HUPO 2026 Early Career Researchers | Manuscript, 3MT & Poster Competitions

Early Career
Researchers

HUPO 2026 Early Career Researchers (ECR) Opportunities

The HUPO 2026 Early Career Researcher (ECR) program offers multiple opportunities for graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, junior faculty, and young clinicians to showcase their proteomics research. Participate in the ECR Manuscript Competition, 3-Minute Thesis (3MT) Competition, or Poster Competition to gain international visibility, present your work at HUPO 2026 in Singapore, and compete for cash prizes.

The HUPO Early Career Researcher (ECR) Committee is pleased to announce a call for the 12th anniversary of the ECR Manuscript Competition, sponsored by Taylor and Francis, at HUPO 2026 taking place September 27 – October 1, in Singapore. The Manuscript Competition is a unique opportunity for early career researchers to gain visibility in the proteomics community, as it serves as a platform to highlight the invaluable contributions that postdoctoral fellows, young clinicians, and junior faculty members make to the proteomics field.

We encourage early career proteomics researchers to participate in this competition with an already published or accepted manuscript during the 2025 and 2026 calendar years. Three finalists will be selected to present their publications in a dedicated plenary session at HUPO 2026, where an expert committee will evaluate the oral presentations to determine the “Proteomics Highlight of the Year” by an ECR.

This competition is intended for

Postdoctoral fellows (Ph.D. degree awarded post January 2020),
Junior faculty members (appointment post January 2022 and PhD awarded post January 2014), and
Young clinicians (M.D. degree awarded post January 2019).
Applicants must be HUPO members.
Career interruptions and leave, such as parental leave, will be considered to extend the eligibility period.
Finalists from previous years are not eligible to participate.

The applicant must have contributed significantly to the publication as the first or last (or shared first/last) author.
The publication must be an original research article.
Review articles will not be considered for this competition.
The publication must have been accepted or printed for publication at the time of submission for the competition but must not have been published before January 1, 2025.
Manuscripts that were posted on bioRxiv and other pre-print servers prior to publication will be considered (i.e., prior to January 1, 2025).
The publication must be in English.

A complete application must include the documents listed below. Send completed applications by email to ecr@hupo.org.

A single publication file as a pdf (including the supplementary information, if applicable) and 

Single publication file as a pdf (including the supplementary information if it applies)
A short statement (300 words maximum) in which the applicant describes the novelty and impact of the publication on the field of proteomics.
Evidence of HUPO membership (screenshot of membership or member ID).

The HUPO Early Career Researcher (ECR) Committee in collaboration with the Human Proteome Project (HPP) is organizing the third edition of its 3-minute thesis competition, where candidates will present their research within 3 minutes using one static slide and in a form that can be understood by a general lay audience. Up to 12 candidates will be pre-selected for the final competition based on a submitted lay abstract. The competition will be held in a dedicated parallel session at HUPO 2026 in Singapore and you are invited to participate. An expert committee will evaluate the presentations to determine the winner and two runners up. This competition is kindly sponsored by Mass Dynamics. The winner will receive a cash prize of USD 500 and two runners up will each take home USD 300. You won’t want to miss this action!

Open to Ph.D. students who have not defended at the time of application.
Applicants must be HUPO members.

Candidates will be selected as finalists based on effective communication of their research topic in the lay abstract and the novelty and potential impact of their work. Importantly, the lay abstract should be written in the way that a non-expert understands the topic and impact of the research. The selected finalists will be notified by early July and will be asked to provide a short biosketch and headshot picture within five business days of receiving their notifications. Selected candidates are required to also submit an abstract for oral or poster presentation for HUPO 2026. The live presentations will be judged on the same criteria by a panel of judges in the dedicated parallel session at HUPO 2026.

Applicants should submit a lay abstract through the HUPO 2026 abstract submission portal without scientific jargons that describes their research for a general, non-expert audience. Abstract text should not exceed 300 words (Abstract topic: 3-Minute Thesis Competition). Abstracts that are not written for a lay audience and are the same or very similar to abstracts submitted for talks or posters at HUPO 2026 will be automatically disqualified for the competition.

Awards will be presented during the Closing Ceremony & Awards Session at HUPO 2026. Cash prizes (USD 500 to winner and USD 300 each to two runners-up) will be provided post-congress.

The HUPO Early Career Researcher (ECR) Committee invites all graduate students (Master and PhD) and postdocs to participate in the poster competition at HUPO 2026 in Singapore to win awards along with cash prizes. To participate, graduate students and postdocs only need to indicate during the abstract submission whether they would like to participate in the competition. The 2026 poster competition is kindly sponsored by Pelago Biosciences.

Fifteen posters in each trainee category (graduate students and postdocs) will be pre-selected based on the quality, novelty and potential impact of submitted abstracts. Posters will be visited by evaluators during the poster sessions at HUPO 2026 to select a winner and runner up for each level (graduate student and postdocs). Award winners will be highlighted during the HUPO 2026 Closing Ceremony & Awards Session.

All graduate students (Master and PhD) and postdocs can apply for the competition upon abstract submission for HUPO 2026.
Applicants must be HUPO members.

During the abstract submission for HUPO 2026, Master’s students, PhD students, and postdocs must indicate if they want to also participate in the poster competition. For abstracts that will subsequently be selected for short talks, a poster can still be presented ensuring participation in the poster competition

15 posters in each trainee category (graduate students and postdocs) will be pre-selected based on the quality, novelty and potential impact of submitted abstracts. The selected finalists will be notified by early July. Posters will be visited by evaluators during the poster sessions at HUPO 2026 to select a winner and two runners up for each level (graduate student and postdocs).

Presenters of selected posters will be notified prior to the Congress that their poster will be evaluated during HUPO 2026.

Awards will be presented during the Closing Ceremony & Awards Session at HUPO 2026. Cash prizes (USD 500 for the winner and USD 300 for the runners up both at the graduate student and postdoc level) will be provided post-congress.