ASTDA Summer Research Fellowship for Graduate/Professional Students and Post-Doctoral Trainees

The ASTDA Summer Research Fellowship is designed to provide financial support for students and post-doctoral trainees to conduct a mentored STI or sexual health-related research project during a 3-4 month period over the academic summer break..

The goals of the Summer Research Fellowship are to:

    • Encourage trainees to conduct STI/sexual health research
    • Provide financial support that permits trainees to dedicate time to an STI or sexual health research project
    • Encourage established STI and sexual health researchers to dedicate time to mentoring trainees and recognize the mentor’s contribution with an honorarium
    • Advance the ASTDA mission to foster scientific knowledge, develop leadership, and champion practice in the field of sexually transmitted infections

Eligible applicants include students enrolled in graduate (masters or doctoral program) or professional school and recent graduates who have completed their degree within the past 3 years and are now post-doctoral scholars. Faculty are not eligible. People who are newer to the field of sexual health/STI will be given priority for this award.

Awardees will receive up to $5,000 stipend to conduct the project. Funds can be used for direct project support or to support the summer living expenses of the awardee (or a combination of these). They will separately receive financial support, up to $2,000, to attend a professional conference to present the research results (including travel, lodging and registration).

Mentors will receive a $2,000 honorarium. Given prior challenges with awarding payment for international awardees, the 2026 summer research fellowships are open to U.S.- and Canada-based applicants and mentors only. We expect to fund at least five awards through this award mechanism.

Awardees will be expected to complete a mid-project progress report and a final report and present their research results at a professional conference.

Application

All applications require the following (any missing information may invalidate the submission):

  • Cover sheet with project title, applicant’s and mentor’s contact information (including email, phone number, and social media handles)
  • Personal statement describing the applicant’s career goals and how this award will advance those goals (1 page maximum)
  • Description of the research project, including objective, activities, and timeline (2 pages)
  • The applicant’s CV or biosketch (no more than 5 pages), including past and current funding
  • The mentor’s CV or biosketch (no more than 5 pages)
  • A brief statement from the mentor confirming a commitment to mentor the applicant if selected for this fellowship

All applications should be submitted as a single PDF to astda@astda.org no later than Wednesday, January 21, 2026, at 11:59 PM Pacific Time.

Selection

Applications will be reviewed by members of the ASTDA Board of Directors and evaluated based on the following criteria:

  • Applicant’s commitment to (or, for those earlier in the training process, interest in exploring) an STI-related career
  • Applicant’s previous record of accomplishments
  • Appropriateness of the identified mentor
  • Feasibility of the proposed research
  • Significance of the proposed research
  • Strength of the proposed research plan
  • Contributions to diversity (applicant or research), broadly defined

We encourage applications from individuals who are members of populations underrepresented in the scientific workforce, defined as follows:

  • Racial and ethnic groups shown by the National Science Foundation to be underrepresented in health-related sciences (Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, American Indian or Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander)
  • People with disabilities, defined according to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
  • People from disadvantaged backgrounds, including those who were eligible for Federal Free and Reduced Lunch or Pell grants, from rural areas, or with a history of being in foster care or experiencing homelessness.

Please note: The proposed project must be focused on an STI or sexual health topic. We will not fund applications exclusively focused on HIV.

Timeline

  • January 21, 2026: Applications due
  • March 2026: Awards announced
  • May 2026: Stipends and mentor honoraria distributed
  • July 2026 – December 2027: Fellows present at a professional conference (e.g., STI Prevention Conference, ISSTDR, STI Engage, IDSA/ID Week, IDSOG, National Sexual Health Conference, or others as relevant)