Ins and Outs of Training Grants (miniseries) Part 1

Institutional training grants help prepare undergraduates, predoctoral students and postdoctoral scholars for careers in biomedical and behavioral research. Part 1 of this NIH All About Grants podcast miniseries dives into considerations for developing training grant applications and the review process, and part 2 focuses on post-award monitoring, mentorship, and provides insights for trainees. The discussion focuses on Kirschstein-National Research Service Awards (T32 and T34), but the advice is generally applicable to other training grant programs.

The conversations feature Dr. Kenneth (Kenny) Gibbs, Chief of the Undergraduate and Predoctoral Cross-Disciplinary Training Branch at the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, and Dr. Maria Carranza, Senior Training Officer with the National Institute on Aging. Join us to hear more about the purpose for NIH training grants, how they compare to other grants (including research education R25s), considerations for your application and review, importance of mentorship and communication, evaluating progress, and much more.

“…Researchers should be thinking about how supportive their environment is in order to provide enriching research experiences to students and post-docs and for them to be successful coming from a very wide range of backgrounds. Researchers should be considering what measures will they have in place to ensure that trainees will receive strong mentorship safe from any toxic environment.” – Dr. Maria Carranza

“I know that many people go into research, not just for the research aims, which tickles our brains, but also the opportunity to influence future researchers. And so this is a great chance, if you are an investigator at an institution, to get your colleagues together, develop a coherent program, and then use those resources to really amplify the training of future researchers.” - Dr. Kenny Gibbs