Apply for Development’s Pathway to Independence programme

Posted by Alex Eve, on 17 December 2025

Development are currently welcoming applications for our Pathway to Independence (PI) programme, which aims to support a small number of researchers in the fields of developmental biology, stem cells and regeneration as they transition from postdoc to group leader. The PI programme has been developed in consultation with previous cohorts of PI fellows, and will continue to evolve to ensure we provide the most useful support. Currently, selected PI fellows can expect to receive:

A tailored mentorship session with one of our Editors (which could, for example, involve a mock job interview, or help the fellow refine their research proposal).
An in-person meeting in Cambridge including professional leadership training.
Preparation and feedback on preparing a research vision talk.
Profile raising in the form of published interviews and perspective-type articles, as well as scientific webinars.
A growing and supportive peer network with networking opportunities.

Since launching in 2022, the PI programme has supported 24 fellows and you can find out more about them and their research on our website. In addition, all fellows appointed as part of the first cohort in 2023, as well as some from our 2024 cohort, have secured group leader positions. You can learn more about the programme’s success in this Perspective article published in the journal.

This is a competitive scheme. To be eligible, applicants must have a developmental biology, stem cells or regeneration research programme, looking to apply for their first group leader position within the next year or so, and have a publication or preprint from their postdoctoral position to support their job search. We aim to support applicants that have the most to gain to the programme and welcome applicants based anywhere in the world, particularly encouraging applications from outside Europe and North America.

Applications for the PI programme close on Monday 2 February 2026. We aim to inform successful candidates in March 2026. To find applying, and find out more about eligibility and selection, please visit the Pathway to Independence programme page on our grants website. If you have any queries about this initiative, please contact us: devpip@biologists.com.

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Development’s PI fellows (left-to-right): (top) Priti Agarwal, Clotilde Cadart, Loic Fort, Jamse Gahan, Leah Greenspan, Thomas Juan, Polina Kameneva and Yuchan Miao; (middle) Marcella Birtele, Martina Cerise, Lydia Djenoune, Girish Kale, Eirini Maniou, Louis Prahl, Keaton Schuster, Clémentine Villeneuve; (bottom) Ethan Ewe, Max Fanworth, Anzy Miller, Joaquín Navajas Acedo, Marlies Oomen, Giulia Paci, Sonya Widen and Toshimichi Yamada.

Development is published by a not-for-profit publishing organisation, The Company of Biologists, whose mission is to support the biological community. We already offer several grants to the research community, including meeting grants to help offset the cost of running conferences and Travelling Fellowships to support early-career researchers visit other laboratories. The PI programme contributes to these charitable activities. Find out more about why the PI programme was launched in this Editorial announcing the initative.