Career Development Awards
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The Mentored Research Scientist Development Award (K01) provides support for a sustained period of “protected time” for intensive research career development under the guidance of an experienced mentor, or sponsor, in the biomedical, behavioral or clinical sciences leading to research independence. The expectation is that through this sustained period of research career development and training, awardees will launch independent research careers and become competitive for new research project grant (R01) funding.
Eligibility and Requirements. Any individual with the skills, knowledge, and resources necessary to carry out the proposed research and career development activities is invited to work with his/her mentor and sponsoring institution to develop an application for support. Individuals from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups as well as individuals with disabilities are always encouraged to apply for NIH programs. However, for the NIH K01 program the following eligibility requirements apply to individuals who seek to become Research Scientist Development Award recipients (Principal Investigators).
Scope of Support. This funding opportunity will use the NIH K01 award mechanism. As an applicant, the candidate and his/her mentor will be jointly responsible for planning, directing, and executing the proposed project and career development activities.
This funding opportunity uses the just-in-time budget concepts. It also uses the non-modular budget format described in the PHS 398 application instructions (see http://grants.nih.gov/grants/funding/phs398/phs398.html). The applicant should follow the instructions for budget information described in the PHS 398, Section III, providing only the total direct costs for each year and the entire proposed period of support and budget justification information.
Awards are for three, four, or five years and are not renewable and are not transferable from one principal investigator to another.
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The Independent Scientist Award (ISA) provides salary support to enhance the research capability of individuals who have demonstrated outstanding research potential. These five-year awards are for individuals whose research potential is apparent but who seek additional research experience in a productive scientific environment in order to launch a successful research career.
Individuals who receive an ISA are expected to devote at least 75 percent of their time to their research and research-related activities. Most often the award relieves the individual from other duties such as teaching and administrative or other service duties that do not contribute to the candidate's research career development. The award is not intended for the new investigator or for those already established as independent investigators.
Awards are made to individuals at research and academic institutions in the United States and provide up to $75,000 of salary support, based on the established salary structure at the applicant's institution.
Eligibility and Requirements. Candidates must have demonstrated independent research accomplishments, have had or currently have funded research support, and should normally have five years of postdoctoral research experience. Applicants must be citizens or noncitizen nationals of the United States or have been lawfully admitted for permanent residency at the time of appointment. Persons on temporary or student visas are ineligible.
Scope of Support. The award reimburses grantee institutions for salary support up to $75,000 per year plus fringe benefits, when requested. Stipend supplementation is allowed from nonfederal funds. The award is nonrenewable.
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The purpose of Mentored Clinical Scientist Development Awards (MCSDA) is to foster the development of clinically trained individuals into independent investigators in the biomedical and behavioral mission areas of the NIDCD. This award provides three to five years of support for mentored research and special study experience tailored to individual needs. By supporting individuals with an interest in academic research careers, this award may bridge the gap between the initial period of postdoctoral study and an independent research career.
Eligibility and Requirements. Individuals with M.D. or clinical Ph.D. degrees are eligible. Candidates holding positions of senior academic rank are not eligible. Candidates must have had at least one full year, and preferably two full years, of postdoctoral level research experience before submitting a K08 application.
Scope of Support. Salary support of up to $105,000, based on the institutional base salary, and research development support are provided. Support is for three, four or five years, is nonrenewable, and requires a minimum of 75 percent effort. Supplementation is allowed from nonfederal funds.
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Complete Description of Guidelines
The NIH Blueprint for Neuroscience is a framework to enhance cooperative activities among the NIH Office of the Director and 15 NIH Institutes and Centers that support research on the nervous system. By pooling resources and expertise, the Blueprint takes advantage of economies of scale, confronts challenges too large for any single Institute or Center, and develops research tools and infrastructure that will serve the entire neuroscience community. In 2007, the Blueprint is focusing on neurodegeneration.
