F31 Predoctoral Individual Fellowship
The program replaces the prior NIH Predoctoral Individual Fellowship Awards for Minority students and for Students with Disabilities.
For more information, see:
NIH Predoctoral Fellowships (F31) to Promote Diversity in Health-Related Research:
Supplements to Promote Diversity
NIA participates in this NIH-wide supplement program. The program replaces the prior NIH Research Supplements for Underrepresented Minorities program and Research Supplements for Individuals with Disabilities programs.
For more information, see:
- Expires: September 30, 2011
- PA Number: PA-08-190
Supplements to Promote Re-Entry
NIA participates in this NIH general initiative, which permits PIs on many different types of research grants an administrative supplement to support an individual returning to the research workforce after a forced interruption (e.g., raising children or caring for a disabled parent).
For more information, see:
- Expires: September 30, 2011
- PA Number: PA-08-191
Please note the following NIA guidelines and policies when considering NIA's Diversity Supplement Program:
Individual Institutes at NIH emphasize various aspects of the Diversity/Re-Entry Supplement Programs, including those in the application-submission and application-review processes. NIA pays particular attention to the fit between the Diversity/Re-Entry programs, the stage of professional development of the trainee candidate, and the needs of the trainee candidate.
One common concern with staff reviews of prior supplemental requests for postdoctoral and faculty-level trainee candidates is the extent to which the application justifies the Diversity Supplement Program as the best available research-training mechanism to support the career development of the trainee candidate. Some postdoctoral and faculty-level trainee candidates may already have the training and experience in research on aging that the Diversity Supplement Program intends. NIA encourages P.I.s to contact Dr. Kerns in advance of writing and submitting a Diversity Supplement application to discuss NIA's administration of the Diversity Supplement Program and to address the question of whether the Diversity Supplement mechanism would be appropriate for the postdoctoral or faculty-level trainee candidate under consideration. Furthermore, NIA invites the P.I.s and the potential trainee candidates to consider NIH's career-development and small-grant programs as alternatives to the Diversity Supplement Program.
NIA also emphasizes the following details in its administration of the Diversity and Re-Entry Supplement Programs:
- NIA restricts supplement applications from principal investigators (PIs) of R03, R21, R15, R42, and R44 awards to requests for support of high-school students, undergraduates or Postbaccalaureate candidates. NIA does not accept supplement applications for R41 or R43 (SBIR-STTR) awards. NIA accepts applications for the full range of candidates for all other eligible mechanisms as described in the above-referenced program announcement (PA).
- NIA generally conducts the administrative review of applications on the first Thursday of each month and accepts applications for each review until the C.O.B. of the Tuesday of the week preceding the review. Decision notes from the review are generally distributed via email to the P.I.s in the week immediately following the review.
- NIA follows the guidelines for preparation of the application described in the PA. Of those elements, NIA pays particular attention to the section addressing the Research & Research-Training Plans. This section should emphasize not only the goals and tasks of the research and research-training plans but also the methods or means by which the goals/tasks are to be achieved, namely, course-work, seminars, work-shops, one-on-one training, etc..Furthermore, this section of the application should detail the particular benchmarks of training success that would be used to assess the progress of the trainee. All potential applicants are strongly encouraged to contact Dr. Kerns before preparing and submitting a Diversity Supplement.
- NIA limits funds requested for travel to attend professional conferences to $1500 per year of the award.
- NIH-NIA is moving toward the full implementation of a paperless grants-submission and grants-administration system. In advance of the incorporation of Administrative Supplement Programs, including the Diversity & Re-Entry Supplement Programs, into the NIH eCommons and Grants.Gov electronic submissions process and systems NIA began requesting in October 2005 that Diversity Supplement and Re-Entry Supplement applications be submitted as PDF electronic files. Electronic files of the application elements from the PHS 398 application package are available from the NIH Web site at: http://grants1.nih.gov/grants/forms.htm.
All elements of the application, including elements not available for download from the PHS 398 application package, namely, transcripts, letters of recommendation, etc., should be scanned as PDF files and included in the application as a single PDF file. If P.I.s encounter difficulties in emailing/submitting the application as a PDF file, they are encouraged to contact Dr. Kerns for assistance & to ensure that the Diversity Supplement application is able to be submitted in a timely manner. Although NIA also continues to accept paper applications to its Diversity Supplement Program, NIA cannot commit to the same rapid administrative review that is provided for the PDF (electronic) applications. Applicants should assume that review of paper applications will require an additional month.
PDF applications should be emailed directly to NIA’s Diversity/Re-Entry Supplement Program Coordinator, Dr. Michael-David A.R.R. Kerns, at michael-david.kerns@nih.hhs.gov with a C.C. to Ms. Priscilla Garner, Extramural Program Office Manager, at GarnerPR@mail.nih.gov.
All potential applicants are strongly encouraged to contact NIA’s Diversity/Re-Entry Supplement Program Coordinator, Dr. Michael-David A.R.R. Kerns, at michael-david.kerns@nih.hhs.gov or 301-402-7713 before beginning work on and submitting a Diversity or Re-Entry Supplement application.
