Early-career faculty and cross-divisional teams can seek funding for their innovative and collaborative ideas during the 2027 round of the Johns Hopkins University Catalyst and Discovery awards.
The awards are now in their 12th year and have provided hundreds of faculty members with support for their research. Since 2015, more than $70 million in university funds have been distributed via these awards programs.
Application materials can be found on the Office of the Vice Provost for Research website; faculty can submit their proposals until Feb. 15.
"The Catalyst and Discovery awards have been transformational for our institution," says Denis Wirtz, vice provost for research. "These internal awards programs have seeded important new projects from early-career faculty and promoted a new level of interdisciplinary activity among our divisions. They represent a major financial investment aimed at not only producing top-flight research, but also further solidifying the culture of discovery at Johns Hopkins University. I look forward to seeing all the amazing projects that come from this cycle's awardees."
Catalyst Awards support early-career faculty across the university who are undertaking exceptional research or creative endeavors. Awards of up to $100,000 are available to faculty members appointed to a full-time tenure-track or tenure-track-equivalent faculty position within no less than three years and no more than 10 years of service effective July 1, 2027.
Discovery Awards focus on cross-university, faculty-led research and discovery. These awards offer up to $150,000 to spark new ideas and interactions among faculty from across the university. Faculty teams use these funds to launch early-stage projects and build momentum toward securing externally funded, large-scale grants or cooperative agreements. When an opportunity is identified, the principal investigators can work with the Research Development Team to prepare the application.
The 2026 awards cycle provided funds to 20 Catalyst awardees and 40 Discovery teams representing fields and divisions across the institution. Their work includes projects assessing the safety of early mobilization for children after anesthesia, exploring how to develop more fire-resistant housing designs, and developing AI-driven ultrasound tools to enable earlier, more precise, and scalable detection of severe malaria.
