EXPIRED
September 16, 2019
November 8, 2019
Not Applicable
Standard dates apply
All applications are due, by 5:00 PM local time of applicant organization. All types of non-AIDS applications allowed for this funding opportunity announcement are due on the listed date(s).
Applicants are encouraged to apply early to allow adequate time to make any corrections to errors found in the application during the submission process by the due date.
Standard AIDS dates apply by 5:00 PM local time of applicant organization. All types of AIDS and AIDS-related applications allowed for this funding opportunity announcement are due on these dates.
Applicants are encouraged to apply early to allow adequate time to make any corrections to errors found in the application during the submission process by the due date.
Standard dates apply
Not Applicable for Fellowships
Standard dates apply
September 8, 2022
Not Applicable
It is critical that applicants follow the Fellowship (F) instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide except where instructed to do otherwise (in this FOA or in a Notice from the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts). Conformance to all requirements (both in the Application Guide and the FOA) is required and strictly enforced. Applicants must read and follow all application instructions in the Application Guide as well as any program-specific instructions noted in Section IV. When the program-specific instructions deviate from those in the Application Guide, follow the program-specific instructions. Applications that do not comply with these instructions may be delayed or not accepted for review.
Part 1. Overview Information
Part 2. Full Text of the Announcement
Section I. Funding Opportunity Description
Section II. Award Information
Section III. Eligibility Information
Section IV. Application and Submission
Information
Section V. Application Review Information
Section VI. Award Administration Information
Section VII. Agency Contacts
Section VIII. Other Information
NIH's Diversity Statement The overall goal of the NIH Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) program is to help ensure that a diverse pool of highly trained scientists is available in appropriate scientific disciplines to address the Nation's biomedical, behavioral, and clinical research needs. NRSA fellowships support the training of pre-and postdoctoral scientists, dual-degree investigators, and senior researchers. More information about NRSA programs may be found at the Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) website.
The purpose of the Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) Individual Predoctoral Fellowship is to enable promising predoctoral students to obtain individualized, mentored research training from outstanding faculty sponsors while conducting dissertation research. Applicants for this specific F31 program are expected to propose a dissertation research project and training plan in scientific health-related fields relevant to the mission of NIDDK's Division of Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolic Diseases (DDEMD). This training plan should reflect the applicant’s dissertation research project, and facilitate and clearly enhance the individual’s potential to develop into a productive, independent research scientist.
Applicants for this Bioinformatics Interdisciplinary Predoctoral Fellowships in Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolic Diseases (F31) program are expected to propose a dissertation research project and training plan focused on applying and integrating bioinformatics, data science and/or computational approaches to a compelling research question.
Applications considered for funding through this FOA must be directly focused on diseases or conditions that are central to the mission of the DDEMD of the NIDDK and utilize bioinformatics, data science and/or computational approaches . This includes research focused on topics listed below. Those not utilizing these approaches should consider applying to the parent F31.
Diabetes: diabetes and other metabolic disorders, including inborn errors of metabolism and rare genetic metabolic diseases such as lipodystrophy and maturity onset diabetes of the young (MODY); non-pulmonary aspects of cystic fibrosis pathogenesis and pathophysiology; metabolic or endocrine complications related to HIV or anti-retroviral therapy; complications of diabetes that affect multiple organ systems, or the specific complications of diabetic foot ulcers, peripheral sensory neuropathy, and neurovascular or neurocognitive complications of diabetes.
Endocrinology: development, metabolism and basic biology of the endocrine system including pathophysiology of endocrine disorders involving thyroid and parathyroid; neuroendocrinology of energy balance, including neural pathways and peptides that regulate feeding behavior, satiety and energy expenditure;
Metabolic Diseases: mechanisms regulating carbohydrate and lipid metabolism, metabolic dysfunction and tissue crosstalk in specific peripheral tissues such as adipose, bone, muscle, or liver; effects of the intrauterine environment on metabolic responses in offspring.
Topics outside of the areas noted above that are not within the mission of DDEMD/NIDDK, or within other divisions of NIDDK will not be considered for funding through this initiative. For example, not intended to support topics including diabetic cardiovascular disease; diabetic retinopathy and non-autoimmune ophthalmopathy; diabetic nephropathy and uropathy, or studies of the renin-angiotensin system (supported by NIDDK's Kidney, Urologic and Hematologic Diseases Division); and diabetic gastroparesis, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, or complications of obesity (supported by NIDDK's Digestive Diseases and Nutrition Division).
In addition, studies focusing on the primary prevention or treatment of gestational diabetes, or the immediate pregnancy outcomes of women with diabetes are not within NIDDKs mission , and will not be considered for funding through this initiative. Reproductive endocrinology is also not within the mission of NIDDK and studies on this topic will not be supported under this announcement.
