FELLOWSHIPS IN QUANTITATIVE BIOLOGY

Release Date:  June 23, 1998

PA NUMBER:  PA-98-082

P.T.

National Institute of General Medical Sciences

PURPOSE

Progress in several areas of biological science supported by the National
Institute for General Medical Sciences (NIGMS), is critically dependent on the
involvement of scientists with training in both traditional quantitative
disciplines (such as mathematics, physics, engineering, and computer science)
and biology.  Therefore, the NIGMS is encouraging applications for individual
postdoctoral and senior fellowships from highly qualified individuals with
doctoral training in the above quantitative areas who are seeking additional
training in biological areas congruent to the mission of NIGMS.

ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS

Individuals must be citizens or noncitizen nationals of the United States, or
have been lawfully admitted to the United States for permanent residence
(i.e., possess a currently valid Alien Registration Receipt Card I-551, or
other legal verification of such status) at the time of application. 
Noncitizen nationals are generally persons born in possessions of the United
States (i.e., American Samoa and Swains Island).  Individuals on temporary or
student visas are not eligible. Applicants for individual postdoctoral
fellowships must have completed all of the requirements for the doctoral
degree by the time of award. Applicants for senior fellowships must have had
at least seven years of relevant research or professional experience beyond
the doctoral degree.  In addition, a significant amount of retraining is
required for senior fellowship applicants.  Applications from women,
underrepresented minorities and individuals with disabilities are especially
encouraged.

MECHANISM OF SUPPORT

This program announcement will use the postdoctoral (F32) and senior (F33)
fellowship mechanisms. The stipend levels for the individual postdoctoral
(F32) fellowships range from $21,000 to $33,012 depending on the number of
years of relevant experience subsequent to the award of the doctoral degree.
The stipend level for senior (F33) fellowships is $32,300 per annum. NIH will
provide an institutional allowance of $4,000 per 12-month period to
non-federal, non-profit sponsoring institutions to help defray such awardee
expenses as self-only health insurance, research supplies, equipment, and
travel to scientific meetings.  The NIH will provide up to $3,000 for fellows
sponsored by Federal laboratories or for-profit institutions for expenses
associated with self-only health insurance, travel to scientific meetings, and
books.  The NIH also will provide additional funds to offset the combined cost
of tuition and fees for specific courses, which support the research training
experience, at the following rate: 100 percent of all costs up to $2,000 and
60 percent of costs above $2,000. Individuals may receive up to three years of
aggregate NRSA support at the postdoctoral level, including any combination of
support from institutional training grants and individual fellowship awards

Recipients of National Research Service Awards are subject to payback
provisions.  Details about this requirement and the policies governing this
program can be found in the National Research Service Awards Guidelines (see
NIH Home Page; URL is: https://grants.nih.gov/training/nrsa.htm#fellowships).  Single copies
are also available from this office.

RESEARCH OBJECTIVES

NIGMS supports individual postdoctoral and senior fellowships in those areas
covered by its research grant portfolio.  These areas include biomedical
engineering, cell biology, molecular biophysics, genetics and developmental
biology, pharmacology, physiology, especially burn and trauma research and
biological chemistry.  More details can be found on the NIGMS homepage at
http://www.nih.gov/nigms.  Progress in many of these areas, for example,
structural biology, bioinformatics, modeling of complex and interacting
systems, population genetics and evolution, would benefit from including
individuals with training in the quantitative disciplines cited above.  It is
the objective of this announcement to encourage applications from such
individuals at either the beginning postdoctoral on more senior levels.  The
individual postdoctoral fellowship (F32) and senior fellowship (F33)
mechanisms require that an individual identify a mentor, and prepare a
research application via the normal mechanisms described below.

INCLUSION OF WOMEN AND MINORITIES IN RESEARCH INVOLVING HUMAN SUBJECTS

It is the policy of the NIH that women and members of minority groups and
their subpopulations must be included in all NIH supported biomedical and
behavioral research projects involving human subjects, unless a clear and
compelling rationale and justification is provided that inclusion is
inappropriate with respect to the health of the subjects or the purpose of the
research.  This policy results from the NIH Revitalization Act of 1993
(Section 492B of Public Law 103-43).

All investigators proposing research involving human subjects should read the
"NIH Guidelines For Inclusion of Women and Minorities as Subjects in Clinical
Research," which have been published in the Federal Register of March 28, 1994
(FR 59 14508-14513) and in the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts, Volume 23,
Number 11, March 18, 1994.

NIH POLICY AND GUIDELINES ON THE INCLUSION OF CHILDREN AS PARTICIPANTS IN
RESEARCH INVOLVING HUMAN SUBJECTS

It is the policy of NIH that children (i.e., individuals under the age of 21)
must be included in all human subjects research, conducted or supported by the
NIH, unless there are scientific and ethical reasons not to include them. 
This policy applies to all initial (Type 1) applications submitted for receipt
dates after October 1, 1998.

