2026 Global Health Research Seed Funding Grant
A $25,000 grant will be awarded to provide funds to develop exciting investigator-initiated concepts focused on global health research, which will hopefully lead to successful longer-term project funding from the NIH or equivalent funding sources.
Examples of global health research include, but are not limited to, telemedicine (e.g., remote planning of radiotherapy or AI-supported automatic cancer prediction from screening data of cancers common in resource-limited settings), development of low-cost technologies for diagnostics and treatment (e.g., auto-contouring of clinical targets applied to clinical trials in resource-limited settings), or enhancement or dissemination of existing global health research resources (e.g., AAPM GRSIC open-source tools, or global clinical trial data). Projects focusing on global health education are eligible, but should include strong research components.
Applications aligning with AAPM’s strategic priorities are especially encouraged, particularly in the following areas:
- Strategic Priority 1: Global health research in emerging medical physics fields such as radiopharmaceutical therapies and expanding beyond the usual radiology and radiation oncology.
- Strategic Priority 2: Global health research in computational physics integrating AI/ML/DT technologies.
Funding for grant recipients will begin on August 31st of the award year. Research results will be submitted for presentation at future AAPM meetings. The award is not intended to provide salary support for the applicant; however, any other research-related expenses, including travel to scientific meetings, will be supported. Funds may be used to partially support salary for students, trainees, lab technicians, etc., to carry out the research. Travel expenses should be included in the submitted budget. Applicants are asked to notify the grant administrator if the same or similar application is submitted to more than one funding source so that the committee can take this into consideration when making final funding decisions. At the end of the 12-month period, a report must be forwarded to the AAPM, along with itemized expenses. The award will not support indirect costs. Any unspent funds should be returned to AAPM.
Sponsored by the AAPM International Council through the AAPM Education & Research Fund.
Eligibility:
- Applicant must be 10 years or less since receipt of a terminal research degree or medical physics residency, whichever is later.
- Applicants must hold any category of AAPM membership, including pending status at the time of application.
- Applicants in the following conditions are considered ineligible:
- Applicants at Associate Professor level or above.
- Previous recipients of grants >$50,000 as principal investigator (including institutional startup funding, industrial awards, and other external grants).
- Previous recipients or projects of AAPM Seed Funding Grant.
- Eligibility extension is possible and will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis, following similar NIH guidelines.
Application Requirements:
- Application must be complete and finalized by April 15, 2026).
- A template of research project description document is provided
- Application questions:
- Three keywords related to your proposed topic
- Project title
- PI’s major research area (select from drop-down menu in application)
- Mentor’s name and role in the project
- Brief project description and relevance to global health research (300-word limit)
Five-page, or less, description of the research project (including figures and tables), separated as follows:
(a) Specific aims
(b) Background and significance
(c) Preliminary results
(d) Research plan
(e) Literature cited
(f) Budget
Note that sections (e) and (f) do not count towards the five-page limit. Combine all files into ONE PDF and upload.
- Letter of support from the division/department chair demonstrating support for the project and authorization of time and resources to complete the proposed research.
- CV (no more than 4 pages).
Review Criteria:
Peer review will be conducted by members of the Global Research Collaboration Sub-Committee (GRCSC) of the Global Research and Scientific Innovation Committee (GRSIC). The scientific merit of the proposal will be judged based on significance to global health, qualifications of investigator, innovation, soundness of approach, research environment, and potential for future funding. Applications that include co-investigators from resource-limited settings are particularly encouraged.
Award Duration: August 31, 2026 - August 31, 2027
► As the competition for the seed grant is high, eligible applicants are encouraged to also submit their applications for other awards, e.g. www.cancer.gov/researchandfunding/training/
Deadline(s):
► Application Deadline: April 15, 2026
► Decision Notifications: By June 2, 2026
Program Contact: grantsandfellowships@aapm.org