The training plan should document the need for, and the anticipated value of, the proposed mentored research and training in relationship to the individual's research career goals in applying bioinformatics research within the mission of NIDDK's DDEMD. The training plan should also facilitate the fellow's transition to the next stage of his/her research career applying bioinformatics, data science and/or systems biology techniques to research within the mission of NIDDK DDEMD, and of working in a team-science environment. There should be sponsor(s) to cover expertise in bioinformatics, data science and/or system biology, and the disease area of interest needed for training. This often may require a team of co-sponsors to fully cover the needed areas of expertise.
Prior to submitting an application, prospective candidates are strongly encouraged to contact the Scientific/Research Contact for this FOA to discuss the appropriateness of the proposed research to this FOA.
Contemporary medical research is increasingly dependent on high dimensional and high throughput technologies that generate enormous amounts of complex data. Data-intensive experimental approaches such as Genome Wide Association Studies (GWAS), whole genome sequencing, epigenomic mapping, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics profiling, as well as an array of single cell high dimensional measures are increasingly being applied in NIDDK-relevant research. Large amounts of data and computational resources are also required in modern image analysis and for structural determination of proteins and chemical entities involved in biological systems.
NIDDK supported research projects in diabetes, endocrinology and related metabolic diseases have already generated many large datasets that require complex computational analysis. Genomics, transcriptomics, epigenomics, proteomics and metabolomics studies are currently being used to identify biomarkers of disease, to assess multifactorial relationships between cells and tissues, or to reveal systems biology principles underlying the etiology of diseases. In all of these data-intensive research approaches, modern information systems are essential for ensuring that any datasets produced conform to what are known as FAIR principles (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reproducible; Wilkinson MD et a. Sci Data 2106 ref). Future investigators collecting and analyzing this data will need expertise in bioinformatics.
Bioinformatics is an interdisciplinary field that applies computational methods to advance our understanding of biological data and principles, using concepts and techniques from quantitative science fields. At its core is the use of computer programming to apply analytical, probabilistic and heuristic algorithms to solve biological problems or visualize data. Bioinformatics scientists or bioinformaticians are important for developing the new methods needed to manage the large datasets, associated databases and analytical pipelines being applied to solve contemporary biological problems. Bioinformaticians must also have appropriate knowledge of the biological systems that they are investigating in order to better understand and appreciate the problems being addressed and the associated data being generated. Biological knowledge is also essential to formulating the relevant questions, choosing the proper analytical techniques, and to presenting the outcomes in a meaningful and impactful way. Bioinformatics scientists with applicable cross-disciplinary expertise will be critical for advancing these areas of research that are essential for understanding the pathogenesis of diabetes, endocrine and metabolic diseases. This announcement intends to support the training of these scientists.
The specific purpose of this FOA is to encourage and enable the development of an interdisciplinary workforce to promote the application of bioinformatics to research in diabetes, and related metabolic diseases that are relevant to the research mission of DDEMD in NIDDK. It will support predoctoral interdisciplinary training to develop bioinformatics scientists capable of leading or participating in integrative and team approaches to solve complex problems related to the understanding, prevention, treatment and cure of diabetes, obesity and related metabolic diseases. This training will require mentorship in both bioinformatics and metabolic disease disciplines. In order to advance bioinformatics science and encourage its application to these diseases and disorders, NIDDK invites applications from individuals with novel individual development plans (IDP). The fellowship training plan should focus on interdisciplinary approaches and mentorship among data or computer science and medicine in topics related to diabetes, endocrinology and metabolic diseases. These IDPs will support a variety of new and innovative didactic and research activities designed to provide the student with the necessary knowledge and research experience to apply bioinformatics skills to the prevention, treatment or cure of diabetes, endocrine and related disorders. It is expected that the interdisciplinary IDP would involve multiple departments including bioinformatics and the biological, medical, computational, engineering, and mathematical sciences. The IDP should include faculty sponsor(s), from computational disciplines and from biology or medical sciences of diabetes, endocrinology and metabolism. Applicants are encouraged to build their IDPs around existing institutional research programs in diabetes, and related metabolic diseases that are relevant to the research mission of NIDDK's DDEMD, and the computational sciences, whether formal (e.g., research programs supported by program project, center, or cooperative agreement mechanisms) or informal (e.g., networks of collaborating R01 grantees).
1) Metabolic modeling of known and unknown pathway kinetics in diabetes, and related metabolic disorders.
