SHORT-TERM INSTITUTIONAL NATIONAL RESEARCH SERVICE AWARDS

NIH GUIDE, Volume 21, Number 26, July 17, 1992



PA AVAILABLE:  PA-92-92



P.T. 44



Keywords:

  Biomedical Research Training 

  Alcohol/Alcoholism 

  Drugs/Drug Abuse 

  Mental Disorders 



National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism

National Institute on Drug Abuse

National Institute of Mental Health



PURPOSE



The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, National

Institute on Drug Abuse, and National Institute of Mental Health

provide short-term (three months or less) National Research Service

Awards (NRSAs) to eligible institutions to develop or enhance research

training opportunities for individuals who are interested in careers in

specified areas of biomedical and behavioral research.



Each institute has different program goals and initiatives; therefore,

potential applicants must contact the appropriate institute office

listed below, prior to preparing an application, to obtain the full

Program Announcement and current information about the institute's

interests with regard to short-term NRSAs.



ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS



Domestic, public and private nonprofit institutions and professional

organizations may apply.  The applicant institution must have the staff

and facilities to conduct the proposed research training in a suitable

environment for performing high-quality work.



Individuals receiving support under individual or other institutional

NRSA training grants are not to be appointed to short-term positions.

Trainees in short-term training programs are not immediately subject to

the NRSA requirement for payback (please see the full Program

Announcement for an explanation of the payback requirement).



Trainee Requirements:  Individuals selected to be recipients of

Short-Term Institutional NRSA trainee positions must be citizens or

noncitizen nationals of the United States, or have been lawfully

admitted to the United States for permanent residence and have in their

possession an Alien Registration Receipt Card (I-151 or I-551) at the

time of appointment to the training program.  Predoctoral applicants

must have received a baccalaureate degree and be enrolled in a doctoral

degree program at the time of appointment.  Postdoctoral individuals

selected to receive short-term NRSA traineeships must have received a

Ph.D., Psy.D., M.D., D.D.S., D.N.S., D.S.W., Pharm.D., or equivalent

domestic or foreign degree from an accredited institution as of the

date of appointment.  Certification by an authorized official of the

degree-granting institution that all degree requirements have been met

is also acceptable.



MECHANISM OF SUPPORT



The mechanism of support is the Short-term Institutional NRSA (T35).

Short-term training grants are intended for pre-doctoral students,

medical students, postdoctoral students, residents interested in

pursuing research careers, and research scientists.  Short-term

training support is not intended, and may not be used, to support

activities that would ordinarily be part of a research degree program.



The training program director at the institution will be responsible

for selection and appointment of individuals to receive Short-Term

Institutional NRSA support and for the overall direction of the

research training program.  The training program must provide

opportunities for individual trainees with the primary objective of

extending their skills and knowledge in preparation for a research

career.  Special attention should be given to the appointment of

minorities and women.



NRSAs are not made for study leading to the M.D., D.O., D.D.S., or

other similar professional degrees, nor do they support residency

training.  Successful trainees may be reappointed for a

different/continuing course of training (not to exceed two

reappointments), and, when appropriate, encouraged to pursue

appointment to a standard research training program.



Period of Support:  Awards for institutional grants may be made for

project periods of up to five years.  By law, an individual may receive

no more than five years of support in the aggregate at the predoctoral

level and three years of support in the aggregate at the postdoctoral

level under the NRSA program, including any combination of support from

individual and institutional awards.



Stipends and Related Costs:  Stipends will be based on a monthly

proration (not to exceed a three month period) of the annual stipend

level.  The annual stipend for predoctoral individuals at all levels is

$8,800; therefore, the monthly stipend will be $734.



For postdoctoral individuals, the annual stipend is determined on the

basis of the number of years of prior relevant postdoctoral experience.

This determination is made at the time of each appointment or

reappointment of an individual.



The Tax Reform Act of 1986, Public Law 99-514, describes the tax

liability of all individuals supported under the NRSA program.



The institution may request up to $125 per month per predoctoral

individual and $208 per month per postdoctoral individual to offset the

cost of tuition, fees, supplies, certain types of travel for trainees,

and other expenses; and actual indirect costs or eight percent of

allowable direct costs (whichever is less) to cover related

institutional overhead.  Tuition at the postdoctoral level is limited

to that required for specified courses in support of the approved

training program, not to exceed $208 per month.  Applicants may request

additional trainee-related expenses if the nature of the program

requires exceptional support.



RESEARCH OBJECTIVES



The proposed training should be in select, focussed, often emerging,

scientific areas relevant to the mission of the funding institute that

encompass concepts and methods of the relevant disciplines, including

basic and clinical sciences, and that are of sufficient depth to enable

the trainees, upon completion of the program, to have a thorough

exposure to the principles underlying the conduct of research.

Applicants for short-term research training grants should propose a

well-integrated program that involves intensive training in a closely

supervised environment.



