To boost interest in plant research, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) in Chevy Chase, Maryland, will for the first time fund plant-science investigator awards. The HHMI and its co-funder, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation in Palo Alto, California, will allocate up to 15 awards worth a total of US$75 million. Plant science is underfunded in the United States, says Robert Tjian, the institute's president, adding that plants serve as useful experimental models for biomedical research. Awardees must have run their own lab for at least four years. They will receive a five-year appointment that may be renewed indefinitely for further five-year terms. The deadline for applications is 9 November.