NRSA Individual Predoctoral Fellowship (F31)

NRSA Individual Predoctoral Fellowship (F31) is sponsored by National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) / National Institutes of Health (NIH). This fellowship supports individuals at the dissertation research stage of training in a Ph.

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For Some Grants, You'll Owe Work Time Applying for a Fellowship Writing a Fellowship Application Additional Application Tips Advice for Predoctoral Fellowship Candidates Advice for Postdoctoral Fellowship Candidates Submitting Your Fellowship Forms, Contacting NIAID Quick Facts on Fellowship Grants NIH awards National Research Service Award (NRSA) individual fellowship grants to provide research experience to students and scientists at various stages of their careers.

Investigators must be U.S. citizens, noncitizen nationals, or permanent residents with a valid Permanent Resident Card (Form I-551) at the time of award. People on temporary or student visas are not eligible.

NIAID offers fellowships at the predoctoral and postdoctoral levels: NRSA Fellowship for Students at Institutions Without NIH-Funded Institutional Predoctoral Dual-Degree Training Programs (Parent F30) or the NRSA Fellowship for Students at Institutions with NIH-Funded Institutional Predoctoral Dual-Degree Training Programs (Parent F30) — To qualify, you must be enrolled in a formally combined M. D. and Ph.

D. , D. V.

M. and Ph. D.

, D. D. S.

and Ph. D. , or Au.

D. and Ph. D.

program, and be supervised by a sponsor for the research doctoral component. NRSA Individual Predoctoral Fellowship (F31) — To qualify, you must be at the dissertation research stage of training at the time of award and enrolled in a Ph. D.

or equivalent research degree program, a formally combined M. D. and Ph.

D. program, or other combined professional/clinical and research doctoral program in the biomedical, behavioral, or clinical sciences. NRSA Individual Postdoctoral Fellowship (F32) — To qualify, you'll need a doctoral degree from an accredited institution.

You may request support for training abroad. A detailed justification for the foreign training is required and should include reasons why the facilities, the sponsor, or other aspects of the proposed experience are more appropriate than training in a domestic setting. Grants are awarded for a maximum number of years as follows: F31 — 3 years (for NIAID) Fellowships are not renewable.

They require full-time effort, 12 person months a year. In addition to the full-time training, fellows may spend on average, an additional 25 percent of their time (e.g., 10 hours a week) in part-time research, teaching, or clinical employment, so long as those activities do not interfere with, or lengthen, the duration of their NRSA training.

For Some Grants, You'll Owe Work Time Postdoctoral fellows must repay the government for their grant support. This isn't like paying off a loan; your debt is one of time and effort, not money. You can pay it off by continuing to work on the project for which you were funded.

During the first year of your appointment, you'll owe 1 month of payback for every month you're supported by NIH funds. After the first year, you can start paying back. For every month you continue to work—even with funding—you pay back 1 month of your debt.

If your training lasts 2 years, your obligation will be paid in full. If You Can't Pay Back with Work If your project loses funding after the first year, you can complete your payback through continued research or teaching on at least a half-time basis (20 hours per week). Unless there are serious extenuating circumstances, you must complete the payback within 2 years after termination of support.

If you fail to repay your obligation within 2 years, you'll owe the government the full amount of your grant, plus interest. If you don't perform the research or teaching necessary for payback, make sure you'll have the money to reimburse the government for your grant. For information on submitting your payback agreement, refer to Submitting Your Fellowship Forms, Contacting NIAID .

Applying for a Fellowship When Are Applications Due?

NIH uses multiple due dates for fellowship applications: F30, F31 and F32 (non-AIDS)—April 8, August 8, and December 8 AIDS and AIDS-related fellowship applications follow standard AIDS due dates: May 7, September 7, and January 7 Submit your application electronically using the NIH Application Submission System and Interface for Submission Tracking (ASSIST) or another of the NIH Submission Options .

Check with your business office to see what approach it uses. Follow the instructions in the relevant notice of funding opportunity below. Check the Fellowship Grants SOP for more information.

