T32 - Institutional National Research Service Award (NRSA)

 Important note regarding Diversity Recruitment and Retention: The new T32 announcement describes a major policy change, calling for a "Recruitment and Retention Plan to Enhance Diversity." For helpful information on NIH requirements, as well as suggestions for Diversity Recruitment and Retention plans, please see the NIH Office of Extramural Research website. We encourage T32 program directors to review the new policy and guidance before preparing plans for future applications.

 

The NINDS supports two types of Institutional Training Grants (T32; see below). The NINDS Institutional Research Training Grant Program will support advanced predoctoral students and postdoctoral fellows. The Jointly Sponsored Predoctoral Training Program in the Neurosciences (JSPTPN) supports only predoctoral candidates during the first 2 years of training (and cannot be used to support students who have passed candidacy and/or are focused on dissertation research). There is just one application deadline, May 25, for both programs. The JSPTPN requires a letter of Intent by April 25.

• NINDS Institutional Research Training Grants: All applications to this program should have a central focus or a theme.  The theme may be as broad or as narrow as deemed appropriate by the applicant institution, but should be more focused than, for example, "training in neuroscience." Funds should be used to support novel and/or expanded training experiences and activities, rather than to simply support trainees to conduct research.  As in the past, a portion of NINDS training grants may be reserved for clinical research training projects or projects focused on a particular disorder or group of disorders. Moreover, preference may be given to programs that focus on support of trainees with an MD or health professional degree, or to programs that integrate basic and clinical research training. Awards will typically be made for a maximum of 4 trainee slots per year, although an exception may be made in rare circumstances for up to 8 slots. Those interested in applying for more than 4 slots of support per year are advised to contact the Director of Training and Career Development.

Applicants may request support for advanced (dissertation stage) predoctoral Ph.D. and M.D. students, postdoctoral fellows, or a mix of both. Applications must specify the anticipated predoctoral to postdoctoral ratio. After a training grant has been awarded, T32 directors who wish to make changes in this ratio must obtain prior approval of the Director of Training and Career Development. If the original application requested support exclusively for either pre-doctoral or postdoctoral trainees, the general policy will be to not allow trainees in another category to receive support (as such support has not been through the peer review process). However, exceptions are possible and will require that additional information be provided for administrative review and prior approval. A letter of intent is NOT required for this program. See NIH Program Announcement PA-08-226. Refer to the recent Notice in the NIH Guide for an expanded explanation of requirements for this program.

 

• Jointly Sponsored Predoctoral Training Program in the Neurosciences (JSPTPN): This training program, which sponsors neuroscience training of predoctoral students in their early, pre-thesis years, is jointly sponsored by NIA, NEI, NIAAA, NICHD, NIDCD, NIDA, NIGMS, NIMH, and NINDS. The aim of this program is to encourage broad training in the neurosciences by offering institutions a single comprehensive training grant for the support of predoctoral trainees in the neurosciences. If you are interested in applying to this program, please see additional information on the JSPTPN website. See NIH Program Announcement PAR-08-101.

Applicants for the JSPTPN program must submit a letter of intent by April 25 to Bradley Wise, Ph.D. (wiseb@nia.nih.gov, 301-496-9350). The application deadline for this program is May 25.

 

Application Procedures:

• Application Form PHS 398 (Section V: Institutional NRSA Grants)
• Supplemental Application Information for NINDS Institutional NRSA Training Programs - MS Word format
• Supplemental Application Information for NINDS Institutional NRSA Training Programs - Adobe PDF
• Application Receipt Date for PA-08-226 : May 25
• Letter of Intent Receipt Date for PAR-08-101: April 25
• Application Receipt Date for PAR-08-101: May 25