Receipt Dates: January 10 and May 10
I. Introduction
The Minority Access to Research Careers (MARC) Policy Statement is intended to provide grantees with specific up-to-date policy guidance regarding MARC grants. This statement is complementary to the one found in the National Research Service Award (NRSA) Guidelines.
II. Purpose
The MARC Branch provides research training opportunities that target students and faculty from minority groups that are underrepresented in the biomedical sciences, as well as more quantitative areas such as mathematics, physics, chemistry, and computer science. As part of its ongoing commitment to the development of prospective underrepresented minority researchers and the enhancement of their training environment, the MARC Branch provides support to underrepresented minority undergraduate students to improve their preparation for graduate training in the biomedical sciences.
The MARC U*STAR Program replaced the MARC Honors Undergraduate Research Training Program. The most significant difference between the two programs is the emphasis on the measurable goals and specific objectives as stated by the applicant institution in fulfilling the objectives of the MARC U*STAR Program.
III. Eligibility Requirements
Institutional
Eligible applicants are domestic, non-profit, private or public institutions which offer the baccalaureate degree and in which student enrollments are drawn substantially from ethnic minority groups that are underrepresented in the biomedical sciences, including mathematics. For purposes of this program, underrepresented minority students are individuals belonging to a particular ethnic or racial group that has been determined by the grantee institution to be underrepresented in biomedical research. Historically, individuals who have been found to be underrepresented in biomedical or behavioral research include, but are not limited to, U.S. citizens who are African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Native Americans, Alaska Natives, Hawaiian Natives, and natives of the U.S. Pacific Islands. The training program director at the applicant institution will be responsible for the selection and appointment of trainees to receive NRSA support and for the overall direction of the program. Only one grant per eligible institution will be awarded.
Student
The MARC U*STAR Program is open to qualified undergraduate honors students majoring in the sciences with both an expressed interest in a career in biomedical research and an intention to pursue graduate education leading to a Ph.D., M.D.-Ph.D. or other combined professional degree-Ph.D.
The usual period of appointment to the MARC U*STAR Program is 2 years and should span the junior/senior year. U*STAR programs should be designed for student participation for up to 24 months, but in special circumstances a senior may be appointed. Appointments of less than 9 months are discouraged and require prior approval from the MARC Branch.
Whenever a trainee is appointed to the grant, the entire stipend and tuition covering that appointment must be charged to the grant year in which the appointment began, even if the appointment period overlaps the budget period. To properly account for these funds, portions of stipends and tuition that extend beyond the budget period are carried as unliquidated obligations.
Freshman and sophomore traineeships are no longer provided. However, institutional programs may be designed to include pre-MARC student development activities to identify and prepare students for the MARC U*STAR Program.
Citizenship
To be appointed to a training position supported by an NRSA research training grant, an individual must be a citizen or non-citizen national of the United States or must have been lawfully admitted for permanent residence (i.e., be in possession of a currently valid Alien Registration Receipt Card I-551, or other legal verification of such status). Non-citizen nationals are generally persons born in outlying possessions of the United States (e.g., American Samoa and Swains Island). Individuals on temporary or student visas are not eligible.
IV. Mechanism of Support
Awards under this program will use the Institutional NRSA T34 mechanism. The responsibility for planning, direction, execution, and evaluation of the proposed project lies solely with the applicant institution. The maximum initial grant period is 5 years, with opportunity for competitive renewal at the end of that period.
V. Training Objectives
The objectives of the MARC U*STAR Program are to increase the number of competitively trained underrepresented minority students enrolled in programs that lead to the research doctorate; to strengthen the faculty, science course curriculum, and research training programs in the biomedical sciences at minority serving institutions; and to aid in the development of the research training infrastructure at minority serving institutions.
VI. Application Procedures
The research grant application Form PHS 398 and supplemental MARC U*STAR Program instructions should be used in applying for these grants. These forms may be obtained from the MARC Branch office listed under Inquiries. Submit a signed, typewritten original application, including the Checklist, and three photocopies of the signed application in one package to:
Center for Scientific Review
National Institutes of Health
6701 Rockledge Drive, Room 1040-MSC 7710
Bethesda, MD 20872-7710
or, Bethesda, MD 20817 (For Express/Courier Service)
At the time of submission, two additional copies of the application must also be sent to the Chief, Office of Scientific Review at NIGMS listed under Inquiries.
Applicants are urged to contact MARC Branch staff at an early stage for assistance and guidance in developing an application.
VII. MARC Program Management at Grantee Institutions
The MARC U*STAR grant is an institutional training grant. As such, it should be administered in a manner consistent with NIH policies for grant administration and NRSA guidelines. The institutional MARC program has a designated program director who is selected by the institution and who functions as the main contact with MARC/NIH at the institution. This person usually assumes responsibility for the overall execution of the program at the institution and is substantially involved in all occupational aspects of the program. He or she keeps the chief institutional officials informed about the program, especially where institutional policies, procedures, and personnel will be affected.
