SUPPLEMENTAL POLICY OF THE
NATIONAL CANCER INSTITUTE FOR
INSTITUTIONAL NATIONAL RESEARCH SERVICE AWARDS (T32)

I. INTRODUCTION:

This policy statement of the National Cancer Institute (NCI) supplements the general guidelines of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for institutional training grants (T32 grants) supported through National Research Service Awards (NRSA). The general requirements of the NRSA program are outlined in the NIH Guide as follows: (1) NIH National Research Service Award Institutional Training Grants, Volume 26, Number 16, May 16, 1997; and (2) Natio nal Research Service Award Guidelines, Volume 26, Number 21, June 20, 1997. This information can also be obtained by going to the following NIH website addresses: (1) http://www.nih.gov/training/nrsaguidelines/nrsa_III.htm ; and (2) http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/1997/97.05.16/notice-nih-national-6.html. The special provisions and requirements of the NCI for Institutional National Research Service Awards outlined below are based on the NCI's mission objectives for training future cancer research scientists and clinicians.

These NCI supplemental policies will to into effect for all T32 applications submitted for the May 10, 2000 deadline.

Potential applicants should also be aware of the National Cancer Institute's website focused on training and career development which is being developed and which will include all of the information below in addition to guidance and advice in the preparation of T32 grant applications. See INQUIRIES to get information on the status of this website.

II. PURPOSE AND AVAILABILITY:

The NCI accepts investigator-initiated T32 grant applications that are designed to prepare individuals for careers in basic cancer research, clinical cancer research and/or cancer research in the prevention, control, behavioral and population-based sciences. The training that is proposed for these purposes should provide specific research skills, as well as a suitable orientation to cancer-related issues, trends, research approaches and research opportunities that will enable trainees to relate the skills and tools of their training to the understanding of cancer and reduction of cancer incidence and mortality.

III. SPECIAL PROVISIONS, REQUIREMENTS AND POLICIES:

The supplemental policies noted below will go into effect for all T32 applications submitted on the May10, 2000 deadline. These policies combine the general features of the NRSA grants as outlined in the NIH Guide as noted above in the INTRODUCTION and the more specific policies of the NCI.

  1. NRSA Special Administrative Requirements:

    1. The NCI considers, as a condition of a T32 award, that the Principal Investigator/Program Leader and the business officials of the institution understand the official policies that govern Institutional National Research Service Awards as referenced under Section I. above and will take full responsibility for conforming to the reporting requirements of the NRSA program as required by Congressional legislation. This includes timely and accurate submission of Statements of Appointment (Form PHS 2271) for new and reappointed trainees with correct stipend levels as approved by NIH; timely and accurate submission of Termination Notices (Form PHS 416-17) when trainee support is discontinued, appropriate payback follow-up and submission of the appropriate information confirming citizenship status of trainees at the time of appointment.

    2. The NCI reminds all applicants and grantees that the institution is responsible for determining the eligibility of trainees with regard to satisfying the necessary citizenship requirements.

  2. Special NCI Programmatic Requirements:

    1. Short-Term Research Training and Prebaccalaureate Training: In the future, the NCI will not support short-term research training or prebaccalaureate training on T32 grants as defined under the National Research Service Award Guidelines (see section I. Introduction above). The NCI will support only predoctoral and postdoctoral training.

    2. Predoctoral Trainees: The NCI has adopted a new policy regarding the predoctoral training.No more than 25% of the individuals supported on new T32 grants can be predoctoral trainees. Exceptions to this requirement may be requested by contacting the staff of the NCI Cancer Training Branch. The main focus of NCI T32s should be on preparing postdoctoral candidates for careers in cancer research rather than preparing individuals to receive their doctoral degrees. Renewal applications for existing training programs that have traditionally supported a higher percentage of predoctoral trainees can seek an exception to this 25% limitation and/or negotiate a transition plan with the staff of the NCI Cancer Training Branch.

    3. Cancer Research Focus of Preceptors: A minimum of 50% of the individuals actively serving as preceptors/mentors for pre- and postdoctoral trainees must have peer-reviewed research support that is directly relevant to cancer research. The remaining preceptors/mentors must have peer-reviewed support that is cancer-related as judged by reasonable scientific standards. NCI T32s are expected to have a reasonable cancer research focus and to meet "national (cancer) research priorities in the biomedical and behavioral sciences" (National Research Service Award Guidelines- see INTRODUCTION).

