CHEMISTRY-BIOLOGY INTERFACE PREDOCTORAL TRAINING is sponsored by National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS), National Institutes of Health (NIH). This program supports predoctoral institutional training grants aimed at training at the interface of chemistry and biology. The goal is to provide trainees with broad access to research opportunities across disciplinary and departmental lines.

NIH Guide: CHEMISTRY-BIOLOGY INTERFACE PREDOCTORAL TRAINING CHEMISTRY-BIOLOGY INTERFACE PREDOCTORAL TRAINING NIH GUIDE, Volume 21, Number 12, March 27, 1992 Biomedical Research Training National Institute of General Medical Sciences The National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) announces a new predoctoral institutional training grant program directed towards training at the interface of the scientific disciplines of chemistry and biology.

Chemists play a major role in the basic research supported by the NIGMS. However, their participation in NIGMS predoctoral training programs has not been at a level commensurate with the support of chemistry research by the NIGMS.

The purpose of the new program is to promote interdisciplinary training and, especially, to encourage greater participation of faculty in chemistry, pharmaceutical chemistry, and medicinal chemistry departments in the predoctoral training efforts of the NIGMS. In addition, there is a compelling economic argument in support of the creation of this new training program.

The diminishing pool of scientists trained in chemistry is considered a problem of considerable urgency by the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. Modern research in those industries is accomplished by interdisciplinary teams and, currently, industry must provide the interfacial training.

One of the goals of this program is to provide those industries with critically needed new scientific talent trained at the interface of Applications may be submitted by domestic public and private institutions with established programs leading to the Ph. D. degree.

It is anticipated that applications will represent a joint effort between faculty in departments of chemistry, pharmaceutical chemistry, and/or medicinal chemistry, on the one hand, and departments of biochemistry, biological chemistry, molecular biology, molecular pharmacology, immunology, and structural biology, on the other.

On the chemistry side, the mechanistic/synthetic focus of the program would most likely be relevant to the fields of bio-organic, bio-inorganic, bio-analytical, and medicinal chemistry. The mechanism of support for this program announcement is the National Research Service Award (NRSA) institutional training grant (T32). The stipend level for predoctoral trainees is $8,800 per annum.

In addition, the applicant institution may request up to $1,500 per year for each predoctoral trainee for essential direct support costs (including fees and health insurance) to the training program and $300 per year for each trainee for travel. Tuition support for each trainee may be requested in accordance with amounts charged to other graduate students, regardless of the source of support.

Indirect cost will be paid at eight percent of total allowable direct costs less tuition, fees, and health insurance. Institutional training grants are made for project periods of up to five years and are renewable. However, no single predoctoral trainee may receive more than five years of aggregate NRSA support unless a special waiver is obtained.

More detail on the policies governing the institutional predoctoral training grant awards can be found in the National Research Service Awards Guidelines published in the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts, Vol. 21, No. 11, March 20, 1992. Awards will be administered in accordance with the PHS Grants Policy Statement (10/1/90) and interim updates.

The NIGMS currently supports predoctoral research training through NRSA institutional training grants in six major programs: Cellular, Biochemical, and Molecular Sciences; Genetics; Molecular Biophysics; Pharmacological Sciences; Systems and Integrative Biology; and Biotechnology.

The goal of the NIGMS in supporting these programs is to provide trainees with broad access to research opportunities across disciplinary and departmental lines, while not sacrificing the standards of demanding scientific depth and creativity, which are characteristic of the best Ph. D. programs of individual departments.

Cooperative involvement of faculty members from several departments as research mentors and didactic lecturers is considered evidence of such This program differs from existing NIGMS training programs in its focus on mechanistic and synthetic aspects of the chemistry-biology interface.

The need for chemists who can design, synthesize, manipulate, and characterize molecules, including macromolecules, is increasing as molecular biology has uncovered a host of new targets and opportunities for chemical approaches to their study.

An objective of this program is to provide chemists with training in biological science so that they can foresee the biological potential of the compounds with which they work and apply chemical principles for the design of new compounds to answer biological questions.

