If your institution does not have an NIGMS-supported dual degree clinician scientists funded training program, you are to submit an MSTP application under PAR-24-128 funding opportunity.

It is the program's responsibility to have a combined, integrated curriculum that provides an efficient and feasible course of study in a range of scholarly areas while preserving the quality of the graduate and clinical education. Programs may elect a broad range of graduate options, including basic biomedical medical disciples, social and behavioral sciences relevant to public health, health care delivery and economics, ethics, and engineering.

Programs should aim to have all students finish their doctoral work prior to entry into the clerkships.

It is important that programs select trainees who are firmly committed to using their dual degrees and for programs to provide a strong program identity to all trainees, accompanied by career discussions throughout the entire training period.

If at any time during a trainee's upcoming appointment, the period of aggregate NRSA predoctoral support will exceed 60 months (5 years), a Statement of Appointment [PDF] form along with a waiver request must be submitted through the business official to the grants management official for the award.

For a new application, we do not expect the training program to already be in place. Instead, the reviewers are oriented to look for the proposed plan and associated infrastructure and support system (see the notice of funding opportunity for details) for the training program.

A training program, regardless of whether it is embedded or not in the overall graduate program, is expected to act as a driver for innovation in graduate education. We expect the training grant dollars not to be used simply as a ‘funding mechanism’. For existing programs, the application should describe how the training program has transformed the graduate program in the past and going forward how it’s likely to continue doing that at the institution. The underlying intent is continued innovation, although we realize that sometimes this may amount to only incremental changes, such as in some long-standing programs.

NIGMS expects the activities sponsored by the training grant to be open to all the students in the graduate program. We do not support the notion of a ‘two-tier' or 'class’ of students (appointed to training vs. those not appointed on the training grant).

Applicant organizations may submit more than one application, provided that each application is distinct with respect to the scientific area of research training. The proposed training program must align with one of the Predoctoral Training Grant Program Areas. We encourage potential applicants to reach out to NIGMS T32 Program Officials before submitting.

All mentors should receive training. Refresher training is recommended on a regular basis. Regarding the approach and frequency of mentor training, we believe that it is context-based and leave it to the individual institution to propose a plan that works best for that institution.

There is no limit. NIGMS predoctoral T32 programs are intended to enhance early-phase (that is, usually year 1 and 2), interdisciplinary training for future biomedical scientists. When requesting trainees, consider how your T32 would nominate students from among the accepted biomedical graduate students derived from a common, "umbrella" program, and/or direct admission to various Ph.D. programs or cluster areas. Consider how many training grant eligible students work with program PIs or complete relevant coursework activities to be appropriate for your training program. Also consider whether other NIGMS training programs at your institution tap into the same pool of students. You must have enough faculty research mentors, resources, and outstanding candidates to justify your request. It's also important to note that the T32 training grants do not support all the potential candidates that are associated with the overall training program.

In summary, the request for the number of slots must reflect the program's pool of qualified applicants, the proven ability of the program to effectively mentor that number of trainees, and the number of years (i.e., one or two years) students will be funded.

Students on NIGMS-funded training grants are typically supported for 1-2 years of graduate studies in Ph.D. programs or for 2-4 years in dual-degree programs. Use of training grant support during the first two years of graduate research training, is strongly encouraged to provide maximum flexibility in the selection of courses, rotations, research fields, and mentors. Use of training grant support in year 3, if proposed, should be strongly justified.

Training Grant Eligible students are individuals who have a baccalaureate degree and are enrolled in a doctoral program leading to either a Ph.D., or a dual-degree program, such as M.D./Ph.D., D.O./Ph.D., D.V.M./Ph.D., D.D.S./Ph.D., Pharm.D./Ph.D., etc.).

The proposed trainee must be a citizen or a noncitizen national of the United States or have been lawfully admitted for permanent residence at the time of appointment. Noncitizen nationals are individuals who, although not citizens of the United States, owe permanent allegiance to the United States. They generally are people born in outlying possessions of the United States (e.g., American Samoa and Swains Island). Individuals who have been lawfully admitted for permanent residence must have a currently valid Permanent Resident Card (USCIS Form I-551) or other legal verification of such status. For example, if an individual has the proper validation on his/her passport, a notarized photocopy of the passport could suffice. Because there is a 6-month limitation on this validation, it is the recipient's responsibility to follow up and ensure that the individual received the I-551 prior to the 6-month expiration date.

