UPDATE: The video from this webinar is now available.

We’re pleased to announce the reissuance of funding opportunity announcements (FOAs) for the Undergraduate Research Training Initiative for Student Enhancement (U-RISE) (PAR-21-146) and the Maximizing Access to Research Careers (MARC) (PAR-21-147) T34 programs. The FOAs continue the shared goal to develop a diverse pool of undergraduates who complete their baccalaureate degree, and transition into and complete biomedical, research-focused higher degree programs (e.g., Ph.D. or M.D./Ph.D.).

The first application due date for these FOAs is May 26, 2021, and the earliest start date for both programs is April 2022.

We’re pleased to announce our first cohort of Maximizing Opportunities for Scientific and Academic Independent Careers (MOSAIC) program scholars. Each scholar will receive up to 5 years of mentored career development and research support and become part of a cohort-based career development program to expand their professional networks and gain additional skills and mentoring through programs administered by MOSAIC UE5 awardees: the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, the American Society for Cell Biology, and the Association of American Medical Colleges.

UPDATE: The video and slides [PDF] from the MOSAIC webinar are now available.

Last summer, we shared with you our new Maximizing Opportunities for Scientific and Academic Independent Careers (MOSAIC) funding opportunity announcements (FOAs). MOSAIC, which NIGMS oversees, is part of NIH’s efforts to enhance diversity within the academic biomedical research workforce. It’s designed to facilitate the transition of promising postdoctoral researchers from diverse backgrounds into independent faculty careers at research-intensive institutions. The program has two components: a research education cooperative agreement (UE5) and a postdoctoral career transition award (K99/R00).

UPDATE: The video and slides from the PRAT webinar are now available.

We’re hosting a webinar for students and fellows interested in the PRAT Program for the October 2, 2020, receipt date:

Tuesday, July 14, 2:00-3:00 p.m. ET

PRAT is a competitive 3-year fellowship program that prepares trainees for leadership positions in biomedical careers. Training includes a mentored laboratory research experience and intensive career and leadership development activities. PRAT fellows conduct research in laboratories in the NIH Intramural Research Program (IRP) in basic biomedical research areas within the NIGMS mission. These areas include, but are not limited to, biological chemistry, biophysics, bioinformatics, cellular and molecular biology, computational biosciences, developmental biology, genetics, immunology, neuroscience, pharmacology, physiology, and technology development.

We’re pleased to announce that the NIGMS Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) Predoctoral Institutional Research Training Grant (T32) for the basic biomedical sciences has been reissued (PAR-20-213). This funding opportunity announcement (FOA) continues our efforts to ensure biomedical graduate research training keeps pace with the rapidly evolving biomedical research enterprise. The goal of the T32 program is to develop a diverse pool of scientists with the technical, operational, and professional skills needed to advance their chosen fields and transition into productive careers in the biomedical research workforce.

UPDATE: The webinar video and slides from the MOSAIC Webinar have been posted.

In March, we shared our plans to develop a new program as part of our efforts to enhance postdoctoral career transitions to promote faculty diversity in the biomedical research workforce. We’re pleased to announce that the Maximizing Opportunities for Scientific and Academic Independent Careers (MOSAIC) funding opportunity announcements have been published. MOSAIC is designed to facilitate the transition of promising postdoctoral researchers from diverse backgrounds, such as individuals from groups underrepresented in the biomedical research
workforce at the faculty level, into independent faculty careers at research-intensive institutions. The program has two components:

UPDATE: The slides [PDF, 1.04MB] and video from the PRAT Program Applicant Webinar have been posted.

We recently reissued the funding opportunity announcement (FOA) for the Postdoctoral Research Associate Training (PRAT) Program and will host a webinar for interested students and fellows:

Wednesday, June 19, 2:00-3:00 p.m. ET

NIGMS, along with 11 other NIH institutes and centers, is seeking Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) applications to develop methods that improve the reproducibility of human induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) derivation, growth, and differentiation (RFA-GM-19-001). Human iPSCs are mature cells that have been reprogrammed to an embryonic stem cell-like state and are able to differentiate into any cell type in the body. iPSCs are increasingly important research systems with a wide variety of applications, including studies of human development, tissue regeneration and repair, disease processes, and the development of new therapeutics. iPSCs and other regenerative technologies also have potential to transform clinical practice by creating living, functional tissues to repair or replace tissues or organs lost due to age, disease, damage, or congenital defects. Realizing the full potential of human iPSCs for both research and clinical practice has been limited by the significant variability in reprogramming efficiency, differentiation potential, and cell growth and stability. This funding opportunity announcement (FOA) will support SBIR projects to develop novel, reliable, and cost-effective methods to standardize and increase the utility and reproducibility of iPSCs at all stages, from their derivation to their research and clinical applications.

UPDATE: The MOSAIC Institutionally-Focused Research Education Cooperative Agreement to Promote Diversity (UE5) and Postdoctoral Career Transition Award to Promote Diversity (K99/R00) funding opportunity announcements are now available.

At the recent NIGMS Advisory Council meeting, the Division of Training, Workforce Development, and Diversity received approval to write two new funding opportunity announcements as part of our efforts to enhance postdoctoral career transitions to promote faculty diversity in the biomedical research workforce.

The Maximizing Opportunities for Scientific and Academic Independent Careers (MOSAIC) program is designed to facilitate the transition of talented postdoctoral researchers from diverse backgrounds into independent faculty careers in research-intensive institutions. The program has two components: an institutionally-focused research education cooperative agreement (UE5) and postdoctoral career transition award (K99/R00) to enhance diversity.

Continuing our longstanding commitment to train the next generation of biomedical scientists and support the careers of students and postdoctoral scientists from diverse backgrounds, for example groups underrepresented in biomedical research, we sought input from the community through a request for information (RFI) on strategies to enhance successful postdoctoral career transitions to promote faculty diversity, specifically in research-intensive institutions. The RFI was open May 24 to July 20, 2018, and received a total of 89 unique responses from stakeholders including postdoctoral scientists, faculty members, and professional societies.