There is also a clear need for biologists, who increasingly pursue biological problems of interest at the molecular level, to complement their primary expertise with a greater understanding of fundamental chemistry.

Additional training in molecular recognition, design, synthesis, and reactivity, coupled with additional experience in chemical investigative approaches, should expand the range of tools available to biologists and enable them to explore molecular bioscience to a greater depth.

This new program is intended to provide significant training in the biological sciences to chemists and significant training in chemistry to biologists and to foster a greater level of interaction between practitioners of the two Applications requesting support should reflect the following programmatic considerations: o Significant cross-training between chemistry and biology as the essential criterion: This must not be at the expense of training in depth in a core discipline.

It is expected that training of the desired breadth and the necessary depth can be accomplished without lengthening the period of time required to obtain the doctorate degree. o An identity of the proposed program separate from those of the individual departments that comprise them: Programs should produce graduates that have identifiable skills, knowledge, and abilities unique to graduates of that program within the university setting.

Programs will not be supported that are judged to exist mainly to procure additional departmental funding for predoctoral training. o Laboratory rotations for students prior to selection of a thesis mentor: Although not commonly required by chemistry departments, these should be considered as an approach for trainees to expand the breadth of their training.

Especially encouraged is a cross-training experience outside the mentor's laboratory for a period of three to six months. Such an experience could be obtained through an extended rotation in a different academic laboratory or an internship in an industrial setting, before or after selection of a mentor. o A mechanism whereby trainees develop a common language: Biologists and chemists do not routinely speak the same language.

For example, the word "molecular" has different meanings to each group. Encouraged is the implementation of a mechanism for trainees to develop a common language, such as a joint seminar program. o A strong institutional commitment: This is an important review criteria.

One measure of the institutional commitment is cost-sharing, such as through stipend supplementation. o Complementarity to existing institutional training grants: Staff making awards will give attention to other existing predoctoral programs at the applicant's institution. Overlap will be considered as well as the impact of the proposed program on the existing programs.

It is expected that a program with a mechanistic/synthetic focus can be implemented that will complement existing programs without significant overlap in the trainee pool or research opportunities. Applications are to be submitted on the grant application form PHS 398 (rev. 9/91).

Applicants must indicate in item 2a on the face page that the application is being submitted in response to this program announcement. Application materials are available from most university business offices and from the Office of Grants Inquiries, Division of Research Grants, National Institutes of Health, Westwood Building, Room 449, Bethesda, MD 20892, telephone 301/496-7441.

Deadlines for receipt of applications are January 10, May 10, and September 10. It is anticipated that a limited number of awards will be made as early as September 1993. Therefore, those interested in FY 1993 awards should plan to submit applications no later than January 10, 1993.

Thereafter, the latest date for applications seeking support for a given fiscal year will be May 10 of the preceding year, and start dates for awards will be July 1.

The signed original and five copies of the application must be sent to: Application Receipt Office Division of Research Grants National Institutes of Health Westwood Building, Room 240 Applications will be assigned on the basis of established Public Health Service referral guidelines and reviewed for scientific and technical merit by an existing or ad hoc study section within the assigned ICD.

The applications will also receive a second level review by an appropriate national advisory council. In making funding decisions, the following will be considered: quality of the proposed program as determined by peer review, availability of funds, and program balance among training areas of the announcement. Written and telephone inquiries are encouraged.

The opportunity to clarify any issues or questions from potential applicants is welcomed.

Direct inquiries regarding programmatic issues to: Deputy Director, Pharmacological Sciences Program National Institute of General Medical Sciences 5333 Westbard Avenue, Room 919 Telephone: (301) 496-7181 Direct inquiries regarding fiscal issues to: Supervisory Grants Management Specialist Office of Program Affairs National Institute of General Medical Sciences 5333 Westbard Avenue, Room 933 Telephone: (301) 496-7897 This program is described in the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance No. 93.

859. Awards are made under the Public Health Service Act, Title IV, Part A (Public Law 99-158, as amended) and administered under PHS grants policies and Federal Regulations 42 CFR Part 66. This program is not subject to the intergovernmental review requirements of Executive Order 12372 or Health Systems Agency review.

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