2) Analysis, integration, and modeling of genomics, proteomics, metabolomics, epigenetics, clinical records, electrophysiology, deep phenotyping, imaging, continuous glucose monitoring and other high dimensional or throughput datasets for characterization of the etiology, characterization, diagnosis, prognosis or response to therapy of these disorders including biomarkers for the risk of developing type I or type II diabetes.
3) Training on integration of multiple data types, on data management and metadata, on data visualization, on setting up multi-step bioinformatics workflows and pipelines, and on scaling analysis to high performance computing nd cloud computing.
4) Network and systems biology of intra- and inter-cellular regulation, and intra-, inter-tissue and organ homeostasis with regard to the etiology, characterization, diagnosis, prognosis or response to treatment of these diseases including the progression of diabetes, obesity, and related metabolic diseases including biomarkers for the risk of developing type I or type II diabetes.
5) Structural biology/informatics and chemoinformatics of endocrine and metabolic pathways in diabetes, and related metabolic disease relevant to the mission of NIDD's DDEMD.
6) High-throughput and/or high information content image analysis of organs or tissues of relevance to diabetes.
7) Characterization of the normal or abnormal development and the corresponding molecular signature and driving molecular factors of involved organs such as the formation of the islets of Langerhans.
8) Utilization of the latest data science methods in temporal data modeling, deep learning algorithms and artificial intelligence in diabetes, endocrinology and metabolic disease.
Note: This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) does not allow applicants to propose to lead an independent clinical trial, but does allow applicants to propose research experience in a clinical trial led by a sponsor or co-sponsor.
See Section VIII. Other Information for award authorities and regulations.
Grant: A support mechanism providing money, property, or both to an eligible entity to carry out an approved project or activity.
New
Resubmission
The OER Glossary and the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide provide details on these application types. Only those application types listed here are allowed for this FOA.
Not Allowed: Only accepting applications that do not propose independent clinical trials.
Note: Applicants may propose to gain experience in a clinical trial led by a sponsor/co-sponsor as part of their research training.
Need help determining whether you are doing a clinical trial?
The number of awards is contingent upon NIH appropriations and the submission of a sufficient number of meritorious applications.
Award budgets are composed of stipends, tuition and fees, and institutional allowance, as described below.
Individuals may receive up to 5 years of aggregate Kirschstein-NRSA support at the predoctoral level (up to 6 years for dual degree training, e.g., MD/PhD), and up to 3 years of aggregate Kirschstein-NRSA support at the postdoctoral level, including any combination of support from institutional training grants (e.g., T32) and an individual fellowship award.
Kirschstein-NRSA awards provide stipends as a subsistence allowance to help defray living expenses during the research and clinical training experiences. See https://researchtraining.nih.gov/resources/policy-notices
Fellowship awards will contribute to the combined cost of tuition and fees at the rate in place at the time of award. See https://researchtraining.nih.gov/resources/policy-notices
The application should request a Kirschstein-NRSA institutional allowance to help defray the cost of fellowship expenses such as health insurance, research supplies, equipment, books, and travel to scientific meetings. See https://researchtraining.nih.gov/resources/policy-notices
Fellowship awards do not include a separate reimbursement for indirect costs (also known as Facilities & Administrative [F&A] Costs). Instead of costs for administering fellowships are covered by the Institutional Allowance. See https://researchtraining.nih.gov/resources/policy-notices
Stipend levels, as well as funding amounts for tuition and fees and the institutional allowance are announced annually in the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts, and are also posted on the Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) webpage.
NIH grants policies as described in the NIH Grants Policy Statement will apply to the applications submitted and awards made from this FOA.
Higher Education Institutions
The following types of Higher Education Institutions are always encouraged to apply for NIH support as Public or Private Institutions of Higher Education:
Nonprofits Other Than Institutions of Higher Education
For-Profit Organizations
Other
Before submitting a fellowship application, the applicant must identify a sponsoring institution. The sponsoring institution must have staff and facilities available on site to provide a suitable environment for performing high-quality research training. The training should occur in an environment that has appropriate human and technical resources and is demonstrably committed to training in the field(s) proposed by the applicant. All institutions with the appropriate resources and commitment are encouraged to apply.
An individual may request support for training abroad. In such cases, the applicant is required to provide detailed justification for the foreign training, including the reasons why the facilities, the sponsor, or other aspects of the proposed experience are more appropriate than training in a domestic setting. The justification is evaluated in terms of the scientific advantages of the foreign training as compared to the training available domestically. Foreign training will be considered for funding only when the scientific advantages are clear.
Non-domestic (non-U.S.) Entities (Foreign Institutions) are eligible to apply.
Non-domestic (non-U.S.) components of U.S. Organizations are eligible to
apply.