Every application must include the following information about the

training program:



o  All new research training grant applications are required to have a

plan for recruitment of minority trainees, including a description of

specific steps to be taken for recruitment and retention.  Competing

renewal applications are required to include a list of accomplishments

in recruitment, retention, and progress of minority students achieved

in the prior project period in addition to plans for recruiting

minority trainees in the next project period.  Competing applications

without a minority recruitment plan and/or a report of accomplishments

in recruiting minority trainees will not be reviewed until these items

are received.



o  All competing applications must include evidence that the principles

of responsible scientific conduct will be incorporated in the research

training experience of each trainee.  Applications without plans to

provide such instruction will not be reviewed until a plan is received.



o  Applications must include discussion of the relevance of the

proposed short-term training program to specific research programs at

the funding institute.



SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS



Before a trainee can be appointed to an NRSA institutional grant and

receive an NRSA under the grant, he or she must meet NRSA eligibility

requirements.  Institutions shall notify prospective trainees of these

provisions prior to or at the time an appointment is offered.  The

Payback Agreement Form must be completed and submitted to the awarding

institute immediately upon appointment of a new trainee.



Payback Requirement:  Since the time spent in short-term research

training will usually total less than 12 months, short-term trainees

will usually have no service payback obligation from this specific

short-term support.  The time spent on NRSA support is accrued,

however, along with any future NRSA support in calculating the total

service obligation.  This obligation requires that any NRSA support in

excess of 12 months be repaid by an equal period of health-related

research or health-related teaching.  Activities carried out while

supported by NRSAs may not be used to fulfill the payback requirements.



The institution must submit to the funding institute a Statement of

Appointment form (PHS 2271, revision 10/91) and a Payback Agreement

Form (Form PHS 6031, revision 10/91) each time a trainee is appointed

or reappointed to the grant.  At the end of each appointment, a

Termination Notice (Form PHS 416-7, revision 10/91) must be completed

and returned to the institute.



Trainees are required to pursue research training on a full-time basis,

devoting at least 40 hours per week as specified by the sponsoring

institution in accordance with its policies.  An NRSA may not be held

concurrently with another Federally sponsored fellowship or similar

Federal award that provides a stipend or otherwise duplicates

provisions of the NRSA.  An awardee may, however, accept concurrent

educational remuneration from the Veterans Administration and loans

from Federal funds.



APPLICATION PROCEDURES



Applicants for Short-Term Institutional NRSAs must use and follow the

instructions accompanying the Grant Application Form PHS 398 (rev.

9/91), which contains special instructions for institutional NRSAs.

These forms are available from institutional offices of sponsored

research or their equivalent.  If not available locally, they may be

obtained from the offices listed at the end of this announcement.  The

title and number of this Program Announcement, Short-term Institutional

National Research Service Awards (PA-92-92) must be typed in Item 2a on

the face page of the application form.  Applications will be accepted

at these receipt dates:  January 10, May 10, and September 10.

Applications received after these receipt dates are subject to

assignment to the next review cycle or may be returned to the

applicant.



Eligible institutions desiring to request support under this program

are encouraged to review the research areas specified in the Attachment

to the Program Announcement.  The complete Program Announcement and the

Attachment are available from the offices listed below.



REVIEW CONSIDERATIONS



Short-Term Institutional NRSA training grant applications are reviewed

for scientific and educational merit by institute initial review groups

composed primarily of nongovernment scientists and are also subject to

the review and recommendations of the appropriate National Advisory

Council.



Major considerations in the review are the following:  the

qualifications of participating faculty, their success in previous

training endeavors, and the relevance of the training program to

institute research programs; the breadth, depth, and quality of the

training program; the plans for recruiting and selecting trainees; and

the adequacy of the training facilities and resources.  Detailed review

criteria are listed in the full Program Announcement.



AWARD CRITERIA



Awarding components select applications for funding primarily on the

basis of scientific merit review results, but other factors may be

considered such as:  availability of funds, research program

priorities, balance among types of research training supported by the

awarding component, and minority recruitment efforts.



INQUIRIES



The full Program Announcement and Attachment, up-to-date policy

guidelines, and the application forms may be obtained from any of the

following offices:



National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism

Office of Scientific Affairs

5600 Fishers Lane, Room 16C20

Rockville, MD  20857

Telephone:  (301) 443-4375



National Institute on Drug Abuse

Office of Extramural Program Review

5600 Fishers Lane, Room 10-42

Rockville, MD  20857

Telephone:  (301) 443-2755



National Institute of Mental Health

Division of Extramural Activities

5600 Fishers Lane, Room 9-105

Rockville, MD  20857

Telephone:  (301) 443-1596



Inquiries regarding grants management may be directed to:



Grants Awards and Operations Section

Grants Management Branch

National Institute of Mental Health

5600 Fishers Lane, Room 7C05

Rockville, MD  20857

Telephone:  (301) 443-4414



AUTHORITY AND REGULATIONS



Awards will be made under the authority of Section 487 of the Public

Health Service Act as amended (42 USC 288) and administered in

accordance with the PHS Grants Policy Statement, revised October 1990.



.

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