Please review this information before contacting Research Program staff.
We are a small staff and cannot give guidance on individual project proposals. We encourage applicants to consult mentors, grant officers, peers and other institutional resources.
If your question is not answered here, email us.
About the Grant Program
- What research areas does the ATS Research Program fund?
- What projects are currently supported?
- When does the grant cycle open?
- How much funding does the ATS Research Program provide?
- What are this year's application deadlines?
- What percent of applications are funded?
- Should I apply if I think my area of research is atypical for the ATS Research Program's grantmaking?
- Can I submit a proposal that falls outside the current grant offerings?
Grant Eligibility
- What are the grant eligibility requirements?
- May I apply if I am not an ATS Member?
- I work outside the United States. May I apply for a grant?
- What qualifies as an early-career investigator?
- May I apply if there are gaps in my work history?
- Are there any grants for established investigators?
- May I apply for a Research Program grant if I received one in the past?
- May I re-submit a proposal?
- May I hold grants from other organizations?
- What if I have submitted a similar grant to another funding agency?
- Can I apply if I have a K award or K99/R00 award?
Application Forms and Process
- How do I access the letter of intent/full application forms?
- I missed the letter of intent deadline. May I submit a full application?
- I've been invited to submit a full application but I'm having trouble accessing the form.
- May I apply for more than one of the ATS Research Program awards?
- If I am eligible for multiple categories, which do you recommend I submit to?
- May an institution/department/lab submit multiple applications?
- For key personnel, how is "percent effort" defined?
- Are overhead and/or indirect costs an allowable expense?
- Who can serve as a "signing official"?
- How many letters of recommendation will I need?
- Where can I find the necessary application forms?
- What document/uploads are required for the letter of intent submission?
- What document/uploads are required the full application?
- Will I receive scores or written comments?
- Are staff members available to discuss my application before or after submission?
- Who do I contact if my question was not addressed?
About the Grant Program
What research areas does the ATS Research Program fund?
- The ATS Research Program funds research in pulmonary, critical care, and sleep medicine. We encourage applications in basic, translational, and clinical science, pediatric and adult medicine, and patient-oriented and public health topics.
- Refer to Grant Opportunities for details on specific grants.
What projects are currently supported?
- Visit Grant Opportunities section for details on current grants.
- A list of current and previous ATS grant recipients is available here.
When does the grant cycle open?
- In 2025 the ATS is aligning its grant cycle with the calendar year. This year's cycle begins January 21, 2025, with a January 1, 2026 grant start date.
- Funding varies by grant type. For the current cycle, unrestricted and diversity grants are one-year grants of $40,000.
- Refer to Grant Opportunities for specific information on funding levels.
What are this year's application deadlines?
- Letters of intent are due March 12, 2025, 11:59 PM ET for unrestricted and diversity grants only.
- Full applications for partner grants (no LOI required) and unrestricted/unrestricted diversity grants (by invitation only) are due July 1, 2025, 11:59 PM ET.
What percent of applications are funded?
- The Research Program is highly competitive. In 2024, approximately 20 percent of applications were funded.
Should I apply if I think my area of research is atypical for the ATS Research Program's current grantmaking?
- Yes, please consider applying. The diversity of research among our awardees may surprise you.
- Grants are offered in all three pillars of the ATS: pulmonary, critical care, and sleep medicine.
- Grants are offered for basic, translational, and clinical science.
- Grants are offered in pediatric and adult medicine.
- Grants are available to international applicants.
- Grants are encouraged in basic, patient-oriented, and public health topics.
Can I submit a proposal that falls outside the current grant offerings?
- No, the Research Program currently does not acccept proposals or make grants outside our established funding mechanisms.
Grant Eligibility
What are the grant eligibility requirements?
- All Research Program grants must meet the general eligibility requirements. However, additional eligibility requirements vary by award type.
May I apply if I am not an ATS Member?
- Yes. However, at least one of the key personnel on your proposed project must be an ATS member at the time of LOI/application, and the principal investigator must be an ATS member when the grant is awarded (January 2026).
I work outside the United States. May I apply for a grant?
- International applicants are welcome to apply for unrestricted and diversity grants.
- Review the partner grant descriptions for additional eligibility requirements by grant type.
What qualifies as an early-career investigator?
ATS defines early-career investigators as:- within 10 years of receiving a terminal degree (e.g. MD, PhD, DO, MPH) or completing postdoctoral training. For the grant cycle launching in 2025, this means that you must have received your terminal degree no later than 2015.
-
-
For MDs, postdoctoral training includes clinical sub-specialty training, but not research training. For example, if you are an MD in a fellowship or residency, the eligibility window opens when you have completed the clinical training portion. The eligibility window is not inclusive of research training. To be eligible, you must be 0-10 years from your terminal degree or the end of your clinical sub-specialty training.
-
For PhDs, this definition is inclusive of postdoctoral training.
-
For investigators who have completed multiple terminal degrees (e.g. MD/PhD or MD/MPH), eligibility is conferred based on the more recent degree date.exceptions may be considered for extenuating circumstances such as military service or parental leave.
-
-
never having received a non-mentored grant ≥ $100,000 per year for at least 2 years.
- For example, researchers are generally no longer considered early career if they have secured an independent, non-mentored research grant (e.g. R01).
ATS considers exceptions to the early-stage investigator requirement for extenuating circumstances such as parental or military leave. Note that sub-specialty training is not considered an extenuating circumstance.
If you have extenuating circumstances not related to sub-specialty training, contact us before beginning a letter of intent or application.