Foreign components, as defined in
the NIH Grants Policy Statement, are allowed.
Applicant Organizations
Applicant organizations must complete and maintain the following registrations as described in the SF 424 (R&R) Application Guide to be eligible to apply for or receive an award. All registrations must be completed prior to the application being submitted. Registration can take 6 weeks or more, so applicants should begin the registration process as soon as possible. The NIH Policy on Late Submission of Grant Applications states that failure to complete registrations in advance of a due date is not a valid reason for a late submission.
Program Directors/Principal Investigators (PD(s)/PI(s))
All PD(s)/PI(s) must have an eRA Commons account. PD(s)/PI(s) should work with their organizational officials to either create a new account or to affiliate their existing account with the applicant organization in eRA Commons.If the PD/PI is also the organizational Signing Official, they must have two distinct eRA Commons accounts, one for each role. Obtaining an eRA Commons account can take up to 2 weeks.
Any applicant fellow with the skills, knowledge, and resources necessary to carry out the proposed research as the Program Director/Principal Investigator (PD/PI) is invited to work with his/her sponsor and organization to develop an application for support. Individuals from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups as well as individuals with disabilities are always encouraged to apply for NIH support. Multiple PDs/PIs are not allowed.
By the time of award, the individual must be a citizen or a non-citizen national of the United States or have been lawfully admitted for permanent residence (i.e., possess a currently valid Permanent Resident Card USCIS Form I-551, or other legal verification of such status).
The applicant must be at the dissertation research stage of training at the time of award and must show evidence of high academic performance in the sciences, and commitment to a career as an independent research scientist.
The applicant must be currently enrolled in a PhD or equivalent research degree program (e.g., EngD, DNSc, DrPH, DSW, PharmD, ScD) in the biomedical, behavioral, or clinical sciences at a domestic or foreign institution.
Students matriculated in a dual-degree program (e.g. MD/PhD, DO/PhD, DDS/PhD, or DVM/PhD) who seek support for both dissertation research training and clinical training are not eligible for this Kirschstein-NRSA F31 program because this F31 program does not support the clinical training component of a dual-degree program. Such students may apply for the Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) Individual Predoctoral MD/PhD or Other Dual-Doctoral Degree Fellowship (Parent F30) to support both dissertation research training and clinical training.
Please note that the NIH Loan Repayment Programs (LRPs) are a set of programs to attract and retain promising early-stage investigators in research careers by helping them to repay their student loans. Recipients of fellowship and career development awards are encouraged to apply for an extramural LRP award.
This FOA does not require cost sharing as defined in the NIH Grants Policy Statement.
The NIH will not accept duplicate or highly overlapping applications under review at the same time. This means that the NIH will not accept:
Individuals may not exceed the aggregate limit of NRSA support shown above in the Award Project Period (see Section II. Award Information). Applicant fellows must consider any prior NRSA research training in determining the duration of support requested. Information regarding previous Kirschstein-NRSA support must be included in the application and will be considered at the time of award.
At the time of award, individuals are required to pursue their research training on a full-time basis, normally defined as 40 hours per week or as specified by the sponsoring institution in accordance with its own policies.
Before submitting the application, the applicant must identify a sponsor(s) who will supervise the proposed mentored training experience. Applicants are encouraged to identify more than one sponsor, i.e., a sponsor team, if this is deemed advantageous for their training program. When there is a sponsor team, one individual must be identified as the primary sponsor, and will be expected to coordinate the applicant’s overall training. In most cases, the interdisciplinary requirements of this FOA will require the applicant to identify a team of sponsors.
The primary sponsor should be an active investigator in the area of the proposed research training and be committed both to the applicant s research training and to direct supervision of his/her research. The primary sponsor must document the availability of sufficient research funds and facilities for high-quality research training. The primary sponsor, or a member of the sponsor team, should have a successful track record of mentorship. The applicant must work with the primary sponsor(s) in preparing the application.
The application forms package specific to this opportunity must be accessed through ASSIST, Grants.gov Workspace or an institutional system-to-system solution. Links to apply using ASSIST or Grants.gov Workspace are available in Part 1 of this FOA. See your administrative office for instructions if you plan to use an institutional system-to-system solution.
It is critical that applicants follow the Fellowship (F) instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide, except where instructed in this funding opportunity announcement to do otherwise. Conformance to the requirements in the Application Guide is required and strictly enforced. Applications that are out of compliance with these instructions may be delayed or not accepted for review.
All page limitations described in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide and the Table of Page Limits must be followed.
Instructions for Application Submission
The following section supplements the instructions found in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide and should be used for preparing an application to this FOA.
All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed.
All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed.
