History & Funding

The Seeding Postdoctoral Innovators in Research and Education (SPIRE) Postdoctoral Fellowship Program was one of the first grantees to receive funding in 1999 from the special Institutional Research and Academic Career Development Award (IRACDA) program, which is now part of the division of Training, Workforce Development, & Diversity under the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS).

The goal of SPIRE was to address the growing crisis in science education by investing in tomorrow’s science scholars and educators and providing them with a holistic approach to postgraduate professional development. SPIRE strives to blend an outstanding research environment with broad professional development activities and hands-on classroom experiences for those scientists who want to combine research with undergraduate and graduate education.

SPIRE was first funded from 1999 through 2004 by the NIGMS, with supplemental funds from the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS).

SPIRE’s current grant cycle is September 2022-August 2027.