NIH Research Education Program (R25) Courses for Skills Development

NIH Research Education Program (R25) Courses for Skills Development is sponsored by National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) / NIH. This opportunity supports mission-aligned projects and measurable outcomes.

Expired RFA-HG-14-008: Courses for Skills Development in Biomedical Big Data Science (R25) This notice has expired. Check the NIH Guide for active opportunities and notices. of Health and Human Services Part 1.

Overview Information Participating Organization(s) National Institutes of Health ( NIH ) of Participating Organizations National Human Genome Research Institute ( NHGRI ) National Cancer Institute ( NCI ) National Eye Institute ( NEI ) National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute ( NHLBI ) National Institute on Aging ( NIA ) National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism ( NIAAA ) National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases ( NIAID ) National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases ( NIAMS ) National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering ( NIBIB ) Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders ( NIDCD ) National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research ( NIDCR ) National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases ( NIDDK ) National Institute on Drug Abuse ( NIDA ) National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences ( NIEHS ) National Institute of General Medical Sciences ( NIGMS ) National Institute of Mental Health ( NIMH ) National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke ( NINDS ) National Institute of Nursing Research ( NINR ) National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities ( NIMHD ) National Library of Medicine ( NLM )) National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health ( NCCIH Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research ( OBSSR ) Office of Strategic Coordination ( Common Funding Opportunity Title Courses for Skills Development in Biomedical May 18, 2016 - This RFA has been reissued as RFA-HG-16-016 .

April 3, 2015 - Notice of Change in Next Submission Due Date to RFA-HG-14-008. See Notice NOT-HG-15-024 . January 29, 2015 - Notice of Clarification for RFA-HG-14-008.

See Notice NOT-HG-15-017 . supersedes instructions in Section III. 3 regarding applications that are essentially the same.

Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) Number Companion Funding Opportunity Additional Information on Eligibility . Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number(s) 93. 989; 93.

350; 93. 213; 93. 213; 93.

394; 93. 395; 93. 396; 93.

397; 93. 398; 93. 399; 93.

867; 93. 172; 93. 233; 93.

837; 93. 838; 93. 839; 93.

866; 93. 273; 93. 855; 93.

856; 93. 846; 93. 286; 93.

865; 93. 279; 93. 173; 93.

121; 93. 847; 93. 113; 93.

859; 93. 242; 93. 307; 93.

853; 93. 361; 93. 879; 93.

351; 93. 313; 93. 310 Funding Opportunity Purpose The NIH Research Education Program (R25) supports research education activities in the mission areas of the NIH.

The goal of this Big Data to Knowledge (BD2K) Program is to support educational activities that complement and/or enhance the training of a workforce to meet the nation s biomedical, behavioral and clinical research needs in Big Data Science.

To this end, this FOA encourages the development of creative educational activities with a primary focus on Courses for Skills Open Date (Earliest Submission Date) Letter of Intent Due Date(s) 30 days before the application due date April 1, 2014; April 1, 2015; and September 18, 2015, by 5:00 PM local time of applicant organization.

Applicants are encouraged to apply early to allow adequate time to make any corrections to errors found in the application during the submission process by the due date. AIDS Application Due Date(s) New Date July 2014; July 2015; February 2016 per issuance of NOT-HG-15-024 . (Original Dates: July 2014; July 2015; July 2016 ) New Date October 2014; October 2015; May 2016 per issuance of NOT-HG-15-024 .

(Original Dates: October 2014, October 2015, October 2016 ) New Date December 2014; December 2015; July 2016 per issuance of NOT-HG-15-024 . (Original Dates: December 2014, December 2015, December 2016 ) New Date September 19, 2015 per issuance of NOT-HG-15-024 .

(Original Expiration Date: April 2, 2016 ) Required Application Instructions It is critical that applicants follow the instructions in (R&R) Application Guide except where instructed to do otherwise (in this FOA or in a Notice from the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts ). Conformance to all requirements (both in the Application Guide and the FOA) is required and strictly enforced.

Applicants must read and follow all application instructions in the Application Guide as well as any program-specific instructions noted in Section IV . When the program-specific instructions deviate from those in the Application Guide, follow the program-specific instructions. Applications that do not comply with these instructions will not be reviewed Part 1.

Overview Information Part 2. Full Text of the Announcement Section I. Funding Opportunity Description Section II.