    4. Broad Cancer Research Orientation of Trainees: In addition to the academic course work that trainees are expected to complete as part of their traditional research specialty training, every trainee should generally be provided with a broad perspective/orientation through additional course work, seminars or other means, of the research issues, approaches, concepts and opportunities in cancer research. This could include but is not limited to the following:
      1. An introduction to cancer incidence, mortality and survival statistics as a means of understanding the magnitude of the health problem that cancer presents to the public.
      2. An introductory overview of the spectrum of scientific approaches and their integration in addressing the problems of cancer through research. This might include the following:
        1. Cancer Biology (e.g., tumor causation, initiation and progression of cancer, molecular biology and genetics of cancer, cancer immunology etc.)
        2. Early detection of cancer (e.g., imaging, biomarkers etc.)
        3. Cancer diagnosis and prognosis (e.g., cancer pathology, molecular pathology)
        4. Cancer treatment research (e.g., Phase I, II, and III clinical trials; the development of new agents to treat cancer - drugs, biologicals; different modalities of treatment -radiation, chemotherapy, transplantation, gene therapy etc.)
        5. Cancer prevention and control research (e.g., epidemiology, population research, behavioral research, chemoprevention, nutrition)
        6. Translational research (e.g., the movement of laboratory discoveries into patient and population research settings, and conversely the transfer of observations in patients and populations to the research laboratory)
        7. Technology development (e.g., new advances in technology development that will enhance the discovery process such as DNA array technology)
      3. Exposure to environments that demonstrate to the trainee the importance of scientific interactions between basic scientists and more applied scientists in addressing human cancer diseases.
      4. Exposure to the realities of cancer patient care (e.g., tour of cancer inpatient and outpatient clinics)

    5. Recruitment of Minority Trainees: Although this is a general NIH requirement, the NCI, in order to address the effectiveness of research approaches that investigate the higher cancer incidence and mortality rates of minorities and various ethnic and underserved groups, takes a very proactive interest in the success of every grantee's recruitment efforts. Therefore, the required specific recruitment plan by NIH for each training grant will be monitored by NCI program staff for progress, and NCI staff will work with each grantee to increase the effectiveness of the plan.

  3. Special NCI Administrative Policies:

    1. Management of Applications: All grantees are expected to comply with the provisions as defined in the National Research Service Award Guidelines . For institutions that regularly fail to provide timely submissions of non-competing continuation applications, timely and accurate Statements of Appointment (Form PHS 2271) and Termination Notices (Form PHS 416-17), the correct stipends to trainees, appropriate payback follow-up and/or do not provide the correct citizenship information for trainees, the NCI will consider this a violation of the conditions of the award. Depending upon the seriousness and repetitive nature of the management problem, it is the policy of the NCI to provide provisional awards until the problem is fully corrected, but the level of and/or any future funding could be jeopardized if these problems persist.

IV. ALLOWABLE COSTS:

NCI T32 grants support all of the traditional costs outlined in the official National Research Service Award Guidelines. However, any application planning to request more than $500,000 in direct costs for any year requires prior approval from an NCI program official in the Cancer Training Branch. A cover letter to this effect specifying the name of the program official who approved of the budget must accompany the application. Every application, whether new, competing renewal or revised, must go through the approval process each time the application is submitted to the National Institutes of Health.

V. APPLICATION PROCEDURES:

In general, applicants are expected to follow the guidance provided in the Form PHS 398 located on pages V-1 through V-8 and pages NN, OO, and PP. However, the NCI strongly recommends that you refer to the website address, http://cancertraining.nci.nih.gov/research/basicphd/t32.html , for additional advice in preparing an application. The NCI recommends that you make a few small modifications in the general instructions for organizing the application. The NCI also provides for your convenience some possible TABLE formats for presenting the data required for peer review.

