Supplemental Instructions for Form PHS 398

Follow the specific instructions for completing Form PHS 398 except where modified below. Consult both Section I, Preparing Your Application, and Section V, Institutional National Research Service Award, of the PHS 398 instructions.

In reviewing applications, the MARC Review Subcommittee will evaluate multiple aspects of the proposed training program, including its direction, administration, faculty participants, student recruitment and qualifications, program content and format, past training record, and resources and environment. Some items are often easier to understand when presented in tables. Examples of tables are provided to illustrate formats that have been useful to reviewers; however, you may design your own tables as long as they present the required information.

Applicants should read the MARC U-STAR Program Announcement carefully, paying special attention to the guidelines provided in the section on application procedures. Under each heading below are specific issues to be addressed, and these should be presented in the order given. Pages should be numbered consecutively at the bottom throughout the application.

Submission

Specific Instructions

1. Face Page
2. Description, Performance Sites, and Key Personnel
3. Research Grant Table of Contents
4. General Budget Information
5. Overall Program Summary Budget
6. Biographical Sketch of the Program Director
7. Biographical Sketches of Participating Faculty
8. Other Support, All Professional Personnel
9. Resources and Environment
10. Research Training Program Plan
11. Checklist
12. Appendix

Submission

A signed, typewritten original of the application, including the checklist, three photocopies of the signed application, and four collated sets of the appendix must be submitted 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 complete copies of the application and appendix material must be sent to:

Helen R. Sunshine, Ph.D.
Chief, Office of Scientific Review
National Institute of General Medical Sciences, NIH
Building 45, Room 1AS.13
45 Center Drive, MSC 6200
Bethesda, MD 20892-6200
Telephone: 301-594-3663
Fax: 301-480-8506
E-mail: sunshinh@nigms.nih.gov

The receipt dates for MARC U-STAR applications are January 10 and May 10.

Specific Instructions

Item 1. Title of Project. The title should reflect the overall thrust of the MARC U-STAR program at the institution (e.g., Undergraduate Biomedical Research Training at [institution name]).

Item 2. Response to Specific Request for Application or Program Announcement. Check the box marked "YES;" beside "Number" type the NIH Guide to Grants and Contracts notice number; beside "Title" type in "MARC Undergraduate Student Training in Academic Research."

Items 3-5. See Form PHS 398.

Item 6. Dates of Proposed Period of Support. The period of support is up to 5 years.

Items 7-16. See Form PHS 398.

In preparing the description, state the overall goal of the proposed U-STAR program, outline the goals and specific measurable objectives of the program, including milestones, how these proposed objectives relate to your desired programmatic outcomes and the goals of the MARC Branch, and how the goals and specific objectives of the program will be evaluated.

List the key professional personnel who will be involved in the U-STAR training program.

III. Research Grant Table of Contents (Use Form PHS 398, NRSA Substitute Page NN)

A complete and accurate Table of Contents must be submitted as a part of the application. The Table of Contents at the beginning of these instructions can be used as a guide for structuring the U-STAR application.

IV. General Budget Information

The allowable costs are described in the U-STAR Program Announcement and the NIH Grants Policy Statement.

For MARC U-STAR grant applications, it is necessary to use budget form pages DD and EE from Section I, and NRSA substitute pages OO and PP from Section V of Form PHS 398.

For MARC U-STAR grant applications that also include a request for pre-MARC student development activities, submit a single set of Form PHS 398, substitute pages DD, EE, OO, and PP. Support for pre-MARC student development activities should be requested under the Other Expenses category on Form PHS 398, substitute page DD.

The pagination sequence for the budget summary should be OO, DD, EE, and PP. On the face page (Form PHS, page AA), item 7a should be the total from Form PHS 398, substitute page OO and item 8a, Page AA, should be the total from Form PHS 398, substitute page PP.

In all budget requests, a complete description and adequate justification must be provided for each budget item.

