and Human Services (HHS)
SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION FOR NIDCD CAREER DEVELOPMENT (K-SERIES) AWARD
APPLICANTS AND ACTIVE GRANTEES
Release Date: June 27, 2000
NOTICE: DC-00-002
National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders
This notice provides new information to potential applicants and to active
grantees on the unique guidelines and award provisions of the career
development (K-award) programs offered by the National Institute on Deafness
and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD). This notice is more fully
developed on the NIDCD website
(URL: http://www.nidcd.nih.gov/funding/types/kseries-supp.asp).
Prospective applicants should also consult the relevant trans-NIH K-award
program announcement (PA) referenced below and the Form PHS-398, Section IV:
RESEARCH CAREER AWARDS, for instructions on preparing an application.
The present notice supplements the following trans-NIH PAs issued in the NIH
Guide:
PA-00-020: Independent Scientist Award (K02) (issued on 12/02/99)
PA-00-003: Mentored Clinical Scientist Development Award (K08) (issued on
10/08/99)
PA-00-004: Mentored Patient-Oriented Research Career Development Award (K23)
(issued on 10/08/99)
PA-00-005: Midcareer Investigator Award in Patient-Oriented Research (K24)
(issued on 10/08/99)
These PAs may be accessed using the following URL convention:
http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PA-XX-XXX.html (e.g., PA-00-020).
This notice replaces and supersedes: NIDCD Supplemental Information to the
NIH Career Development (K Award) Program Announcements, NIH Guide, April 27,
1999.
Increased salary levels for the K02, K08 and K23 awards made by the NIDCD are
effective for competing applications submitted for the October 1, 2000 and
subsequent receipt dates.
INDEPENDENT SCIENTIST AWARD (K02)
The K02 award provides up to five years of salary support to recently
independent scientists, having research support at the time the award is
made, who demonstrate the need for a period of intensive research focus (at
least 75 percent effort) in order to foster their career development as
outstanding scientists. Applicants for the K02 award must document within the
application that they will have peer-reviewed research support at the time of
the award, or are awaiting a funding decision on a submitted research grant
application. However, scientists whose work is primarily theoretical may
apply for this award in the absence of external research grant support, as
per the trans-NIH K02 announcement (PA-00-020). It is the policy of the
NIDCD not to renew a K02 award beyond its original period of five years.
Scientists with firm salary support for their research endeavors must
demonstrate a compelling need for a K02 award (e.g., release time from other
duties for research).
Eligibility Requirements
The applicant must hold a doctoral degree and have demonstrated independent
research accomplishments at the time of application. Applicants will
normally have had at least five years of postdoctoral research experience,
but not yet be considered well established in the research area of the K02
application.
Allowable Costs
1. Salary
Beginning with awards made from applications submitted for the October 1,
2000 and subsequent receipt dates, the NIDCD will provide up to $75,000 per
year of salary support, based on the established salary structure at the
applicant"s institution for staff members of equivalent qualifications, rank
and responsibilities. When requested, the NIDCD will provide fringe benefits
based on the sponsoring institution"s established policies and on the
proportion of the applicant"s salary provided by the K02 award. Salary
support in currently funded Federal research grants generally must be
forfeited upon award of a K02 grant and cannot be rebudgeted to another
budget category on the research grant. Consult with the NIDCD program
official listed under INQUIRIES if you receive salary support from more than
one Federal research grant.
2. Research Development Support
The NIDCD uses the K02 award for salary support only, and not for the support
of incidental expenses related to research and career development, such as
tuition, fees, books, publication costs or travel to scientific meetings.
MENTORED CLINICAL SCIENTIST DEVELOPMENT AWARD (K08) AND MENTORED PATIENT-
ORIENTED RESEARCH CAREER DEVELOPMENT AWARD (K23)
The purpose of the K08 award and the K23 award is to foster the development
of clinically trained professionals into independent investigators in the
biomedical and behavioral scientific mission areas of the NIDCD. These
awards serve to facilitate the awardee"s progression from mentored research
status to research independence, not to maintain a promising clinician-
scientist in postdoctoral training status. Furthermore, these awards are not
designed for individuals seeking to change their career trajectories from
clinical practice to research, but for individuals seeking to integrate both
elements in their career. Hence, the applicant should demonstrate in the
application how the K08 or K23 award will enable them, in the short- or long-
term, to transfer scientific knowledge to clinical practice. Candidates
seeking to concentrate their research career development on fundamental
research should apply for a K08 award. Candidates seeking to concentrate
their research career development on "patient-oriented research," as defined
in PA-00-005, should apply for a K23 award. The choice of appropriate
mentorship is considered critical to the success of a candidate’s research
career development plan and details of the plan are closely scrutinized. In
addition to the primary mentor, one or more co-mentors may be designated. The
role(s) of the mentor(s) in the career development plan and the schedule for
contact between the candidate and the mentor(s) must be carefully described
in the application. To facilitate regular face-to-face contact within the
mentoring relationship, the primary mentor should be based at the applicant"s
home institution or at an institution within a reasonable distance (i.e.,
approximately 100 miles) of the applicant"s institution.
The NIDCD strongly encourages K08 and K23 recipients who are successfully
progressing in their career development program to submit an application for
independent research support through an NIH research project grant mechanism,
typically the new-investigator R01 grant, during the latter years of their
award. This will facilitate a smooth, uninterrupted transition from the
mentored research career stage to the independent research career stage.
Eligibility Requirements
The applicant should hold a clinical doctoral degree, have completed
postgraduate clinical training and have secured employment in an academic or
nonacademic research institution prior to award of a K08 or K23 grant.
However, one may submit an application during the final stages of clinical
training. In certain cases, the NIDCD may consider an individual holding a
doctoral degree in a non-clinical discipline, but certified or licensed to
perform clinical duties, eligible for these career development awards,
providing the individual’s career goals are to combine research with clinical
practice. Individuals holding both clinical and non-clinical doctoral degrees
are eligible. Two years of prior research experience, including experiences
at the undergraduate, predoctoral and postdoctoral levels, is expected of K08
and K23 applicants. Individuals holding positions of senior academic rank,
such as associate professor or professor, or the equivalent in non-academic
settings, are not eligible to apply for these awards. Consult with the NIDCD
program official listed under INQUIRIES concerning your eligibility for these
programs.
The NIDCD encourages early-stage clinician-scientists to consider applying
for one year of support through an NIDCD R03 award, if needed to demonstrate
the feasibility of the research to be proposed in their K08 or K23
application.
The K-awardee may hold an NIDCD R03 award concurrent with the K08 or K23
award, providing the aggregate number of years of R03 support (prior to and
during the K award) does not exceed three years and that the R03 does not
provide the K-awardee with additional salary support. The purpose of such an
R03 grant is to provide the mentored K-awardee with additional research funds
to support the transition to independence. The research specific aims (SAs)
of the R03 application may overlap, but should expand upon the SAs of the K08
or K23 award, rather than duplicate the SAs of the latter award. In this
case, the concurrent professional effort associated with these awards is
considered overlapping rather than additive. It is also possible for a K-
awardee to serve as a co-investigator (Co-I) on another PI’s research grant,
providing the Co-I’s overall percentage effort does not exceed 100%. K08 and
K23 recipients offered research support from other Federal agencies or from
private professional and voluntary organizations and foundations should
consult with the NIDCD program official listed under INQUIRIES prior to
accepting the non-Public Health Service award.
Allowable Costs
1. Salary
The NIDCD shall provide salary support up to a maximum of $105,000, plus
commensurate fringe benefits, based on the applicant institution’s
established salary structure for a full-time, 12-month staff member of
equivalent qualifications, rank and responsibilities in the department
concerned. (Current NIDCD K08/K23 awardees will continue to receive up to
$75,000 for each remaining year of the award.)
2. Research Development Support
The NIDCD will provide up to $50,000 per annum for the research development
expenses outlined in PA-00-003 and PA-00-004, including expenses relating to
travel of the designated external advisory committee to the awardee’s
institution (see later section on External Advisory Committee).
If additional research development support is needed for an NIDCD-supported
K08 or K23 grant already in progress to help transition the awardee to
independence, an NIDCD R03 may be submitted. In the event that the limit of
three years of aggregate R03 support has already been reached, additional
support may be requested from the NIDCD as an administrative supplement
application if compelling justification can be provided. The awardee should
consult with the NIDCD program official listed under INQUIRIES prior to
submitting such an administrative supplement application.
Application Procedures
1. Career Development Plan
In addition to the guidelines in PA-00-003 and PA-00-004, the NIDCD requires
that applicants describe plans to complete a graduate-level didactic course
in biostatistics and research design during the first year of the award or
provide evidence that such training was previously completed by the
applicant.
2. External Advisory Committee
The NIDCD requires that the applicant, in consultation with his/her
mentor(s), configure an external advisory committee, to be described in the
application, composed of two scientists from outside the applicant’s
institution who are experts in the field of the proposed research career
development, but who are not mentors or collaborators of the applicant or the
applicant’s mentor. The scientists should have records of mentoring new
investigators and of Federal research funding. The external advisory
committee members shall commit to be available to the candidate for
consultation on an as-needed basis [beyond the input of the mentor(s)] and to
site visit the awardee and his/her primary mentor at the home institution
twice during the period of the K-award, in the first half of the second year
and in the latter half of the fourth year of the award period. Each external
advisory committee member shall write a letter, to be included with the
application, stating his/her commitment. The underlying goal of the external
advisory committee is to provide the awardee, the mentor, the institution and
the NIDCD with a mechanism for quality assurance on the conduct of the
research career development program. The specific purposes of these site
visits are: 1) to advise the awardee in attaining the goals of the career
development program, and 2) to help ensure that the institution’s commitments
to the terms of the award, including the awardee’s protected research career
development time, the research facilities and resources available and the
mentorship arrangement, are being met. The travel costs associated with these
site visits shall be budgeted within the application as research development
expenses. A report of the input of the external advisory committee to the
awardee and his/her institution, signed by each committee member, should be
incorporated into the Application for Continuation Grant (PHS Form 2590)
(progress report), submitted to the NIDCD by the awardee’s institution for
Years Three and Five of the award.
MIDCAREER INVESTIGATOR AWARD IN PATIENT-ORIENTED RESEARCH (K24)
The NIDCD will support established clinician-investigators who have a record
of Federal or private research grant funding, past and present, and
scientific accomplishment in patient-oriented research who seek protected
time to: 1) enhance their research program and capabilities, and 2) mentor
medical residents, clinical fellows and/or junior clinical faculty in
research. Individuals appropriate for the K24 award generally have attained
the academic rank of full-professor, or the equivalent in non-academic
settings. Such individuals are often at a period in their careers when their
research time has been seriously challenged by the increasing demands of
clinical service, teaching, clinical training and administration. The award
protects up to 50% of the time of such individuals and allows them to become
role models for newer clinician-investigators during a period of research
renewal. Applicants for this career development award must present a
compelling justification for the need and utility of this mechanism for their
continued career development in patient-oriented research.
SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS FOR NIDCD K-AWARDS
In addition to the original application and three copies sent to the NIH
Center for Scientific Review, send two additional copies of the application
(and five sets of appendices) to:
Chief, Scientific Review Branch
Division of Extramural Research
National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders
6120 Executive Boulevard, Room 400-C, MSC 7180
Bethesda, MD 20892-7180 (regular mail)
Rockville, MD 20852 (overnight/express mail)
INQUIRIES
Consultation with the following program official, responsible for the NIDCD
extramural research training program, is strongly encouraged prior to
submitting a K-award application. Direct inquiries to:
Daniel A. Sklare, Ph.D.
Research Training Officer
Division of Extramural Research
National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders
Executive Plaza South, Rm. 400C, MSC-7180
6120 Executive Blvd.
Bethesda, MD 20892-7180 (regular mail)
Rockville, MD 20852 (overnight/express mail)
Tel: (301) 496-1804
FAX: (301) 402-6251
Email: [email protected]
Weekly TOC for this Announcement
NIH Funding Opportunities and Notices
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