Award Information Section III. Eligibility Information Section IV. Application and Submission Section V.

Application Review Information Section VI. Award Administration Information Section VII. Agency Contacts Section VIII.

Other Information Full Text of Announcement Section I. Funding Opportunity Description The NIH Research Education Program (R25) supports research educational activities that complement other formal training programs in the mission areas of the NIH Institutes and Centers.

The over-arching goals of the NIH R25 program are to: (1) complement and/or enhance the training of a workforce to meet the nation’s biomedical, behavioral and clinical research needs; (2) enhance the diversity of the biomedical, behavioral and clinical research workforce; (3) help recruit individuals with specific specialty or disciplinary backgrounds to research careers in biomedical, behavioral and clinical sciences; and (4) foster a better understanding of biomedical, behavioral and clinical research and its The goal of this funding opportunity announcement (FOA) is to complement and/or enhance the training of a workforce to meet the nation's biomedical, behavioral, and clinical research needs.

In particular, this FOA will enhance the training of biomedical researchers who want to acquire the skills necessary to utilize biomedical Big Data. This BD2K R25 FOA will support: Courses for Skills Development in topics necessary for the utilization of Big Data, including the computational and statistical sciences in a biomedical context.

Courseswill equip individuals with additional skills and knowledge to utilize biomedical Big Data. In response to the spectacular opportunities and immense challenges presented by the dawning era of 'Big Data' in biomedical research, the NIH has developed the Big Data to Knowledge (BD2K) initiative. The mission of the BD2K initiative is to enable the biomedical research community to use the various types of Big Data for research.

Biomedical research is rapidly becoming data-intensive as investigators are generating and using increasingly large, complex, multidimensional, and diverse datasets.

However, the ability to release data, to locate, integrate, and analyze data generated by others, and to utilize the data is often limited by the lack of tools, accessibility, and The long-term goal of the BD2K initiative is to support the advances in data science, other quantitative sciences, policy, and training that are needed for the effective use of Big Data in biomedical research.

(In this document, the term 'biomedical' will be used in the broadest sense to include biological, biomedical, behavioral, social, environmental, and clinical studies that relate to understanding health and disease.) While the biomedical research enterprise is producing increasingly large amounts of digital data, it has not yet fully capitalized on the transformative opportunities that these data provide.

As stated by the Data and Informatics Working Group (DIWG) of the Advisory Committee to the NIH Director, "Colossal changes in biomedical research technologies and methods have shifted the bottleneck in scientific productivity from data production to data management, communication, and interpretation" In this context, the term 'Big Data' is meant to capture the opportunities and address the challenges facing all biomedical researchers in releasing, accessing, managing, analyzing, and integrating datasets of diverse data types.

Such data types may include imaging, phenotypic, molecular (including omics), clinical, behavioral, environmental, and many other types of biological and biomedical data. They may also include data generated for other purposes. The datasets are increasingly larger and more complex, and they increasingly exceed the abilities of currently used approaches to manage and analyze them.

Biomedical Big Data primarily emanate from three sources: 1) a few groups that produce very large amounts of data, usually as part of projects specifically funded to produce important resources for the research community; 2) individual investigators who produce large datasets for their own projects, which might be broadly useful to the research community; and 3) an even greater number of investigators who each produce small datasets whose value can be amplified by aggregating or integrating them with other data.

major challenges to using biomedical Big Data include the following: data and software tools: Investigators need straightforward means of knowing what datasets and software tools are available and where to obtain them, along with descriptions of each dataset or tool.

Ideally, investigators should be able to easily locate all published and resource datasets and software tools, both basic and clinical, and, to the extent possible, unpublished or proprietary data and software.

access to data and software tools: Investigators need straightforward means of 1) releasing datasets and metadata in standard formats; 2) obtaining access to specific datasets or portions of datasets; 3) studying datasets with the appropriate software tools in suitable environments; and 4) obtaining analyzed datasets.

data and metadata: Investigators need data to be in standard formats to facilitate interoperability, data sharing, and the use of tools to manage and analyze the data. The datasets need to be described by standard metadata to allow novel uses as well as reuse and integration.

data and software: While significant progress has been made in broad and rapid sharing of data and software, it is not yet the norm in all areas of biomedical research. More effective data- and software-sharing would be facilitated by changes in the research culture, recognition of the contributions made by data and software generators, and technical innovations.

