Limited Submission Opportunity 

2027 American Heart Association Institutional Award for Undergraduate Student Training 

Number of SLU slots: 1 program director 

Internal Deadline: July 17,2026 

Proposal deadline to Funder: Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2026 

Award notification: Dec. 2026 

Award start: January. 1, 2027 

The Award & Eligibility Criteria 

This is an institutional award, made to qualified institutions that can offer a meaningful research experience that supports the mission of the American Heart Association to undergraduate college students.  Link to program https://professional.heart.org/en/research-programs/aha-funding-opportunities/institutional-award-for-undergraduate-student-training 

Eligibility 

The program director is the applicant for this award. At the time of application, the program director must: 

• possess a demonstrated track record of providing mentoring to student researchers;  

• be a full-time faculty member at the level of assistant professor (or equivalent) or above;  

• provide a detailed description of institutional support that is available to sponsors and students;  

• list potential sponsors, along with brief details about their background and nature of work;  

• outline how potential student awardees will be identified and recruited;  

• provide the procedure that sponsor/student teams will follow to compete for AHA funds granted to the institution; 

• submit a plan for obtaining annual feedback from current and former trainees to assess the quality and effectiveness of the fellowship experience. 

Program Structure 

The institution must include a student recruitment plan that is open to students at any school. A sponsor/student team may be located at any non-research undergraduate institution if there is a letter from the sponsoring institution assuring support for the project and responsibility for the student’s work. Preference should not be given to current students of the sponsors' laboratories. The institution is strongly encouraged to recruit students from groups that are underrepresented in science. The institution may apply for support for two to five students per year. The request must be justified by the institution, based on how many students they can effectively manage. This is a three-year award that supports two to five students per institution, per year. Renewal is based on satisfactory interim reporting from students, sponsors, and the program director. 

Award Duration: Three years 
 
Total Stipends: $36,000 - $60,000 
 
Total Award Maximum: $165,000 
 

Guidance for the Nomination Process 
 

An internal competition will be held to assign the single slot. Interested PIs should submit a project summary of their proposed project and Biosketch in NIH format in OpenWater by 5pm on July 17, 2026, here:  https://slu.secure-platform.com/a/solicitations/247/home

A SLU faculty selection committee will review and select the most suitable applicant and notify all applicants of the outcome by August 1 2026, barring any unforeseen circumstances.  The submission deadline to the funder is Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2026. 

For more information and a complete list of requirements, please see the guidelines here.  

For more information or questions on nomination process, contact OVPR program manager, Christine Luebbert, Christine.luebbert@slu.edu.