Applications for a research award from the Schwartz Research Fund are due Dec. 8.

Two awards – up to $25,000 each – will be given to female faculty or faculty who enhance the diversity, equity and inclusion goals of the university and whose work is in the life sciences.

The grants will support research projects expected to generate novel preliminary data or a significant new line of inquiry and providing the foundation for a subsequent award for major new funding from institutions, such as the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and National Science Foundation.

One award will be given to an assistant professor who has completed the first two years of their appointment. Another award will go to an associate professor.

In 2020, Gerlinde Van de Walle, associate professor of microbiology and immunology at the Baker Institute for Animal Health, received a $25,000 award from the Schwartz Research Fund.

“The funding allowed our lab to establish a novel mammary gland xenotransplantation mouse model to study the pathophysiology of the mammary glands of large mammals,” Van de Walle said. “A paper describing the characterization of this model is currently under review, and with this new model at hand, we were able to submit an R21 grant application to the NIH that received a favorable score.”

Offered through the Provost’s Office of Faculty Development and Diversity since 2016, the Schwartz award is endowed by Joan Poyner Schwartz ’65 and Ronald H. Schwartz ’65, chemistry majors in the College of Arts and Sciences who went on to work at the NIH.

“We are grateful to the Schwartzes for their continuing support and generosity,” said Yael Levitte, senior associate vice provost for faculty development and diversity. “Their support is contributing to the success of our researchers and science.”

For more information about the application process, visit the OFDD’s website or email ofdd@cornell.edu.