MINORITY INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH TRAINING GRANTS

NIH GUIDE, Volume 22, Number 8, February 26, 1993



PAR NUMBER:  PAR-93-056



P.T. 44, FF



Keywords:

  Biomedical Research Training 



Fogarty International Center

Office of Research on Minority Health



Letter of Intent Receipt Date:  April 1, 1993

Application Receipt Date:  May 17, 1993



PURPOSE



The Fogarty International Center (FIC) and the Office of Research on

Minority Health (ORMH) announce a program to provide international

research training opportunities for minority undergraduate students,

minority graduate students and minority faculty members in biomedical

and behavioral research.  Training grant awards will initially be

made for three years to U.S. colleges and universities for the

purpose of encouraging students to pursue degrees and careers in the

biological sciences by broadening their undergraduate and graduate

education through international experiences; promoting qualities of

leadership by expanding cultural perspectives and to help prepare the

next generation of scientific leaders to work effectively in a global

environment; and establishing linkages between U.S. scientists and

institutions and established centers of biomedical research abroad.



There may be any or all of the following three components within each

institutional award:  (1) the international research training program

for pre-baccalaureate students pursuing life science curricula to

conduct short-term research and coursework abroad for approximately 8

to 12 weeks; (2) a predoctoral program to enable minority students to

receive research training for approximately 3 to 12 months at foreign

institutions; and (3) the international faculty program for

individual minority faculty to conduct research at foreign

institutions for approximately 3 to 12 months.



Applications may be submitted from individual institutions or from

consortia of U.S. institutions with one lead institution.  For the

purposes of this program, consortia will link institutions that have

active international programs with those with limited international

research training programs.



ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS



These institutional training grants will be awarded to U.S.

institutions for the purpose of collaborating with one or more

foreign research centers that can provide a substantial research

training experience for the U.S. minority participants.  The

applicant institution and any associated institution in a consortium

must be a two- or four-year domestic school, college or university.

Minority participants must be from underrepresented minority groups,

including African Americans, Hispanic Americans, American Indians and

Pacific Islanders.  The program director at the applicant institution

will be responsible for the selection and appointment of

participants, selection of the foreign training site(s) and the

overall direction of the training program.  Participating students

and faculty members must be U.S. citizens or permanent U.S. residents

and be pursuing degrees, studying and/or conducting research in the

biomedical or behavioral sciences at the time of appointment.



The foreign research centers should be universities, colleges or

other research institutions that have strong, well-established

biomedical or behavioral research and research training programs.

Close cooperation between the U.S. and foreign institutions and

scientists will be needed to provide the trainees with a foreign

mentor or collaborator who is recognized as an accomplished

investigator and who will participate in their research training.



Undergraduate student trainees must be pre-baccalaureate, pursuing a

relevant biomedical or behavioral science curriculum and must show

evidence of a commitment to obtaining a postgraduate degree in a

biomedical or behavioral field of science.  Predoctoral students must

be enrolled in a U.S. graduate research training program in the

biomedical or behavioral sciences.  Students and faculty must be

affiliated with a U.S. college or university at the time of

selection; however, the affiliation need not be with the grantee

institution. The foreign training for undergraduate students will

usually be for approximately 8 to 12 weeks.  One minority faculty

person may accompany each group of 4 to 6 students and act as a

general advisor/mentor during the study abroad.  Faculty members must

hold full-time tenure track faculty positions at the grantee

institution, hold a doctoral level degree and have a biomedical

research plan to carry out at the host institution.



The predoctoral training period may be from approximately 3 to 12

months for the purpose of learning a technique or carrying out a

special project or portion of a project related to their doctoral

studies.



The training grant may provide support for approximately 3 to 12

months of research and studies abroad for faculty, and especially in

the first year, could support the preparation of the training site

for the undergraduate training program.



