NINDS Faculty Development Award to Promote Diversity in Neuroscience Research (K01 Independent Clinical Trial Required)

NINDS Faculty Development Award to Promote Diversity in Neuroscience Research (K01 Independent Clinical Trial Required) is sponsored by National Institutes of Health. Aims to diversify the pool of independent neuroscience research investigators by providing support to junior faculty.

Expired PAR-21-234: NINDS Faculty Development Award to Promote Diversity in Neuroscience Research (K01 Independent Clinical Trial Not Allowed) This notice has expired. Check the NIH Guide for active opportunities and notices. Department of Health and Human Services Part 1.

Overview Information Participating Organization(s) National Institutes of Health ( NIH ) Components of Participating Organizations National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Funding Opportunity Title NINDS Faculty Development Award to Promote Diversity in Neuroscience Research (K01 Independent Clinical Trial Not Allowed) K01 Research Scientist Development Award - Research & Training Reissue of PAR-21-152 - NINDS Faculty Development Award to Promote Diversity in Neuroscience Research (K01 Independent Clinical Trial Not Allowed) Notices of Special Interest associated with this funding opportunity June 24, 2024 - This PAR has been reissued as PAR-24-228 February 6, 2024 - Notice of Change: Extension of PAR-21-234 "NINDS Faculty Development Award to Promote Diversity in Neuroscience Research (K01 Independent Clinical Trial Not Allowed)".

See Notice NOT-NS-24-057 February 6, 2024 - Notice to Rescind NOT-NS-24-038 "Notice of Change: Extension of PAR-21-234 "NINDS Faculty Development Award to Promote Diversity in Neuroscience Research (K01 Independent Clinical Trial Not Allowed)".

See Notice NOT-NS-24-057 January 18, 2024 - Notice of Change: Extension of PAR-21-234 "NINDS Faculty Development Award to Promote Diversity in Neuroscience Research (K01 Independent Clinical Trial Not Allowed)". See Notice NOT-NS-24-038 September 7, 2023 - Notice of Change to Award Project Period for PAR-21-234 "NINDS Faculty Development Award to Promote Diversity in Neuroscience Research (K01 Independent Clinical Trial Not Allowed)".

See Notice NOT-NS-23-107 NOT-OD-23-012 Reminder: FORMS-H Grant Application Forms and Instructions Must be Used for Due Dates On or After January 25, 2023 - New Grant Application Instructions Now Available NOT-OD-22-190 - Adjustments to NIH and AHRQ Grant Application Due Dates Between September 22 and September 30, 2022 July 27, 2022 - Notification to the community of change in maximum salary provided by NINDS K award mechanisms for clinician-scientists.

See Notice NOT-NS-23-005 July 26, 2022 - Notice of Change to the maximum salary for clinician-scientists for PAR-21-153 and PAR-21-234 NINDS faculty Development Award to Promote Diversity in Neuroscience Research (K01). See Notice NOT-NS-22-107 October 28, 2021 - Reminder: FORMS-G Grant Application Forms & Instructions Must be Used for Due Dates On or After January 25, 2022 - New Grant Application Instructions Now Available.

See Notice NOT-OD-22-018 . September 13, 2021 - Updates to the Non-Discrimination Legal Requirements for NIH Recipients. See Notice August 5, 2021 - New NIH "FORMS-G" Grant Application Forms and Instructions Coming for Due Dates on or after January 25, 2022.

August 5, 2021 - Update: Notification of Upcoming Change in Federal-wide Unique Entity Identifier Requirements. See Notice NOT-OD-21-170 April 20, 2021 - Expanding Requirement for eRA Commons IDs to All Senior/Key Personnel.

See Notice NOT-OD-21-109 Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) Number Companion Funding Opportunity PAR-21-153 - NINDS Faculty Development Award to Promote Diversity in Neuroscience Research (K01 Clinical Trial Required) See Section III. 3. Additional Information on Eligibility .

Assistance Listing Number(s) Funding Opportunity Purpose The purpose of the NINDS Faculty Development Award to Promote Diversity in Neuroscience Research (K01) is to diversify the pool of independent neuroscience research investigators by providing junior faculty with research cost support, protected research time and career stage appropriate professional development mentorship in neuroscience research.