V. Overall Program Summary Budget (Use Form PHS 398, NRSA Substitute Pages DD, EE, OO, and PP)

Form PHS 398, NRSA substitute pages OO and PP represent the budget pages for the overall training program, while substitute pages DD and EE provide the detailed breakdown required for the training-related expenses listed on pages OO and PP. Training-related expenses (e.g., personnel and consultant costs, equipment and supplies, and travel for the program director and faculty mentors) should be listed on pages DD and EE. Trainee expenses (e.g., stipend, tuition, fees, insurance, and trainee travel) should be listed on Form PHS 398, pages OO and PP. In the space provided for Training-Related Expenses on page OO, please enter only the dollar amount copied from page DD (no other information should be included in this space).

For each individual listed in the Personnel category on Form PHS 398, NRSA substitute page DD, and for each item requested (consultant costs, equipment, supplies, etc.) please indicate in the justification section the percentage of time that each person or item is to be allocated to the MARC U-STAR program and, if requested, pre-MARC student development activities.

VI. Biographical Sketch of the Program Director (Use Form PHS 398, Page 6)

Describe the scientific and leadership capabilities of the proposed program director, including graduate degrees, institutions, publications, areas of research, research support, and past student training experience.

VII. Biographical Sketches of Participating Faculty (Use Form PHS 398, Page 6)

List each training faculty member and his/her biographical data, including education and professional experience. Describe the specific roles of each faculty participant in the proposed MARC U-STAR program and the percent effort of each in the program. Provide in tabular form the department, professorial rank, nature and breadth of research interests, and research grant support (see Sample Tables 1 and 2).

In tabular form, provide information on each participating faculty member's experience in supervising undergraduate research training or other educational experiences dealing with undergraduate underrepresented minority students (see Sample Table 3).

Provide evidence of collaboration/cooperation among faculty members and the departments participating in the MARC U-STAR program.

VIII. Other Support, All Professional Personnel

Other support is defined as all financial resources, whether Federal, non-Federal, commercial, or institutional, available in direct support of an individual's research and/or teaching endeavors. Use the continuation pages of Form PHS 398 to provide this information. The information provided should give the project number, source of funding, major goals of the project, approved dates of funding, yearly direct costs, percent effort, and any potential overlap.

IX. Resources and Environment

Describe the facilities and resources available to MARC U-STAR trainees for research and instruction in each of the participating departments and why these are important to the program; the type, size, and number of laboratories; the relevant equipment, library holdings, and reference resources; office space, etc.

Describe how the applicant institution's administrative and governing bodies provide backing and support for the MARC U-STAR programs of the participating departments.

X. Research Training Program Plan

The narrative section of the Research Training Program Plan should provide detailed plans of the training program organization, criteria for trainee recruitment and selection, and how the quality and success of the training effort will be evaluated. Applicants must also give a description of their plans to provide instruction in the responsible conduct of research.

1. Background
   
   Give the rationale for the proposed U-STAR program, relevant background history, and the need for the program proposed. Provide information on the total undergraduate enrollment at the institution, the total number of biomedical science majors currently affiliated with the participating departments by class, how many of these students are members of ethnic minority groups underrepresented in science, and which ethnic minority groups are included. Also state how many underrepresented minority students in departments participating in the U-STAR program are honors students with a minimum GPA of 3.0 or better (see Sample Table 4). In addition, provide student retention and graduation data for the participating science departments. For the latter, differentiate between the overall and the MARC student graduation rate.
   
   

   Applicant institutions with other programs that support student development and research training should define the relationship of these programs and the MARC U-STAR program, and how the U-STAR program will complement these other programs.

2. Program Plan
   
   

   State how the proposed MARC U-STAR program will enhance the institution's efforts to fulfill the goals of the program announcement. Describe how the proposed U-STAR program will strengthen the institutional research training capabilities.

