Life Sciences Research Foundation
ActivoScience & Technology
About Life Sciences Research Foundation
Supporting exceptional postdoctoral researchers in all areas of basic life sciences discovery by identifying outstanding young scientists and securing multi-year funding for their postdoctoral research.
Focus Areas
BiochemistryCancer BiologyCell BiologyComputational BiologyDevelopmental BiologyImmunologyMicrobiologyMolecular BiologyNeurobiologyOrganismal/Population & Evolutionary BiologyPhysiologyPlant BiologyStructural BiologyVirology
Who They Fund
graduate studentspostdoctoral researchersearly-career scientistsacademic researchers/faculty
Funding Style
individual research fellowshipsearly-career researcher supportproject-based research fundingcareer development / training grants
Topics
biological sciences researchbasic and/or translational biologylaboratory-based scientific researchscientific talent pipeline development
About Life Sciences Research Foundation
Life Sciences Research Foundation’s recent awards center on three-year postdoctoral fellowships in basic life sciences, with named support routed to individual researchers at nonprofit universities and research institutions. The foundation’s grantmaking is built around research fellowships rather than institutional program support, and the award structure pairs salary or stipend support with a research allowance for mentored work in a host laboratory. Recent grants show repeated support for the same universities across multiple years, including Harvard Medical School and Rockefeller University, suggesting an ongoing fellowship model rather than one-off project grants. The pattern also reaches a wide set of research environments, from private universities to federal or independent research institutions. Awards to Princeton University and Stanford University sit alongside grants to the University of California, Berkeley and the Carnegie Institution for Science, all labeled for research fellowships in biological sciences. Across the grant list, the funding consistently supports postdoctoral researchers working in discovery-driven biology rather than broad operating support. That emphasis aligns with the foundation’s stated mission of identifying outstanding young scientists and securing multi-year funding for postdoctoral research.
What Life Sciences Research Foundation Funds
The foundation supports a broad set of basic life sciences disciplines through named fellowship support. In biological sciences research, it gave $402,000 to Harvard Medical School in 2023 and $366,000 in 2024, both to fund research fellowships in biological sciences. Its support also reaches major research universities and independent labs. It awarded $288,000 to Rockefeller University in 2025 and $247,750 to Princeton University in 2025 for the same purpose. Stanford University received $221,000 in 2025, continuing a multi-year pattern of fellowship support. The topic list spans biochemistry, cancer biology, cell biology, computational biology, developmental biology, immunology, microbiology, molecular biology, neurobiology, organismal and population biology, physiology, plant biology, structural biology, and virology. The recent grants reflect that breadth through a single mechanism: fellowships for postdoctoral researchers in basic life sciences.
How Life Sciences Research Foundation Gives
Typical awards cluster at $67,000 at the 25th percentile and median, with a $134,000 75th percentile, while the active fellowship program is structured as a three-year award totaling $255,000. The recent grant record shows repeat funding to the same institutions across 2023, 2024, and 2025, including Harvard Medical School, Princeton University, Stanford University, Rockefeller University, University of Pennsylvania, New York University, and University of California, San Francisco. That points to recurring institutional fellowship commitments rather than isolated awards. Life Sciences Research Foundation is a regular funder and does not fund individuals directly; its grants are routed through host institutions for named postdoctoral researchers. The listed fellowship programs do not accept unsolicited applications.
Where Life Sciences Research Foundation Makes Grants
Grantmaking is national and entirely U.S.-based in the recent grant record, with 78 grants to U.S. recipients and none outside the country. California appears most often by grant count, and the list includes Stanford University in Stanford, University of California, Berkeley in Berkeley, University of California, San Francisco in San Francisco, and University of California San Diego in La Jolla. Other frequent recipient cities include Boston, New York, Princeton, Philadelphia, and Dallas. The foundation’s headquarters are in Charlotte, North Carolina, but no recent grants in the list went to North Carolina recipients.
Frequently Asked Questions About Life Sciences Research Foundation
What does Life Sciences Research Foundation fund?
It funds three-year postdoctoral fellowships in basic life sciences, with support named to a specific postdoctoral researcher at a nonprofit university or research institution. The active fellowship program includes salary or stipend support plus a research allowance for mentored basic life sciences research.
What are the typical grant sizes?
Typical grant size is $67,000 at both the 25th percentile and the median, with $134,000 at the 75th percentile. The active fellowship program is a three-year award totaling $255,000.
Do they support recurring relationships with institutions?
Yes. The recent grant list shows repeated awards over multiple years to Harvard Medical School, Princeton University, Stanford University, Rockefeller University, University of Pennsylvania, New York University, and University of California, San Francisco.
Where do their grants go geographically?
The recent grant record is entirely U.S.-based, with 78 grants to U.S. recipients. California receives the most grants by count, and cities appearing repeatedly include Stanford, Berkeley, San Francisco, La Jolla, Boston, New York, Princeton, Philadelphia, and Dallas.
Can individuals apply directly?
The foundation does not fund individuals directly. Its fellowships are awarded to a named postdoctoral researcher through a host university or research institution, and the listed fellowship programs do not accept unsolicited applications.
Financial Snapshot
Annual Giving
$8.5M
Total Assets
$3.5M
Total Revenue
$2.8M
Total Expenses
$2.9M
Latest 990 Filing
2025
Source: IRS Form 990-PF, fiscal year 2025.
Typical Grant Size
Most grants fall between $67K and $134K, with a median of $67K.
25th Percentile
$67K
Median
$67K
75th Percentile
$134K
Geographic Reach
National16 states funded
About 0% of grants go to recipients in CA.
Intensidad de financiamiento
BajaAlta
Sede
Leadership
SUSAN DAVIDSON
Accepts unsolicited proposals
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