All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed.
All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed.
The PHS Fellowship Supplemental Form is comprised of the following sections:
All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed.
Fellowship Applicant Section
Applicant s Background and Goals for Fellowship Training
The applicant should describe their quantitative and biological science knowldege and what interdisciplinary skills they will develop with this training.
Research Training Plan
All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed, with the following additional instructions:
Research Strategy
Sponsor(s), Collaborator(s), and Consultant(s)
All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed, with the following additional instructions:
Appendix
Limited items are allowed in the Appendix. Follow all instructions for the Appendix as described in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide; any instructions provided here are in addition to the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide instructions.
PHS Human Subjects and Clinical Trials Information
When involving human subjects research, clinical research, and/or NIH-defined clinical trials (and when applicable, clinical trials research experience) follow all instructions for the PHS Human Subjects and Clinical Trials Information form in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide, with the following additional instructions:
If you answered Yes to the question Are Human Subjects Involved? on the R&R Other Project Information form, you must include at least one human subjects study record using the Study Record: PHS Human Subjects and Clinical Trials Information form or a Delayed Onset Study record. If gaining research experience in a clinical trial led by a sponsor/co-sponsor, provide the sponsor s ClinicalTrials.gov identifier (i.e., NCT number).
Study Record: PHS Human Subjects and Clinical Trials Information
All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed.
Delayed Onset Study
Note: Delayed onset does NOT apply to a study that can be described but will not start immediately (i.e., delayed start).
All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed.
All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed.
Applicants must carefully follow the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide, including the time period for when reference letters will be accepted. Applications lacking the appropriate required reference letters will not be reviewed. This is a separate process from submitting an application electronically. Reference letters are submitted directly through the eRA Commons Submit Reference Letter link and not through Grants.gov.
Foreign (non-U.S.) Institutions must follow policies described in the NIH Grants Policy Statement, and procedures for foreign institutions described throughout the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide.
See Part 1. Section III.1 for information regarding the requirement for obtaining a unique entity identifier and for completing and maintaining active registrations in System for Award Management (SAM), NATO Commercial and Government Entity (NCAGE) Code (if applicable), eRA Commons, and Grants.gov.
Part I. Overview Information contains information about Key Dates and times. Applicants are encouraged to submit applications before the due date to ensure they have time to make any application corrections that might be necessary for successful submission. When a submission date falls on a weekend or Federal holiday, the application deadline is automatically extended to the next business day.
Organizations must submit applications to Grants.gov (the online portal to find and apply for grants across all Federal agencies). Applicants must then complete the submission process by tracking the status of the application in the eRA Commons, NIH’s electronic system for grants administration. NIH and Grants.gov systems check the application against many of the application instructions upon submission. Errors must be corrected and a changed/corrected application must be submitted to Grants.gov on or before the application due date and time. If a Changed/Corrected application is submitted after the deadline, the application will be considered late. Applications that miss the due date and time are subjected to the NIH Policy on Late Application Submission.
Applicants are responsible for viewing their application before the due date in the eRA Commons to ensure accurate and successful submission.
Information on the submission process and a definition of on-time submission are provided in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide.
This initiative is not subject to intergovernmental review.
All NIH awards are subject to the terms and conditions, cost principles, and other considerations described in the NIH Grants Policy Statement. The National Research Service Award (NRSA) policies apply to this program. A Kirschstein-NRSA fellowship may not be held concurrently with another federally sponsored fellowship or similar Federal award that provides a stipend or otherwise duplicates provisions of this award.
Pre-award costs are generally not allowable for Fellowships.
Applications must be submitted electronically following the instructions described in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide. Paper applications will not be accepted.
Applicants must complete all required registrations before the application due date. Section III. Eligibility Information contains information about registration.
For assistance with your electronic application or for more information on the electronic submission process, visit How to Apply Application Guide. If you encounter a system issue beyond your control that threatens your ability to complete the submission process on-time, you must follow the Dealing with System Issues guidance. For assistance with application submission, contact the Application Submission Contacts in Section VII.
Important
reminders:
All PD(s)/PI(s) and sponsor(s) must include their eRA Commons ID
in the Credential field of the Senior/Key Person Profile Component of
the SF424(R&R) Application Package. Failure to register in the
Commons and to include a valid PD/PI Commons ID in the credential field will
prevent the successful submission of an electronic application to NIH.
The applicant organization must ensure that the DUNS number it provides on the
application is the same number used in the organization’s profile in the eRA
Commons and for the System for Award Management (SAM). Additional information
may be found in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide.
See more
tips for avoiding common errors.
