Two $300,000 Visionary Grant awards, disbursed over three years ($100,000/year), will be awarded to Ithaca, Cornell Tech, and Geneva-based faculty who advance Cornell’s “…any person…” diversity, equity and inclusion ethos and whose work is in the life sciences at Cornell. The primary goal is to provide significant investment in innovative, visionary research that opens an important new line of inquiry for their laboratory.

The award will be given to Principal Investigators (no co-PIs submissions) at the rank of Assistant Professor in years 3 to 5 of their appointment at Cornell and who have not yet submitted their tenure file for review. In addition, the candidates must have evidence of having submitted proposals for external funding such as an NIH, NSF, USDA, or foundations, etc. grants, prior to submission of an application.

With the exception of faculty salaries, funds from the Schwartz Visionary Grant may be applied toward a wide variety of expenses with the goal of expanding the faculty’s research program into innovative areas. Salary and meeting travel support for a graduate student/postdoc can be covered.

Faculty from colleges and departments in the traditional life science disciplines, as well as those outside such traditional disciplines, are eligible to apply provided they clearly state the likely significant impact of the research on the life sciences.

The Schwartz Visionary Grant will be awarded on a 36-month cycle.

Eligibility

Ithaca- and Geneva-based as well as Cornell Tech assistant professors in years 3 to 5 of their appointment at Cornell are invited to apply.

Application procedure

Letter of Intent

Submit a letter of intent, up to 500 words, by November 10, 2025, to ofdd@cornell.edu with a brief abstract summarizing the project.

Submit application (see guidelines) to ofdd@cornell.edu by December 12, 2025 (applications without a letter of intent will not be considered).

The top candidates will be invited to give a 30 minute oral presentation to the selection committee, who will select two awardees.

Reporting Requirements

The awardees will be required to submit a final report, including an expenditure report. They will meet with Drs. Joan and Ronald Schwartz when they are on campus or connect with them via telephone or email.