Supplemental Guidelines for the Ruth L. Kirschstein
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Frequently
Asked Questions- Support may be requested for predoctoral training, postdoctoral
training, or a combination of both as defined under the NRSA guidelines.
In addition, applicants may request support for short-term (that
is, 2-3 months' duration) research training positions for students
enrolled in a program leading to a clinical doctorate or a masters
or doctorate in a physical or quantitative science such as physics,
chemistry, mathematics, or engineering.
- NHLBI will not award costs through the tuition and fees category
for items such as malpractice insurance, computer fees, or radioactive
waste disposal.
- Trainee Travel: Up to $1,400 per trainee per year may be requested
for trainee travel (for pre- and post-doctoral trainees only)
and up to $500 per trainee per year may requested for short-term
trainees.
- Stipend increases are reviewed annually and will be incorporated
into future year commitments. Actual funding levels for each budget
period will be determined annually following NHLBI staff evaluation
of the non-competing renewal application.
- New strategies to manage the number of Full-Time Training Positions
(FTTPs) will enable the NHLBI to support a greater number of meritorious
training programs. During FY 2008 and thereafter, FTTP allocations
will be held to the following limits:
New programs (Type 1) can request no more than 8 FTTPs.
Renewal/Competing Continuations (Type 2) that had 12 or fewer FTTPs during the previous period will be capped at 12.
Renewal/Competing Continuations that had more than 12 FTTPs during the prior award period will be capped at the previous number.
Renewal/Competing Continuations that entail a change of program director since the prior award period will be capped at 8 FTTPs.
A. Application Receipt and Award Dates:
Receipt dates for competing applications:
- January 25 - The NHLBI will accept all types of competing T32 applications (new, renewal/competing continuation, resubmission/amended) on this date.
- September 25 - Only resubmission/amended T32 applications will be accepted on this date.
Award Date:
New competing awards for T32 grants will be issued as early as February. Competing Renewals will usually follow the dates of the last non-competing award end date.
B. Applications with Direct Costs of $500,000 or More in any One Year:
Applications for NRSA Institutional Grants requesting $500,000 or more in direct costs for any year must obtain, prior to submission, NHLBI agreement to accept their applications for consideration. This policy applies to new competing, renewal/competing continuation, and resubmission/amended applications. Requests must be received by the NHLBI no later than 6 weeks prior to the application receipt dates (see A. above). Without this advance acceptance, applications will be returned by the Center for Scientific Review.
Amended Applications: NHLBI agreement to accept an application includes a statement that the Institute will automatically accept a single resubmission (amended) application (i.e., and "A1" application) provided that the proposed aims and total direct costs per year remain unchanged (excluding adjustments for changes in stipend levels or other allowable costs mandated by NRSA, or reductions in response to peer review).
The NHLBI will not accept a second resubmission application (i.e., an "A2" application) requesting $500,000 or more in direct costs in any year regardless of the direct costs requested in the previous submissions.
Procedures: The training director must send a written request to NHLBI at least 6 weeks in advance of the application receipt date. The letter, countersigned by an institutional business official, should be addressed to the Director of the appropriate NHLBI division as identified below, and include:
- Number of training positions that will be requested and what level (pre, post, short-term);
- For competing renewal applications, state whether that is the same number and type of positions as the last 5 years, or an increase; in the case of an increase, provide a brief justification;
- For competing renewals, are any substantial changes to the training program proposed, (e.g., the types and levels of students to be trained, or in the scientific areas of training);
- Include two budget pages - Kirschstein-NRSA-Substitute form pages 4 and 5 (http://grants.nih.gov/grants/funding/phs398/nrsafp4.pdf and http://grants.nih.gov/grants/funding/phs398/nrsafp5.pdf);
- Do not apply the NIH tuition formula to the dollars requested, list the actual costs of tuition.
Criteria for Acceptance: NHLBI considers the following criteria in determining whether to accept a proposed application:
- the proposed research training is relevant to the NHLBI mission;
- the proposed research training complements ongoing or new NHLBI programs;
- the proposed research training will provide a valuable addition to existing knowledge;
- the proposed annual costs are reasonable;
- the proposed plans for data sharing;
- the proposed annual costs are reasonable given the prior training record of the faculty involved and, for renewal (competing continuation) applications, on how many of the trainee slots for which funds have been provided have been used;
- and for all proposed research involving
human subjects, the following additional criteria:
- the proposed research is applicable to public health.