Validation of software to ensure quality, reproducibility, provenance, and interoperability is a notable goal. managing, and processing biomedical Big Data: Investigators need biomedical data to be organized and managed in a robust way that allows them to be fully used; currently, most data are not sufficiently well organized.

Barriers exist to releasing, transferring, storing, and retrieving large amounts of tools for organizing biomedical Big Data for data integration and sharing while protecting human subject privacy. new methods for analyzing biomedical Big Data: The size, complexity, and multidimensional nature of many datasets make data analysis extremely challenging.

Substantial research is needed to develop new methods and software tools for analyzing such large, complex, and multidimensional datasets. User-friendly data workflow platforms and visualization tools are also needed to facilitate the analysis of Big Data.

researchers for analyzing biomedical Big Data: Advances in biomedical sciences using Big Data will require more scientists with the appropriate data science expertise and skills to develop methods and design tools, including those in many quantitative science areas such as computational biology, biomedical informatics, biostatistics, and related areas.

In addition, users of Big Data software tools and resources must be trained to utilize them Training for the BD2K Initiative To address the growing need and opportunities for skilled researchers to fully utilize the vast amount of heterogeneous biomedical Big Data, a series of BD2K FOAs have been designed to 1) develop a sufficient cadre of researchers skilled in the science of Big Data and 2) elevate general competencies in data usage and analysis across the biomedical research workforce.

The portfolio of BD2K training and education activities will include opportunities for the full spectrum of scientists at the career stage of upper level undergraduate students to senior faculty, from developers of methods and tools to investigators who need to use Big Data tools.

The NIH issued a Request for Information (NOT-HG-13-003; Report ) to solicit input from the extramural community on what types of knowledge and skills are needed by individuals to effectively manage and utilize Big Data. In addition, the NIH organized a workshop ( Report ) that addressed what knowledge, skills, and resources are needed to organize, process, manage, analyze, and visualize large, complex data sets.

Due to the multifaceted challenges faced in meeting the opportunities provided by Big Data, the following principles were taken into account in designing the set of BD2K training and education FOAs: A combination of skills is needed to utilize Big Data, both technical and soft skills. skills are needed in (1) computer science or informatics, (2) statistics and mathematics, and (3) biomedical science.

skills are critical to foster collaborations. principles of study design and reproducible research (related to the practices that ensure the reproducibility of analyses of data) should be stressed.

Big Data scientists must be prepared to be independent researchers, but at the same time, an interdisciplinary, team-science approach is frequently the optimal way to solve Big Data challenges or to use Big Data may need additional skills and knowledge to work effectively in in the quantitative sciences and experimental design will be increasingly important to researchers and clinicians.

BD2K training and education programs should be designed to develop the ability of students and scholars to work at the intersection of multiple disciplines necessary to utilize Big Data.

approaches to training and education are encouraged, in order to take best advantage of the particular talents and expertise available at the environment is critical and should include access to large data sets and ongoing research projects of multiple types.

Career paths for data scientists that recognize and reward contributions in methodology, computation, or development of tools are individuals to participate across the full spectrum of scientific roles is encouraged, even though the jobs necessary to Big Data science may not correspond to traditional scientific, particularly academic, jobs or fit neatly into existing departments.

of talent from a variety of scientific backgrounds, such as computer science, engineering, informatics, mathematics, physics, and statistics, to biomedical Big Data Science is important. The NIH recognizes a unique and compelling need to promote diversity in the NIH-funded biomedical, workforce.

The NIH expects efforts to diversify the workforce to lead to the recruitment of the most talented researchers from all groups; improve the quality of the educational and training environment; balance and broaden the perspective in setting research priorities; improve the ability to recruit subjects from diverse backgrounds into clinical research protocols; and to improve the Nations capacity to address and eliminate health disparities.

Accordingly the NIH encourages institutions to enhance the participation of individuals currently underrepresented in the biomedical sciences such as: individuals from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups, individuals with disabilities, and individuals from socially, culturally, economically, or educationally disadvantaged backgrounds that have inhibited their ability to pursue a career in health-related research.

Institutions are encouraged to identify candidates who will increase diversity on a national basis. In order to promote a diverse workforce and successfully reach scientists at all career levels, it is essential that training resources are widely disseminated, discoverable, and repurposeable.