Responsibilities and Functions of the Program Director
The program director should be knowledgeable about the MARC Branch goals and should have a broad perspective of institutional affairs in order to ensure that the MARC program is coordinated and consistent with the objectives and mission of the applicant institution. He/she keeps the institutional officials advised of any major changes or problems that may affect institutional policies and procedures.
Other functions of the MARC program director include, but are not limited to:
- managing the program in a manner consistent with institutional and NIH policies, and NRSA guidelines;
- monitoring and assessing the progress of individual program elements and the overall progress and accomplishments of the program, and communicating current PHS/NIH policies (i.e., on human subjects, animals, and hazardous materials) to the MARC faculty; and
- notifying MARC Branch staff at NIH of any anticipated changes that affect the overall scope of the MARC institutional program.
VIII. Allowable Costs
Stipend Supplementation and Student Compensation
Stipends may be supplemented by non-federal funds, provided the stipend supplementation is without obligation to the student. An institution determines, according to its internal policies, the amount of stipend supplementation; however, only the NIH stipend amount will be reported on the 2271 Appointment Form. Pell grants and VA benefits need not be reported on the 2271. Compensation may not be paid from a research grant supporting the research that is part of the trainee's training experience as approved in the training grant application. The MARC program director must approve all instances of employment apart from the normal full-time training activities. Under no circumstances can funds budgeted for training-related expenses in a MARC grant be used to compensate MARC trainees or other students for work/research performed.
Summer Support for MARC Trainees
Under current NRSA guidelines, individual MARC traineeships may not be held concurrently with another federally sponsored fellowship (e.g., T35 training grants) or similar federal awards which provides a stipend or other duplicate provisions of the NRSA, with the exceptions noted above. Therefore, MARC students who will be externally supported by federal awards during the summer have to be terminated from the MARC program prior to their summer appointment and re-appointed upon return to the home institution. A Termination Notice and a Statement of Appointment will have to be submitted for each trainee. Support for the re-appointed MARC students will come from the grant's current year budget.
MARC trainees participating in summer extramural research at an academic institution can get paid their usual stipends from the MARC program provided they do not receive other federal support. They can, however, receive supplemental non-federal funds provided by the host university for per diem/travel.
MARC trainees who work at NIH laboratories during the summer are paid from their home institution's MARC U*STAR grant which is generally supplemented by funds from other NIH institutes. If this is the case, MARC trainee home institutions have to ensure that the necessary paperwork is processed so that these MARC trainees receive their monthly stipends on time.
Administration/Evaluation of the Program at the Applicant Institution
Salary support (up to 25 percent) to the program director is allowable for that portion of time or effort specifically employed in directing the MARC program. No co-principal investigator salary is allowed. Salaries for secretarial or clerical help (up to 50 percent) are allowable only when in direct support of the MARC program. Costs for evaluation activities are allowable.
Other Trainee Costs
Tuition and fees, including self-only medical insurance for the trainee, are allowable costs if such charges are required of all persons in a similar training status at the institution, without regard to the source of support. Family medical insurance coverage is not an appropriate charge to the MARC U*STAR program.
Trainee Travel
Trainee travel, including attendance at scientific meetings that the institution determines is necessary to the individual's research training is an allowable trainee expense. In addition, support for travel for one summer research training experience away from the grantee institution is permitted.
Trainee-Related Expenses
Funds for trainee-related research supplies up to a maximum of $1,500 may be provided with strong justification. Small pieces of equipment essential for research training courses/workshops may be requested with significant and strong justification up to a maximum of $50,000.
Salary Support
Salary support for participating faculty members (up to 15 percent for 12 months) may be requested for those faculty members who are directly involved in training activities for MARC students, and whose responsibilities for training these students extend beyond what is routinely and normally expected of faculty at the applicant institution. However, salary support for training MARC students and for teaching during the winter/spring intercession is not allowed.
Faculty Travel
Travel for participating faculty, including attendance at scientific meetings that the institution determines is necessary for the individual to maintain professional credentials, is an allowable expense.
IX. Unallowable Costs
Housing, food, or recruitment expenses of any kind are not allowable costs under this program. Stipend support for pre-MARC students is not allowed, nor is salary support for faculty mentoring only. Summer or intercession registration fees for MARC students are not allowed since MARC tuition is awarded for a 12-month period.
The use of funds to provide release time for faculty to write grant proposals is not allowed. Additionally, funds to purchase journals for a grantee institution's library is not an allowable cost.
Renovations and alterations costs are not allowed.
X. Evaluation Plan
NIGMS aims to achieve the goal of significantly increasing the number of underrepresented minorities pursuing biomedical research careers. In order for the MARC Branch to assess its progress toward achieving this goal, MARC U* STAR applicants are required to set their own goals and specific measurable objectives and to submit an evaluation plan that will determine whether there has been progress toward accomplishing these goals and specific measurable objectives.
A successful new application or a competitive renewal should contain: 1) the applicant institution's MARC U*STAR goals; 2) specific measurable objectives using institutional baseline data; and 3) an evaluation plan which should describe the methods to be used to determine that the specific measurable objectives adopted by the institution have been accomplished.
