Transition to Independent Environmental Health Research Career Award (K01)

Transition to Independent Environmental Health Research Career Award (K01) is sponsored by National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS). Provides three years of support, including pilot funding and salary support, for newly independent faculty pursuing research careers in environmental health sciences.

Expired PAR-21-172: Transition to Independent Environmental Health Research (TIEHR) Career Award (K01 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 Environmental Health Sciences ( NIEHS ) Funding Opportunity Title Transition to Independent Environmental Health Research (TIEHR) Career Award (K01 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) K01 Research Scientist Development Award - Research & Training Reissue of PAR-18-291 - Transition to Independent Environmental Health Research (TIEHR) Career Award (K01 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) 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 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-21-170 - Transition to Independent Environmental Health Research (TIEHR) Career Award (K01 Independent Basic Experimental Studies with Humans Required) PAR-21-171 - Transition to Independent Environmental Health Research (TIEHR) Career Award (K01 Clinical Trial Required) See Section III. 3. Additional Information on Eligibility .

Assistance Listing Number(s) Funding Opportunity Purpose The Transition to Independent Environmental Health (TIEHR) Career Award is a 3-year bridge scholar development program for newly independent faculty who intend to pursue research careers in environmental health sciences.

At the conclusion of the career development period the candidates are expected to demonstrate they can successfully compete for research funding in the environmental health sciences. This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is designed specifically for applicants proposing research that does not involve leading an independent clinical trial, a clinical trial feasibility study, or an ancillary study to a clinical trial.

Applicants to this FOA are permitted to propose a research experience in a clinical trial led by a mentor or co-mentor. Applicants proposing a clinical trial or an ancillary study to an ongoing clinical trial as lead investigator, should apply to the companion FOA PAR-21-171 .

Applicants proposing basic science experimental studies involving humans, referred to in NOT-OD-18-212 as “prospective basic science studies involving human participants”, should apply to the companion FOA PAR-21-170 ) 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. 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) 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 Transition to Independent Environmental Health Research (TIEHR) Career Award (K01) is targeted to investigators who are within the first three years of their first independent faculty appointment.

Candidates must name a mentor who is not the postdoctoral mentor and who has active NIEHS grant support or a substantial history of NIEHS funded research grant support. The role of the mentor for the TIEHR candidate is to provide appropriate guidance, advice and expertise to broaden the research skills of the candidate and assist in the formation of an advisory committee to the candidate and the candidate's research.

Research projects and career development activities proposed for this FOA are expected to contribute to the mission of the NIEHS, which is to discover how the environment affects people in order to promote healthier lives.

Candidates to the TIEHR program are expected to be drawn from a variety of scientific backgrounds, including basic, mechanistic, clinical, epidemiological, computational, engineering, and/or health risk communication research. Applications submitted to the NIEHS are characterized by a research focus on exposure-health related responses from environmental agents within the mission interest of the NIEHS.

Environmental agents which are considered of primary interest for NIEHS include: industrial chemicals or manufacturing byproducts, metals, pesticides, herbicides, air pollutants and other inhaled toxicants, particulates or fibers, fungal, and bacterial or biologically derived toxins.

NIEHS also supports research which is aimed at defining health effects of the exposome, or the totality of a person’s environmental exposure, and the study of the health effects of mixtures or co-exposures with agents generally outside of NIEHS mission responsibility, if the primary goal of the study is on an exposure within the NIEHS mission interest.

Applicants are strongly encouraged to contact NIEHS Scientific/Research staff prior to submission to determine if their project meets the goals of the TIEHR. Applications Not Responsive to this FOA The following types of studies are not responsive to this FOA.

Applications proposing such studies will be considered non-responsive and will not be reviewed and will be withdrawn: Studies primarily focused on agents that are considered outside the primary mission responsibility of the NIEHS including, but not limited to: alcohol, chemotherapeutic agents, radiation that is not a result of an ambient environmental exposure, smoking, except when considered as a secondary smoke exposure as a component in the indoor environment (particularly in children), drugs of abuse, pharmaceuticals, dietary nutrients, and infectious or parasitic agents.

Studies which do not focus directly on a human health or disease endpoint. Note: This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is designed specifically for applicants proposing research that does not involve leading an independent clinical trial, a clinical trial feasibility study, or an ancillary study to a clinical trial.

Applicants to this FOA are permitted to propose a research experience in a clinical trial led by a mentor or co-mentor. Applicants proposing a clinical trial or an ancillary study to an ongoing clinical trial as lead investigator, should apply to the companion FOA ( PAR-21-171 ).

Applicants proposing basic science experimental studies involving humans, referred to in NOT-OD-18-212 as “prospective basic science studies involving human participants", should apply to companion FOA, PAR-21-170.

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 ).