The active exchange of information is also essential and will be facilitated by an annual BD2K consortium meeting in Bethesda, MD for PDs/PIs and trainees. Applicants are encouraged to utilize all appropriate expertise for the purpose of training and educating Big Data scientists, whether that expertise lies within one or more institutions or within the industrial or public sectors.

Applicants are also encouraged to consider whether other BD2K training and education FOAs, including RFA-HG-009, "Open Educational Resources for Biomedical Big Data Science," are a good fit to the proposed project. A complete list of BD2K FOAs can be found at bd2k. nih.

gov . The BD2K initiative includes a multi-faceted approach to training and education, consisting of long- and short-term training and the development of open educational resources. This FOA, RFA-HG-14-008, focuses on short-term research education to provide opportunities for individuals at all career levels to acquire new skills in biomedical Big Data Science.

Short-term research education may serve different purposes, including the following: to instruct students and scientists in the use of specific new to raise the skills of students of varied backgrounds to a sufficient starting level by providing tailored, in-depth instruction, to recruit the next generation of biomedical data scientists, to showcase an interesting collaborative case study that led to the development of new or tailored analysis methods, or to focus individuals with varied expertise on solving a difficult Courses must be highly relevant to and use biomedical Big Data but, in general, will focus on specific areas necessary for the utilization of Big Data, including the computational and statistical sciences, in a biomedical context.

Since solutions to Big Data problems are likely to involve interdisciplinary teams, courses should encourage interaction and team work among scientists with expertise in different areas.

Such disciplines beyond the biomedical sciences may include, but are not limited to, statistics, mathematics, computer science, engineering, and design-related fields including data visualization, interactive digital media, and human-computer interaction ( Updated January 29, 2015 per issuance of NOT-HG-15-017 ).

Course organizers are encouraged to partner across departments, institutions, and sectors as necessary to best achieve their objectives. The short-term research education can be of varying lengths: from one-day workshops, to one-week short courses, to summer boot camps, to semester-long immersive experiences.

Short courses are by nature limited in time, but PDs/PIs are encouraged to create opportunities for continual learning, both for participants and for scientists who were not able to participate during the time that the course was offered. Formats may be based on traditional in-person courses, online courses, or a hybrid of both. The development of creative formats to achieve the proposed objectives is highly encouraged.

For example, a hybrid approach could be two-phased: an online component followed by an in-person component with the instructor(s). Applications that propose in-person or hybrid courses should address the necessity and benefits of travel to a central location. Applications that propose online or hybrid courses should address how interaction with and among the participants will be facilitated.

Applications must include a needs assessment, an evaluation plan, and a dissemination plan. The needs assessment should demonstrate the demand for the course and evaluate the number of learners who would benefit from the proposed education, compared to the number who can be accommodated.

The evaluation plan should detail how the program will be evaluated for course content, educational effectiveness, participant recruitment, and overall effectiveness as an educational tool; where appropriate, applicants are encouraged to include plans to obtain feedback from participants and others to help identify weaknesses and to provide suggestions for program improvements.

The dissemination plan should describe how widely and freely the course materials are shared, including whether they are in a form that can be modified, updated, Examples of activities that would not be responsive to this Curriculum or methods development Mentoring-only activities Research education programs may complement ongoing research training and education occurring at the applicant institution, but the proposed educational experiences must be distinct from those training and education programs currently receiving Federal support.

R25 programs may augment institutional research training programs (e.g., T32, T90) but cannot be used to replace or circumvent Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) programs. Section II.

Award Information Grant: A support mechanism providing money, property, or both to an eligible entity to carry out an approved project or activity. Application Types Allowed Glossary and the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide provide details on Funds Available and Anticipated Number of Awards NIH intends to fund an estimate of 4-5 awards, corresponding to a total of $700,000 for fiscal year 2015.

Future year amounts will depend on annual appropriations. Application budgets may not exceed $150,000 in direct costs annually and need to reflect the actual needs of the proposed project budgets. The scope of the proposed project should determine the project period.

The maximum project period is 3 years. Individuals designing, directing, and implementing the research education program may request salary and fringe benefits appropriate for the person months devoted to the program. Salaries requested may not exceed the levels commensurate with the institution's policy for similar positions and may not exceed the congressionally mandated cap.

