Pre-Doctoral Fellowship Award Program Application
2027 Grant Rules Available Now
Purpose
The mission of the KidneyCure Pre-Doctoral Fellowship Program is to attract PhD students to nephrology as a research area in the early stages of their careers.
Doctoral students interested in clinical or basic science may submit a proposal that examines any aspect of the entire spectrum of kidney biology and disease.
2027 Pre-Doctoral Fellowship Application Instructions
Eligibility
Please note that the eligibility criteria have been updated.
KidneyCure invites applications from individuals whose personal backgrounds or life experiences may contribute valuable perspectives to nephrology, particularly those who have encountered barriers to entry in the field. A maximum of two applications per sponsor/mentor/principal investigator will be accepted during any given application cycle.
Pre-doctoral KidneyCure fellowships are available to non-US Citizens so long as they are working in North or Central America, or the Caribbean during the grant term.
To apply for the KidneyCure Pre-Doctoral Fellowship Program, a candidate:
- Must be a current graduate student in an accredited doctoral (PhD) program (graduate students enrolled in MSTP or dual MD/PhD degree do not qualify) and must have passed the qualifying exam or spent at least one year in their primary mentor's lab by the time of application submission.
- May not hold an MD, PhD, DO, DVM, or equivalent terminal degree.
- Must propose a research topic that is kidney-directed.
- Must complete research under the direction and mentorship of a primary sponsor who is performing kidney research.
- Must be an active member of ASN (Membership Type: Student) when the application cycle closes on Thursday, November 19, 2026. Membership must be noted in an applicant's biosketch. ASN provides free membership to students and PhD candidates. The sponsor and all co-sponsors of the candidate must also be active members of ASN when the application cycle closes on Thursday, November 19, 2026, and their membership status must be noted in their biosketch.
- Can hold other external grant support but cannot have support totaling more than the National Institutes of Health guidelines for pre-doctoral students, including KidneyCure funds, at the time of the award activation (July 1, 2026). However, a candidate's institution may supplement the support provided by KidneyCure.
- Must commit a minimum of 75% time to research during the fellowship period.
- Must have a sponsor who demonstrates sufficient funding to support the proposed study of the mentee throughout the fellowship period.
- Must not exceed the maximum number of two applications from a single sponsor/mentor/principal investigator during any given application cycle.
AI Use Policy
The submission of images created by artificial intelligence, machine learning tools, or similar technologies is discouraged, unless part of formal research design or methods, and is not permitted without clear description of the content that was created and the name of the model or tool, version and extension numbers, and manufacturer. If large language models (LLM)/artificial intelligence (AI) tools, such as ChatGPT, are used to create content or assist with writing or application preparation, applicants must take responsibility for the integrity of the content generated by these tools. Applicants should report the use of artificial intelligence, language models, machine learning, or similar technologies to create content or assist with writing or editing of manuscripts in the Citations section if these tools are used in part of formal research design or methods. These citations should include a description of the content that was created or edited and the name of the language model or tool, version and extension numbers, manufacturer, date(s) of use, and confirmation that the authors take responsibility for the integrity of the content generated. Note: this does not include basic tools for checking grammar, spelling, references, etc.
Contact
Please contact KidneyCure with any questions at grants@asn-online.org.