Individuals from diverse backgrounds, including those from groups underrepresented in biomedical research are eligible for support under this award if they have doctoral research degrees (Ph. D. or equivalent) and are in the first 3 years of a faculty tenure track or equivalent position at the time of application.

This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is designed specifically for candidates proposing research that does not involve leading an independent clinical trial, a clinical trial feasibility study, or an ancillary study to a clinical trial. Under this FOA candidates are permitted to propose a research experience in a clinical trial led by a mentor or co-mentor.

Those proposing a clinical trial or an ancillary study to an ongoing clinical trial as lead investigator, should apply to the companion FOA ( PAR-21-153 ). Open Date (Earliest Submission Date) Letter of Intent Due Date(s) Standard dates apply, by 5:00 PM local time of applicant organization. All types of non-AIDS applications allowed for this funding opportunity announcement are due on these dates.

The first standard application due date for this FOA is June 12, 2021. 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) Standard AIDS dates apply, by 5:00 PM local time of applicant organization.

All types of AIDS and AIDS-related applications allowed for this funding opportunity announcement are due on these dates. The first AIDS application due date for this FOA is May 7, 2021. 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.

New Date September 8, 2024 (Original Date: May 08, 2024) per issuance of NOT-NS-24-056 Required Application Instructions It is critical that applicants follow the instructions in the Career Development (K) Instructions in the SF424 (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 may be delayed or not accepted for review. Part 1. Overview Information Part 2.

Full Text of Announcement Section I. Funding Opportunity Description Section II. Award Information Section III.

Eligibility Information Section IV. Application and Submission Information Section V. Application Review Information Section VI.

Award Administration Information Section VII. Agency Contacts We encourage inquiries concerning this funding opportunity and welcome the opportunity to answer questions from potential applicants. Section VIII.

Other Information Part 2. Full Text of Announcement Section I. Funding Opportunity Description The overall goal of the NIH Research Career Development program is to help ensure that a diverse pool of highly trained scientists is available in appropriate scientific disciplines to address the Nation's biomedical, behavioral, and clinical research needs.

NIH Institutes and Centers (ICs) support a variety of mentored and non-mentored career development award programs designed to foster the transition of new investigators to research independence and to support established investigators in achieving specific objectives. Candidates should review the different career development (K) award programs to determine the best program to support their goals.

More information about Career programs may be found at the NIH Extramural Training Mechanisms website.

The objective of the NIH Mentored Research Scientist Development Award (K01) is to provide salary and research support for a sustained period of protected time (3-5 years) for intensive research career development, under the guidance of an experienced mentor, or sponsor in the biomedical, behavioral or clinical sciences leading to research independence.

The expectation is that, through this sustained period of research career development and training, awardees will launch independent research careers and become competitive for new research project grant (e.g., R01) funding.

The purpose of the Faculty Development Award to Promote Diversity in Neuroscience Research is to support an intensive, supervised career development and scientific mentoring experience for promising junior investigators (who are 1) in first 3 years of a faculty tenure track or equivalent position at the time of application) or 2) have an offer for a first-time tenure-track or equivalent faculty position that will begin by time of award) from diverse backgrounds, including those from groups underrepresented in biomedical research.

The proposed career development experience is expected to substantially contribute to the research capabilities of the applicant, provide protected time from teaching/other duties and provide resources to hone skills in grant writing and publication of high impact research.

Presently, data from the National Science Foundation suggests that underrepresented racial and ethnic minorities, and individuals with disabilities are underrepresented in faculty-level biomedical research careers.

For example, in surveys conducted by the Society for Neuroscience Committee on Neuroscience Departments and Programs, diverse faculty represent only 5% of the tenure-stream neuroscience faculty and 3% of non-tenure-stream faculty members ( 2011 Survey Report Neuroscience Departments and Programs ). This is compared to a 14% predoctoral and 9% postdoctoral diverse trainee representation within the neuroscience field.

As demonstrated in a 2011 NIH Individual Mentored Career Development Awards Program Evaluation, receipt of an individual mentored career development award had a measurable and significant impact on program participants, as seen in their publication records and subsequent applications for and receipt of NIH grants.

