Funder: NIH Challenges
Due Dates: October 15, 2026 (Mentee nominations) | November 23, 2026 (Mentor submissions)
Funding Amounts: $100,000 each for up to six winners; total prize pool up to $600,000
Summary: Recognizes outstanding faculty mentorship in aging research and encourages expanded mentoring opportunities and shared best practices.
Key Information: Mentors must receive at least two unsolicited mentee nominations and an invitation to apply; prizes go to their institutions.
Description
The National Institute on Aging’s Office of Strategic Extramural Programs hosts this prize competition to recognize and stimulate excellence in aging research mentorship. It addresses limited institutional support and recognition for mentors, whose training responsibilities often accompany other professional duties. The competition recognizes faculty mentors’ accomplishments rather than funding a proposed research project.
NIA aims to help outstanding mentors dedicate time to developing additional aging researchers, create resources that share mentorship best practices, and encourage institutions to value mentoring. Selection emphasizes commitment to trainee development, demonstrable contributions to mentees’ career progression, mentorship culture beyond the laboratory, and scientific excellence and rigor. Early career and midcareer/established mentors compete in separate categories.
