. If you have 3 or more collaborators, they should co-write one letter of support with all their signatures. The person responsible for coordinating this group letter is the name you should enter in this section.

Once you add their names and contact information to your application, an auto-generated email will be sent to them with instructions on what they should address in their letter of support and a personalized hyperlink where they should upload their letter.

Letters of support should be uploaded before August 28 so you can submit your application before 12:00 p.m. (noon) EDT.

We suggest you inform your references in advance of what to include in their letter of support.

General Reference requirements:

• The time period for which they have known the applicant and in what capacity.
• Comment on the applicant’s communication and interpersonal skills, and ability to collaborate with peers on research projects.
• Explanation of how this program will be a productive experience for the applicant and why they should be selected.
• If involved in the applicant’s project, an explanation of their roles and responsibilities regarding the project.

Collaborator Reference requirements:

• Explanation of their involvement and responsibilities with the project.
• The collaborator’s CV or biosketch, attached to the letter as an appendix.

Section 7: Additional Questions

Answer all questions on this page. Be sure your bibliography page is up to date with publications and presentations.

Section 8: Abstract and Keywords

Enter your abstract (written for a broad scientific audience) and keywords. Take heed of the character limit for the abstract.

Section 9: Budget Summary

Enter your project dates and requested support. If you need to add more details than this area permits, please upload a budget justification. 

Section 10: Other Sources of Funding

Briefly list current, pending, and previous funding. Remember, you are ineligible if you have other substantial sources of research funding by the time of award activation. (For example, applicants are ineligible if they are the PI of an R or K series award from the NIH, a CAREER award from the National Science Foundation, or other financial award over $150,000 a year from any grant-making institution.)

Section 11: Organization Assurances

Respond to the questions on this page regarding your IRB and IACUC approval.

Section 12: Attachments

Ensure your name and institution are noted at the top of each attachment.

• Applicant’s NIH-Style Biosketch (required)
  You will have submitted this under the “Applicant” section. Do not include your academic record.
• Extended Letter (required)
  Include a synopsis of your career, professional interests, and desired career path. The letter should not exceed two single-spaced pages (U.S. letter size 8.5” x 11” / .5” margin / 11-point font).
• Research Plan (required)
  Applicants must prepare a comprehensive yet concise research plan. Applicants should use a format similar to that for NIH grants. The research plan should include a specific aims page (one-page limit), followed by your research strategy (not to exceed eight pages) that describes the rationale, significance, research design and methodology, timeline, and preliminary results (if any exist). A bibliography of major references should also be included (bibliographies are not included in the page limit).

  Clearly identify other principals involved as collaborators in the project, the amount of time they will commit, and the amount of time you will commit. Identify the amount of intramural support available for the proposed project and other research efforts by budget categories and amounts. If the university makes the services of a technician available to the candidate, note this. Identify the part of the proposal that will be directly initiated or expedited by the PhRMA Foundation’s funds.

  Required type specifications: U.S. letter size 8.5” x 11” / .5” margin / 11-point font (figures may be provided in a smaller font). The first use of any abbreviation or acronym should be preceded by the full name or description. Submissions that do not meet the specified guidelines for proposal preparation will not be considered.

• Research Impact Questions (required)
  Please respond to the research impact questions using the template provided.
  Note: Question No. 4 has been updated since the LOI stage.
• Budget Justification (optional)
  Upload your budget explaining: 1) how the funds will be used and 2) whether the project receives other funding.

Section 13: Demographics

Responses on this page are confidential.

Section 14: Enable Other Users to Access This Proposal

Use this page to grant access to your proposal to any other users in the system.

• “Administrator” level permissions allow them full control of the proposal.
• “Edit” level permissions allow them to edit the proposal, but not delete it.
• “View” level permissions allow them to view the proposal but not make any changes.

Section 15: Validate

By clicking “Validate” on this page, the system will check your application for any missing or incomplete information.

Section 16: Print Application and Signatures

On this page, you will be able to print a recap of your application. As the applicant, by e-signing this application, you agree that you completed the application yourself. This is required for submission.

If you have given someone at the institution “Edit” access because they need to sign your application, they will e-sign in this section once you have completed your application. This needs to be completed before you “submit” your application.

Note: The PhRMA Foundation does not require anyone other than the applicant to e-sign the application, but your institution may require it.

Section 17: Submit

Do not forget to review your application before you “submit.”

Award notification is December 15, 2025.