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The Out to Innovate Career Development Fellowship, formerly known as the Ben Barres Fellowship, is a $2000-$3000 award for professional development of trans, intersex, and non-binary graduate students in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). This non-renewing fellowship is a merit-based award, and the support provided is intended, broadly construed, for the recipient’s professional development. Examples of eligible purposes include research support; conference/workshop attendance, or research travel; equipment/supplies; transcribing/translation services related to a research project; and/or other professional uses. The fund is not intended to support personal expenses unrelated to research, such as food or rent, tuition, salary or wages. There is no age or citizenship restriction on eligibility for this fellowship, however, funds must be disbursed only to persons or institutions with US bank accounts or PayPal accounts. To be eligible for this fellowship, you must identify as Trans, Non-Binary, or Intersex, and you must be a current graduate student in one of the following STEM fields: Engineering, Biological and Biomedical Sciences, Mathematics and Statistics, or Physical Sciences as defined here. Professional school students (medical, dental, pharmacy, etc) are not eligible for this grant. To apply for this fellowship, applicants will provide a brief description of their current research and research/career goals with a 2-3 paragraph funding proposal, a personal statement, their CV, and answers to demographics questions. Each application must have one letter of support, which may be written by someone in a supervisory capacity: PI, Mentor, Advisor, etc. The letter of support will be submitted by the recommender (not the applicant). Applications will be evaluated on clarity of written proposal, impact of proposed funding on applicant's career, contributions to STEM and LGBTQ+ communities, and strength of support letter. If awarded funds, the recipient will upload a brief report and expense receipts within 6 months of receiving the award. Recipients of the fellowship will retain the option of remaining anonymous in public announcements of the award. Alternatively, they may choose to be publicly acknowledged in Out to Innovate publicity campaigns. Awards will range from $2000 to $3000 per recipient. 2025 Fellowship recipient: Joe Minton The 2026 Fellowship application portal is now open. Follow this link to begin your application process. Submission deadline is March 15, 2026, 11:59 pm Eastern Time. This career development fellowship was initially named after Ben Barres, a prominent passionate transgender Stanford scientist who researched the role of microglia, an immune cell of the brain, and its interaction with neurons in development and disease. Barres was an ardent campaigner for equal opportunity in science, speaking his truth in media before telling his story through a posthumous memoir released after Barres’ death from cancer in 2017 at the age of 63. The fellowship name was changed in 2021 to avoid confusion among applicants for similarly named but unrelated fellowships. |