On 14 May, the non-profit New York Stem Cell Foundation (NYSCF) announced an early-career investigator award programme. A US$27-million gift from philanthropic organization the Robertson Foundation, New York, will support at least 17 high-risk, high-reward grants of $1.5 million each over 5 years. NYSCF chief executive Susan Solomon says their mission is to support early-career stem-cell scientists, who often have difficulty getting funding to start a lab. The NYSCF will make a request for applications on 17 June, but expects support for more positions to become available later this year from other donors. International investigators may apply, but the research must be done in the United States.