It is possible, but there are a few things to consider. Applicants are strongly encouraged to describe any proposed internships, including research training experiences away from the parent organization, that are part of the training program with sufficient detail in the grant application. If this is not included in the grant application, NIH prior written approval is required prior to the internship. To complete a break in training grant support (in this case for a paid internship), submit a Termination Notice via X-Train. Upon resumption of Kirschstein-NRSA support, document the reappointment on another Statement of Appointment form submitted via X-Train.

NIGMS standard receipt dates for predoctoral T32s are January 25, May 25, and September 25. Since NIGMS funds predoctoral T32s once a year on July 1 and makes funding decisions in March-April of each year, applicants are strongly advised not to wait until the September receipt date for funding the following July. To read more, see http://www.nigms.nih.gov/Training/InstPredoc/pages/PredocTrainingDeadlines.aspx.

IACUC and IRB approvals for the full training grant application are not required. In many instances, trainees supported by institutional training grants will be participating in research supported by research project grants for which the IACUC and/or IRB or a determination of exemption exists. Existing IACUC/IRB approval is sufficient for trainees, provided that the IACUC/IRB determines the research would not be substantially modified by the participation of a trainee. Although IRB or IACUC approval dates will not be required in the application, the human subjects or vertebrate animal research projects that involve trainees must have IRB or IACUC approval. Ensuring compliance with this requirement is the responsibility of the awardee institutions. ICs may request that awardees provide the IRB or IACUC approval documentation for specific projects with trainees/ See application instructions for complete details.

The recipient institution must ensure that trainees have received the proper training/education in human subjects and vertebrate animals and to ensure they are properly supervised when working with human subjects or live vertebrate animals.

Generally, no. T32s do not have Human Subjects or Vertebrate Animals unless the training program itself requires the trainees to take a workshop or course that will involve human subjects or vertebrate animals.

No. Training grants prepare individuals for careers in the biomedical research workforce by developing and implementing evidence-informed educational practices including didactic, research, mentoring, and career development elements. While funded programs are expected to conduct ongoing program evaluations and assessments to monitor the effectiveness of the training and mentoring activities, training grants funds are not intended to support Human Subjects Research (see additional information on Human Subjects Research from NIH).

If an investigator wishes to conduct Human Subjects Research involving the trainees supported by the training program as research study participants, they must:

• Follow appropriate institutional policies (e.g., obtaining IRB approvals, consenting study participants), and
• Support this research using funds other than those provided by the training grant. Investigators interested in conducting hypothesis-driven research to test biomedical training, mentoring and networking interventions for efficacy and replicability across career stages and institution types are encouraged to apply for the Research on Interventions that Promote the Careers of Individuals in the Biomedical Research Enterprise (R01/R35) Program.

Applicants are encouraged to reach out to Scientific/Research Contact listed in the NOFO if there are any questions.

No. NIGMS does not require that applicants for T32 training grants with direct costs over$500,000 obtain prior approval from NIGMS staff before submitting their T32 application or include a cover letter with their application indicating prior staff approval.

The costs per trainee are not escalated for inflation in the future years.

Tuition, fees and health insurance (self-only or family) are allowable trainee costs only if such charges are applied consistently to all people in a similar training status at the organization, without regard to their source of support. Health insurance can include coverage for costs such as vision and/or dental care if consistent with organizational policy. Health insurance is awarded as part of the Training Related Expenses category.

While NIGMS tries to support all programs at or near the review panel or Council recommended slot level, there are no guarantees. The slot number depends on the NIGMS training budget and availability of slots at the time of award. ?The number of slots might stay the same as recommended, might be less or might increase depending on the NIGMS training budget and availability of slots. Never assume your program slots, for competing or noncompeting years, until the Notice of Grant Award is issued.