MECHANISMS OF SUPPORT



The mechanism of support is the institutional training grant award

(T??). Domestic institutions may request up to three years of

support.  The stipend level during the period of foreign stay is

$1,000 per month for undergraduate and graduate students and $3,000

per month for the faculty member.  Stipends may be supplemented from

non-Federal sources.  Requests may be made for training-related

expenses of up to $200 per month for health insurance, foreign

tuition and fees.  Foreign living expenses will be $1,000 per month

for undergraduate and graduate students and $2,000 per month for

faculty members.  Research training and other educational expenses at

the foreign training site may be requested for up to $1,000 per

undergraduate and graduate student, the faculty program research

expenses at the foreign institution will be prorated at up to $500

per month.  Travel expenses may also be requested from home to the

foreign training site and return.  Appointments may range from

approximately 8 to 12 weeks for undergraduates, approximately 3 to 12

months for the predoctoral students and approximately 3 to 12 months

for faculty.  Indirect costs will be awarded to the grantee

institution at a rate of eight percent of the allowable direct costs.

Each of the Training grant awards will not exceed a total of $400,000

per year, including direct and indirect costs.



FUNDS AVAILABLE



It is expected that six to eight awards will be made in FY 1993 and

an additional number of new, competing awards will be made in FY 1994

and 1995.



PROGRAM OBJECTIVES



The Minority International Research Training grants are designed to

offer research training grant awards to enable qualified minority

undergraduate students, graduate students and faculty members to

participate in international biomedical and behavioral research

programs.  This program is designed to supplement the current

programs of the FIC.  They include the Fogarty International Research

Collaboration Award (FIRCA), which supports NIH grantees for the

purpose of adding a foreign collaboration with scientists in Central

and Eastern Europe, Latin America or Sub-Saharan Africa to their

ongoing research program, and the Senior International Fellowship

(SIF), which supports U.S. scientists for up to 12 months at foreign

research work sites.  The SIF fellowship may be used over three

years, taking up to three separate trips for a minimum of three

months each.



This training grant program is expected to attract students and

scientists in the developmental stages of their education and

careers, to increase their awareness of international research

opportunities and to acquaint them with the full range of career

opportunities in biomedical and behavioral research.  Minority

faculty members are expected to gain by the foreign research

experience in ways that will contribute to the research and teaching

programs at their U.S. institution.  Their association with the

foreign institution will, in many cases, provide future undergraduate

and graduate research training sites.  The components of the training

grant may include the following:



A.  The Undergraduate Research Training Program



This component of the training grant will offer a biomedical sciences

research experience for minority undergraduate students at research

centers abroad where arrangements have been made to house and train

students for from approximately 8 to 12 weeks, at any appropriate

time of the year.  The training may include short courses in the

language and culture of the host country and/or academic college

level courses in the biomedical or behavioral sciences.  Also, the

research training must be carried out during approximately half of

each weekday.  Each group of four to six students may be accompanied

by a faculty member who would also conduct research, preferably at or

at least near the location of the students.  The faculty member would

act as a general mentor and may receive support from this training

grant.  The research project might include collection of data,

samples, or other information for research purposes.  It may not be

limited to routine clinical laboratory work without a research

component.



B.  The Predoctoral Program



The training grant may include a predoctoral component that will

provide support for research training for minority predoctoral

students at a foreign institution for approximately 3 to 12 months as

part of the requirement for the graduate research degree program (but

not professional degree programs such as M.D., O.D., D.D.S.,

Pharm.D., or D.V.M.) in which the student is enrolled.  The minority

student will receive support from the training grant for the foreign

training portion only, and must demonstrate the benefit of foreign

training which may include some course work but must be primarily for

the conduct of research, to learn a technique, to participate in a

study or to utilize a unique resource or study population.