Collectively, researchers who participated in NIH K programs had a significantly higher R01 success rate than those with no prior career development support. It is envisioned that funding support from the Faculty Development Award to Promote Diversity in Neuroscience Research will enhance the pool of well-trained researchers and health professionals who are competitively funded to conduct neuroscience research.

The expectation is that through this sustained period of protected research time and career development exposure, awardees will be able to accelerate their independent research careers and become competitive for new research project grant (R01) funding.

Applicants must justify the need for this award and make a convincing case that the proposed period of support will substantially enhance their careers as independent investigators in neuroscience research.

Mentoring is expected to be appropriate for this stage of career and should focus on enhancing tenure track (or equivalent) activities or metrics (i.e., helping the junior faculty member to navigate institutional expectations, scientific networks, and practices that are relevant to productivity and advancement at the institution).

The sponsoring institution must also be able to demonstrate a strong commitment to the development of the candidate as a productive, independent investigator by providing protected research time and space needed to perform the proposed research.

Prior to preparing an application, individuals are strongly encouraged to contact the program official listed at the end of this announcement to discuss their institutional commitment and career development needs. NINDS support for this K01 program relies equally on scientific merit and programmatic considerations.

NINDS will not support projects, regardless of the results of merit review, if they do not fulfill current programmatic priorities at NINDS. NINDS supports research that addresses or seeks fundamental knowledge about the brain and nervous system by supporting and conducting research on the healthy and diseased brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nerves and to use that knowledge to reduce the burden of neurological disease.

NINDS supports basic, translational, and clinical research. Learn more: https://www. ninds.

nih. gov/Current-Research/Research-Funded-NINDS Note: This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is designed specifically for candidates proposing research that does not involve leading an independent clinical trial, a clinical trial feasibility study, or an ancillary clinical trial. Under this FOA candidates are permitted to propose a research experience in a clinical trial led by a mentor or co-mentor.

Those proposing a clinical trial or an ancillary study to an ongoing clinical trial as lead investigator, should apply to the companion FOA ( PAR-21-153 ).

NIH defines a clinical trial as "A research study in which one or more human subjects are prospectively assigned to one or more interventions (which may include placebo or other control) to evaluate the effects of those interventions on health-related biomedical or behavioral outcomes." ( NOT-OD-15-015 ). See Section VIII.

Other Information for award authorities and regulations. 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 The OER Glossary and the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide provide details on these application types. Not Allowed: Only accepting applications that do not propose clinical trials. Note: Applicants may propose to gain experience in a clinical trial led by a mentor/co-mentor as part of their research career development.

Need help determining whether you are doing a clinical trial? Funds Available and Anticipated Number of Awards The number of awards is contingent upon NIH appropriations and the submission of a sufficient number of meritorious applications. Award budgets are composed of salary and other program-related expenses, as described below.

The total project period may not exceed 5 years. As part of the year 03 Research Performance Progress Report (RPPR) review to award year 04, Program Staff will assess whether the investigator has applied for a major research grant (R01, R15, or equivalent) from a federal (e.g., NIH, NSF, DOD, DARPA, etc.) or non-federal source (e.g., non-profit, society, foundation, or institute).

NINDS anticipates that most Diversity Faculty K01 awards will be 5 year awards and applicants should propose a research plan that reflects the total project period (up to 5 years); however, if the year 3 administrative review determines that an investigator is not applying for appropriate research grants or making sufficient progress towards preliminary data for such a submission, overall progress of the award may be deemed unsatisfactory preventing award of subsequent years of the grant.

Other Award Budget Information NIH will contribute up to $95,000 per year toward the salary of the career award recipient. For applicants with clinical degrees who are licensed to practice, NINDS will provide up to $125,000 per year for salary support for 75% effort. Further guidance on budgeting for career development salaries is provided in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide.

See also NOT-OD-17-094 . The sponsoring institution may supplement the NIH salary contribution up to a level that is consistent with the institution's salary scale. However, supplementation may not be from Federal funds unless specifically authorized by the Federal program from which such funds are derived.

