F31 Diversity GUIDE FOR REVIEWERS

Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Awards (NRSA) for Individual
Predoctoral Fellowships (F31) to Promote Diversity in Health-Related Research

Purpose of the Award

• Enhance the diversity of the biomedical, behavioral, health services, and clinicalresearch workforce in the United States by providing opportunities for academic institutions to identify and recruit students from diverse population groups to seek graduate degrees in healthrelated research and apply for this fellowship
• Provides up to five years of support for research training leading to the PhD or equivalent research degree, the combined MD/PhD degree, or another formally combined professional degree and research doctoraldegree in biomedical, behavioral, health services, or clinical sciences

Applicants

• Must have a baccalaureate degree or equivalent
• Must be currently enrolled in a PhD or equivalent research degree program, a formally combined MD/PhD program, or other combined professional/clinical doctoral/research PhD graduate program in the biomedical, behavioral, or clinical sciences at an accredited domestic or foreign institution
• Must not be pursuing an MD, DDS, or other clinical, health-professional degree and/or training (with the exception of a combined degree program as mentioned above)
• This award seeks to stimulate the participation of individuals from diverse backgrounds, as including the groups specified in NOT-OD-20-031
• Each full-time predoctoral or postdoctoral NRSA fellow is eligible to receive $2,500 per budget period for childcare costs provided by a licensed childcare provider. Childcare costs are permitted for dependent children living in the eligible fellow’s home ages 12 and below, or children who are disabled and under age 18.  Please see NOT-OD-21-074 for additional information.

Applications

• Must propose a training program that falls in a research area within the scientific mission of the participating NIH Institutes
• Must propose training that offers an opportunity to enhance the fellow's understanding of the health- related sciences and extend his/her potential for a productive, independent research career
• Should document the need for the proposed research training and the expected value of the proposed fellowship experience as it relates to the individual’s goals for a career as an independent researcher Proposed training should provide the applicant with:
  • experience conducting research using appropriate, state-of-the-art methods, as well as presenting and publishing the research findings as first author;
  • the opportunity to interact with members of the scientific community at appropriate scientific meetings and workshops (including NIH-sponsored meetings, where available); and
  • a strong foundation in research design, methods, and analytic techniques appropriate to the proposed dissertation research.
• The application should not be a reiteration of the sponsor’s research program but rather should demonstrate the candidate’s contribution to the originality of the project idea, approach and/or hypotheses, as appropriate for their career stage