(If mentoring interactions and other activities with participants are considered a regular part of an individual's academic duties, then any costs associated with the mentoring and other interactions with participants are not allowable Participants may be paid if specifically required for the proposed research education program and sufficiently justified. Participant costs must be itemized in the proposed budget.

Allowable participant costs depend on the educational level/career status of the individuals to be selected to participate in the program. While generally not an allowable cost, with strong justification, participants in the research education program may receive per diem unless such costs are furnished as part of the registration fee. Participants may also receive funds to defray partial tuition and other education-related expenses.

Expenses for foreign travel must be exceptionally well justified. Individuals supported by NIH training and career development mechanisms (K, T, or F awards) may receive, and indeed are encouraged to receive, educational experiences supported by an R25 program, as participants, but may not receive salary or stipend supplementation from a research education program.

Because the R25 program is not intended as a substitute for an NRSA institutional training program (e.g.,T32), costs to support full-time participants (supported for 40 hours/week for a continuous, 12-month period) Other Program-Related Expenses Consultant costs, equipment, supplies, travel for key persons, and other program-related expenses may be included in the proposed budget.

These expenses must be justified as specifically required by the proposed program and must not duplicate items generally available at the applicant institution. Costs for the PD/PI to attend an annual BD2K consortium meeting in Bethesda, MD, should be included, not to exceed $1500 per trip.

Indirect Costs (also known as Facilities & Administrative [F&A] Costs) are reimbursed at 8% of modified total direct costs (exclusive of tuition and fees and expenditures for equipment), rather than on the basis of a negotiated rate agreement. described in the NIH Grants Policy Statement will apply to the applications submitted and awards made in response to this FOA.

Higher Education Institutions Public/State Controlled Institutions of Higher Education Private Institutions of Higher Education The following types of Higher Education Institutions are always encouraged to apply for NIH support as Public or Private Institutions of Higher Education: Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs) Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs) Nonprofits Other Than Institutions of Higher Education Nonprofits with 501(c)(3) IRS Status (Other than Institutions of Nonprofits without 501(c)(3) IRS Status (Other than Institutions sponsoring institution must assure support for the proposed program.

Appropriate institutional commitment to the program includes the provision of adequate staff, facilities, and educational resources that can contribute to Institutions with existing Ruth L.

Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) institutional training grants (e.g., T32) or other Federally funded training programs may apply for a research education grant provided that the proposed educational experiences are distinct from those training programs receiving federal support.

In many cases, it is anticipated that the proposed research education program will complement ongoing research training occurring at the applicant institution. Non-domestic (non-U.S.) Entities (Foreign Institutions) are Non-domestic (non-U.S.) components of U.S. Organizations are not eligible Foreign components, as defined in the NIH Grants Policy Statement , are not allowed.

Applicant organizations must complete and maintain the following registrations as described in the SF 424 (R&R) Application Guide to be eligible to apply for or receive an award. All registrations must be completed prior to the application being submitted.

Registration can take 6 weeks or more, so applicants should begin the registration process as soon as Policy on Late Submission of Grant Applications states that failure to complete registrations in advance of a due date is not a valid reason for a Universal Numbering System (DUNS) - All registrations require that applicants be issued a DUNS number.

After obtaining a DUNS number, applicants can begin both SAM and eRA Commons registrations. The same DUNS number must be used for all registrations, as well as on the grant application. System for Award Management (SAM) (formerly CCR) Applicants must complete and maintain an active registration, which requires renewal at least annually .

The renewal process may require as much time as the initial registration. SAM registration includes the assignment of a Commercial and Government Entity (CAGE) Code for domestic organizations which have not already been assigned a CAGE Code. Government Entity (NCAGE) Code Foreign organizations must obtain an NCAGE code (in lieu of a CAGE code) in order to register in SAM.

must have an active DUNS number and SAM registration in order to complete the eRA Commons registration. Organizations can register with the eRA Commons as they are working through their SAM or Grants. gov registration.

eRA Commons requires organizations to identify at least one Signing Official (SO) and at least one Program Director/Principal Investigator (PD/PI) account in order to submit must have an active DUNS number and SAM registration in order to complete the Directors/Principal Investigators (PD(s)/PI(s)) All PD(s)/PI(s) must have an eRA Commons account and should work with their organizational officials to either create a new account or to affiliate an existing account with the applicant organization’s eRA Commons account.