In no case may PHS funds be used for salary supplementation. Institutional supplementation of salary must not require extra duties or responsibilities that would interfere with the purpose of the career award. The total NIH contribution to salary, however, may not exceed the legislatively mandated salary cap.

See: http://grants. nih. gov/grants/policy/salcap_summary.

htm . Other Program-Related Expenses NIH will contribute $100,000 per year toward the research development costs of the award recipient, which must be justified and consistent with the stage of development of the candidate and the proportion of time to be spent in research or career development activities.

These funds may be used for the following expenses: (a) tuition and fees related to career development; (b) research-related expenses, such as supplies, equipment and technical personnel; c) travel to research meetings or training; and (d) statistical services including personnel and computer time. Reasonable Accommodations: Salary for mentors, secretarial and administrative assistants, etc. is not allowed.

As part of this award, funds may be requested to make changes or adjustments in the research setting that will make it possible for a qualified individual with a disability to perform the essential functions associated with his/her role on the project.

The accommodations requested under this program must be directly related to the performance of the proposed role on the research project and must be appropriate to the disabilities of the individual. Some types of accommodations that might be provided under this award include: specialized equipment, assistive devices, and personnel such as readers, interpreters, or assistants.

In all cases, the total funds for accommodations requested must be reasonable. These funds may be requested in addition to the $100,000 research development costs. Indirect Costs (also known as Facilities & Administrative [F&A] Costs) are reimbursed at 8% of modified total direct costs.

NIH grants policies as described in the NIH Grants Policy Statement will apply to the applications submitted and awards made from this FOA. Section III.

Eligibility Information 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: Hispanic-serving Institutions Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs) Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions Asian 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 Higher Education) Nonprofits without 501(c)(3) IRS Status (Other than Institutions of Higher Education) For-Profit Organizations (Other than Small Businesses) City or Township Governments Special District Governments Indian/Native American Tribal Governments (Federally Recognized) Indian/Native American Tribal Governments (Other than Federally Recognized) U.S. Territory or Possession Independent School Districts Public Housing Authorities/Indian Housing Authorities Native American Tribal Organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments) Faith-based or Community-based Organizations Non-domestic (non-U.S.) Entities (Foreign Institutions) are not eligible to apply.

Non-domestic (non-U.S.) components of U.S. Organizations are not eligible to apply. 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 possible. The NIH 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 late submission.

Dun and Bradstreet 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.

NATO Commercial and Government Entity (NCAGE) Code Foreign organizations must obtain an NCAGE code (in lieu of a CAGE code) in order to register in SAM. eRA Commons - Applicants 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 an application. Grants.

gov Applicants must have an active DUNS number and SAM registration in order to complete the Grants. gov registration. Program Directors/Principal Investigators (PD(s)/PI(s)) All PD(s)/PI(s) must have an eRA Commons account.

PD(s)/PI(s) should work with their organizational officials to either create a new account or to affiliate their existing account with the applicant organization in eRA Commons. 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 Investigator) Any candidate with the skills, knowledge, and resources necessary to carry out the proposed research as the Program Director/Principal Investigator (PD/PI) is invited to work with his/her mentor and organization to develop an application for support.

Individuals from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups as well as individuals with disabilities are always encouraged to apply for NIH support. Multiple PDs/PIs are not allowed. Career Stage : Candidates for this award must have earned a terminal research doctoral degree or a combined clinical and research doctoral degree and have completed their research training.

At the time of application, candidates must be 1) junior faculty in the first 3 years of a tenure-track or equivalent faculty position or 2) have an offer for a first-time tenure-track or equivalent faculty position that will begin by time of award.

At the time of award, the institution must demonstrate that the applicant will have the academic title, space, and other resources necessary to apply for research project grant (e.g., R01) level funding. The candidates must have research experience (length of time may vary) and be committed to developing into independent biomedical investigators in research areas relevant to the mission of the NINDS.

The program is not intended to support additional postdoctoral training and is not intended to support career changes from non-research to research careers for individuals without prior research training.

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). For the purpose of this announcement, institutions are encouraged to recruit potential participants from diverse backgrounds, such as: A.