What Do Fellowships Pay For? Stipends—Check Salary Caps, Stipends & Training Funds for details. Tuition and fees, and institutional allowances for training-related expenses—For details, refer to What Do Training Funds Pay For?

on Salary Cap, Stipends, & Training Funds . Each NRSA fellow may request $3,000 per budget period to defray childcare costs from a licensed provider. Learn more in the Frequently Asked Questions on Childcare Costs .

What Are Your Chances of Succeeding? Find success rates at Success Rates on NIH's RePORT . For more information, check NIH Research Training and Career Development Programs .

Find a Mentor to Help You A mentor can serve as your advisor, advocate, critic, and instructor, helping you with your application and award. Learn more at Know What to Look for When Choosing a Mentor .

Writing a Fellowship Application Carefully read the relevant notice of funding opportunity below and the supplemental instructions for individual fellowship applications in the SF 424 Application Guide to learn what your electronic application should include. Applicants must have an ORCID iD (Open Research and Contributor Identifier) and associate it with their eRA Commons Personal Profile.

For instructions on how to create an ORCID iD, refer to eRA’s The ORCID ID instructions. Be sure to request at least three (but no more than five) reference letters. Since they must be submitted by your application's due date, make sure the people you ask to write letters can meet the deadline.

Check our Fellowship Grants SOP for more information and read the Reference Letter Instructions in the SF 424 Application Guide for detailed instructions, including information you should give to people writing your letters. Keep in mind that you must comply with NIH public access policy, which includes citing papers from NIH-funded research in your application. Check our Public Access of Publications SOP for more information.

Be sure to address rigor and reproducibility. Check the requirements at Guidance: Rigor and Reproducibility in Grant Applications . Sending Materials Post-Submission You may send certain materials after you have submitted your application and before initial peer review.

For fellowships, this includes a one-page summary to update your sponsor's funding information. Send no more than one page to your scientific review officer at least 30 days before the review meeting. Include a note from your business office stating its concurrence or ask your authorized organizational representative to send the information on your behalf.

For more information, refer to the Allowable Post-Submission Materials section on Late Applications and Post-Submission Materials . Also check Additional Materials for Certain Applications in NIH’s Post-Submission Materials Policy Frequently Asked Questions . The NIH Center for Scientific Review will peer review your application.

Fellowship applications are assigned to review groups based on scientific content, then clustered for review by activity code. This clustering is also used for streamlining, a process that allows reviewers more time to discuss applications likely to be supported. In evaluating your application, reviewers gauge the likelihood the fellowship will enhance your potential for and commitment to a productive research career.

For postdocs, they also assess whether you have what it takes to be an independent researcher. To learn how peer reviewers determine an application's merit, read the Application Guide. Refer to Revisions to the NIH Fellowship Application and Review Process for information about changes to fellowship applications and fellowship review criteria.

For an overview of the peer review process, check NIAID’s Understand the Review Process . Promote Your Research Plan Your Research Plan may be the most important part of your fellowship application.

Your plan must communicate: Clarity, completeness, and coherence Originality, significance, and practicality of goals A clear description of the research skills and knowledge you want to acquire, and your plan's potential for meeting these objectives Potential of training to serve as a foundation for your health sciences career (for predoctoral investigators) or to advance your career as an independent researcher (for postdoctoral investigators) Plans to include a heterogenous human subjects population including women and minorities Plans to include animals as test subjects, if applicable Plans to obtain training in ethical research conduct Regarding the research, start with a hypothesis, then ask yourself: can I develop Specific Aims based on this hypothesis, as well as experiments to either prove or disprove it?

When thinking about your Specific Aims, be careful not to propose too much since you'll have a limited time to accomplish your aims. You may want to address some key aspects. Is your research of high scientific quality, commensurate with your level of experience, and something you're able to handle?

Also, explain for reviewers the part you'll have in your mentor's research. For example, if you're working on a Specific Aim of his or her R01 grant, describe for reviewers what you, versus your mentor, will be doing. Though having a strong plan is critical, reviewers have different expectations for predoctoral candidates than they do for postdocs and will look at whether the plan fits the applicant's level of research experience.

