Terms of the Award

Term of Fellowship

The appointment will be for three years. The Fund recognizes that in some instances there may be valid reasons for changing both laboratory and sponsor during the course of the fellowship. Such changes require the permission of the Director with the advice of the Board of Scientific Advisors.

Applicants may be citizens of any country, but for foreign nationals awards will be made only for study in the United States. American citizens may hold a fellowship either in the United States or in a foreign country.

The JCC Fund is committed to mentoring and advancing people from all backgrounds and through its role as a funder of biomedical research, is dedicated to increasing the diversity of the scientific workforce.

Attendance at the annual symposium of the Jane Coffin Childs Fund is required each year of the fellowship. All meeting expenses for attendees’ travel, lodging, and meals hosted by JCC are paid for by JCC.

An award does not constitute an employer-employee relationship between the Foundation and the JCC Fellow, if supported by JCC or Merck.

During the term of the fellowship, sponsors are required to provide medical benefits for the Fellow.

Please note that JCC Fellows supported by the JCC/HHMI partnership and in the laboratory of an HHMI investigator have unique terms as outlined at the time of the award by JCC and HHMI.

Stipend & Expenses

  • The basic stipend is $70,000 for the first year, $72,000 for the second year, and $74,000 the third year.
  • An additional $1,000 of stipend support is provided annually per dependent child under the age of 18.
  • An allowance of $2,000 a year toward the cost of the research will be made available to the laboratory sponsoring the fellow. The research allowance is not to be used for travel and the use of the research funds are left to the discrepancy of the fellow and sponsor.
  • The fellow may be reimbursed up to $1,800 total for travel to scientific meetings. Travel funding is to be spent over the three year fellowship according to the Jane Coffin Childs Fund travel policy that is distributed to fellows at the time of award notification.
  • The Fund provides a one-time relocation award for the fellow and their family to move to the sponsoring laboratory, capped at $500. This award is only provided if the Fellow has not yet moved to their lab when the award starts on July 1 of the award year and cannot be used for relocation during the fellowship or for relocation prior to the start of the award.
  • In 2008, The Joan A. Steitz Fund of the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven was established as an Endowed Designated Fund for the benefit of Jane Coffin Childs Memorial Fund to provide stipends for child care to all fellows with dependents under the age of 18.  There is no application or paperwork due on the part of the fellow and further information will be provided to awardees at the time of award.
  • Second and third year funding of awards is contingent upon submission of an annual fiscal and narrative report.

Indirect Costs

  • The Jane Coffin Childs Memorial Fund for Medical Research is a non-profit organization that currently awards fellowships for full-time training of postdoctoral fellows.  No indirect costs are provided to the sponsoring institution.

Intellectual Property

  • Fellows should notify the Fund whenever a patent has been applied for and Jane Coffin Childs Fund has supported the awardee during the development of the patentable intellectual property
  • The Jane Coffin Childs Fund requests that awardees adhere to the established patent policy of the institution at which the primary sponsor is working
  • In the event that the institution does not have an established patent policy, the Jane Coffin Childs Fund has the right to join with the sponsor and the sponsoring institution in determining
    1. The procedure to be followed in applying for a patent, and
    2. The manner of administering any patent resulting from such application.

Communication  Policy

  • The Fellow should communicate new publication details during the tenure of their fellowship to the JCC Office.  Fellows should acknowledge support from the Fund by including the following statement:

(FELLOW’S INITIALS) is a Fellow of The Jane Coffin Childs Fund for Medical Research

If presenting a poster or talk, fellows should include the Jane Coffin Childs Fund logo to their materials and designate Jane Coffin Childs Fund as a funder in all funding acknowledgements during your tenure as a fellow