Individuals from racial and ethnic groups that have been shown by the National Science Foundation to be underrepresented in health-related sciences on a national basis (see data at http://www. nsf. gov/statistics/showpub.

cfm? TopID=2&SubID=27 ) and the report Women, Minorities, and Persons with Disabilities in Science and Engineering ). The following racial and ethnic groups have been shown to be underrepresented in biomedical research: Blacks or African Americans, Hispanics or Latinos, American Indians or Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders.

In addition, it is recognized that underrepresentation can vary from setting to setting; individuals from racial or ethnic groups that can be demonstrated convincingly to be underrepresented by the grantee institution should be encouraged to participate in NIH programs to enhance diversity.

For more information on racial and ethnic categories and definitions, see the OMB Revisions to the Standards for Classification of Federal Data on Race and Ethnicity ( https://www. govinfo. gov/content/pkg/FR-1997-10-30/html/97-28653.

htm ). B. Individuals with disabilities, who are defined as those with a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, as described in the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, as amended .

See NSF data at, https://www. nsf. gov/statistics/2017/nsf17310/static/data/tab7-5.

pdf C. Individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds, defined as those who meet two or more of the following criteria: 1. Were or currently are homeless, as defined by the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (Definition: https://nche.

ed. gov/mckinney-vento/ ); 2. Were or currently are in the foster care system, as defined by the Administration for Children and Families (Definition: https://www.

acf. hhs. gov/cb/focus-areas/foster-care ); 3.

Were eligible for the Federal Free and Reduced Lunch Program for two or more years (Definition: https://www. fns. usda.

gov/school-meals/income-eligibility-guidelines ); 4. Have/had no parents or legal guardians who completed a bachelor’s degree (see https://nces. ed.

gov/pubs2018/2018009. pdf ); 5. Were or currently are eligible for Federal Pell grants (Definition: https://www2.

ed. gov/programs/fpg/eligibility. html ); 6.

Received support from the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) as a parent or child (Definition: https://www. fns. usda.

gov/wic/wic-eligibility-requirements ). 7. Grew up in one of the following areas: a) a U.S. rural area, as designated by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Rural Health Grants Eligibility Analyzer ( https://data.

hrsa. gov/tools/rural-health ), or b) a Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services-designated Low-Income and Health Professional Shortage Areas (qualifying zipcodes are included in the file). Only one of the two possibilities in #7 can be used as a criterion for the disadvantaged background definition.

Students from low socioeconomic (SES) status backgrounds have been shown to obtain bachelor’s and advanced degrees at significantly lower rates than students from middle and high SES groups (see https://nces. ed. gov/programs/coe/indicator_tva.

asp ), and are subsequently less likely to be represented in biomedical research. For background see Department of Education data at, https://nces. ed.

gov/ ; https://nces. ed. gov/programs/coe/indicator_tva.

asp ; https://www2. ed. gov/rschstat/research/pubs/advancing-diversity-inclusion.

pdf . D. Literature shows that women from the above backgrounds (categories A, B, and C) face particular challenges at the graduate level and beyond in scientific fields.

(See, e.g., From the NIH: A Systems Approach to Increasing the Diversity of Biomedical Research Workforce https://www. ncbi. nlm.

nih. gov/pmc/articles/PMC5008902/ ).

Women have been shown to be underrepresented in doctorate-granting research institutions at senior faculty levels in most biomedical-relevant disciplines, and may also be underrepresented at other faculty levels in some scientific disciplines (See data from the National Science Foundation National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics: Women, Minorities, and Persons with Disabilities in Science and Engineering, special report available at https://www.

nsf. gov/statistics/2017/nsf17310/ , especially Table 9-23, describing science, engineering, and health doctorate holders employed in universities and 4-year colleges, by broad occupation, sex, years since doctorate, and faculty rank).

Upon review of NSF data, and scientific discipline or field related data, NIH encourages institutions to consider women for faculty-level, diversity-targeted programs to address faculty recruitment, appointment, retention or advancement.

Current and former PDs/PIs on NIH research project (R01), program project (P01), center grants (P50), Project Leads of program project (P01), or center grants (P50), other major individual career development awards (e.g., K01, K07, K08, K22, K23, K25, K76, K99/R00), or the equivalent are not eligible.

