• Ph.D., M.D., D.O., D.D.S., D.M.D., Psy.D., Pharm. D., D.P.M., D.C., N.D., or equivalent doctoral degree from an accredited institution (a D.V.M. also qualifies for all LRPs except the Clinical Research LRP and the Clinical Research for Individuals from Disadvantaged Backgrounds LRP);
• Qualifying educational debt – the sum or your educational debt must equal at least 20% of your base pay from the institution supporting your research;
• Research funding by a domestic nonprofit or US governmental (Federal, state or local) entity. A domestic foundation, professional association, or institution is considered to be non-profit if exempt from Federal tax under the provisions of Section 501 of the Internal Revenue Code (26 U.S.C. 501);
• United States citizenship (or U.S. national or permanent resident status); and
• Conducting qualifying research that represents 50 percent or more of total level of effort and consumes an average of at least 20 hours per week during each quarterly service period. That is, during each contract quarter, qualified research must be conducted for a minimum of 240 hours (based on a 12-week quarter) or 260 hours (based on a 13-week quarter).

• Persons who are not U.S. citizens, nationals, or permanent residents;
• Anyone who has a Federal judgment lien against his property arising from a Federal debt;
• Anyone who owes an obligation of health professional service to a Federal or state agency, or other entity during the proposed two-year LRP contract period, unless deferrals are granted for the length of LRP service obligation;
• Full-time (and some part-time) Federal employees [NOTE: Part-time Federal employees (20 hours per week or less) engaged in research supported by a non-Federal entity for at least 20 hours per week may be eligible];
• Individuals conducting research for which funding is precluded by Federal law, regulations, or DHHS/NIH policy;
• Individuals who lack qualifying support for their research from a domestic nonprofit or US government (Federal, state, or local) entity. A domestic foundation, professional association, or institution is considered to be non-profit if exempt from Federal tax under the provisions of Section 501 of the Internal Revenue Code (26 U.S.C. 501); and
• Individuals with insufficient educational debt relative to income (i.e., debt less than 20 percent of institutional base salary).
• 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

For more information on eligibility, click here.