Acceptance: Within two to six weeks of receipt of the request letter, NHLBI staff will inform the applicant whether or not to proceed with submission of the proposed application. The acceptance letter from the NHLBI must be included with the cover letter of the application. The NIH Center for Scientific Review will not accept the application without documentation of NHLBI permission to submit an application.
NHLBI Extramural Program Division Directors: All written requests for NHLBI agreement to accept applications subject to this policy are to be submitted to one of the following Division Directors:
Division of Cardiovascular Diseases
Dr. Sonia Skarlatos (Acting)
NHLBI/DCVD
Two Rockledge Center, Room 8124
6701 Rockledge Drive, MSC 7940
Bethesda, MD 20892-7940
Phone: 301-435-0477
Fax: 301-480-7971
Email: skarlats@nhlbi.nih.gov
Division of Lung Diseases
Dr. James Kiley
NHLBI/DLD
Two Rockledge Center, Room 10042
6701 Rockledge Drive, MSC 7952
Bethesda, MD 20892-7952
Phone: 301-435-0233
Fax: 301-480-3547
Email: kileyj@nhlbi.nih.gov
Division of Blood Diseases and Resources
Dr. Susan Shurin (Acting)
NHLBI/DBDR
Two Rockledge Center
6701 Rockledge Drive, MSC 7950
Bethesda, MD 20892-7950
Phone: 301-435-0080
Fax: 301-480-0867
Email: shurinsb@nhlbi.nih.gov
Division of Prevention and Population Sciences
Dr. Michael Lauer
NHLBI/DPPS
Two Rockledge Center, Room 10122
6701 Rockledge Drive, MSC 7936
Bethesda, MD 20892-7936
Phone: 301-435-0422
Fax: 301-480-1864
Email: lauerm@nhlbi.nih.gov
C. Where to Send the Application:
The signed original and five complete photocopies of the application; with full Appendix materials submitted on CD (see http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-08-031.html) should be submitted to the Center for Scientific Review (CSR), NIH, at the following address:
Center for Scientific Review
National Institutes of Health
6701 Rockledge Drive, Room 1040, MSC 7710
Bethesda, Maryland 20892-7710 (U.S. Postal Service Express or regular mail)
Bethesda, Maryland 20817 (for express/courier service; non-USPS service)
Personal deliveries of applications are no longer permitted (see http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-03-040.html.)
To expedite the review process conducted by NHLBI, one additional signed complete photocopy with full appendix materials submitted on CD of the application should be sent to:
Chief, Review Branch
Division of Extramural Research Activities
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
Two Rockledge Center, Suite 7214
6701 Rockledge Drive, MSC 7924
Bethesda, MD 20892-7924
Bethesda, MD 20817 (express/courier service)
Prior to submission, applicants are strongly encouraged to contact the appropriate NHLBI program director to discuss preparation and review of the application (see General Information, VII. Staff Contacts).
IV. Review Procedures and Criteria
A. Review Procedures:
Applications judged to be complete and eligible will be evaluated for merit by a peer review group convened by the NHLBI Division of Extramural Research Activities. NHLBI has several specific review criteria related to its areas of emphasis, as described below, which will be used in addition to the peer review criteria stated in the NIH T32 Program Announcement (PA-08-226), referenced under General Information, VI. Other Documents Required for Preparing Applications. Applications will receive a second-level review by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Advisory Council to ensure that they meet the broad programmatic needs and priorities of the NHLBI.
B. Review Criteria:
1. Environment: The training environment will be
evaluated with regards to fostering a multi-disciplinary training
environment and institutional commitment to program success.
a. Evidence of the involvement and integration of mentors from multiple disciplines, as well as clinical and basic sciences in providing a coordinated training program to individual trainees.
b. Evidence of collaboration and interaction among training programs and trainees in related disciplines, to included exchanges of faculty and trainees, linking of multiple institutions, or other approaches.
c. The level of institutional commitment, including:
i. Institutional administrative support;
ii. Protected time for mentoring;
iii. Trainees' stipend supplementation from institutional sources;
iv. Departmental support for student activities.
2. Program Administration: The adequacy and appropriateness
of the programmatic administrative structure, roles, and governance
will be evaluated:
a. Evaluation of the program director's (and co-director, as appropriate) qualifications and program commitment will include:
i. Appropriate scientific background with areas of interest aligning with NHLBI areas of interest;
ii. A successful history in mentoring;
iii. Adequate time commitment to insure program success.
b. Well defined roles with a clear distribution of responsibilities among the various administering bodies such as the program director, co-director, internal and external advisory committee, or other.