May I apply if there are gaps in my work history?
- Yes, if you have extenuating circumstances, contact us before beginning a letter of intent or application.
- Extenuating circumstances include factors such as family care responsibilities, illness, disability, and active-duty military service.
Are there any grants for established investigators?
- While the mission of the ATS is to support early-career investigators, some partner grants may be open to investigators at any stage in their career. Review the partner grant descriptions here.
May I apply for a Research Program grant if I received one in the past?
- Yes, you may apply but only if you are not a current Research Program grantee.
- Individuals who have received two Research Program grants are not eligible.
May I re-submit a proposal?
- Yes, if you meet the eligibility requirements, you may resubmit your proposal. If you received written comments, be sure to address them in the application.
May I hold grants from other organizations?
-
Yes, applicants may hold grants from other organizations. However, there cannot be budgetary or significant scientific overlap between the ATS-funded grant and other grants the applicant may hold.
What if I have submitted a similar grant to another funding agency?
- Simultaneous submission of grants with scientific overlap to other funding agencies is allowed.
- However, if multiple grants are funded, then the applicant must notify the ATS within one month of formal award notification.
- A subcommittee of the Scientific Grant Review Committee will assess the degree of overlap. In the case of significant scientific overlap, the applicant will have to choose between the Research Program grant and the other grant.
- Budgetary overlap is not allowed.
Can I apply if I have a K award or K99/R00 award?
- Applicants who hold active career development grants (e.g. K award) are eligible to receive ATS funding, but the projects must be scientifically distinct.
- Applicants who hold active K99/R00 grants are eligible if they are in the K99 phase of their grant at the time of application. Applicants in the R00 phase are not eligible.
Application Forms and Process
How do I access the letter of intent/full application forms?
- For all Research Program grants, applicants must first complete an eligibility quiz to gain access to the letter of intent form (unrestricted and diversity grants only) or the full application (partner grants).
- Access to the eligibility quizzes are via the links on the unrestricted, diversity, and partner grant pages.
- Once you have passed your eligibility quiz, you can access your dashboard and continue your LOI/application through the applicant portal.
I missed the letter of intent deadline. May I submit a full application?
- No, for unrestricted and diversity grants you must submit a letter of intent and be invited to submit a full application.
- Letters of intent are not required for partner grants.
I have been invited to submit a full application but I am having trouble accessing the full application form.
- To access the full application form on the Foundant website, you will need to use the same login and password that you used for your letter of intent submission.
May I apply for more than one Research Program grant?
- Applicants may submit multiple scientifically distinct letters of intent. However, ATS will extend only one invitation to submit a full grant application per applicant. We highly recommend you limit your number of submissions to focus on one quality, well-prepared grant proposal.
- You may not submit the same proposal to multiple categories. In choosing a category for your submission, review the criteria for each award and pick the category most appropriate to your budget and timeline.
- If you are eligible for a partner grant that is appropriate to your budget, we recommend you apply to that category over the unrestricted grants, which receive most applications.
- If you submit a letter of intent for an unrestricted grant and are not invited to submit a full application, you may not resubmit the same proposal for a partner grant application.
If I am eligible for multiple categories, which do you recommend I submit to?
- If you are eligible for a partner grant that is appropriate to your budget, we recommend you apply to that category over the unrestricted grants which receive most applications.
- In choosing a category for your submission, please review the criteria for each award and pick the category most appropriate to your budget and timeline.
May an institution/department/lab submit multiple applications?
For key personnel, how is “percent effort” defined?
- “Percent effort” may be defined by percent of participation on the project, percent of salary support, or a combination of both. Make sure that you are clearly stating how you are defining it.
Are overhead and/or indirect costs an allowable expense?
Who can serve as a “signing official”?
How many letters of recommendation will I need?
- The letter of intent does not require any letters of recommendation.
- The full application requires two letters of recommendation and includes the space to upload letters from collaborators.
Where can I find the necessary application forms?
- All forms can be found in the Application Documents page.
- They are also downloadable from within the application website itself.
What documents/uploads are required for the letter of intent submission?
- The letter of intent requires:
- Certification of Faculty Employment
- PI Biosketch
- Co-investigator Biosketches
- All forms can be found in the Application Documents page.
- For more detailed instructions refer to the LOI Instructions page.
What document uploads are required for the full application?
- The full application requires:
- PI Biosketch
- Mentor Biosketch (if applicable)
- Co-investigator Biosketches (up to two)
- Research Plans
- Literature Cited
- Budget Form
- Lab Resources and Equipment
- Two letters of reference/support
- Signature Form
- Certification of Faculty Employment ( for applications without an LOI stage only)
- All forms can be found on the Application Documents page.
- For more detailed instructions refer to the Full Application Instructions page.
Will I receive scores or written comments?
- Due to the high volume of proposals at the letter of intent stage, we are unable to provide scores, written comments, or customized feedback to applicants.
- Applicants who submit a full application will receive a summary of reviewer comments after the award cycle has concluded.
Are staff members available to discuss my application before or after submission?
- We are unable to discuss individual projects prior to or after the submission of an application. We encourage investigators to use the resources available to them, including mentors, grant officers, and peers.
- The ATS Scientific Grant Review Committee (SGRC) leads a rigorous, NIH-style review process to identify the most impactful research proposals that the ATS Research Program receives. Please consider the NIH “ How to Apply” section a resource for strengthening your application.
Who do I contact if my question was not addressed?
- If your question was not answered here, email researchprogram@thoracic.org.