All investigators proposing research involving human subjects should read the
"NIH Policy and Guidelines on the Inclusion of Children as Participants in
Research Involving Human Subjects" that was published in the NIH Guide for
Grants and Contracts, March 6, 1998, and is available at the following URL
address: http://www.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/not98-024.html

Investigators also may obtain copies of the policy from the program staff
listed under INQUIRIES.  Program staff may also provide additional relevant
information concerning the policy.

APPLICATION PROCEDURES

Applications are to be submitted on the grant application form PHS 416-1 (rev.
8/95).  Application kits are available from most institutional offices of
sponsored research and from the Division of Extramural Outreach and
Information Resources, National Institutes of Health, 6701 Rockledge Drive,
MSC 7910; Bethesda, MD 20892-7710, telephone (301) 710-0267, email:
grantsinfo@nih.gov.

Applications for fellowships awards must include at least three sealed letters
of reference.  Fellowships applications submitted without the required number
of reference letters will be considered incomplete and will be returned
without review.

All individual fellowship applications are on an expedited review schedule.
Receipt dates for applications are April 5, August 5, and December 5 annually. 
The earliest dates that awards can be made are November, January, and May,
respectively.

The original and two copies of the application must be submitted to:

CENTER FOR SCIENTIFIC REVIEW
NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH
6701 ROCKLEDGE DRIVE, ROOM 1040, MSC-7710
BETHESDA, MD  20892-7710
BETHESDA, MD  20817 (for express/courier service)

REVIEW CONSIDERATIONS

Applications will be assigned on the basis of established PHS referral
guidelines.  Applications submitted in response to this program announcement
will be reviewed in accordance with the standard NIH peer review procedures. 
The following factors are considered in the review of fellowship applications:
(1) the candidate's potential for a research career; (2) the scientific or
scholarly merit and training potential of the research proposal; (3) the
training environment and resources; and (4) assessment of the value of the
proposed fellowship experience. The second level or review is performed by the
appropriate oversight group of the NIH awarding component.

AWARD CRITERIA

Applications will compete for available training funds with all other approved
fellowship applications.  The following will be considered in making funding
decisions:  Quality of the fellowship application as determined by peer
review, availability of funds, and program priority.

INQUIRIES

Inquiries are encouraged.  The opportunity to clarify any issues or questions
from potential applicants is welcome.

Direct inquiries regarding programmatic issues to:

James C. Cassatt, Ph.D.
Division of Cell Biology and Biophysics
National Institute of General Medical Sciences
Building 45, Room Number 2AS19
Bethesda, MD  20892
Telephone:  (301) 594-0828
FAX:  (301) 402-2004
Email:  cassattj@nigms.nih.gov

James Anderson, Ph.D.
Division of Genetics and Developmental Biology
National Institute of General Medical Sciences
45 Center Drive, MSC 6200
Bethesda, MD  20892-6200
Telephone:  (301) 594-0943
FAX:  (301) 480-2228
Email:  andersoj@nigms.nih.gov

Peter Preusch, Ph.D.
Division of Pharmacology, Physiology and Biological Chemistry
National Institute of General Medical Sciences
45 Center Drive, MSC 6200
Bethesda, MD  20892-6200
Telephone:  (301) 594-5938
FAX (301) 480-2802
Email:  preuschp@nigms.nih.gov

Direct inquiries regarding fiscal matters to:

Ms. Carol Tippery
Grants Management Office
National Institute of General Medical Sciences
45 Center Drive, MSC 6200
Bethesda, MD  20892-6200
Telephone:  (301) 594-5135
FAX:  (301) 480-1969
Email:  tipperyc@nigms.nih.gov

AUTHORITY AND REGULATIONS

This program is described in the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance No.
93.821, 93.862, and 93.859. Awards are made under authorization of the Public
Health Service Act, Title IV, Part A (Public Law 78-410, as amended by Public
Law 99-158, 42 USC 241 and 285) and administered under PHS grants policies and
Federal Regulations 42 CFR 52 and 45 CFR Part 74.  This program is not subject
to the intergovernmental review requirements of Executive Order 12372 or
Health Systems Agency review.

The Public Health Service (PHS) strongly encourages all grant recipients to
provide a smoke-free workplace and promote the non-use of all tobacco
products.  In addition, Public Law 103-227, the Pro-Children Act of 1994,
prohibits smoking in certain facilities (or in some cases, any portion of a
facility) in which regular or routine education, library, day care, health
care or early childhood development services are provided to children.  This
is consistent with the PHS mission to protect and advance the physical and
mental health of the American people

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