Many NIH ICs encourage the use of common data elements (CDEs) in basic, clinical, and applied research, patient registries, and other human subject research to facilitate broader and more effective use of data and advance research across studies. CDEs are data elements that have been identified and defined for use in multiple data sets across different studies. Use of CDEs can facilitate data sharing and standardization to improve data quality and enable data integration from multiple studies and sources, including electronic health records. NIH ICs have identified CDEs for many clinical domains (e.g., neurological disease), types of studies (e.g. genome-wide association studies (GWAS)), types of outcomes (e.g., patient-reported outcomes), and patient registries (e.g., the Global Rare Diseases Patient Registry and Data Repository). NIH has established a Common Data Element (CDE) Resource Portal" (http://cde.nih.gov/) to assist investigators in identifying NIH-supported CDEs when developing protocols, case report forms, and other instruments for data collection. The Portal provides guidance about and access to NIH-supported CDE initiatives and other tools and resources for the appropriate use of CDEs and data standards in NIH-funded research. Investigators are encouraged to consult the Portal and describe in their applications any use they will make of NIH-supported CDEs in their projects.
Upon receipt, applications will be evaluated for completeness and compliance with application instructions by the Center for Scientific Review, NIH. Applications that are incomplete or non-compliant will not be reviewed.
Applicants are required to follow the instructions for post-submission materials, as described in the policy Any instructions provided here are in addition to the instructions in the policy. .
Only the review criteria described below will be considered in the review process. Applications submitted to the NIH in support of the NIH mission are evaluated for scientific and technical merit through the NIH peer review system.
For this particular announcement, note the following:
Reviewers will provide an overall impact score to reflect their assessment of the likelihood that the fellowship will enhance the applicant s potential for, and commitment to, a productive independent scientific research career in a health-related field, in consideration of the scored and additional review criteria.
Reviewers will consider each of the review criteria below in the determination of scientific merit, and give a separate score for each. An application does not need to be strong in all categories to be judged likely to have major scientific impact.
Fellowship Applicant
Sponsors, Collaborators, and Consultants
Institutional Environment & Commitment to Training
As applicable for the project proposed, reviewers will evaluate the following additional items while determining scientific and technical merit, and in providing an overall impact score, but will not give separate scores for these items.
Protections for Human Subjects
For research that involves human subjects but does
not involve one of the categories of research that are exempt under 45 CFR Part
46, the committee will evaluate the justification for involvement of human
subjects and the proposed protections from research risk relating to their
participation according to the following five review criteria: 1) risk to
subjects, 2) adequacy of protection against risks, 3) potential benefits to the
subjects and others, 4) importance of the knowledge to be gained, and 5) data
and safety monitoring for clinical trials.
For research that involves human subjects and meets the criteria for one or
more of the categories of research that are exempt under 45 CFR Part 46, the
committee will evaluate: 1) the justification for the exemption, 2) human subjects
involvement and characteristics, and 3) sources of materials. For additional
information on review of the Human Subjects section, please refer to the Guidelines
for the Review of Human Subjects.
Inclusion of Women, Minorities, and Individuals Across the Lifespan
When the proposed project involves human subjects and/or NIH-defined clinical research, the committee will evaluate the proposed plans for the inclusion (or exclusion) of individuals on the basis of sex/gender, race, and ethnicity, as well as the inclusion (or exclusion) of individuals of all ages (including children and older adults) to determine if it is justified in terms of the scientific goals and research strategy proposed. For additional information on review of the Inclusion section, please refer to the Guidelines for the Review of Inclusion in Clinical Research.
The committee will evaluate the involvement of live vertebrate animals as part of the scientific assessment according to the following criteria: (1) description of proposed procedures involving animals, including species, strains, ages, sex, and total number to be used; (2) justifications for the use of animals versus alternative models and for the appropriateness of the species proposed; (3) interventions to minimize discomfort, distress, pain and injury; and (4) justification for euthanasia method if NOT consistent with the AVMA Guidelines for the Euthanasia of Animals. Reviewers will assess the use of chimpanzees as they would any other application proposing the use of vertebrate animals. For additional information on review of the Vertebrate Animals section, please refer to the Worksheet for Review of the Vertebrate Animal Section.
Reviewers will assess whether materials or procedures proposed are potentially hazardous to research personnel and/or the environment, and if needed, determine whether adequate protection is proposed.
For Resubmissions, the committee will evaluate the application as now presented, taking into consideration the responses to comments from the previous scientific review group and changes made to the project.
Not Allowed
Not Allowed
As applicable for the project proposed, reviewers will consider each of the following items, but will not give scores for these items, and should not consider them in providing an overall impact score.