For predocs who generally have little or no experience, reviewers won't expect as sophisticated a plan as they would for postdocs who are working towards independence. Ask your sponsor to review your Research Plan for thoroughness, consistency, and effective presentation of valid and original goals. You may also want others, e.g., colleagues, to read your plan and provide feedback.

Make sure you've included required elements. For example, you must include a plan for instruction in responsible research conduct. If you leave it out, your application will be considered incomplete and won't be reviewed until you provide an acceptable plan of instruction.

Read the Responsible Conduct of Research—Training SOP for more information. The worst thing peer reviewers can say about your application is: "I can't believe that the investigator's mentor read this." Reviewers will forgive minor omissions but not major ones.

Even too many minor omissions will add up and hurt your overall impact score. Additional Application Tips Here are some general tips to help you prepare a strong application. To convince reviewers that you deserve a fellowship award, write clearly about your experience and qualifications.

In the Personal Statement section of your biosketch, describe your level of research experience, passion for research, strengths, and weaknesses. Show how you plan to bolster those weaknesses, such as taking courses or engaging in other activities, like submitting papers or giving scientific presentations at local or national conferences.

You may also want to point out that you maintain a level of interest in your field through other related training and work experience. Also highlight any publications you have (especially if you're applying for an F31), since reviewers will be on the lookout.

Perhaps most importantly, tell them what you hope to gain from a fellowship, i.e., what added value it would give your career, as opposed to conducting research under your mentor's grant. Your sponsor and co-sponsor (if any) will have to complete part of your application. Be sure to read what they write about the Research Plan, your qualifications and career goals, so the information that both you and they provide works well together.

You certainly don't want reviewers to find discrepancies. You may also want to read letters from collaborators and the letter of commitment your institution provides. Organize, Organize, Organize Make it easy on your reviewers to read through your application by writing a well-organized one.

Use headers, charts, graphs, and other elements that will make your application appealing and user friendly. For more on this, read Apply for a Grant .

Advice for Predoctoral Fellowship Candidates Make sure your Research Plan presents: A thorough grounding in the design, methodology, and analysis of a research protocol Research stages, including proposal, execution, presentation, and publication Opportunities to interact with other members of the scientific community Peer reviewers will consider your academic record, which can be bolstered or undermined by your other credentials.

Although there's no cutoff for acceptable grades and test scores, you should highlight your academic prowess. Ideally, you'll document previous research projects at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Applications for predoctoral fellowships do best at review when the candidate has performed research in a lab for at least a year or two.

Investigators with this level of experience can write a state-of-the-art Research Plan. Investigators who haven't yet selected a lab cannot match the knowledge gained from research experience. Advice for Postdoctoral Fellowship Candidates As a postdoctoral fellow, you should be taking steps now to become an independent investigator.

Your preparation should include, for example, publishing papers, and applying for grants. For more information on this, plus additional guidance on writing a fellowship application, go to Postdocs' Guide to Gaining Independence: Laying the Groundwork . Submitting Your Fellowship Forms, Contacting NIAID Submit your NRSA forms for activation, payback, and termination as follows.

You can submit termination forms through the xTrain module in the eRA Commons. If you don't have an eRA Commons account, learn how to get one at eRA’s Create and Manage an eRA Commons Account . You should also review instructions and training resources on the xTrain website.

Note: You may download and print payback agreements from xTrain, but you will need to send us an original, signed agreement. Refer to the next section for more information. Submit paper forms for activation and payback using the instructions below.

Make sure you have the latest forms at Forms Directory—Fellowships and Training .

Activation Notices and Payback Agreements For the initial year of NRSA postdoctoral (F32) support, you must mail your activation notice and an original, signed payback agreement to: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, NIH 5601 Fishers Lane, MSC 9833 (Express Mail: Rockville, MD 20852) For general grants management questions about fellowships, contact Karmen Bisher .