XI. Inclusion of Women and Minorities in Research Involving Human Subjects
It is NIH policy that women and members of minority groups and their sub-populations be included in all NIH-supported biomedical and behavioral research projects involving human subjects, unless a clear and compelling rationale and justification is provided that inclusion is inappropriate with respect to the health of the subjects or the purpose of the research. This policy results from the NIH Revitalization Act of 1993 (Section 492B of Public Law 103-43). All investigators proposing research involving human subjects should read the "NIH Guidelines for Inclusion of Women and Minorities as Subjects in Clinical Research," which were published in the Federal Register on March 28, 1994 (FR 59 14508-14513) and in the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts, August 2, 2000.
XII. Review Considerations
Upon receipt, NIH staff will administratively review applications for completeness and responsiveness to the program announcement. Incomplete applications or applications that do not fall within the guidelines of the MARC policy and supplemental instructions will be returned to the applicant without further consideration. After administrative review, applications will be evaluated in accordance with the criteria stated below for scientific and technical merit by the appropriate peer review groups. The National Advisory General Medical Sciences Council will provide the second level of review.
Review Criteria
- feasibility of the proposal as defined by the stated goals and specific measurable objectives;
- qualifications and experience of the program director and faculty to carry out the proposed program;
- availability of honors undergraduate underrepresented minority students in the participating science departments who are interested in graduate study leading to a Ph.D. in the biomedical sciences or mathematics relevant to biomedicine;
- evidence of underrepresented minority students progressing to, and completing, graduate programs leading to the research doctorate in the biomedical sciences or mathematics relevant to biomedicine;
- feasibility of the student development activity, if proposed;
- the value-added of a special MARC curriculum, if proposed;
- for institutions with limited research capabilities, the value-added of an extramural research experience for MARC trainees;
- appropriateness of the program's plan to meet the goals of the U*STAR initiative as well as the goals and specific measurable objectives which the institution sets forth;
- appropriateness of the administrative plan for managing the proposed program, including adequacy of space for research training, additional courses and/or workshops, and the proposed plan for the trainee's off-campus research experience;
- appropriateness of the applicant institution's plan for evaluating the impact of the program, including a system to track the future course of program participants and their academic and career outcomes;
- evidence of institutional commitment and strength of the efforts of the institution to foster professional development of underrepresented minority faculty and to train underrepresented minority students in biomedical sciences; and
- confidence that eventually, significant change in the research training capabilities of the applicant institution is likely to occur.
Additional Review Considerations
- acceptability of the responsible conduct of research plan;
- the reasonableness of the proposed budget in relation to the proposed research training;
- whether the protection of human and animal subjects has been adequately addressed; and
- whether the inclusion of women, minorities, and children has been adequately addressed.
XIII. Award Criteria
Award decisions will be based on the merit of the applications, the applicants' ability to meet the goals and objectives of this program, and an acceptable responsible conduct of research plan.
Awards are made only to institutions with financial management systems and management capabilities that are acceptable under PHS policy. Awards will be administered under the NIH Grants Policy Statement.
XIV. Change of MARC Program Director
Grantees should refer to the NIH Grants Policy Statement for policies and procedures regarding the change in status of the program director. MARC Program and grants management staff must be notified in writing by a responsible institutional official when the program director will be absent from his or her duties for a month or longer or whenever there is a significant change in the level of effort. When a program director will be absent for a month or longer, an interim program director must be named, and the MARC office must be notified in writing by the appropriate institutional official. This information must be sent to NIH prior to the anticipated absence. If the absence is for more than 3 months, prior approval is required from NIH. To replace a program director during a funding cycle, NIGMS must approve a formal request by the applicant institution.
XV. Inquiries
Written and telephone inquiries concerning this program are encouraged. The opportunity to clarify any issues or questions from potential applicants is welcomed.
Direct inquiries regarding programmatic issues to:
Adolphus P. Toliver, Ph.D
Chief, MARC Branch
National Institute of General Medical Sciences, NIH
Building 45, Room 2AS.37
45 Center Drive, MSC 6200
Bethesda, MD 20892-6200
Telephone: 301-594-3900
FAX: 301-480-2753
E-mail: tolivera@nigms.nih.gov
Direct inquiries regarding fiscal matters to:
Lori Burge
Grants Management Specialist
Grants Management Branch
Division of Extramural Activities
National Institute of General Medical Sciences, NIH
45 Center Drive, MSC 6200
Room 2AN.50A
Bethesda, MD 20892-6200
Tel: 301-451-3781
Fax: 301-480-2554
E-mail: burgel@nigms.nih.gov
XVI. Authority and Regulations
NSRA Institutional Training Grants are made under the authority of Section 487 of the Public Health Service (PHS) Act as amended and administered under Title 42 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Part 66. The Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance 93.880 is applicable to these awards.
The PHS strongly encourages all grant recipients to provide a smoke-free workplace and promote the non-use of all tobacco products. In addition, Public Law 103-227, the Pro-Children Act if 1994, prohibits smoking in certain facilities (or in come cases, any portion of a facility) in which regular or routine education, library, day care, health care or early childhood development services are provided to children. This is consistent with the PHS mission to protect and advance the physical and mental health of the American people.