Training in the Responsible Conduct of Research
All applications for support under this FOA must include a plan to fulfill NIH requirements for Instruction in the Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR). Taking into account the level of experience of the applicant, including any prior instruction or participation in RCR as appropriate for the applicant’s career stage, the reviewers will evaluate the adequacy of the proposed RCR training in relation to the following five required components: 1) Format - the required format of instruction, i.e., face-to-face lectures, coursework, and/or real-time discussion groups (a plan with only on-line instruction is not acceptable); 2) Subject Matter - the breadth of subject matter, e.g., conflict of interest, authorship, data management, human subjects and animal use, laboratory safety, research misconduct, research ethics; 3) Faculty Participation - the role of the sponsor(s) and other faculty involvement in the fellow’s instruction; 4) Duration of Instruction - the number of contact hours of instruction (at least eight contact hours are required); and 5) Frequency of Instruction instruction must occur during each career stage and at least once every four years. Plans and past record will be rated as ACCEPTABLE or UNACCEPTABLE, and the summary statement will provide the consensus of the review committee. See also: NOT-OD-10-019.
Applications from Foreign Organizations
Reviewers will assess whether the project presents special opportunities for furthering research programs through the use of unusual talent, resources, populations, or environmental conditions that exist in other countries and either are not readily available in the United States or augment existing U.S. resources.
Reviewers will assess the information provided in this section of the application, including 1) the Select Agent(s) to be used in the proposed research, 2) the registration status of all entities where Select Agent(s) will be used, 3) the procedures that will be used to monitor possession use and transfer of Select Agent(s), and 4) plans for appropriate biosafety, biocontainment, and security of the Select Agent(s).
Reviewers will comment on whether the following Resource Sharing Plans, or the rationale for not sharing the following types of resources, are reasonable: 1) Data Sharing Plan; 2) Sharing Model Organisms; and 3) Genomic Data Sharing Plan.
Reviewers will consider whether the budget and the requested period of support are fully justified and reasonable in relation to the proposed research.
Applications will be evaluated for scientific and technical merit by (an) appropriate Scientific Review Group(s), convened by NIDDK in accordance with NIH peer review policy and procedures, using the stated review criteria. Assignment to a Scientific Review Group will be shown in the eRA Commons.
As part of the scientific peer review, all applications:
Applications will be assigned to the appropriate NIH Institute or Center. Applications will compete for available funds with all other recommended applications . Following initial peer review, recommended applications will receive a second level of review by the appropriate NIH Institute or Center. The following will be considered in making funding decisions:
After the peer review of the application is completed, the PD/PI will be able to access his or her Summary Statement (written critique) via the eRA Commons. Refer to Part 1 for dates for peer review, advisory council review, and earliest start date.
Information regarding the disposition of applications is available in the NIH Grants Policy Statement.
If the application is under consideration for funding, NIH
will request "just-in-time" information from the applicant as described
in the NIH
Grants Policy Statement.
A formal notification in the form of a Notice of Award (NoA) will be provided
to the applicant organization for successful applications. The NoA signed by the
grants management officer is the authorizing document and will be sent via
email to the grantee’s business official.
Awardees must comply with any funding restrictions described in Section IV.5. Funding Restrictions. Selection
of an application for award is not an authorization to begin performance. Any costs
incurred before receipt of the NoA are at the recipient's risk. These costs may
be reimbursed only to the extent considered allowable pre-award costs.
Any application awarded in response to this FOA will be subject to terms and
conditions found on the Award
Conditions and Information for NIH Grants website. This includes any
recent legislation and policy applicable to awards that is highlighted on this
website.
Institutional Review Board or Independent Ethics Committee Approval: Grantee institutions must ensure that protocols are reviewed by their IRB or IEC. To help ensure the safety of participants enrolled in NIH-funded studies, the awardee must provide NIH copies of documents related to all major changes in the status of ongoing protocols.
All NIH grant and cooperative agreement awards include the NIH Grants Policy Statement as part of the NoA. For these terms of award, see the NIH Grants Policy Statement Part II: Terms and Conditions of NIH Grant Awards, Subpart A: General and Part II: Terms and Conditions of NIH Grant Awards, Subpart B: Terms and Conditions for Specific Types of Grants, Grantees, and Activities. More information is provided at Award Conditions and Information for NIH Grants.
Recipients of federal financial assistance (FFA) from HHS must administer their programs in compliance with federal civil rights law. This means that recipients of HHS funds must ensure equal access to their programs without regard to a person’s race, color, national origin, disability, age and, in some circumstances, sex and religion. This includes ensuring your programs are accessible to persons with limited English proficiency. HHS recognizes that research projects are often limited in scope for many reasons that are nondiscriminatory, such as the principal investigator’s scientific interest, funding limitations, recruitment requirements, and other considerations. Thus, criteria in research protocols that target or exclude certain populations are warranted where nondiscriminatory justifications establish that such criteria are appropriate with respect to the health or safety of the subjects, the scientific study design, or the purpose of the research.