Applications are usually reviewed by one of two standing scientific review committees organized by the NIGMS Office of Scientific Review. Infrequently a special emphasis panel may be convened instead. All viewers are heavily involved in different aspects of graduate education, and many are themselves directors of training grant programs. View more information on the training grant review process, including current review committee rosters at NIGMS Scientific Review Branch.

The request for the number of slots must reflect the program's pool of qualified applicants, the proven ability of the program to effectively mentor that number of trainees, and the number of years (i.e., one or two years) students will be funded.

Programs that fund students for two years will typically start with half the number of slots for the first year, and then the full number for subsequent years (for example 3 slots in year 1, and 6 slots in years 2-5), while programs that only fund one year will have the same number for all 5 years.

All requests for slots must be justified in the application.

Responsible conduct of research focuses on training in the ethics involved in research, and there is guidance listed in NOT-OD-10-019 and NOT-OD-22-055. Methods for enhancing reproducibility focuses more on ensuring that students receive training in the methods of doing rigorous science such as solid experimental design, minimizing bias, consideration of relevant biological variables, etc. We expect that instructions in both areas be infused throughout your training program.

Some programs recruit their own students and have them rotate with approved faculty (who are current or potential program mentors). There is an expectation that training programs mentor their trainees on rotation choices. There is also an expectation for a mechanism to admit appropriate faculty to your program.

The Statement of Appointment (Form PHS 2271) should be submitted at the time of the trainee's appointment and is required for new appointments and re-appointments. Grantees must submit the PHS2271 data electronically using the xTrain system. The Termination Notice (Form PHS 416-7) (also submitted via xTrain), is due within 30 days of the end of training grant support and is required for all students terminating from a training grant. The necessary forms can be found at http://grants1.nih.gov/grants/forms.htm#training. More information is available at xTrain (eRA Commons).

Generally, trainees under Kirschstein-NRSA institutional research training grants are appointed for fulltime 12-month continuous periods. No trainee may be appointed under a regular Kirschstein-NRSA institutional research training grant for less than 9 months except with prior written approval of the NIH awarding IC, and then usually only to complete an ongoing program of training. An initial appointment of less than 9 months may be allowed provided an assurance is included that the individual will be immediately reappointed in the subsequent year so that the cumulative continuous training period is at least 9 months.

No. Since trainees may be appointed at any time during the 12-month budget period, appointments will often cross over into the next budget period. Since a trainee's full 12-months of stipend and tuition is charged to the budget year in which the appointment was made, this does not impact awarded slots in the following budget year.

This is somewhat unusual, but the individual could be trained on the predoctoral grant and compensated only at the predoctoral level. The grantee institution, however, could supplement the trainee at the postdoctoral level but cannot use training grant or other federal funds for this supplementation.

No. Policy requires that NRSA trainees must have a currently valid Alien Registration Card (I-551A) and provide a notarized statement verifying the possession of permanent residency documentation with the Statement of Appointment Form (2271) at the time of award. There is a distinction between an asylee and a permanent resident. An asylee is not considered a permanent resident.

No. No-cost extensions are granted to allow continuation of trainees currently appointed.

No. Any stipend increases are effective only for T32 program awards made with funds from the fiscal year in which the stipend increase was effective. No retroactive adjustments or supplementation of stipends or other budgetary categories with Kirschstein-NRSA funds for an award made prior to October are permitted. However, an institution may use other non-Federal funds to supplement stipends for existing trainees as long as there is no additional obligation for the trainee and the institution has policies in place consistently applied to all individuals in similar training status regardless of the source of funds.

Funds may be re-budgeted only as follows (see table for quick summary):

• Trainee Costs: For rebudgeting purposes, trainee costs include funds awarded in the stipends and tuition/fees budget categories. These costs may not be used for other purposes except under unusual circumstances and then only with the prior approval of the NIH awarding IC. Unless otherwise restricted by the terms and conditions of the grant award, rebudgeting into or within the stipends and tuition/fees is allowable without prior approval.
• Trainee Travel: Rebudgeting of funds awarded in a lump sum for trainee travel does not require NIH awarding IC prior approval.
• The table below summarizes when costs can be rebudgeted without NIH prior approval.

