Human and Planetary Health Early-Career Research Awards (ECA)

The Human and Planetary Health initiative’s Early Career Award program provides seed grants from $50,000 up to $200,000 over two years, to Stanford to early-career faculty members (Stanford-affiliated Assistant Professors or Instructors) with Academic Council or Medical Center Line standing, for interdisciplinary research projects that seek to identify solutions to pressing problems in human and planetary health and advance equity.

The deadline to submit a project proposal to be considered for 2024 has passed.  The next expected call for proposals is November 2024 with a deadline of January 2025. Please sign up for the Human and Planetary Health listserve to stay updated.

About the Program

Health is a critical climate, sustainability, and environmental justice issue. Submissions to the Human and Planetary Health ECA program should explore interactions between global environmental changes and human health, equity, and wellbeing – with an emphasis on developing novel solutions to pressing problems. Proposals will be evaluated for intellectual merit; potential to address challenges in environmental health, an orientation around equity and justice; interdisciplinary strength; community/stakeholder engagement; and potential to secure additional funding in the future.

We seek projects that:  

  • Address complex human and planetary health issues, are innovative in approach, advance equity, and have the potential to produce solutions to major challenges.
  • Provide career-building opportunities for junior faculty and instructors to lead on such research projects. This may include involving Instructors, Clinical Associate Professors as project leads or co-leads. 
  • Take a cross-cutting and multi-disciplinary approach to solving big problems.
  • Engage in one or more of Stanford’s Human and Planetary Health initiative’s areas of focus:
    • Climate and Health 
    • Pollution and Health
    • Ecosystems and Human Wellbeing
    • Healthy Foods for People and the Planet

This call is open to PI-eligible faculty from all seven schools. Projects that create new interdisciplinary collaborations are encouraged. Projects may include team members from off-campus partner institutions, including in Low- or Middle-Income Countries, from nonprofit organizations, industry or government officials.

Key Dates:

  • January 17, 2024: Proposals due
  • May 1, 2024:  Award letters are sent out
  • October 1, 2024: Grants begin. Awards will be for 2 years or less, all grantees are eligible for one no-cost extension if necessary.

Application Link: https://web.stanford.edu/dept/woods/cgi-bin/seed/woods-seed.php

*Note: Requests may be for less than $200,000 and need not be for two years. Applicants are encouraged to be judicious in their requests. ECAs are treated as sponsored research. Awardees who move from Stanford may be permitted to take funding with them. Up to three grants will be awarded in the 2024 round of applications.

If you have any questions about your project or research idea or would like additional information, please contact Allison Phillips at ap10@stanford.edu

2022 Human and Planetary Health Early Career Grantees

PI: Dr. Jenny Suckale, Assistant Professor, Geophysics, Stanford Doerr School
Project Title: Resilient Healthcare Infrastructure Nexus: Assessing Extreme Weather-Related Vulnerability and Identifying Resilience Options in Mozambique, Africa

PI: Dr. Gabrielle Wong-Parodi, Assistant Professor, Earth System Science, Stanford Doerr School 
Project Title: Establishing data-driven community mitigation strategies for climate change and air quality on the Tule River Reservation

PI: Dr. Will Tarpeh, Assistant Professor, Chemical Engineering, Stanford School of Engineering
Project Title: Co-Creating Sanitation Justice: Community-based monitoring and mitigation of climate-exacerbated pollution

Read more about the 2022 grant projects.

Banner Image Credit: Fintrac Inc. / Zimbabwe Agricultural Income & Employment Development Program (Zim-AIED)