Helpful Hints for the
NHLBI Career Enhancement Award for
Stem Cell Research (K18)
Revised:
March 2009
These Helpful Hints were written to help potential candidates who are
planning to submit K18 applications to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood
Institute (NHLBI). This document clarifies some of the NIH K18 program
guidelines for NHLBI; it does not replace those guidelines. Candidates
MUST follow the instructions in the NIH
K18 Program Announcement (PA-09-110).
Candidates – Candidates must meet the NIH eligibility criteria,
including citizenship requirements. Candidates must possess a doctoral
degree (i.e., Ph.D., Ph.D./M.D., M.D., D.V.M., Sc.D., or equivalent degree).
Candidates may be new or mid-career investigators, or senior faculty with
a history of independent funding. When in doubt about eligibility, candidates
are strongly encouraged to contact the NHLBI program representative listed
at the end of this document prior to preparation of an application.
For postdoctoral fellows or junior faculty (assistant professor level
or equivalent) with no previous funding, an NRSA
fellowship, a
K08 Mentored Clinical Scientist Development Award, a K01
NHLBI Mentored Career Award for Faculty at Minority Institutions or
a K01
NHLBI Mentored Career Development Award to Promote Faculty Diversity/Re-Entry
in Biomedical Research may be more appropriate. Candidates must describe
their short and long-term career and research objectives and explain how
the K18 will contribute to them. Candidates must clearly document the
need for additional research training in stem cell biology and techniques
in order to achieve their career and research objectives. Candidates for
the K18, under some circumstances, may have been principal investigators
on NIH research career development awards, provided the research experience
proposed in the K18 application is in a fundamentally new field of study
or there has been a significant hiatus in their research career because
of family or other personal obligations.
Career Development Plan - This section is an important part of
a career award application and weighs significantly in the assignment
of a priority score. The career development plan should be "customized"
for the candidate, based on clearly stated career and research objectives
and past experience. If coursework is part of the proposed training, then
the specific courses and their relevance to the candidate’s career
and research objectives should be described. The amount of time requested
for the K18 award should be appropriate for the training and research
proposed in the application. A timetable (graphic or text) showing proposed
coursework, other training activities and the research project, benchmarks
and a schedule for determining progress toward the objectives will help
reviewers evaluate the career development plan.
Research Plan – In addition to the criteria listed
in the PA, reviewers will evaluate whether the research plan will provide
the candidate with the training necessary to meet career and research
objectives, and whether the proposed project can be accomplished during
the term of the K18 award.
Training in the Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR): Candidates
must describe plans to receive instruction in the responsible conduct
of research. Plans for RCR training must be described in a single paragraph
that: addresses the proposed subject matter, format, frequency and duration
of instruction; and includes an explicit statement that a candidate has
taken the course, or will take it at a specific date. No award will be
made if an application lacks this information. See the NIH website bioethics
for resources
and information on this topic.
Sponsor’s Statement – The sponsor will function as
a mentor during the term of the K18 award. Commitment to the candidate,
expertise in stem cell biology and techniques as evidenced by funding
and publications, and a history of successful research mentoring will
be evaluated by reviewers.
Environment and Institutional Commitment - The letters from the
host institution should provide specific details about the facilities
and other resources that will be made available to the candidate. Descriptions
of the host institution should be sufficiently detailed so that reviewers
can determine if the environment is appropriate for the proposed training
and research in stem cell biology and techniques. Letters from the candidate’s
institution should address all the issues listed in the PA.
Budget - Career awards use the JUST IN TIME process, but do not
use modular budgets. Facilities and administrative costs requested by
consortium participants are not included in the direct cost limitation,
see NOT-OD-05-004.
The K18 provides up to $50,000 per year for research support. In addition
to the costs listed in the PA, these funds may be used to cover the cost
of tuition, technical support, personnel consultant fees for mentor, travel
and housing at a host institution, but not living expenses. For junior
faculty, the NHLBI salary limit is the same as that for other mentored
K awards (i.e., $75,000 per year plus fringe benefits in FY 2009). For
mid-career and senior faculty, the total salary from all Federal sources
is the legislated maximum amount announced each year, plus fringe benefits,
for a minimum of 50% effort.
Term of Award – Six to twelve months is the usual period
of support. A minimum 50 percent effort is required, although 100 percent
effort is allowed. Two years of support is allowed but must be justified
in the budget, and in the career development and research plans. K18 awards
are not renewable.
Additional Advice - In addition to contacting the NHLBI
Program Official, reading the K18 PA and SF 424 (R&R) instructions,
candidates are encouraged to look at NHLBI’s
Model K08 application for an example of well-described and –
written sections on career development and mentoring.
NIH Policies – All applications proposing to use
human embryonic stem cells must comply with NIH Policy. See NIH URLs,
Stem
Cell Information ,
NIH Notice of Criteria for Funding Research on Existing Human Embryonic
Stem Cells and Establishment of NIH Human Embryonic Stem Cell Registry
,
Federal Government Clearances for Receipt of International Shipment of
Human Embryonic Stem Cells , and
Implementation Issues for Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research - Frequently
Asked Questions.
Miscellaneous - Applications should be reviewed by an editor or proofreader
and a trusted colleague. Poorly written applications are generally viewed
as evidence of lack of attention to details and often receive a poor priority
score.
Candidates should reread the program announcement and check that sufficient
information is provided in their application for reviewers to evaluate
all listed review criteria.
If, after submitting an application, candidates obtain additional preliminary
data or publications relevant to the project, or they obtain additional
grant support, they should contact the NHLBI Scientific Review Administrator
(SRA) regarding inclusion of the additional material in the review. The
NHLBI SRA for K18 applications is Mark Roltsch, Ph.D. Dr. Roltsch may
be reached at the Review Branch, Division of Extramural Research Activities,
NHLBI, by telephone at (301) 435-0287, or by email
at roltschm@nhlbi.nih.gov.
Font Size: The Center for Scientific Review has standards for font size
and spacing. Applications that do not adhere to the rules are being returned
to candidates unreviewed.
Application Procedures - Applications submitted in response
to this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) for Federal assistance
must be submitted electronically through Grants.gov
(http://www.grants.gov) using the SF 424 Research and Related (R&R)
forms and the SF 424 (R&R) Application Guide.
The SF
424 (R&R) Application Guide for NIH and Other PHS Agencies, now
includes Part 1.7 Supplemental Instructions to the SF 424 (R&R) for
Preparing an Individual Research Career Development Award (CDA) Application
("K" series). Note in particular that the "Candidate"
and "Research Plan" (sections A-D) combined may not exceed 25
pages. Please note that this new Application Guide is to be used with
all Adobe application packages, including those for the K programs.
Application Receipt Dates: February 12, June
12, and October 12 - new applications;
March 12, July 12, and November 12 - resubmission applications.
NHLBI Staff Contact:
For further information regarding NHLBI K18 applications, please contact
the NHLBI Program Director:
Traci
Heath Mondoro, Ph.D. |
National
Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute |
National
Institutes of Health |
6701
Rockledge Drive MSC 7950 |
Bethesda,
Maryland 20892-7950 (for overnight delivery, insert Room 9140 and
use zip code 20817) |
Telephone:
301-435-0052 |
FAX:
301-480-0867 |
Email:
mondorot@nhlbi.nih.gov |
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