Yes, training-related funds may be used to defray such costs as staff salaries when they are directly related to the training program.

Trainee travel, including attendance at scientific meetings (both in the U.S. and abroad) that the institution determines to be necessary to the individual's research training, is an allowable trainee expense. Justification for the travel is key.

Yes. Under the Training Related Expenses category of a training grant, funds are provided to defray such training costs as staff travel and other expenses directly related to the training program. If a program director is representing more than one program, the grantee institution should allocate the costs among all the programs.

No. NIGMS does not permit automatic carryover from one budget period to the next. These funds are used by the Institute to offset future year commitments. This helps us to utilize the training budget available in the most judicious manner possible.

No. However, since trainees may be appointed at any time during the 12-month budget period, you could appoint all of your trainees to start in September, or whatever date coincides with your training schedule for a full twelve-month appointment.

A countersigned letter requesting approval of an acting PD should be submitted to NIGMS. The letter should describe plans for the conduct of the program during the original PD's absence and indicate that the acting PD will have signature authority on trainee forms. A copy of the acting PD's biosketch should be included. NIGMS will review the request and provide a written decision to the grantee.

Electronic submission of the FFR through the eRA Commons is required from the grantee for each budget period no later than 90 days after the end of the calendar quarter in which the budget period ended. The NIH Commons is available at https://public.era.nih.gov/commons. Additional information on electronic submission of FFRs is available at the Commons Web page, or by contacting the eRA Service DeskToll-free: 1-866-504-9552; Tel: 301-402-7469; Hours: Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. ET (closed on federal holidays). If you need immediate help (i.e., you are within 2 days of a deadline or in the event of a security emergency), call the ServiceDesk rather than submitting a web ticket. Note that the Service Desk's busiest hours are 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. ET. https://era.nih.gov.

These monies should be reflected as an unliquidated obligation since these are bona fide expenses charged/incurred to the Stipend and Tuition categories but have not yet been paid. As a reminder, if the FFR report covers the final budget period of the project period, it must have no unliquidated obligations and must indicate the exact balance of unobligated funds.

The forms are critical to establishing the payment of stipends and other costs and determining possible payback service. Failure to submit the required forms in a timely manner will result in an expenditure disallowance or a delay in any continuation funding.

For the basic biomedical program described in PAR-23-228 and the Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP) described in PAR-24-128, there are no required appendices. Applicants should consult the SF424 for allowable appendices (for example, blank survey instruments, rubrics, or forms).

For the basic biomedical program described in PAR-23-228 the Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP) described in PAR-24-128, there is one required attachment and two optional attachments.

• Baseline Data on the Trainee Pool (required, see Suggested Format Tables)
• Training Activities (optional, 10-page maximum).
• Advisory Committee (optional, however list names if one exists, 1 pg.)
• Note: for due dates on or after January 25, 2025, the Recruitment Plan to Enhance Diversity is included as an attachment in the Training Program Section of the application. See NOT-GM-24-053 for more information

Annual RPPRs are due on November 15. This differs from other NIH ICs, therefore we include a reminder in the Terms and Conditions section of the training grant Notice of Award.

If a competitive renewal (Type2) application has been submitted, the recipient must submit an Interim-RPPR 120 days from the project period end date.

In the event the Type 2 is funded, NIH will treat the Interim-RPPR as the annual performance report for the final year of the previous competitive segment. If the Type 2 is not funded, the Interim-RPPR will be treated as the Final RPPR.

Final RPPR is required for any grant that is terminated and is due within 120 calendar days of the end of the project period.

The progress report should cover the period from the last Notice of Grant Award to the time of writing/submitting the report. Technically, since NIGMS requests the progress reports for T32s on November 15, this will cover the period from July 1 of that year to November 15. However, we strongly suggest that you include information (on trainees, program activities, and publications, etc.) from the date of the previous progress report. This ensures that your RPPR will cover progress over a whole year (except for the first RPPR, which covers only July 1 to Nov 15)?.

