We are pleased to announce the Science of Science Policy Approach to Analyzing and Innovating the Biomedical Research Enterprise (SCISIPBIO program, a joint initiative between NIGMS and the Science of Science and Innovation Policy (SciSIP) program in the Directorate for Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences at the National Science Foundation (NSF). The longstanding SciSIP program funds research designed to advance the scientific basis of science and innovation policy and is a leader in this field.

UPDATE: The slides [PDF, 522KB] from the NIGMS G-RISE Webinar have been posted.

Are you preparing an institutional Graduate Research Training Initiative for Student Enhancement (G-RISE) (T32) grant application? If so, please join us for a webinar about the program and the opportunity to ask questions:

Tuesday, March 26, 1:30-3:00 p.m. ET

During the webinar, we'll provide a broad overview of the program and share our expectations of applications and the required data tables for the upcoming May 21 receipt date.

Feel free to send your questions in advance to us (Luis Cubano or Anissa Brown) or post them live in the chat box during the event.

To access the webinar, visit the WebEx Meeting page (link no longer available) and enter the meeting number 624 352 823 and the password GRISET32. If you’re unable to attend online, you can join by phone by calling 1-650-479-3208 from anywhere in the United States or Canada and entering the meeting number above.

NIGMS Staff Participating in the March 26 Webinar:

Anissa Brown, G-RISE Program Director
Luis Cubano, G-RISE Program Director
Justin Rosenzweig, Grants Management Specialist
Office of Scientific Review Staff

We look forward to talking to you about the G-RISE program. Slides will be posted on the RISE website following the event.

UPDATE: The slides and video from the NIGMS Institutional Predoctoral Training Grant Program Webinar have been posted.

If you’re preparing an application for the NIGMS Institutional Predoctoral Training Grant (T32) program in either the Basic Biomedical Sciences (PA-17-341) or the Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP) (PAR-19-036) for the May 25 receipt date, don’t miss our upcoming webinar:

Monday, March 18, 1:00-2:30 p.m. ET

During the webinar, we’ll provide an overview of our expectations for NIGMS-funded training grant applications, share our observations from the first round of review of new T32 applications in basic biomedical sciences, and answer any questions you may have. You can send questions before the webinar or post them in the chat box during the event.

To join the webinar, visit the WebEx Meeting page (link no longer available) and enter the meeting number 626 141 685 and the password vPPwB3ZT. If you’re unable to attend online, you can join by phone by calling 1-650-479-3208 from anywhere in the United States or Canada and entering the meeting number above.

NIGMS Staff Participating in the March 18 Webinar:

Jon Lorsch, Director
Alison Gammie, Director, Division of Training, Workforce Development, and Diversity
Shiva Singh, Chief, Undergraduate and Predoctoral Training Branch
Stephanie Constant, Chief, Office of Scientific Review

In addition, other NIGMS staff will be available to answer programmatic, review, and grants management questions.

We look forward to talking to you about the NIGMS-sponsored predoctoral T32 training programs. Slides and videos will be posted on the Predoctoral Training Grant website following the event.

To continue our efforts to catalyze the modernization of biomedical graduate education, we invite eligible NIGMS-funded T32 predoctoral training programs to submit administrative supplement requests (NOT-GM-19-015) to develop new curricular and training activities that enhance the program’s ability to: 1) provide graduate trainees with a strong foundation in research design and methods in areas related to conducting rigorous and transparent research to enhance reproducibility; 2) prepare students for diverse careers in the biomedical research workforce; 3) develop the knowledge and skills of trainees to enhance laboratory safety; and 4) develop the technical, operational, and professional skills of predoctoral biomedical researchers.

UPDATE: Consult the MIRA webpage or your program officer for the current notices of funding opportunities.

Since supplemental grant funding comes in a variety of flavors, with different purposes, it’s not surprising that there’s confusion about which kinds of supplements MIRA grantees may apply for and which they may not. Here’s a quick run-down.

In May, we shared with you our plans to reorganize the undergraduate and graduate programs in the Division of Training, Workforce Development, and Diversity. Toward that end, we are pleased to announce two new graduate funding opportunities aimed at developing and implementing effective, evidence-based approaches to biomedical training and mentoring. The goal of these funding announcements is to enhance diversity in the biomedical research workforce and to encourage applications from training programs that:

Modern biomedical research is becoming increasingly quantitative and reliant on computational methods, with growing use of large and complex datasets to address biomedical research questions and advance human health. To help address the need for biomedical researchers with cutting-edge computational and quantitative skills, we have updated the focus areas of our Predoctoral T32 Training Program in Computational Biology, Bioinformatics, and Biomedical Data Science (formerly called Bioinformatics and Computational Biology). In doing this, we aim to better integrate training in data-science approaches throughout the curriculum and during the mentored research period. We are now placing a strong emphasis on programs that:

We’ve just released a new funding opportunity announcement (FOA) for the Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP). Through this FOA, we intend to encourage changes in integrated medical and graduate research training to keep pace with the rapid evolution of a research environment that is increasingly complex, interdisciplinary, quantitative, and collaborative.

Are you applying for the NIGMS Predoctoral Institutional Research Training Grant (T32) - PAR-17-341? If so, it's important you note revisions to our FOA instructions that clarify application requirements. We have also added a new requirement concerning institutional responsibilities related to harassment. We encourage you to read the full NIH Guide notice, published on August 23, 2018. Key points include:

UPDATE: The Maximizing Access to Research Careers (MARC), Undergraduate Research Training Initiative for Student Enhancement (U-RISE), Initiative for Maximizing Student Development (IMSD), Graduate Research Training Initiative for Student Enhancement (G-RISE), Bridges to the Baccalaureate, and Bridges to the Doctorate funding opportunity announcements are now available. NIGMS has a longstanding commitment to developing a diverse pool of biomedical scientists through a variety of institutional training and student development programs. Based on stakeholders’ feedback through Requests for Information (NOT-GM-15-108; NOT-GM-17-017), as well as extensive analyses and discussions with NIH staff and the community, we intend to make adjustments to our programs designed to enhance the diversity in the biomedical research workforce. The modifications, which the NIGMS Council recently approved, are designed to: 1) provide equity of trainee support across programs; 2) prevent programmatic overlap; 3) align the funding strategies with the programmatic goals; 4) tailor expectation of outcomes, support mechanisms, and review considerations according to the institution’s level of research activity; and 5) strengthen our ability to evaluate the success of the programs. The changes, described in more detail in the recent Videocast of the Council Open Session, will impact the Initiative for Maximizing Student Development (IMSD), the Research Initiative for Scientific Enhancement (RISE) program, and the Maximizing Access to Research Careers - Undergraduate Student Training in Academic Research (MARC U-STAR) programs. We don’t anticipate any immediate changes to our Postbaccalaureate Research Education Program (PREP). Possible adjustments to the Bridges to the Baccalaureate and Bridges to the Doctorate programs are currently under discussion.