REVISION OF NIH CAREER DEVELOPMENT GRANT MECHANISMS NIH GUIDE, Volume 24, Number 15, April 28, 1995 P.T. 34 Keywords: Grants Administration/Policy+ National Institutes of Health The program announcements that follow in this edition of the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts describe the six new career development grant mechanisms (K-series) that replace the 14 previous awards. The new grant mechanisms have been developed to streamline the system of career awards. They do not change the instructions for preparing career award applications as described in the Research Career Development Awards section of the Public Health Service (PHS) Grant Application Form (Form PHS 398) nor do they appreciably change the eligibility of individuals for career award support. They do, however, simplify the career grant options so that prospective applicants can more easily understand how these awards mesh with their own career goals and can be used to enhance the development of their research skills. The new awards are organized by career level, the type of previous training, and whether a mentor is required. For example, the Mentored Clinical Scientists Development Award (K08) provides support for individuals with health-professional degrees who require an intensive, supervised research experience that will lead to independence as a researcher. This award replaces four awards with comparable provisions: the Clinical Investigator Award (K08), the Physician Scientist Award (K11), the Dental Scientist Award (K15), and the Scientist Development Award for Clinicians (K20). The program announcement for the Mentored Clinical Scientist Development Award (K08) will provide applicants with general information about application characteristics and review criteria that are common across most of the NIH Institutes and Centers (ICs). Prospective applicants are advised, however, that some of the new awards are not supported by all of the ICs, some of the ICs selectively encourage career development in specific fields or for individuals with previous training in specialized areas, and some of the ICs offer different award provisions such as salary and research expenses. In some cases, an IC will issue a separate program announcement (PA) or request for applications (RFA) to describe the specific provisions or intent of their award. Accordingly, applicants are strongly encouraged to examine the list of participating NIH institutes and centers for each program announcement and to make contact with one of the individuals listed at under the INQUIRIES section of each program announcement, prior to developing an application. The new awards are organized as follows: o MENTORED RESEARCH SCIENTIST DEVELOPMENT AWARD (K01)--an award to provide research scientists with an additional period of sponsored research experience as a way to gain expertise in a research area new to the applicant or in an area which would demonstrably enhance the applicant's scientific career. This award is generally reserved for individuals interested in switching to a new research field, for individuals who have interrupted their career because of illness or pressing family care responsibilities, or for faculty at minority institutions who wish to enhance their capacity for independent research. This proposed mechanism replaces the K01, K14, K17 and K21 mechanisms. o INDEPENDENT SCIENTIST AWARD (K02)--an award to support recently independent scientists with outstanding potential to become future leaders in biomedical, behavioral or clinical sciences. This proposed mechanism replaces the K02 and the K04 mechanisms. o SENIOR SCIENTIST AWARD (K05)--an award to support senior scientists who are recognized leaders in the field. This mechanism is the same as the K05 mechanism. o ACADEMIC CAREER AWARD (K07)--an award to support individuals who wish to develop expertise in a specific academic area or to support acknowledged experts to develop curricula and research capacity within an academic institution. This mechanism is the same as the current K07. o MENTORED CLINICAL SCIENTIST DEVELOPMENT AWARD (K08)--an individual award for clinicians who need an intensive period of mentored research experience. This proposed mechanism replaces the K08, K11, K15 and K20 mechanisms. o MENTORED CLINICAL SCIENTIST DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM AWARD (K12)--the program variant of the K08. This award replaces the K12 and K16 mechanisms. As mentioned above, not all of the NIH ICs participate in a regular basis in each of these awards. The following is a listing of the currently participating ICs: o MENTORED RESEARCH SCIENTIST DEVELOPMENT AWARD (K01) -- National Institute on Aging, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, National Institute on Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, National Cancer Institute, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institute of Nursing Research, National Center for Human Genome Research, National Center for Research Resources o INDEPENDENT SCIENTIST AWARD (K02) -- National Institute on Aging, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institute on Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institute of Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, National Institute of Dental Research, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institute of Mental Health o SENIOR SCIENTIST AWARD (K05) -- National Institute on Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse, National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institute of Mental Health o ACADEMIC CAREER AWARD (K07) -- National Institute on Aging, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, National Institute on Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, National Cancer Institute, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Institute of Mental Health o MENTORED CLINICAL SCIENTIST DEVELOPMENT AWARD (K08) -- National Institute on Aging, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institute on Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, National Cancer Institute, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, National Institute of Dental Research, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Eye Institute, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke o MENTORED CLINICAL SCIENTIST DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM AWARD (K12) -- National Institute on Aging, National Institute of Dental Research Applicants should direct inquiries to one of the Institute or Center contacts listed in the program announcement for each specific career award. If you need additional information about the policies and procedures related to career awards or you need assistance in identifying an appropriate contact, you may wish to write or call: Dr. Walter Schaffer Research Training and Special Program Office National Institutes of Health Building 31, Room 5B44 Bethesda, MD 20892 Telephone: (301) 496-9743 FAX: (301) 496-0166 Email: ws11q@nih.gov .
Return to NIH Guide Main Index
Office of Extramural Research (OER) |
National Institutes of Health (NIH) 9000 Rockville Pike Bethesda, Maryland 20892 |
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) |
||||||||
Note: For help accessing PDF, RTF, MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint, RealPlayer, Video or Flash files, see Help Downloading Files. |