Evaluation data are for the use of the PI and the institutional team to assesses the admissions and recruitment process, the pool, and the appropriate number of training positions to be awarded. Additionally, there is the expectation that the program would be responsive to the timely feedback from trainees about, but not limited to:

• is the overall program effective
• is the program meeting its training mission and objectives
• is the scientific research climate is safe ?and supportive of trainee development

"Trainee" may refer to both predoctoral and postdoctoral individuals, regardless of their source of support. For example, Table 2 should include information about ALL previous trainees of the participating faculty members over the previous 10 years. Trainee also refers more specifically to individuals appointed to a particular training program. It is important to distinguish trainees currently or previously appointed to the grant (i.e., as used in Part I of Tables 8A, 8B, 8C) from those "trainees clearly associated with the training program" (i.e., as used in Part II of Tables 8A, 8B, 8C). "Clearly associated" students and postdocs are those with a training experience identical to those appointed to this grant, but who are supported by other NIH or HHS awards (e.g., fellowships or research grants).

Training grant eligible (TGE) trainees refers only to U.S citizens, non-citizen nationals, and permanent residents eligible for Kirschstein-NRSA support. More restrictive eligibility requirements may be applied by the described training program (e.g., based on GPA); however, the data must be reported using the NRSA definition.

They would be listed in Table 8A with the degree that has been completed, if applicable, and with the notation they are still in training.

Research-related activities are defined as any activity which involves the design of experiments, development of protocols, collection and interpretation of data, review, or administration of original research, providing scientific direction, guidance to research, and analytic or other technical activities conducted in direct support of research. They may also qualify if a doctorate degree or relevant research experience is a prerequisite for the activity. Such activity may take place in agencies such as NIH, the Food and Drug Administration, or the National Science Foundation, or in a commercial setting including biotechnology or pharmaceutical companies. Get more details.

Table 8A Parts I, and III are now required for RPPRs.

List each department participating in the T32 program. If the graduate program is comprised of six departments but only four participate in the T32, then just list those four. If all the departments in the graduate program participate in the T32 program, then all of them need to be listed.

No.?
 

No, all federal training grants should be included (not just NIH). This includes any T34s since it is an institutional training program grant.

Yes, for participating faculty members, plus active and current support for the PI, MPI, and Project Lead.

No. Awards in no-cost extension status should be excluded from this table.

No, it is not a weighted average. The average reported here should be the sum of the current year direct costs divided by the total number of participating faculty.

If a faculty member is one of the PIs of a multi-PI award, he or she can be listed but otherwise the answer is no.

All funds available to the faculty member, plus that of the PI, MPI and Project Lead should be listed on the table, including university funds (like start-up funds), and foundation, and other discretionary funds. Do not include grant applications pending award or review.

Table 5A can only list Training Grant Eligible (TGE) students.

PMCIDs do not have to be included in Table 5 for competing renewal applications.

If an award is to be made, the PI will submit their My NCBI report for their student publications. See NIH NOT OD-16-004—requirement to report PMC information on publications that arose from work conducted by the trainee while supported by the training grant will be moved to the Just-in-Time process.

Publication entries are now organized by participating faculty member. There are occasions when a former faculty member is no longer a participating faculty member of a training program (e.g., left university, withdrew from the program), but a trainee of that faculty mentor is still in the program.

List the publication. Indicate former faculty after the faculty member's name in the second column.

Publications by a trainee are now associated with their specific faculty mentor. For new applications, for each participating faculty—publications for TGE students eligible for the new T32 past 10 years and all current trainees.

Yes, these may be cited in the application. Please see the guidance on definitions, citations, and selection of interim research product repositories (NOT-OD-17-050).

For their first 2 years, trainees could be considered a "new entrant."

For new applications: Include all participating faculty and their current predoctoral trainees who would have been eligible for appointment to this training grant as well as all of their eligible predoctoral trainees for the last 10 years.

For renewal applications: Include all current trainees and all those who were ever appointed to the grant over the last 10 years. This should include those in their "publishing years."

Table 6A is not required for NIGMS Predoctoral Training Grant applications. Applicants must not include it.

In order to avoid the inclusion of Table 6 in a training data table set generated via xTRACT, applicants should omit the "Start year of the most recently completed academic year" when prompted in the Applicants/Entrants section. The resulting PDF will then exclude Table 6A.

For new applications, Table 8 Part II should include the students graduating from your institution over the last 5 years that could have been part of the proposed program had it been in place. Include only TGE students and students in participating mentors' laboratories in the proposed training program.

For existing programs that are coming in as new because of the NIGMS-specific NOFO, applicants can either include TGE students who have graduated from their Ph.D. program or report on all students who might have been eligible. In general, most of the applicants with existing programs use the actual programmatic statistics.

A renewal T32 application is to complete Table 8A Parts I, and III

In Part I, document the outcomes for the trainees appointed to the grant.

In Part III (only for new applications and predoctoral renewal/revision applications requesting an expansion to predoctoral support), list sequentially all students graduating from the proposed program in the last 5 years who would have been eligible for appointment, if an NIH or other HHS training or related award were available (in most cases, these will be U.S. citizens or permanent residents). For each student, provide the information described in Part I, items 1-3 and 5-8, above. Summarize the data from Parts I-III (as applicable) in the Research Training Program Plan, either in the Program Plan Section or the Progress Report Section, as appropriate.

Part IV, provide the program statistics. The percent of trainees who entered the graduate program in the last 10 years who completed the Ph.D. And the average time to Ph.D. for trainees appointed to the grant in the last 10 years.

A training grant's completion rate should be calculated based on students entering the institution's graduate programs ten years prior to the reporting year. For example, when reporting for 2014-2015, programs should report on the percentage of students that began graduate studies at their institution ten years earlier (i.e., academic year 2005-2006) and that were supported by the training grant at any point within that 10-year time frame. If all those students have completed a Ph.D. by the ten-year mark, the completion rate will be100%. If some students have left the program without a Ph.D., transferred to medical school or another doctoral-level professional program, or are still in training, the completion rate should be reduced accordingly. Individuals transferring to or from Ph.D. programs in similar fields at other institutions should be excluded from both the entering and graduating cohorts in calculating the completion rate.

New applicants must fill in Table 8A, Part III. Here, list students who graduated in the last 5 years but who would have been eligible (so only TGE students) for this T32, if it existed.

Time to degree should be calculated as the period from enrollment in a doctoral degree program at the reporting institution to the conferral of a Ph.D. or, in case of dual degree program, both degrees.

For predoctoral training, the entering year is the first year that the trainee began graduate studies at the applicant institution, even if they did not become associated with the training program until later. Special notes may be needed to explain exceptions, such as trainees who move to an institution after several years of training at another institution.

Yes, these fellowship awards should be included for grant support. Predoctoral fellowships should be included in the "Summary of Support During Training" column. Postdoctoral fellowships should appear in the "Subsequent Grants" column. You should follow your students and those that you list as "clearly associated" during the time they are in grad school and afterward for a total of 15 years. The PI should be reporting research or fellowships awards they obtain as postdocs and as independent researchers.

Table 8A, Part I, is for only students who were appointed to the T32 so this table should only be TGE students who were supported by this T32 award. Table 8A, Part II, may include non-TGE students if they were supported by NIH or other HHS grant awards.

See the video for xTRACT and the video for xTRACT for RPPR.

Training grant awardees must use the xTRACT system to create the required training tables for RPPRs.

The xTRACT table cannot be converted to Excel.

Yes, through the xTRACT module in eRA Commons.

See the xTRACT for RPPR video. Currently, xTRACT creates a final .pdf document once all the information is complete. Attach the document to the RPPR.

Inaccuracies in appointment data should be corrected within xTRAIN. For other inaccuracies, contact the eRA Service Desk.

Contact the eRA Service Desk:
Toll-free: 1-866-504-9552
Tel 301-402-7469
Hours: Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Eastern Time (closed on Federal holidays)
If you need immediate help (i.e., you are within 2 days of a deadline or in the event of a security emergency), call the Service Desk rather than submitting a web ticket. Note that the Service Desk's busiest hours are between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. ET. https://era.nih.gov