Eligibility and Requirements. Individuals with the skills, knowledge, and resources necessary to carry out the proposed research as the Project Director/Principal Investigator (PD/PI) are invited to work with their organizations to develop an application for support. Individuals from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups as well as individuals with disabilities are always encouraged to apply for NIH support.
Scope of Support. This FOA uses the NIH K18 grant award mechanism. As an applicant, the candidate and his/her mentor will be responsible for planning, directing and executing the proposed project and career development and enhancement activities.
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The purpose of the Mentored Patient-Oriented Research Career Development Award [K23] is to support the career development of investigators who have made a commitment to focus their research endeavors on patient-oriented research. This mechanism provides support for a period of supervised study and research for clinically trained professionals who have the potential to develop into productive, clinical investigators focusing on patient-oriented research. For the purposes of this award, patient-oriented research is defined as research conducted with human subjects (or on material of human origin such as tissues, specimens, and cognitive phenomena) for which an investigator directly interacts with human subjects. This area of research includes: 1) mechanisms of human disease; 2) therapeutic interventions; 3) clinical trials, and; 4) the development of new technologies.
Eligibility and Requirements. Individuals with M.D. or clinical Ph.D. degrees are eligible. Candidates holding positions of senior academic rank are not eligible. Candidates must have had at least one full year, and preferably two full years, of postdoctoral level research experience before submitting a K23 application.
Scope of Support. Salary support of up to $105,000, based on the institutional base salary, and research development support are provided. Support is for three, four or five years, is nonrenewable, and requires a minimum of 75 percent effort. Supplementation is allowed from nonfederal funds.
The purpose of the Midcareer Investigator Award in Patient-Oriented Research (K24) is to provide support for clinicians to allow them protected time to commit 25 to 50% effort to patient-oriented research and to act as mentors for beginning clinical investigators. The target candidates are outstanding clinical scientists at the Associate Professor or Professor levels, or at the equivalent levels in nonacademic settings, who have a record of independent research grant funding in patient-oriented research. Candidates must be able to demonstrate the need for a period of intensive research focus as a means of enhancing their clinical research careers and must be committed to mentoring the next generation of patient-oriented researchers. The award is intended to further both the research and mentoring endeavors of outstanding patient-oriented investigators, to enable them to expand their potential for significant contributions to their field, and to act as mentors for beginning clinician researchers.
Eligibility and Requirements. Candidates for this award must have a health-professional doctoral degree or its equivalent. Such degrees include but are not limited to the M.D., D.O., D.D.S., D.M.D., O.D., D.C., Pharm.D., N.D. (Doctor of Naturopathy), as well as doctorally prepared nurses. In addition, individuals holding the Ph.D. degree may apply for the award if they normally perform clinical duties. This would include clinical psychologists, clinical geneticists, speech and language pathologists, and other doctoral level clinicians. Candidates must have a record of patient-oriented research and research mentoring. Finally, candidates for this award must be able to demonstrate the need for protected time for a period of intensive research focus to advance their careers and mentoring activities. Candidates are advised to discuss their eligibility with the contacts listed in the INQUIRIES section of this program announcement.
Scope of Support. Awards in response to this program announcement will use the K24 mechanism. Planning, direction, and execution of the program will be the responsibility of the candidate on behalf of the applicant institution. The project period may be for up to five years (at least three years are required). Awards are renewable for one additional five-year period if the candidate still meets the stated requirements.
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A particular area of research is often invigorated by novel perspectives. In an effort to advance research relevant to the mission of the National Institutes of Health (NIH; which includes basic biomedical, clinical biomedical, bioengineering, bioimaging, and behavioral research), the participating Institutes and Centers solicit applications for the Mentored Quantitative Research Career Development Award (K25). The K25 mechanism is meant to attract to NIH-relevant research those investigators whose quantitative science and engineering research has thus far not been focused primarily on questions of health and disease. Examples of quantitative scientific and technical backgrounds considered appropriate for this award include, but are not limited to: mathematics, statistics, economics, computer science, imaging science, informatics, physics, chemistry, and engineering.
