Helpful Hints for the
NHLBI Career Enhancement Award for
Stem Cell Research (K18)

Revised: December 2008

These Helpful Hints were written to help potential candidates who are planning to submit K18 applications to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI). This document clarifies some of the NIH K18 program guidelines for NHLBI; it does not replace those guidelines. Candidates MUST follow the instructions in the NIH K18 Program Announcement (PA). Please Note: However, this announcement will be updated shortly. Candidates planning to submit an application for the February 12, 2009 receipt date should check this webpage for the new Program Announcement and/or contact Dr. Mondoro (contact information listed at the end of this web page).

Note: NIH is in the process of converting to SF424 (Research and Related [R&R]) forms and electronic submission through Grants.gov. Information on this plan (SF424) and on registering for electronic submission is available at http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-05-067.html. Updates regarding the transition process are at http://era.nih.gov/ElectronicReceipt/.

Candidates – Candidates must meet the NIH eligibility criteria, including citizenship requirements. Candidates must possess a doctoral degree (i.e., Ph.D., Ph.D./M.D., M.D., D.V.M., Sc.D., or equivalent degree). Candidates may be new or mid-career investigators, or senior faculty with a history of independent funding. When in doubt about eligibility, candidates are strongly encouraged to contact the NHLBI program representative listed at the end of this document prior to preparation of an application. For postdoctoral fellows or junior faculty (assistant professor level or equivalent) with no previous funding, an NRSA fellowship, a K08 Mentored Clinical Scientist Development Award, a K01 NHLBI Mentored Career Award for Faculty at Minority Institutions or a K01 NHLBI Mentored Career Development Award to Promote Faculty Diversity/Ee-Entry in Biomedical Research may be more appropriate. Candidates must describe their short and long-term career and research objectives and explain how the K18 will contribute to them. Candidates must clearly document the need for additional research training in stem cell biology and techniques in order to achieve their career and research objectives.

Career Development Plan - This section is an important part of a career award application and weighs significantly in the assignment of a priority score. The career development plan should be "customized" for the candidate, based on clearly stated career and research objectives and past experience. If coursework is part of the proposed training, then the specific courses and their relevance to the candidate’s career and research objectives should be described. The amount of time requested for the K18 award should be appropriate for the training and research proposed in the application. A timetable (graphic or text) showing proposed coursework, other training activities and the research project, benchmarks and a schedule for determining progress toward the objectives will help reviewers evaluate the career development plan.

Research Plan – In addition to the criteria listed in the PA, reviewers will evaluate whether the research plan will provide the candidate with the training necessary to meet career and research objectives, and whether the proposed project can be accomplished during the term of the K18 award.

Training in the Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR): Candidates must describe plans to receive instruction in the responsible conduct of research. Plans for RCR training must be described in a single paragraph that: addresses the proposed subject matter, format, frequency and duration of instruction; and includes an explicit statement that a candidate has taken the course, or will take it at a specific date. No award will be made if an application lacks this information. See the NIH website bioethics for resources and information on this topic.

Sponsor’s Statement – The sponsor will function as a mentor during the term of the K18 award. Commitment to the candidate, expertise in stem cell biology and techniques as evidenced by funding and publications, and a history of successful research mentoring will be evaluated by reviewers.

Environment and Institutional Commitment - The letters from the host institution should provide specific details about the facilities and other resources that will be made available to the candidate. Descriptions of the host institution should be sufficiently detailed so that reviewers can determine if the environment is appropriate for the proposed training and research in stem cell biology and techniques. Letters from the candidate’s institution should address all the issues listed in the PA. Letters submitted with an application must be addressed to the "NHLBI K18 Review Committee" and written on institutional letterhead stationery. Revised applications must include new letters.

Budget - Career awards use the JUST IN TIME process, but do not use modular budgets. Facilities and administrative costs requested by consortium participants are not included in the direct cost limitation, see NOT-OD-05-004. The K18 provides up to $50,000 per year for research support. In addition to the costs listed in the PA, these funds may be used to cover the cost of travel and housing at a host institution, but not living expenses. For junior faculty, the NHLBI salary limit is the same as that for other mentored K awards (i.e., $75,000 per year in FY 2007). For mid-career and senior faculty, the total salary from all Federal sources is the legislated maximum amount announced each year (i.e., currently $186,600 for FY 2007).

Term of Award – Six to twelve months is the usual period of support. A minimum 50 percent effort is required, although 100 percent effort is allowed. Two years of support is allowed but must be justified in the budget, and in the career development and research plans. K18 awards are not renewable.

Additional Advice - In addition to contacting the NHLBI Program Official, reading the K18 PA and SF 424 (R&R) instructions, candidates are encouraged to look at NHLBI’s Model K08 application for an example of well-described and – written sections on career development and mentoring.

NIH Policies – All applications proposing to use human embryonic stem cells must comply with NIH Policy. See NIH URLs, Stem Cell Information (http://stemcells.nih.gov/index.asp), NIH Notice of Criteria for Funding Research on Existing Human Embryonic Stem Cells and Establishment of NIH Human Embryonic Stem Cell Registry (http://grants1.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-02-005.html), Federal Government Clearances for Receipt of International Shipment of Human Embryonic Stem Cells (http://grants1.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-02-013.html), and Implementation Issues for Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research - Frequently Asked Questions (http://grants1.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-02-014.html).

Miscellaneous - Applications should be reviewed by an editor or proofreader and a trusted colleague. Poorly written applications are generally viewed as evidence of lack of attention to details and often receive a poor priority score.

Candidates should reread the program announcement and check that sufficient information is provided in their application for reviewers to evaluate all listed review criteria.

If, after submitting an application, candidates obtain additional preliminary data or publications relevant to the project, or they obtain additional grant support, they should contact the NHLBI Scientific Review Administrator (SRA) regarding inclusion of the additional material in the review. The NHLBI SRA for K18 applications is Mark Roltsch, Ph.D. Dr. Roltsch may be reached at the Review Branch, Division of Extramural Research Activities, NHLBI, by telephone at (301) 435-0287, or by email at roltschm@nhlbi.nih.gov.

Font Size: The Center for Scientific Review has standards for font size and spacing. Applications that do not adhere to the rules are being returned to candidates unreviewed.

Application Procedures - Applications submitted in response to this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) for Federal assistance must be submitted electronically through Grants.gov (http://www.grants.gov) using the SF 424 Research and Related (R&R) forms and the SF 424 (R&R) Application Guide.

The SF 424 (R&R) Application Guide for NIH and Other PHS Agencies, now includes Part 1.7 Supplemental Instructions to the SF 424 (R&R) for Preparing an Individual Research Career Development Award (CDA) Application ("K" series). Note in particular that the "Candidate" and "Research Plan" (sections A-D) combined may not exceed 25 pages. Please note that this new Application Guide is to be used with all Adobe application packages, including those for the K programs.

Application Receipt Dates: February 12, June 12, and October 12 - new applications;
March 12, July 12, and November 12 - resubmission applications.

NHLBI Staff Contact:

For further information regarding NHLBI K18 applications, please contact the NHLBI Program Director: