Multidisciplinary Grants Program Opens

A joint effort by the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging & Bioengineering (NIBIB) and Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) will provide start-up funds and sustaining financial support for new graduate study programs that integrate biomedical science and the physical sciences and engineering. HHMI will open a competition this fall for 10 three-year grants of up to $1 million each to support development and early phases of the interdisciplinary programs. NIBIB will provide five additional years of support for the programs through its own peer-reviewed institutional training grants. Combined investment by these agencies will be $35 million. The announcement for the program cites several recent studies that have stressed the need for a new kind of graduate education that will prepare scientists to work across disciplinary lines to solve complex biomedical problems. "We're looking for training programs that provide strategies to eliminate or lower barriers between seemingly disparate scientific disciplines," said Peter J. Bruns, HHMI vice president for grants and special programs, in a statement. Details about the program can be found on the Web at http://www.hhmi.org/grants/institutions/nibib.html.