For additional guidance regarding how the provisions apply to NIH grant programs, please contact the Scientific/Research Contact that is identified in Section VII under Agency Contacts of this FOA. HHS provides general guidance to recipients of FFA on meeting their legal obligation to take reasonable steps to provide meaningful access to their programs by persons with limited English proficiency. Please see https://www.hhs.gov/civil-rights/for-individuals/special-topics/limited-english-proficiency/index.html. The HHS Office for Civil Rights also provides guidance on complying with civil rights laws enforced by HHS. Please see https://www.hhs.gov/civil-rights/for-individuals/section-1557/index.html; and https://www.hhs.gov/civil-rights/for-providers/laws-regulations-guidance/index.html. Recipients of FFA also have specific legal obligations for serving qualified individuals with disabilities. Please see https://www.hhs.gov/civil-rights/for-individuals/disability/index.html. Please contact the HHS Office for Civil Rights for more information about obligations and prohibitions under federal civil rights laws at https://www.hhs.gov/ocr/about-us/contact-us/index.html or call 1-800-368-1019 or TDD 1-800-537-7697. Also note it is an HHS Departmental goal to ensure access to quality, culturally competent care, including long-term services and supports, for vulnerable populations. For further guidance on providing culturally and linguistically appropriate services, recipients should review the National Standards for Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services in Health and Health Care at http://minorityhealth.hhs.gov/omh/browse.aspx?lvl=2&lvlid=53.
The taxability of stipends is described in the NIH Grants Policy Statement.
Fellowships funded primarily for educational purposes are exempted from the PHS invention requirements and thus invention reporting is not required. More details, including exceptions for fellows training at NIH are provided in the NIH Grants Policy Statement.
When multiple years are involved, awardees will be required to submit the Research Performance Progress Report (RPPR) annually. The report is due two months before the beginning date of the next budget period and must include information describing the current year's progress as well as the research and training plans for the coming year.
The Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 (Transparency Act), includes a requirement for awardees of Federal grants to report information about first-tier subawards and executive compensation under Federal assistance awards issued in FY2011 or later. All awardees of applicable NIH grants and cooperative agreements are required to report to the Federal Subaward Reporting System (FSRS) available at www.fsrs.gov on all subawards over $25,000. See the NIH Grants Policy Statement for additional information on this reporting requirement.
In carrying out its stewardship of human resource-related programs, the NIH may request information essential to an assessment of the effectiveness of this program from databases and from participants themselves. Participants may be contacted after the completion of this award for periodic updates on various aspects of their employment history, publications, support from research grants or contracts, honors and awards, professional activities, and other information helpful in evaluating the impact of the program.
We encourage inquiries concerning this funding opportunity
and welcome the opportunity to answer questions from potential applicants.
eRA Service Desk (Questions
regarding ASSIST, eRA Commons, application errors and warnings, documenting
system problems that threaten submission by the due date, and post-submission
issues)
Finding Help Online: http://grants.nih.gov/support/ (preferred
method of contact)
Telephone: 301-402-7469 or 866-504-9552 (Toll Free)
General Grants Information
(Questions regarding application instructions, application processes, and NIH
grant resources)
Email: GrantsInfo@nih.gov (preferred
method of contact)
Telephone: 301-637-3015
Grants.gov Customer Support (Questions regarding
Grants.gov registration and Workspace)
Contact Center Telephone: 800-518-4726
Email: support@grants.gov
Arthur L. Castle, Ph.D.
National Institute of Diabetes & Digestive & Kidney Diseases (NIDDK)
Telephone: 301-594-7719
Email: mailto:castlea@niddk.nih.govc
Thomas A. Tatham, Ph.D.
National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases
(NIDDK)
Telephone: 301-594-3993
Email: mailto:tathamt@niddk.nih.gov
Ms. Jayanthi Regunathan
National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney
Diseases (NIDDK)
Telephone: 301-827-4380
Email: mailto:jayanthi.regunathan@nih.gov
Recently issued trans-NIH policy notices may affect your application submission. A full list of policy notices published by NIH is provided in the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts. All awards are subject to the terms and conditions, cost principles, and other considerations described in the NIH Grants Policy Statement.
Awards are made under the authorization of Section 487 of the Public Health Service Act as amended (42 USC 288) and under Federal Regulations 42 CFR 66.