3. Quality of Preceptors as Researchers/Mentors and Program Outcomes: The collective experience and success of the program staff as researchers and mentors will be assessed, by:
a. Experience and expertise of the mentor(s) in providing training and career development;
b. Experience and expertise of the mentor(s) in a scientific discipline aligned with the career plans of the trainee.
c. Success at maintaining independent research programs in heart, lung, blood or sleep related areas;
d. Trainee publication record;
e. Success in producing trainees remaining engaged in the scientific enterprise (academia, industry, government, etc.).
4. Mentoring Plan: The quality of mentoring plans will be evaluated based on the adequacy and appropriateness of specific mentoring plan (for individual trainees) or representative plan (and proposals for tailoring it to needs of multiple trainees), to include:
a. Identification of primary mentor and secondary mentors or advisors and specific areas in which they provide guidance;
b. Description of specific time commitment of primary mentor to trainee/candidate and how it may change as needed during the period;
c. Adequacy and appropriateness of steps taken to delineate trainee, mentor, and institution expectations;
d. Timeline for training and career development with specific milestones for acquiring necessary scientific knowledge and for developing research and communication skills, logical reasoning, independent thinking, ability to collaborate, collegial relationships with the professional community, responsible scientific behavior, and career planning (including planned publications and future grant support);
e. Provisions for facilitating transition of trainee to a more independent status;
f. Relationship of mentoring plan to candidate's stated career goals and career development plan (for a single candidate) or to representative training plan (for multiple trainees).
5. Research Training Program: The research training program will be evaluated in regard to the adequacy and appropriateness of plans to pursue the Special NHLBI Programmatic Emphasis described above, including:
a. Adequacy and appropriateness of plans for training in scientific competencies needed for future heart, lung, blood, and sleep disorders research, including;
i. Didactic courses, hands-on research participation, and other training experiences in areas of scientific need which currently are or are anticipated to be underrepresented. Such programs should be justified by documentation of scientific opportunities in the proposed area and demonstration of expected lack of qualified personnel to pursue them in the near future;
ii. "Survival Skills", such as seminars or courses on grant and manuscript writing, public speaking, obtaining funding, mentorship skills and establishing research collaborations in a multidisciplinary setting;
iii. Training in state-of-the-art technologies, integrative approaches, and such mathematically-based areas as bioinformatics and statistics where relevant, and demonstration of close integration of such training in the overall training program.
b. Adequacy and appropriateness of plans for training in clinical research, to include:i. Plans for effective use of NHLBI center programs, clinical networks and multicenter studies to provide opportunities for training clinical investigators and PhD scientists in collaborative clinical research;
ii. Didactic courses, hands-on research participation, and other training experiences in disciplines fundamental to clinical research such as bioethics, clinical trials and behavioral science.
iii. Programs of clinical relevance for PhD scientists-trainees, with an emphasis on postdoctoral training and course work in human biology and behavioral science.
c. Evidence of multidisciplinary approaches to research training, designed to produce trainees able to bridge disciplines and move rapidly into new disciplines as they emerge, including:
i. Involvement and integration of mentors from multiple related disciplines in providing a coordinated training program to individual trainees.
ii. Exposure of trainees to multidisciplinary research environments when feasible and appropriate.
iii. Evidence of collaboration and interaction among training programs and trainees in related disciplines (basic and clinical trainee interaction, as appropriate), to include exchanges of faculty and trainees, linking multiple institutions, or other approaches, with clear plans for how productive interactions among participants will be established and monitored.
6. Quality of the Applicant Pool and Current Trainees:
The quality of the applicant pool and current trainees will be evaluated,
as follows:
a. Applicant pools will be judged by the number of quality applicants, standard test scores, previous candidate commitment and success to science, as appropriate;
b. Current trainees (renewals) will be evaluated against the general applicant pool qualifications and progress to date in the current training program.
7. Recruitment and Retention Plan to Enhance Diversity:
The plan must be specific for the program under review and include:
a. Adequacy of the plan for recruiting individuals from diverse backgrounds into the proposed training program. Suggested recruitment and retention strategies to enhance diversity are available at http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/funding/policies/t32/t32recruitment.htm.
b. For renewal (competing continuation) applications, track record of the plan in recruiting individuals from diverse backgrounds;
c. For resubmissions (revised/amended) or renewal (competing continuation) applications, modifications of the plan since the last review to overcome deficiencies.