   Provide a summary of the institution's research training record for the last 5 years. This summary should contain information on the current status of all the applicant institution's MARC graduates such as:

   • The number who have completed the Ph.D.;
   • how many are currently in Ph.D. programs;
   • how many are in M.D.-Ph.D. programs;
   • how many have completed clinical doctorate programs;
   • how many are currently in clinical doctorate programs;
   • how many have received predoctoral fellowships;
   • how many have received postdoctoral fellowships;
   • how many are employed in science or science education, but have not yet pursued graduate education;
   • how many are not employed in science and have not pursued education; and
   • how many hold university or college appointments.

   Describe the criteria and mechanisms used for recruitment and selecting MARC U-STAR trainees. In tabular form, provide information on the trainee pool by academic year, student number, academic level, major field of study, GPA (major/overall), career goals, and qualifications of the trainee candidate (see Sample Table 5).

   Under a special sub-heading, "Goals and Specific Measurable Objectives," define the goals and specific measurable objectives using numbers or percentages that are consonant with the institution's vision, mission, and values. These goals and objectives should reflect the applicant institution's particular strengths and commitment, and be indicative of the direction of continued improvement by the institution.

3. Proposed Training
   
   

   Under a special heading, "Training Activities," provide the proposed U-STAR trainee curriculum, if any, by semester and by academic year (descriptive titles are helpful), including any assigned credit hours and required non-credit activities. Substitutions of special U-STAR courses or additional course requirements should be clearly described. Also describe the nature, breadth, and level of available courses, and intramural research opportunities at the applicant institution. Provide the syllabi of any new courses relevant to the proposed training.

   Describe the cohesiveness and balance of the U-STAR program components, and the integration of various disciplines and administrative units.

   Describe the mechanisms used to select the intramural faculty preceptor and research problems, and to guide and monitor student progress. If an institution lacks the capability to conduct intramural research, it can have a student-centered research collaboration with another institution that has the research capability. If this approach is used, provide documentation of such collaborative arrangements.

   Describe specific arrangements for extramural summer training and how the U-STAR program will provide for the interaction of U-STAR trainees with extramural scientists and with each other.

   For competing continuation applicants, provide information on the presentations and publications of past and current MARC trainees over the last grant period, based on work done while in training (see Sample Table 6).

   For competing continuation applicants, provide in tabular form, information on the U-STAR trainees: program entry and completion dates, and the current status of U-STAR trainees (e.g., Ph.D. programs, professional programs, employment, etc.) (see Sample Table 7).

   Under a special sub-heading, "Evaluation," describe the plan for assessing the impact of the MARC U-STAR program.

   Overall, the application should reflect the institution's ambition and the feasibility and adequacy of the activities proposed to achieve the goals and measurable specific objectives set forth by the applicant institution. After completing the application and prior to its submission, the program director should be able to answer whether:

   • the application presents a clearly designed program that addresses the objectives of the MARC U-STAR Program
   • the specific measurable objectives, action plan, outcome measures, and tracking/evaluation designs are clearly articulated and substantiated in the proposal
   • support for pre-MARC student enrichment activities, if requested, provide students with the intellectual underpinnings that should enhance their academic preparation
   • the proposed training components are integrated seamlessly, including entry into the program of students at different points in their education, for example, does the proposed program allow for the smooth transition of pre-MARC students into the program?
   • the applicant institution has carefully differentiated between and justified participating faculty who roare/are not covered by salary support (release time) requests--is the basis for the differentiation clearly stated?
4. Responsible Conduct of Research
   
   

   Describe the institution's plans to provide trainees with formal and informal instruction on scientific integrity and ethical principles of research. Provide information on the type of instruction that is to be given, who must attend, and who will be teaching.

XI. Checklist

See Form PHS 398, Section V, page 7 for instructions.

XII. Appendix

With the exception of oversized documents, brochures, and catalogs, appendix material is generally not needed with MARC U-STAR applications. If tables or other materials are included, the pages should be numbered consecutively. Five collated copies of appendix material must be submitted to the Center for Scientific Review. List in the Table of Contents of the application items included in the Appendix.

Sample Table 1

Sample Table 2

Sample Table 3

Sample Table 4

Sample Table 5

Sample Table 6

Sample Table 7