Division of Extramural Activities

F31 Predoctoral Individual Fellowship

The program includes opportunities for students with disabilities (a separate announcement had previously offered this opportunity) and replaces the prior NIH Predoctoral Individual Fellowship Award for students who would increase diversity in the research workforce.

For more information, see:

Ruth L. Kirschstein NRSA for Individual Predoctoral Fellowships (F31) to Promote Diversity in Health-Related Research:

• Expires: May 8, 2014
• PA Number: PA-11-112

Supplements to Promote Diversity

NIA participates in this NIH-wide supplement program. This program replaces the prior NIH Research Supplements for Under-represented Minorities and Research Supplements for Individuals with Disabilities programs.

For more information, see:

• Expires: September 30, 2015
• PA Number: PA-12-149

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, 2015
• PA Number: PA-12-150

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. Hunter 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 post-baccalaureate 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, workshops, 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. Hunter before preparing and submitting a Diversity Supplement.
• NIA limits funds requested for travel to attend professional conferences to $2000 per year of the award.
• NIH-NIA is moving toward the full implementation of a paperless application-submission and grant-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.
• Effective January 25, 2010, NIA follows NIH policy limiting application page-length. Diversity Supplement applications should feature & be limited to the following (from Section IV.2 of the NIH Diversity Supplement FOA):
  • A completed PHS 398 Face Page, with appropriate signatures, that includes the title and parent grant number and the FOA name, i.e., "Research Supplements to Promote Diversity in Health-Related Research"
  • A brief but detailed five-page (5) description, prepared by the PI of the parent grant, that features:
    • A brief summary/abstract of the parent grant
    • A brief but detailed description of the research plan for the trainee candidate
    • A detailed plan and integrated time-line for the planned research-training activities for the trainee candidate
    • A description of how the proposed research and research training would expand and foster the aging-related research capabilities of the trainee candidate
      • A description of how the proposed research and research-training activities relate to the specific research goals and objectives of the parent grant
      • A detailed and integrated mentoring plan
  • A PHS 398 Biosketch for:
    • • PI and any named mentor
      • Trainee candidate
  • A brief but insightful personal statement by the trainee candidate regarding her/his research and career-development interests, career goals and commitments, how the proposed Diversity Supplement would facilitate the realization of the trainee candidate's research and career-development goals
  • A signed statement from the PI and an institutional official establishing the eligibility of the trainee candidate for support under the Diversity Supplement Program
  • PHS 398 Budget Pages that include itemization, explanation, and justification of each and every budget item request
  • IRB and human-subjects-approval documentation and, if applicable, documentation of approval by the Institutional Non-Human Animal Care Committee
  • A copy of the most recent official transcript if the trainee candidate is an high school, undergraduate, post-baccalaureate, post-master's degree or graduate student
  • If any of the research is to be conducted at a site other than the grantee institution, an appropriately signed letter from the other institution where the research would be conducted should be provided. The request must be signed by the trainee candidate, PI, and the appropriate institutional business official
  • If the request is for a supplement based on disability, the institution should indicate what, if any, reasonable accommodations the institution has supported or plans to provide along with a full description of how any additional support for accommodation would be used. The relation of the proposed accommodation (to the proposed Diversity Supplement) must be described

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. Hunter 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. Chyren Hunter, at Hunterc@nia.nih.gov

All potential applicants are strongly encouraged to contact NIA’s Diversity/Re-Entry Supplement Program Coordinator, Dr. Chyren Hunter, at Hunterc@nia.nih.gov or 301-496-9322 before beginning work on and submitting a Diversity or Re-Entry Supplement application.