The K25 Award will support the career development of such investigators who make a commitment to basic or clinical biomedicine, bioengineering, bioimaging or behavioral research. This award provides support for a period of supervised study and research for productive professionals with quantitative backgrounds who have the potential to integrate their expertise with NIH-relevant research and develop into productive investigators. It is intended for research-oriented investigators from the postdoctoral level to the level of senior faculty.
Eligibility and Requirements. The prospective candidate for the Mentored Quantitative Research Career Development Award will require enhanced skills in the experimental, theoretical and conceptual approaches used in biomedicine, behavioral science, bioimaging or bioengineering. To satisfy this requirement, the candidate should propose a period of study and career development that is complementary to her or his previous research and experience.
Scope of Support. Salary support of up to $105,000, based on the institutional base salary, and research development support are provided. Support is for three, four or five years, is nonrenewable, and requires a minimum of 75 percent effort. Awards in response to this program announcement will use the K25 mechanism. As an applicant, you and your mentor will be solely responsible for planning, directing, and executing the proposed project. The applicant institution must demonstrate its commitment to you and your goals for career development. The project period may be for up to five years with a minimum of three years. Awards are not renewable. K25 application instructions include "JUST IN TIME" streamlining efforts that postpone the collection of certain information until shortly before funding recommendations are made.
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The NIH Pathway to Independence Award will provide up to five years of support consisting of two phases. The initial mentored phase will provide support for salary and research expenses for up to 2 years for the most promising and exceptionally talented new investigators who have no more than 5 years of postdoctoral research training experience at the time of initial application or subsequent resubmission(s). This initial phase of mentored support will allow the candidate time to complete research, publish results, and bridge to an independent research position. As part of the application, the candidate must propose a research project that will also be pursued as an independent investigator during the second phase of the award. The candidate and mentors together will be responsible for all aspects of the mentored career development and research program. An individual may submit an application from an extramural or intramural sponsoring institution/organization that has a rich and extensive research program in the area of interest as well as the faculty, facilities and resources to support the proposed research endeavor. The individual must select an appropriate mentor with a track record of funded research related to the selected research topic and experience as a supervisor and mentor. The sponsoring institution must ensure that the candidate has the protected time needed to conduct the proposed research.
Following the mentored phase, the individual may request up to 3 years of support to transition, as an independent scientist, to an extramural sponsoring institution/organization to which the individual has been recruited. This support is to allow the individual to continue to work toward establishing his/her own independent research program and prepare an application for regular research grant support (R01). Support for the independent phase, however, is not automatic and is contingent upon being accepted by an extramural institution and the successful NIH programmatic review of the individual’s mentored phase of the award.
Eligibility and Requirements. Eligible organizations for the PI award include domestic for-profit or non-profit institutions/organizations, or public or private institutions, such as universities, colleges, hospitals and laboratories, and eligible agencies of the federal government, including NIH intramural laboratories. Foreign institutions are not eligible to apply.
Scope of Support. This funding opportunity will use the new combination K99/R00 funding mechanism. As an applicant, the candidate and his/her mentor are jointly responsible for planning, directing, and executing the proposed mentored phase of the research project.
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Mentored Career Development Awards: Change in NIH Policy Concerning Concurrent Support From Career Development Award and a Research Grant (11/14/03)Complete Description of Guidelines
With this notice, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) modifies its policy on mentored career development awards (K Awards) to allow award recipients to hold concurrent support from their career award and a competing research grant when recognized as a Principal Investigator or subproject Director. Thus mentored career award recipients in the last two years of their support period will be permitted to reduce the level of effort required for the career award and replace that effort with an NIH research grant or subproject provided they remain in a mentored situation. This policy will permit those candidates who are ready to apply for and receive NIH research support to continue to benefit from the period of protected time offered by the career development award.
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