K01 GUIDE FOR REVIEWERS

Investigator Initiated Research Project Grant Applications

Purpose of the Award

• Provides support and “protected time” (3-5 years) for an intensive, supervised career development experience in the biomedical, behavioral, or clinical sciences leading to research independence
• Used by the participating NIH Institutes and Centers to support career development experiences that lead to research independence
• Some NIH Institutes and Centers use the K01 award for individuals who propose to train in a new field or for individuals who have had a hiatus in their research career because of illness or pressing family circumstances

Application

• New: NOT-OD-20-033
  • Program Plan attachment – candidates expected to address, as applicable, new research skills they plan to acquire in rigorous research design, experimental methods, quantitative approaches, and data analysis and interpretation.
  • Applicants for diversity-related career development programs expected to attach a Description of Candidate’s Contribution to Program Goals.
• There are no specific requirements for who should serve as an applicant’s referees, including a primary mentor or predoctoral advisor. There are many legitimate reasons why a postdoctoral grant applicant would choose not to include a letter of reference from their predoctoral thesis advisor. The absence of a letter from a predoctoral thesis advisor or another previous mentor should not affect the score.