VI. PEER REVIEW CRITERIA USED BY THE NCI:

The NCI asks peer reviewers to use the following criteria when evaluating T32 applications. It is to the advantage of all applicants to address these criteria in the preparation of their applications. The criteria below combine the general standards included in NIH NRSA guidelines and policies (see INTRODUCTION) and the specific criteria of the NCI:

  1. Distinctive nature of this training program relative to other training programs in the institution utilizing the same mentors and serving the same organizational units (e.g., departments)

  2. Quality of the Research Background and other experiences of the Principal Investigator to provide leadership and coordination of a cancer training Program.

  3. Quality of the Program Characteristics:

    For postdoctoral trainees:

    1. quality of the objectives, design and direction of the research training program
    2. quality and availability of seminars/invited lectures etc. to provide trainees with important general scientific perspectives
    3. special efforts to provide all trainees with a perspective of the research issues, approaches, concepts and opportunities in cancer research in the following areas:
      1. cancer incidence, mortality and survival statistics
      2. spectrum of scientific approaches and their integration in addressing the problems of cancer
      3. importance of the interactions of basic and more applied scientists
      4. exposure to the realities of patient care.
    4. the overall qualities of the program that trainees can identify with as a cancer training program

    For predoctoral trainees:

    1. strength of admission standards for graduate students
    2. quality of the formal curriculum/course work and its suitability for training doctoral level candidates in proposed research disciplines.

    Competing continuation applications:

    1. track record of the training program in achieving its objectives

  4. Quality of the Faculty and their Cancer Research Focus
    1. quality of the research experience and productivity of the faculty that will serve as mentors, and their success as individuals in obtaining independent research support
    2. stability of the faculty in providing a coherent, integrated training Program
    3. track record of the individual mentors in participating in the Program and in training individuals who have continued in successful research careers.
    4. cancer research focus of the faculty
      1. A minimum of 50% of faculty meet the NCI Requirement of having research support that is directly relevant to cancer.
      2. Remaining faculty have research support that is reasonably cancer-related
      3. Participation of faculty as mentors is proportional to their research support that is directly relevant to cancer and that is cancer related.

  5. Recruitment, Selection and Track Record of Trainees:
    1. quality and adequacy of the recruitment and selection process for trainees
    2. appropriateness of the trainee to faculty ratio
    3. availability (i.e., adequacy of pool size) of high quality trainees or track record of the Program to fill all of its trainee slots each year with high quality trainees
    4. track record of the trainees with regard to their publications and success in achieving research independence. Evenness of the distribution of successful trainees among the mentors

  6. Training Resources and Environment:
    1. strength of the institutional commitment to training
    2. quality of the facilities, equipment and space
    3. interactiveness of the scientific environment in general across departments and other administrative barriers.

    USING THE ABOVE CRITERIA, reviewers will make a final recommendation for merit before proceeding to the other review issues below

  7. Budget: appropriateness of the budget to achieve the training objectives. As needed, recommended reductions in the budget with explanation.

  8. Minority Recruitment Plan: Although this does not enter into the priority score, it is required by the NIH, is reviewed by the National Cancer Advisory Board, and is monitored by NCI program staff. Reference to the institution's plans alone are not sufficient to result in a judgement that the plan is adequate for the application. A plan must be specific for this training program and must be approved by the NCI before an award can be made. The following criteria are used in evaluating the Plan:
    1. adequacy of the Plan specific for recruiting minority individuals into this training program
    2. track record of the performance of the Plan in recruiting minorities (if applicable)
    3. modification of the Plan since the last review to overcome deficiencies.

  9. A Plan for training in the Responsible Conduct of Research (Required by NIH). These plans do not enter into the priority score, but they are evaluated by the National Cancer Advisory Board, and an approved plan is required before an award can be made. The following criteria are used by peers in this evaluation:
    1. adequacy of all formal and/or informal instruction to trainees in the responsible conduct of research (e.g., data management and record keeping, conflict-of-interest, responsible authorship, scientific misconduct, use of human subjects and animals in research)

VII. INQUIRIES:

For additional information regarding the policies of the NCI or the NIH and help and guidance in preparing an institutional NRSA grant application or status of the NCI website for training and career development, we recommend that you contact:

For information regarding fiscal and/or budget issues, we recommend that you contact:

For information regarding review issues, we recommend that you contact: