December 10, 2024
Office of The Director, National Institutes of Health (OD)
This notice serves as a reminder regarding updates to the NIH Institutional Training Program application required training data tables. These changes take effect starting with submissions for due dates on or after January 25, 2025. The overall goals of these changes are to: (1) reduce applicant and reviewer burden and (2) p romote consistent information collection across training programs.
These updates will be effective for due dates on or after January 25, 2025, for Institutional Training Grant applications, including international training and institutional career development, and will impact applications that use Research Training Data Tables. The following activity codes are affected:
Training data tables required as part of the Research Performance Progress Report (RPPR), must use the updated training data tables effective for submissions on or after January 26, 2025.
Reminder of Updates to Data Tables
Planned Updates
All table types (Predoctoral, Postdoctoral, Undergraduate, International)
Additional Updates to Predoctoral and Postdoctoral Tables
Table 1 - Census of Participating Departments or Interdepartmental Programs
Previously, applicants were expected to complete Parts I (Predoctorates) and II (Postdoctorates), regardless of whether the proposed program is a predoctoral or postdoctoral training program.
Updates: Applicants are expected to provide data only for the training stage(s) reflected in the proposed program.
Table 2 – Participating Faculty Members
Previously, applicants were expected to provide the record for mentoring predoctorates and postdoctorates who have been or are currently engaged in research training under the faculty member’s primary supervision, regardless of whether the proposed program is a predoctoral or postdoctoral training program.
Updates: Applicants are required to provide data that are relevant only to the training stage(s) in the proposed program:
Table 6 – Training Program Candidates, Entrants, and their Characteristics for the Past Five Years: Predoctoral and Postdoctoral (Previously: Applicants, Entrants and Characteristics for the Past Five Years)
Previously, applicants were asked to provide detailed, structured information on individuals who applied to and entered the program for each of the last five academic years.
Updates:
As applicable, applicants can include relevant information in the program plan.
Table 8 - Program Outcomes: Predoctoral and Postdoctoral
Previously, these tables included Part II “Those Clearly Associated with the Training Grant,” which was reported in the Research Performance Progress Report (RPPR) and competitive renewal applications.
Update:
As applicable, applicants should include relevant information about the broader impacts of the program in the RPPR narrative (non-competing) or Program Plan (competing).
Additional Updates to Undergraduate Tables
Previously, undergraduate training programs required Tables 2, 3, 4, 5, and 8.
Updates: To align with data standards for other training grants, and better structure information already incorporated in the application, the following new Tables were added.
Table 5 – Publications of Those in Training
Previously, applicants provided information based on the participating faculty member, instead of based on the trainee. Additionally, the table was limited to peer-reviewed publications.
Update: In addition to the updates described above (for example, reorganization so the trainee is the first column, and the inclusion of interim research products), applicants are able to include published abstracts at external scientific meetings to which the undergraduate trainees contributed.
Table 8 – Program Outcomes
Previously, the table examples for “Initial Position and Current Position” were broad, which could negatively impact the ability for program staff and peer reviewers to clearly assess subsequent trainee career progress.
Update:
Applicants for research training grant awards are urged to consult Forms-I Application Guides for detailed guidance. Research training grant applicants using the xTRACT system to prepare training data tables should note that data table modifications are expected to be incorporated into the xTRACT system no later than December 30, 2024. Guidance on preparing the required tables for Forms-I are available in the xTRACT User Guide upon deployment, and on the Data Tables website.
Please direct all inquiries to:
Please direct all scientific, grants management and review questions to relevant points of contacts listed in the Table of IC-Specific Information, Requirements and Staff Contacts.
For policy inquiries about NIH parent institutional training grants please contact:
Division of Biomedical Research Workforce
Office of Extramural Research
Website: https://researchtraining.nih.gov
Email: NIHTrain@mail.nih.gov