NIAID and NIH Training Programs

NIAID offers both laboratory and clinical research training programs for students and postdoctoral fellows. To learn more about NIAID basic, translational, and clinical research and training programs for physicians, and the Office of Training and Diversity, please visit the following sites:

NIAID training programs include the following:

All Levels

  • Summer Internship Program (Application Deadline: March 1)
    Successful applicants will join an NIAID research laboratory for a minimum of eight consecutive weeks conducting biomedical research with NIAID investigators between late May and September.

Postbaccalaureate

  • Postbaccalaureate Intramural Research Training Award (IRTA) (No Application Deadline)
    Recent college graduates who are planning to apply to graduate or professional school will spend a year engaged in biomedical investigation at one of NIAID's research laboratories. The fellowship can be extended for an additional year provided the performance of the trainee is satisfactory and continued support by the laboratory is available.

Graduate and Medical Student

  • Graduate Partnerships Program (Check Website for Deadline)
    Students spend their first year at the university while taking graduate-level courses. In the second year, students move partially or completely to the NIH campus for their research and continue in higher level graduate courses. The following years are dedicated completely to research. Affiliation with the home university is maintained throughout the graduate program experience.
  • Medical Research Scholars Program
    Medical students spend a year engaged in a mentored basic, clinical, or translational research project in an area that matches their interests and goals. Students will participate in hands-on research across the full continuum of biomedical research—the bench, the bedside, and between both—including computational biology, medical informatics, and other emerging areas of contemporary science.
  • Clinical Electives Program for Medical Students

Medical students participate in short-term, 4- to 12-week clinically oriented rotations to senior medical students in a multitude of specialty fields and biomedical disciplines at the NIH Clinical Center. Rotations provide students with the opportunity to have direct experience in the care of patients enrolled in investigative protocols under the direct mentorship of world renowned clinician-scientists.

Postdoctoral

  • Postdoctoral Intramural Research Training Award (IRTA) (No Application Deadline)
    Eligible U.S. citizens and permanent residents who have recently received a doctoral degree can come to NIH as Postdoctoral IRTAs to complete up to five years of postdoctoral research in NIAID intramural laboratories and the NIH research hospital, the Warren Grant Magnuson Clinical Center. 
  • Malaria Infection Biology Research and Training Program (No Application Deadline)
    Young scientists finishing their Ph.D.s in immunology, parasitology, or closely related fields will explore significant problems at the interface of the immune response and malaria.

Physician Training

Residents and clinical fellows currently enrolled in Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME)-accredited training programs participate in short-term elective rotations at the NIH Clinical Center, a 240-bed hospital located on the NIH campus in Bethesda, Maryland. Participants have direct experience in the care of patients enrolled in investigative protocols under the direct mentorship of world renowned clinician-scientists. 

  • Allergy and Immunology Training Program (No Application Deadline)
    Physicians who are well grounded in clinical internal medicine or pediatrics and who will pursue careers in academic medicine will spend a year in clinical rotations followed by a year in both clinical care and in research. The third year of training is devoted exclusively to research.
  • Infectious Diseases Research Training Program (No Application Deadline)
    Physicians who are already well grounded in clinical medicine and who intend to pursue academic careers in infectious diseases will develop clinical and research skills. This intensive, three-year program includes a year spent exclusively in clinical rotations, followed by two subsequent years pursuing individual research interests under the direction of a faculty research mentor.
  • Transition Program in Clinical Research (No Application Deadline)
    Physicians gain clinical and translational research experience in association with an NIAID Division of Intramural Research laboratory. The program aims to increase the pool of well-trained clinical investigators who are competitive for clinical tenure-track positions.
Content last reviewed on December 13, 2016