Current and former PDs/PIs of an NIH Small Grant (R03), Exploratory/Developmental Grant (R21), Planning Grant (R34/U34), Predoctoral to Postdoctoral Fellow Transition Award (F99/K00), Dissertation Award (R36), or SBIR/STTR (R41, R42, R43, R44) remain eligible, as do PD/PIs of Transition Scholar (K38) awards and individuals appointed to institutional K programs (K12, KL2).

Candidates for the K01 award must have a research or health-professional doctoral degree. 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, and each is from a different candidate. The NIH will not accept duplicate or highly overlapping applications under review at the same time. An individual may not have two or more competing NIH career development applications pending review concurrently.

In addition, NIH will not accept: A new (A0) application that is submitted before issuance of the summary statement from the review of an overlapping new (A0) or resubmission (A1) application. A resubmission (A1) application that is submitted before issuance of the summary statement from the review of the previous new (A0) application.

An application that has substantial overlap with another application pending appeal of initial peer review (see NOT-OD-11-101 ) Candidates may submit research project grant (RPG) applications concurrently with the K application. However, any concurrent RPG application may not have substantial scientific and/or budgetary overlap with the career award application.

K award recipients are encouraged to obtain funding from NIH or other Federal sources either as a PD/PI on a competing research grant award or cooperative agreement, or as project leader on a competing multi-project award as described in NOT-OD-08-065 . At the time of award, the candidate must have a full-time appointment at the academic institution.

Candidates are required to commit a minimum of 75% of full-time professional effort (i.e., a minimum of 9 person-months) to their program of career development. Candidates may engage in other duties as part of the remaining 25% of their full-time professional effort not covered by this award, as long as such duties do not interfere with or detract from the proposed career development program.

Candidates who have VA appointments may not consider part of the VA effort toward satisfying the full time requirement at the applicant institution. Candidates with VA appointments should contact the staff person in the relevant Institute or Center prior to preparing an application to discuss their eligibility. After the receipt of the award, adjustments to the required level of effort may be made in certain circumstances.

See NOT-OD-09-036 for more details. Before submitting the application, the candidate must identify a mentor who will supervise the proposed career development and research experience. The mentor should be an active investigator in the area of the proposed research and be committed both to the career development of the candidate and to the direct supervision of the candidate’s research.

The mentor must document the availability of sufficient research support and facilities for high-quality research. Candidates are encouraged to identify more than one mentor, i.e., a mentoring team, if this is deemed advantageous for providing expert advice in all aspects of the research career development program. In such cases, one individual must be identified as the primary mentor who will coordinate the candidate’s research.

The mentor, or a member of the mentoring team, should have a successful track record of mentoring individuals at the candidate’s career stage. Where feasible, recruitment of women, individuals from diverse racial and ethnic groups, and individuals with disabilities as potential mentors is encouraged, given their ability to serve as role models.

The mentor(s) and junior faculty applicant will work together to help set priorities (budgeting time, balancing research, teaching, publishing, grant writing and service), develop a network of advisors, increase visibility in the applicant institution and professional communities, understand applicant institutional culture, and "quick start" the tenure process.

The mentor should provide informal advice to the new faculty member on aspects of teaching, research and committee work or be able to direct the new faculty member to the appropriate individuals.

Professional and research development, mentoring, and sponsorship are integral elements of the role of the mentor(s) and they must include activities and resources to reduce isolation, increase community building and networking, and foster career, research, and professional advancement.

The identified mentor or mentoring team should include an active role for sponsorship, which refers to a person in a senior position within the institution who serves as an advocate to assist the faculty member with networking, career opportunities, and strategic identification of individualized professional milestones that ensure success.

A sponsor provides an in-depth commitment and possesses the power and influence to substantively support the faculty member. The candidate must work with the mentor(s) in preparing the application. However, all guidance and mentorship should be career stage appropriate.

The junior faculty member’s intellectual independence from the mentor must be carefully preserved and there should be a clear ownership of the research proposal by the K01 applicant. The mentor and any co-mentors are also expected to assess the candidate’s qualifications and potential for an independent research career.

Institutional Environment The applicant institution must have a strong, well-established record of research and career development activities and faculty qualified to serve as mentors