In late 2025, a private family foundation engaged Milken Institute SPARC to assess how recent shifts in the biomedical research ecosystem have affected early-career researchers (ECRs) in the United States. The goal of this partnership was to develop a strategy to help the foundation identify the most effective ways to support this critical yet vulnerable scientific community by deploying philanthropic capital to maximize impact. 

To inform this work, SPARC first assessed the effects of recent policy changes on the early-career research workforce, particularly postdoctoral researchers and early-career faculty. We analyzed more than 100 funding programs focused on early-career researchers across disease areas and scientific topics to better understand the state of the biomedical workforce funding landscape. This analysis included programs that had lost support due to recent federal policy and priority shifts. SPARC then identified nonprofit funders with the greatest potential to quickly scale support for early-career researchers if provided with additional philanthropic funding and facilitated conversations and partnership development with four organizations.  

Our findings informed the foundation’s strategy, which offered recommendations in four key areas where philanthropic support would have the greatest potential to sustain early-career researchers in the US during this critical period: 

1. Postdoctoral fellowships retain graduates in academic research and support their training. 
2. Transitional funding for postdoctoral researchers facilitates the movement of talented researchers into faculty roles and supports biomedical innovation. 
3. Early-career bridge funding enables ECRs to pursue innovative early-stage research in a competitive funding environment. 
4. Support for career development allows ECRs to develop career skills outside of their research areas, such as communication, mentorship, and entrepreneurship. 

SPARC worked closely with the foundation staff throughout the engagement to guide the board’s decision-making and ensure alignment with the foundation’s goals. As a result, the board decided to support postdoctoral fellowships through partnerships with funders recommended by SPARC. These collaborations are expected to provide significant benefits to the research community and serve as a model for other philanthropic funders interested in supporting the biomedical workforce at this pivotal time.  

To learn more about SPARC’s perspective on ECRs’ importance, read the team’s Milken Institute Insights piece.