If the PD/PI is also the organizational Signing Official, they must have two distinct eRA Commons accounts, one for each role. Obtaining an eRA Commons account can take up to 2 weeks.

Eligible Individuals (Program Director/Principal Any individual(s) with the skills, knowledge, and resources necessary to carry out the proposed research as the Program Director(s)/Principal Investigator(s) (PD(s)/PI(s)) is invited to work with his/her organization to develop an application for support.

Individuals from diverse backgrounds, including underrepresented racial and ethnic groups, individuals with disabilities, and women are always encouraged to apply for NIH support. For institutions/organizations proposing multiple PDs/PIs, visit the Multiple Program Director/Principal Investigator Policy and submission details in the Senior/Key Person Profile (Expanded) Component of the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide.

The PD/PI should be an established investigator in the scientific area in which the application is targeted and capable of providing both administrative and scientific leadership to the development and implementation of the proposed program. The PD/PI will be expected to monitor and assess the program and submit all documents and reports as required. This FOA does not require cost sharing as defined in the NIH Grants Policy Statement .

3. Additional Information on Eligibility Applicant organizations may submit more than one application, provided that each application is scientifically distinct.

NIH will not accept any application that is essentially the same as one already reviewed within the past thirty-seven months (as described Grants Policy Statement ), except for submission: To an RFA of an application that was submitted previously as an investigator-initiated application but not paid; Of an investigator-initiated application that was originally submitted to an RFA but not paid; or Of an application with a changed grant activity code.

Researchers from diverse backgrounds, including racial and ethnic minorities, persons with disabilities, and women are encouraged to participate as preceptors/mentors. Mentors should have research expertise and experience relevant to the proposed program.

Applications must describe the intended participants, and the eligibility and/or specific educational background characteristics that are essential for participation in the proposed research education program. Participants should be upper-level undergraduate students to senior faculty.

Unless strongly justified on the basis of exceptional relevance to NIH, research education programs should be used primarily for the education of U.S. citizens and permanent residents. and Submission Information Applicants must download the SF424 (R&R) application package associated with this funding opportunity using the Apply for Grant Electronically button in this FOA or following the directions provided at Grants. gov .

2. Content and Form of Application Submission It is critical that applicants follow the instructions in (R&R) Application Guide , except where instructed in this funding opportunity announcement to do otherwise. Conformance to the requirements in the Application Guide is required and strictly enforced.

Applications that are out of compliance with these instructions will not be reviewed. For information on Application Submission and Receipt, visit Frequently Asked Questions Application Guide, Electronic Submission of Grant Applications .

Although a letter of intent is not required, is not binding, and does not enter into the review of a subsequent application, the information that it contains allows IC staff to estimate the potential review workload and By the date listed in Part 1.

Overview Information , prospective applicants are asked to submit a letter of intent that includes the following information: Descriptive title of proposed activity Name(s), address(es), and telephone number(s) of the PD(s)/PI(s) Names of other key personnel Participating institution(s) Number and title of this funding opportunity The letter of intent should be sent to: All page limitations described in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide and the Table of Page Limits must be followed.

Required and Optional Components The forms package associated with this FOA includes all applicable components, required and optional. Please note that some components marked optional in the application package are required for submission of applications for this FOA. Follow the instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide to ensure you complete all appropriate optional components.

for Application Submission The following section supplements the instructions found in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide and should be used for preparing an Follow all instructions provided in the SF424 (R&R) SF424(R&R) Project/Performance Site Locations Follow all instructions provided in the SF424 (R&R) SF424 (R&R) Other Project Information Component Follow all instructions provided in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide with the following additional modifications: & Other Resources.

Describe the educational environment, including the facilities, laboratories, participating departments, computer services, and any other resources to be used in the development and implementation of the proposed program.

List all thematically related sources of support for research training and education following the format for Current SF424(R&R) Senior/Key Person Profile Expanded Follow all instructions provided in the SF424 (R&R) Follow all instructions provided in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide with the following additional modifications: Include all personnel other than the PD(s)/PI(s) in the Other Personnel section, including clerical and administrative staff.

Use the section on Participant/Trainee Support Costs to include all allowable categories of funds requested to support participants in the Follow all instructions provided in the SF424 (R&R) PHS 398 Research Plan Component All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed, with the