Funder: Research to Prevent Blindness
Due Dates: December 15, 2026 (January nomination) | January 10, 2027 (January application) | June 15, 2027 (July nomination) | July 1, 2027 (July application)
Funding Amounts: $30,000 for one year, plus up to $8,000 in discretionary relocation support
Summary: Supports medical students taking a year off medical school for full-time, mentored vision research in an RPB-supported ophthalmology department.
Key Information: Applicants require nomination by the Chair of a current RPB-grantee ophthalmology department.
Description
Research to Prevent Blindness (RPB) offers Medical Student Eye Research Fellowships to give medical students a year of dedicated research training within an RPB-supported department of ophthalmology. The program accepts any topic in vision research, without specific discipline criteria or scientific focus. Alongside its allopathic medical student awards, RPB partners with the American Osteopathic Colleges of Ophthalmology & Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery Foundation to offer one award specifically for an osteopathic medical student.
The fellowship is intended to develop the student through a substantive research project, not to secure a residency or simply provide technical assistance to a mentor or laboratory. Applications must explain the project's objectives, the student's role, and expected learning outcomes. Review considers the candidate, mentor, and proposed training program.