NIH not only supports trials of safety and efficacy, it also supports mechanistic exploratory studies that meet the definition of a clinical trial and are designed to explore or understand a biological or behavioral process, the pathophysiology of a disease, or the mechanism of action of an intervention.

These studies may focus on basic and/or translational discovery research in healthy human subjects and in human subjects who are affected by the pathophysiology of diseases and disorders. By addressing basic questions and concepts in biology, behavior, and pathophysiology, these studies may provide insight into understanding human diseases and disorders along with potential treatments or preventive strategies.

NIH also supports biomarker studies that meet the definition of a clinical trial and that may provide information about physiological function, target engagement of novel therapeutics, and/or the impact of therapeutics on treatment response.

NIH thus supports studies that meet the definition of clinical trials (as noted above) but do not seek to establish safety, clinical efficacy, effectiveness, clinical management, and/or implementation of preventive, therapeutic, and services interventions. 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 3 years.

Other Award Budget Information NIEHS will contribute up to $75,000 per year toward the salary of the career award recipient. Further guidance on budgeting for career development salaries is provided in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide. See also NOT-OD-17-094 The total NIH contribution to salary 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 $50,000 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. Salary for mentors, secretarial and administrative assistants, etc. is not allowed.

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) 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 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.

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). Candidates must be within 3 years of their appointment to their first independent faculty position at the time of submission (receipt date) of the application.

Criteria to address in determining whether the position is considered independent are listed below. Candidates whose position is not tenure track must demonstrate institutional commitment and include documentation from the institution that the candidate has independent laboratory and/or other space, as further described in the Institutional Support section below.

Criteria for independent faculty positions generally include, but are not limited to, that the position: 1) qualifies the candidate to hire postdoctoral fellows and be the responsible supervisor of graduate students; 2) allows the candidate to attend and participate in faculty meetings; 3) allows the candidate to apply for independent research funding as the principal investigator of an NIH R01 or equivalent research grant; and 4) is not contingent on the award of this grant application.

Postdoctoral appointments and other appointments such as research assistant or instructor are generally not eligible. Applications from newly appointed faculty who have received start-up packages from their institution, which includes institutional salary support, are eligible and encouraged to apply.

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), 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 Environmental Health Sciences (i.e., active NIEHS grant support or a substantial history of NIEHS R01, P50 or P01 grant support) and be committed both to the career development of the candidate and to the direct supervision of the candidate’s research. The candidate's previous postdoctoral mentor may not be named as the mentor for the candidate on the TIEHR award.

The mentor may be at the same or different institution than the candidate. Where feasible, women, individuals from diverse racial and ethnic groups, and individuals with disabilities should be involved as mentors to serve as role models. The mentor, or a member of the team of mentors, should have a successful track record of mentoring.

Candidates are encouraged to identify more than one mentor, i.e., a team of mentors, 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 principal mentor who will coordinate the candidate’s career development experience.

The candidate must work with the mentor(s) in preparing the TIEHR application and the subsequent R01 application.

The principal mentor should also agree to: (1) assist in the establishment of an advisory committee with appropriate research expertise for the candidate; (2) attend at least two meetings of the advisory committee, including one to provide feedback on an R01 draft of a grant submission; and (3) sponsor the candidate at meetings largely attended by other NIEHS grantees.

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 in biomedical, behavioral, or clinical research. Section IV. Application and Submission Information 1.

Requesting an Application Package Buttons to access the online ASSIST system or to download application forms are available in Part 1 of this FOA. See your administrative office for instructions if you plan to use an institutional system-to-system solution. 2.

Content and Form of Application Submission It is critical that applicants follow the instructions in the Career Development (K) Instructions in the SF424 (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 may be delayed or not accepted for review. For information on Application Submission and Receipt, visit Frequently Asked Questions – Application Guide, Electronic Submission of Grant Applications . All page limitations described in the SF424 Application Guide and the Table of Page Limits must be followed.

Instructions for Application Submission Note: Effective for due dates on or after January 25, 2023, the Data Management and Sharing (DMS) Plan will be attached in the Other Plan(s) attachment in FORMS-H and subsequent application forms packages.

For due dates on or before January 24, 2023, the Data Sharing Plan and Genomic Data Sharing Plan GDS) will continue to be attached in the Resource Sharing Plan attachment in FORMS-G application forms packages. The following section supplements the instructions found in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide and should be used for preparing an application to this FOA. All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed.

SF424(R&R) Project/Performance Site Locations All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed. Other Project Information All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed. Include a description of your current research, the research you propose during three year TIEHR career development award, and a summary of the proposed career development activities.

SF424(R&R) Senior/Key Person Profile Expanded All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed. All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed. PHS 398 Cover Page Supplement All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed.

PHS 398 Career Development Award Supplemental Form Note: Effective for due dates on or after January 25, 2023, the Data Management and Sharing Plan will be attached in the Other Plan(s) attachment in FORMS-H and subsequent application forms packages.

