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LRPs for NIH Employees - Intramural Programs
General Eligibility Criteria
To be eligible for consideration, individuals must be (1) citizens, nationals, or permanent residents
of the United States; (2) hold a Ph.D., M.D., D.O., D.D.S., D.M.D., Pharm.D., or equivalent doctoral
level degree; or a P.A., B.S.N. or A.D.N. degree {NOTE: Applicants with a doctorate of veterinary medicine (D.V.M.) are eligible for all
intramural LRPs except the Clinical Research LRP for Individuals from Disadvantaged Background unless
they also hold one of the degrees listed above.}; (3) must be employed by or have a firm commitment of employment from an authorized official of the NIH (Please be advised that IRTA and CRTA fellows are “trainees” and not considered NIH FTE employees and are not eligible for LRP benefits.); and (4) have qualifying educational debt in excess of 20 percent of
their annual NIH base salary on the expected date of program eligibility. The expected date of program
eligibility is the date by which (a) an applicant begins a qualified research assignment (see below) as
an NIH employee and (b) the Secretary executes his or her LRP contract. The applicant must have a formal
appointment in the NIH intramural research program (click here for additional information on research eligibility determination).
Qualified Research Assignments
For the AIDS and CR LRPs, qualified research assignments must involve AIDS or clinical research
(see Appendix III) and be approved by the Loan Repayment Committee (LRC)
(see "Application Process"). In support of the objectives of these
LRPs, if applicable, an individual who is already employed by the NIH and applies to these LRPs must
demonstrate his/her ability and intention to transfer from a non-qualified to a qualified AIDS or
clinical research assignment.
Unlike the AIDS and CR LRPs, the General LRP is not targeted towards a specific area (e.g., AIDS) or type
(e.g., clinical) of research. Rather, the focus is on attracting and retaining highly talented investigators
to pursue biomedical research studies and investigations in a variety of scientific disciplines. Generally,
this LRP is used to attract or retain more senior researchers, rather than trainees. For the General LRP, a
"qualified research assignment" is one that is approved by the LRC (see "Application Process")
based on the
nature of the proposed research and its relationship to the mission and priorities of the NIH.
Additional Requirements for the Clinical Research LRP for Individuals from Disadvantaged Backgrounds
In addition, the following conditions apply to the CR-LRP only: (1) an individual must be from a
"disadvantaged background"; and (2) be engaged in "clinical research." An individual
is engaged in clinical research if (1) he/she has been awarded clinical privileges by the Clinical
Center Medical Board or an appropriate credentialing board upon NIH employment; or (2) his/her
supervisor submits a written statement certifying that the individual is currently engaged in
clinical research as defined by the Clinical Research Enhancement Act (P.L. 106-505).
An individual from a disadvantaged background is one who comes from a family with an annual income
below a level based on low-income thresholds according to family size published by the U.S. Bureau
of the Census, adjusted annually for changes in the Consumer Price Index, and adjusted by the Secretary
for use in all health professions programs. The Secretary periodically publishes these income levels
in the Federal Register.
A CR-LRP applicant must certify disadvantaged status under the above definition by submitting (1)
a written statement from the individual's former health professions school(s) that he/she qualified
for Federal disadvantaged assistance during attendance; OR (2) documentation that he/she has received
any of the following student loans: Health Professions Student Loans (HPSL) and Loans for Disadvantaged
Student Program. Additionally, individuals who received scholarships from the U.S. Department of Health
and Human Services under the Scholarship for Individuals with Exceptional Financial Need may also qualify
as being from a disadvantaged background. Current financial need is NOT sufficient to classify an individual
as being from a disadvantaged background.
Ineligible Individuals
The following individuals are ineligible for participation in any of NIH's LRPs:
1. Persons who are not United States citizens, nationals, or permanent residents;
2. Any individual who has a Federal judgment lien against his/her property arising from a Federal debt is
precluded from receiving Federal funds until the judgment is paid in full or satisfied;*
3. Any individual who owes an obligation of health professional service to the Federal Government, a State,
or other entity, unless deferrals are granted for the length of their LRP service obligation. The following
are examples of programs with service obligations which disqualify an applicant from consideration:
- Physicians Shortage Area Scholarship Program,
- National Research Service Award Program,
- Public Health Service Scholarship Program,
- National Health Service Corps Scholarship Program,
- Primary Care Loan Program,
- Armed Forces (Army, Navy, or Air Force) Professions Scholarship Program, and the
- Indian Health Service Scholarship Program; and
4. Individuals who are not considered NIH employees, such as the following examples:
- Intramural Research Training Award (IRTA) recipients,
- Cancer Research Training Award (CRTA) recipients,
- Visiting Fellows (i.e. foreign scientists),
- National Research Service Award (NRSA) recipients,
- Guest Researchers or Special Volunteers,
- NIH-National Research Council (NRC) Biotechnology Research Associates, and
- Intergovernmental Personnel Act (IPA) participants (non-FTE status).
5. You are not eligible to apply for either a new or renewal LRP contract if:
- You breached your prior LRP contract
- You received notice that your prior LRP contract had been overpaid, and that you must remit funds to NIH to resolve the overpayment, but still owe these funds
- You had terminated a prior LRP contract that would have ended after the begin date of the contracts in the current application cycle
* LRP applicants must certify that they do not have a judgment lien against their property arising from a debt to the United States
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