October 24, 2013 NIH NRSA F Series Fellowship Funding Opportunities

Eligibility Deadlines Application Package Internal Requirements Tips Topics

Eligibility Individual Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award Fellowships (NRSA: F30/F31/F32/F33) These fellowships are awarded to qualified individuals at the predoctoral, postdoctoral, or senior investigator level to pursue full-time research training in designated biomedical or behavioral science areas. 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).

Deadlines Activity Codes Program Description Application Form Cycle I Due Date Cycle II Due Date Cycle III Due Date F Series Fellowships new, renewal, resubmission Individual National Research Service Awards (Standard) (see NRSA Training Page)NRSA Training Page SF424 (R&R) April 8 August 8 December 8 Individual Predoctoral Fellowships (F31) to Promote Diversity in Health-Related Research (see NRSA Training Page) NRSA Training Page F31 Diversity Fellowships new, renewal, resubmission SF424 (R&R) April 13 August 13 December 13

Activity CodeCategoryTitleDescriptionResources F30 Fellowship Programs Individual Predoctoral NRSA for M.D./Ph.D. Fellowships (ADAMHA) Individual fellowships for predoctoral training which leads to the combined M.D./Ph.D. degrees. More Information F31 Fellowship Programs Predoctoral Individual National Research Service Award To provide predoctoral individuals with supervised research training in specified health and health-related areas leading toward the research degree (e.g., Ph.D.). More Information F32 Fellowship Programs Postdoctoral Individual National Research Service Award To provide postdoctoral research training to individuals to broaden their scientific background and extend their potential for research in specified health-related areas. More Information F33 Fellowship Programs National Research Service Awards for Senior Fellows To provide opportunities for experienced scientists to make major changes in the direction of research careers, to broaden scientific background, to acquire new research capabilities, to enlarge command of an allied research field, or to take time from regular professional responsibilities for the purpose of increasing capabilities to engage in health-related research. More Information

Application Package Download application package Work with your college grants office on this task

Application Package The Grant Application Package is one PDF file Forms have data fields and attachments A few words about PDF… Attachments required to be PDF No spaces, characters, etc. in filename Less than 50 character filename Use a “one word” format: e.g., SpecificAims.pdf, JonesBiosketch.pdf, SmithResearchPlan.pdf For word separation use underscore (example: “My_Attached_File.pdf”) in naming the attachments. Convert to PDF (do not scan) Don’t add extra security to your PDF! Always check the instructions!

Format Specs for PDF Attachments Font Arial, Helvetica, Palatino Linotype, or Georgia 11 pt font or larger Margins (8.5 x 11 paper) ½ inch margins all around No Headers or Footers Figures, Graphs, Charts, etc. Can be smaller font Must be black font, clear and legible No Jargon

For all Fellowship (F) ApplicationsFellowship (F) Section of Application Page Limits (if different from FOA, FOA supersedes) Introduction to Resubmission or Revision Application (when applicable) 1 Specific Aims1 Research Strategy6 Respective Contributions1 Selection of Sponsor and Institution1 Responsible Conduct of Research1 Applications for Concurrent Support (when applicable) 1 Goals for Fellowship Training and Career1 Activities Planned Under This Award1 Doctoral Dissertation and Other Research Experience 2 Sponsor(s) and Co-Sponsor(s)6 Biographical Sketch4

Stipend Levels Career LevelYears of Experience Stipend for FY 2012 PredoctoralAll$22,032 Postdoctoral0$39,264 1$41,364 2$44,340 3$46,092 4$47,820 5$49,884 6$51,582 7 or More$54,180 :

Budget Information Stipend Level for FY 2012: $22,032 Tuition and Fees: An amount equal to 60% of the level requested by the applicant institution, up to $16,000 per year. Institutional Allowance for Individual Fellows (To help defray the cost of fellowship expenses such as health insurance, research supplies, equipment, books, and travel to scientific meetings):: Predoctoral - $4,200 Postdoctoral -$7,850 No F&A Costs to University.

References At least three references (and not more than five) are required Include this list in your cover letter names, degrees, and affiliations of the referees Select referees carefully Your Mentor CANNOT be a reference; their recommendation is included as part of the application (on the PHS Fellowship Supplemental Form). Please note that the specified Fellowship Reference Form must be used.Fellowship Reference Form Reference letters are submitted directly through the eRA Commons Referee Information link and not through Grants.gov.Referee Information link Letters of reference are due by the application receipt deadline date – no grace period!