For due dates on or before January 24, 2023, the Data Sharing Plan and Genomic Data Sharing Plan GDS) will continue to be attached in the Resource Sharing Plan attachment in FORMS-G application forms packages. All applicants planning research (funded or conducted in whole or in part by NIH) that results in the generation of scientific data are required to comply with the instructions for the Data Management and Sharing Plan.

All applications, regardless of the amount of direct costs requested for any one year, must address a Data Management and Sharing Plan.

The PHS 398 Career Development Award Supplemental Form is comprised of the following sections: Other Candidate Information Mentor, Co-Mentor, Consultant, Collaborators Environment & Institutional Commitment to the Candidate Other Research Plan Sections All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed.

All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed, with the following additional instructions: Candidate Information and Goals for Career Development Describe the candidate's commitment to a health-related research career. Describe all the candidate's professional responsibilities in the recipient institution and elsewhere and describe their relationship to the proposed activities on the career award.

Describe prior training and how it relates to the objectives and long-term career plans of the candidate. Describe the candidate's research efforts to this point in his/her research career, including any publications, prior research interests and experience. Provide evidence of the candidate's potential to develop into an independent investigator.

Career Goals and Objectives​ Describe a systematic plan: (1) that shows a logical progression from prior research and training experiences to the research and career development experiences that will occur during the career award period and then to independent investigator status; and (2) that justifies the need for further career development to become an independent investigator.

Candidate’s Plan for Career Development/Training Activities During Award Period The candidate and the mentor(s) are jointly responsible for the preparation of the career development plan. A career development timeline is often helpful. The didactic (if any) and the research aspects of the plan must be designed to develop the necessary knowledge and research skills in scientific areas relevant to the candidate's career goals.

Describe the professional responsibilities/activities including other research projects beyond the minimum required 9 person-months (75% full-time professional effort) commitment to the career award. Explain how these responsibilities/activities will help ensure career progression to achieve independence as an investigator.

All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed, with the following additional instructions: A sound research project that is consistent with the candidate’s level of research development and objectives of his/her career development plan must be provided.

The research description should demonstrate the quality of the candidate’s research thus far and also the novelty, significance, creativity and approach, as well as the ability of the candidate to carry out the research. The application must also describe the relationship between the mentor’s research and the candidate’s proposed research plan.

If the candidate is at the same institution as the former postdoctoral or other research mentor, the application must also describe the relationship between the former mentor's research and the candidate’s proposed research plan. Independence must be demonstrated, and the proposed mentor should be scientifically independent of the previous mentor.

The application should describe how the research plan carried out during the 3-year transition phase will be used to develop a research grant submission. It is expected that an R01 research grant submission will be an outcome of the career development plan in the third year.

If the applicant is proposing to gain experience in a clinical trial, ancillary study to a clinical trial or a clinical trial feasibility study as part of his or her research career development, describe the relationship of the proposed research project to the clinical trial.

Training in the Responsible Conduct of Research All applications must include a plan to fulfill NIH requirements for instruction in the Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR). See SF424 (R&R) Application Guide for instructions.

Mentor, Co-Mentor, Consultant, Collaborators Section All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed, with the following additional instructions: Plans and Statements of Mentor and Co-mentor(s) The candidate must name a primary mentor who, together with the candidate, is responsible for the planning, directing, monitoring, and executing the proposed program.

The candidate may also nominate co-mentors as appropriate to the goals of the program. The mentor should have sufficient independent research support to cover the costs of the proposed research project in excess of the allowable costs of this award.

Include a statement that the candidate will commit at least 9 person-months (75% of full-time professional effort) to the career development program and related career development activities.

The application must include a statement from the mentor providing: 1) information on his/her research qualifications and previous experience as a research supervisor; 2) a plan that describes the nature of the supervision and mentoring that will occur during the proposed award period; 3) a plan for career progression for the candidate to move from the mentored stage of his/her career to independent research investigator status during the project period of the award; and 4) a plan for monitoring the candidate’s research, publications, and progression towards independence.

Similar information must be provided by any co-mentor. If more than one co-mentor is proposed, the respective areas of expertise and responsibility of each should be described. Co-mentors should clearly describe how they will coordinate the mentoring of the candidate.

If any co-mentor is not located at the sponsoring institution, a statement should be provided describing the mechanism(s) and frequency of communication with the candidate, including the frequency of face-to-face meetings. The mentor must agree to provide annual evaluations of the candidate’s progress as required in the annual progress report.

The research expertise to be sought in the Advisory Committee should be described, but the members should not be named in the application. The names should be submitted as part of the just in time information. Advisory Committee members may be established faculty at either the candidate’s institution or at another institution.

Members should be chosen for their expertise in the research project proposed by the candidate. This Advisory Committee should meet formally 6 months after the issuance of the award to assess progress, and 18 months after the award to provide