8. Short-term Training Program (as applicable): These programs will be evaluated in regards to scope and integration with the pre and/or post doctoral training program.
a. For applications choosing to include these programs, they must include the scope of training, a mechanism to assess program success in attracting students to careers in science through recruitment or re-recruitment to this or other training programs (renewals), and minority inclusion.
b. The programs must easily integrate with the pre or post-doctoral training component(s) and provide for plans to follow the careers of short-term trainees for the evaluation of the program effect on subsequent career choices (renewals).
Shortly after review of the competing application by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Advisory Council, the NHLBI will notify the applicant of his/her funding status. Awards are made based on the availability of funds each fiscal year, the degree of merit as determined by peer reviewers and the program priorities of the NHLBI.
VI. Other Documents Required for Preparing
Applications
In addition to this document, there are four other documents necessary
for the preparation of the NHLBI T32 application:
1.
Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) Institutional
Research Training Grants (T32)” Program Announcement PA-08-226,
issued in the NIH GUIDE FOR GRANTS AND CONTRACTS, August 1, 2008,
available at: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PA-08-226.html.
2. PHS
398 application kit with particular attention paid to Part I,
8., Instructions for Preparing an Institutional National Research
Service Award Application, including Ruth L. Kirschstein - NRSA
applications available at: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/funding/phs398/phs398.html.
3. Specific NHLBI funding guidelines for NRSA programs are described
in “NHLBI
Funding and Operating Guidelines: NRSA and Career Awards”
(includes information on Limits on Full-Time Training Positions,
Receipt Dates, and Stipend Levels) available at: http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/funding/policies/nrsa.htm.
4. "Notice
of New NIH Policy for Funding of Tuition, Fees, and Health Insurance
on Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Awards"
available at: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-06-093.html.
Additional Helpful Resources
Excellent guides to professional mentorship are available and prospective Program Directors are encouraged to use them in developing their training programs.
- The NIH Intramural Program’s Guide to Training and Mentoring is available at: http://www1.od.nih.gov/oir/sourcebook/ethic-conduct/mentor-guide.htm.
- The National Academy of Sciences has an extensive mentorship guide available at: http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=5789.
Programmatic or scientific issues: For more information and/or advice about the objectives and scope of this award, eligibility requirements, structure and organization of grant applications and peer review trends, please contact the scientific staff in the relevant Division as listed below. For applicants in the area of sleep disorders research, contact the Division most relevant to the training program being proposed.
For training in the program areas of the Division of Cardiovascular Diseases, contact:
Dr. Michael Commarato
Division of Cardiovascular Diseases
6701 Rockledge Drive
Bethesda, Maryland 20892-7940
Tel: 301-435-0535
Fax: 301-480-7971
Email: commaram@nhlbi.nih.gov
For training in the program areas of Division of Lung Diseases, contact:
Ms. Ann Rothgeb
Division of Lung Diseases
6701 Rockledge Drive
Bethesda, Maryland 20892-7952
Tel: 301-435-0202
Fax: 301-480-3557
Email: rothgeba@nhlbi.nih.gov
For training in the program areas of the Division of Blood Diseases and Resources, contact:
Dr. Henry Chang
Division of Blood Diseases and Resources
6701 Rockledge Drive
Bethesda, Maryland 20892-7950
Tel: 301-435-0067
Fax: 301-480-0867
Email: changh@nhlbi.nih.gov
For training in the program areas of the Division of Prevention and Population Sciences, contact:
Dr. Charlotte Pratt
Division of Prevention and Population Sciences
6701 Rockledge Drive
Bethesda, Maryland 20892-7936
Tel: 301-435-0382
Fax: 301-480-5158
Email: prattc@nhlbi.nih.gov
Fiscal Issues:
For more information about the appropriate procedures for dealing
with issues that involve budget and period of support of the award
or that involve any other issues requiring approval by the NHLBI
or post award actions, please contact the Grants Management Specialist
listed below:
Ms. Beckie Chamberlin
Division of Extramural Research Activities
6701 Rockledge Drive
Bethesda, Maryland 20892-7926
Tel: 301-435-0183
Fax: 301-451-5462
Email: chamberr@nhlbi.nih.gov
Follow the instructions in the PHS 398, Part I, 8., Instructions for Preparing an Institutional National Research Service Award Application including Ruth L. Kirschstein NRSA applications. Please use the NIH tables located in PHS 398 Part I, 8., to complete your application. The NHLBI suggested tabular formats are no longer accessible.