Referees Log Into: commons.era.nih.gov commons.era.nih.gov Then Click on “Submit Reference Letter

Reference form

1.Referee enters their information (they do not need a Commons username) 2.Referee enters information about YOU – be sure they have this information EXAMPLE SMITH.JOHN SMITH PA

Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) NIH requires that all trainees, fellows, participants, and scholars receiving support through any NIH training, career development award (individual or institutional), research education grant, and dissertation research grant must receive instruction in responsible conduct of research. This Notice applies to the following programs: D43, D71, F05, F30, F31, F32, F33, F34, F37, F38, K01, K02, K05, K07, K08, K12, K18, K22, K23, K24, K25, K26, K30, K99/R00, KL1, KL2, R25, R36, T15, T32, T34, T35, T36, T37, T90/R90, TL1, TU2, and U2R. This policy also applies to any other NIH-funded programs supporting research training, career development, or research education that require instruction in responsible conduct of research as stated in the relevant funding opportunity announcements.

Subject Matter conflict of interest – personal, professional, and financial policies regarding human subjects, live vertebrate animal subjects in research, and safe laboratory practices mentor/mentee responsibilities and relationships collaborative research including collaborations with industry peer review data acquisition and laboratory tools; management, sharing and ownership research misconduct and policies for handling misconduct responsible authorship and publication the scientist as a responsible member of society, contemporary ethical issues in biomedical research, and the environmental and societal impacts of scientific research

Format & Frequency Online instruction and “Substantial face-to-face discussions” (at least 8 hours) Instruction must be undertaken at least once during each career stage, and at a frequency of no less than once every four years. Individuals at the early career investigator level (including mentored K awardees and K12 scholars) must receive instruction in responsible conduct of research at least once during this career stage. Senior fellows and career award recipients (including F33, K02, K05, and K24 awardees) may fulfill the requirement for instruction in responsible conduct of research by participating as lecturers and discussion leaders.

How we can help Template language for proposals Teaching resources Documentation form template Online modules and workshops

Questions? Suggestions? Tracy Arwood - Cathy Welton - Office of Research Compliance 223 Brackett

Internal Requirements Visit your college grants office first Clemson Sponsored Programs Certification This must be completed prior to submission of the proposal Obtain an eRA Commons user name This must be completed prior to submission of the proposal PHS Conflict of Interest This must be completed prior to submission of the proposal Proposal Processing Form (approval from you department and college)

Overview of Submission Process InvestigatorInvestigatorOSPOSPGrants.govGrants.gov Downloads & completes application Completes PPF Routes to college Office of Sponsored Programs Reviews application (may suggest some modifications) Submits application to Grants.gov Performs cursory electronic review Sends 3 s 1. Received 2. Validated or Rejected 3. Agency Retrieval Upon validation, notifies Sponsor Sponsor (NIH) Retrieves application from Grants.gov Sends to IR: Validations Complete/Check assembled application (or ACTION REQUIRED).

Tips from F Series Recipients Prep/General: Start early! Give yourself enough time to get feedback from others. It’s also nice to give yourself a few days break, then come back and reread your proposal before submission. Contact the PO at the institute you are applying through to see if they interested in funding your topic area. Topic areas of funding interest are usually listed on the institutes’ websites; however, it does not hurt you to directly contact your PO! Find out what your institution’s submission deadlines are (these are usually earlier than the NIH deadlines). Be nice to your grants officers and submit early! If you know grad students who have been funded, ask if they would let you have a copy of their proposal.

Tips from F Series Recipients Prep/General: Discuss the training plan with your advisor, making it as comprehensive as possible. Don’t forget about opportunities to present your work (conferences, departmental seminars, etc.) in addition to scholarly activities like journal clubs and visiting seminars. Understand the review process and know what reviewers are looking for, and then give it to them in clear, plain language. You want to make it easy for a reviewer to like your proposal. Expect to write your own training plan and possibly your letters of support. This is common and will give you good practice! Few proposals are funded on the first round. If yours is not but still receives a good score, take the review seriously – your chances to be funded on a resubmission for F-awards are good!

Scientific Proposal: Start by developing a logically sound outline. It’s a waste of time to write pages of science that don’t make sense, only having to significantly revise or start over later. In reality, only your primary reviewer is going to read your entire proposal thoroughly. Reviewers 2 and 3 will all likely read your specific aims, so make them immaculate! Reviewers enjoy reading shorter proposals. If you don’t need to fill the entire page limit to appropriately describe your science, don’t! Tips from F Series Recipients

Review: Find other grad students willing to read and critique your work. Have another faculty member (outside your research area, if possible) read through for logic. If someone outside the field cannot grasp the general concept, revise so the overall importance of your research is obvious. Pay attention to the nitpicky formatting details. This seems like a small point, but nobody wants to read a messy proposal. Tips from F Series Recipients

Questions? Thank you! Diana Thrasher – Office of Sponsored Programs 300 Brackett Hall