C.  The International Faculty Program



Within this institutional training grant, the faculty program

supports minority faculty members employed at U.S. colleges and

universities to carry out international collaborative research abroad

for periods of from approximately 3 to 12 months.  Faculty members

will be selected by the grantee institution and will conduct studies

and research on a biomedically related topic in collaboration with

the foreign laboratory.  The U.S. faculty member must have a

doctoral-level degree or equivalent experience and training.  The

purpose of this program is to enhance the current research skills of

the investigator by providing a new research direction or an

extension of his or her current research activities or for providing

a unique site which offers a special research facility or special

human or animal study population.  The research experience will also

benefit the faculty member's ability to communicate new scientific

concepts and directions in international developments in science in

his/her role as an instructor at the U.S. grantee institution or at

his or her home institution.  In addition to the conduct of the

research, this program may be used to develop a site or sites for the

foreign research activities of the undergraduate students.  The

faculty member may accompany students participating in the

undergraduate research program while also conducting research.



FIC and ORMH staff will closely follow the progress of each training

grant program through site visits and periodic meetings of program

directors.



LETTER OF INTENT



Each prospective applicant is requested to forward a letter of intent

that includes a descriptive title, the name and address of the

proposed Program Director, the name and location of any other

participating U.S. institutions as well as the proposed foreign

research center(s), and names of U.S. and foreign key investigators.

Such letters are requested for the purpose of obtaining an indication

of the number and scope of the applications to be reviewed.  A letter

of intent is not binding, is not a requirement of submission, and

does not enter into the review of the application. The letter of

intent is requested by April 1, 1993, and is to be addressed to Dr.

David A. Wolff at the address listed under INQUIRIES.



APPLICATION PROCEDURES



Applications are to be submitted on the institutional training grant

application form PHS 398 (rev. 9/91).  Application kits are available

at most institutional offices of sponsored research and may be

obtained from the Office of Grants Inquiries, Division of Research

Grants, National Institutes of Health, Westwood Building, Room 449,

Bethesda, MD 20892, telephone 301-496-7441.



The title and number of the announcement must be typed in section 2a

on the face page of the application.



The completed application and three legible copies must be sent or

delivered to the following address and received by May 17, 1993.



Division of Research Grants

National Institutes of Health

Westwood Building, Room 240

Bethesda, MD  20892**



In addition, two complete applications must be sent to Dr. Wolff at

the address listed INQUIRIES.



REVIEW PROCEDURES



All applications responding to this announcement will be reviewed for

scientific and technical merit by an FIC initial review group,

followed by a second level review by the Fogarty International Center

National Advisory Board.  Reviewers will pay particular attention to

the proposed method of selecting participating faculty and students,

the past or potential capability of the institutions to carry out

this type of program, the proposed benefit to the participants and

the justification for selecting the foreign training site(s).

Letters from the foreign collaborator and their institutional

officials indicating their willingness to participate in this

training program, must accompany the application.



AWARD CRITERIA



Applications will compete for funds assigned to the Minority

International Research Training Grant Program of the Fogarty

International Center.  The following will be considered in making

funding decisions:  contribution of proposal to achievement of

program's objectives; scientific and technical merit of the

application as determined by peer review; and availability of funds.



INQUIRIES



Written and telephone inquiries are encouraged.  The opportunity to

clarify any issues or questions from potential applicants is welcome.



Direct inquiries regarding programmatic issues, address the Letter of

Intent, and send two copies of the application to:



Dr. David A. Wolff

Chief, International Research and Awards Branch

Fogarty International Center

Building 31, Room B2C39

Bethesda, MD  20892

Telephone:  (301) 496-1653

FAX:  (301) 402-0779



Direct inquiries regarding fiscal matters to:



Sylvia Mandes

International Research and Awards Branch

Fogarty International Center

Building 31, Room B2C39

Bethesda, MD  20892

Telephone:  (301) 496-1653

FAX:  (301) 402-0779



AUTHORITY AND REGULATIONS



Awards will be made under the authority of the Public Health Service

Act, Title III, Part A, Section 307b (42 USC 242l), and administered

under PHS grants policies and Federal regulations, most specifically

42 CFR part 61.  This program is not subject to the intergovernmental

review requirements of Executive Order 12372 or to Health Systems

Agency review.



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