For all other questions, contact the appropriate staff member below: Dr. Susana Mendez —Microbiology and infectious disease (non-AIDS) research Dr. Eric Refsland —AIDS-related research Dr. Timothy Gondre-Lewis —Basic immunology, allergy, transplant, autoimmunity, and immune-based disease research Dr. Susana Mendez —Microbiology and infectious disease (non-AIDS) research Dr. Eric Refsland —AIDS-related research Dr. Timothy Gondre-Lewis —Basic immunology, allergy, transplant, autoimmunity, and immune-based disease research Dr. Karobi Moitra —Office of Research Training and Special Programs Quick Facts on Fellowship Grants NRSA Fellowship for Students at Institutions with or Without NIH-Funded Institutional Predoctoral Dual-Degree Training Duration of up to 6 years, not renewable.

Refer to Salary Cap, Stipends, & Training Funds for stipend levels. Find details on tuition and fees, and institutional allowances for training-related expenses under What Do Training Funds Pay For? Full-time effort (12 person months a year) required.

Enrolled in a formally combined M. D. and Ph.

D. , D. V.

M. and Ph. D.

, D. D. S.

and Ph. D. , or Au.

D. and Ph. D.

program. Supervised by a sponsor for the research doctoral component. Shows evidence of high academic performance in the sciences and commitment to a career as an independent physician-scientist or other clinician-scientist.

Research training plan should facilitate the fellow’s transition to a residency program appropriate for his or her career goals, or to a postdoctoral program as appropriate for the particular clinical degree (e.g., D. D. S.

or D. M. D.)

A well-defined research project (typically hypothesis-driven) Background leading to and significance of the proposed research Research approach (design and methods) for achieving the Specific Aims, the rationale for the proposed approach, potential pitfalls, and expected/alternative outcomes of the proposed studies Plan for the responsible conduct of research Application must also include educational information, e.g., description of dual-degree program in which applicant is enrolled.

NRSA Individual Predoctoral Fellowship (F31) Duration of 3 years (for NIAID), not renewable. Refer to Salary Cap, Stipends, & Training Funds for stipend levels. Find details on tuition and fees, and institutional allowances for training-related expenses under What Do Training Funds Pay For?

Full-time effort (12 person months a year) required. At the dissertation research stage of training at the time of award. Enrolled in a Ph.

D. or equivalent research degree program, a formally combined M. D.

and Ph. D. program, or other combined professional/clinical and research doctoral program in the biomedical, behavioral, or clinical sciences.

Shows evidence of high academic performance in the sciences and commitment to a career as an independent research scientist. The research training plan should be individually tailored and well-integrated with the applicant's research project.

It should also describe the skills and techniques that the applicant intends to learn as well as any planned, non-research activities (e.g., those relating to professional development) during the award period. The applicant should provide a timeline for the proposed research training and related activities.

A well-defined research project (typically hypothesis-driven) Background leading to and significance of the proposed research Research approach (design and methods) for achieving the Specific Aims, the rationale for the proposed approach, potential pitfalls, and expected/alternative outcomes of the proposed studies Plan for the responsible conduct of research Application must also include educational information, e.g., description of dual-degree program in which applicant is enrolled.

NRSA Individual Postdoctoral Fellowship (F32) Duration of 3 years, not renewable. Refer to Salary Cap, Stipends, & Training Funds for stipend levels. Find details on tuition and fees, and institutional allowances for training-related expenses under What Do Training Funds Pay For?

Full-time effort (12 person months a year) required. Has doctoral degree (e.g., Ph. D.

, M. D. , D.

O. , D. C.

, D. D. S.

, D. V. M.)

from an accredited domestic or foreign institution. Shows evidence of high academic performance in the sciences and commitment to a career as an independent researcher. The research training plan should be individually tailored and well-integrated with the applicant's research project.

It should also describe the skills and techniques that the applicant intends to learn as well as any planned, non-research activities (e.g., those relating to professional development) during the award period. The applicant should provide a timeline for the proposed research training and related activities.

Training and Career Development Grant Programs Research Career Development (K) Awards For general grants management questions about fellowships, contact Karmen Bisher . For all other questions, contact the appropriate staff member above . Related Rules & Policies: Content last reviewed on March 6, 2026