The purpose of this award is to support outstanding scientific training of highly promising postdoctoral candidates with outstanding mentors. Candidates are eligible to apply for support from this program from ~12 months prior to the start of the proposed postdoctoral position to within 12 months (or 18 months fo resubmissions) after starting in the proposed postdoctoral position. This NINDS F32 seeks to foster early, goal-directed planning and to encourage applications for bold and/or innovative projects by the candidate that have the potential for significant impact. Inclusion of preliminary data is strongly discouraged; rather, this F32 seeks innovative research ideas and thoughtful plans for training and mentorship that will facilitate the development of the postdoctoral fellow into an outstanding scientist. Applications are expected to incorporate strong training in quantitative reasoning and the quantitative principles of experimental design and analysis. Support by this program is limited to the first 4 years of a candidate's activity in a specific laboratory or research environment, so as to further encourage early, thoughtful planning and timely completion of “mentored training” within a particular lab or environment.
This Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) does not allow candidates to propose to lead an independent clinical trial, but does allow candidates to propose research experience in a clinical trial led by a sponsor or co-sponsor.
Deadlines:
- Application Deadlines: Feb 10, 2025; June 9, 2025; Oct 9, 2025; Feb 9, 2026; June 9, 2026; Oct 9, 2026; Feb 9, 2027; June 9, 2027; Oct 8, 2027
- AIDS Application Deadlines: Jan. 7, May 7, Sep. 7
PAR-25-234 Expiration Date: January 08, 2028
The Kirschstein-NRSA F32 fellowship is designed to support research training experiences in new settings in order to maximize the acquisition of new skills and knowledge. In most cases, therefore, the sponsoring institution should be a site other than where the applicant trained as a graduate student. However, if the applicant is proposing postdoctoral training at the same institution as their previous research training, the application must clearly describe how the proposed research and training opportunities are completely distinct from prior experiences, as well as how the scientific environment and mentorship are distinct from prior experiences. Applications that propose postdoctoral experiences in the same lab, in fundamentally the same research environment, or with the same mentor(s) that supported the candidate's past training experiences will not be considered for funding.
An individual may request support for training abroad. In such cases, the applicant is required to provide detailed justification for the foreign training, including the reasons why the facilities, the sponsor, or other aspects of the proposed experience are more appropriate than training in a domestic setting. The justification is evaluated in terms of the scientific advantages of the foreign training as compared to the training available domestically. Foreign training will be considered for funding only when the scientific advantages are clear.
Applicants are strongly encouraged to apply for the NINDS F32 before joining the proposed laboratory, and if it is a first postdoctoral experience, before completing their terminal doctoral degree requirements. This will ensure thoughtful and comprehensive planning before the start of the postdoctoral period and will facilitate the rapid launch of an exciting postdoctoral research project and training plan. However, candidates are also eligible to apply if they are within the first 12 months of joining the proposed laboratory or research environment, or 18 months for resubmissions. It is important to note that successful applications submitted earlier will result in a longer support duration, up to a maximum of 3 years. For example, if a candidate submits an application 3 months after joining the postdoctoral lab, the earliest award date would be approximately by the end of the first postdoctoral year, which would allow the candidate to obtain the maximum 36 months of funding. However, if an applicant submits an application 12 months after joining the postdoctoral lab, the earliest award date would be approximately 9 months into postdoctoral year 2, in which case the candidate would only be eligible for approximately 27 months of funding. Moreover, early submission may facilitate the ability to resubmit applications within the eligibility window, if necessary (the eligibility for resubmission applications is 18 months after joining the proposed laboratory).
In addition to standard, automatic NIH leave policies, fellows who have children while supported by this NOFO, either through childbirth or adoption, are encouraged to consider requesting a six-month extension of their fellowship. NINDS may provide one six-month extension per candidate to ensure that fellowship research and training can be completed. Requests must be submitted in writing, following the procedures described in the NIH Grants Policy Statement, Section 11.2.6.
Before a Kirschstein-NRSA postdoctoral fellowship award can be activated, the individual must have received a PhD, MD, DO, DC, DDS, DVM, OD, DPM, ScD, EngD, DrPH, DNSc, ND (Doctor of Naturopathy), PharmD, DSW, PsyD, or equivalent doctoral degree from an accredited domestic or foreign institution. Certification by an authorized official of the degree-granting institution that all degree requirements have been met is also acceptable. A Kirschstein-NRSA fellowship may not be used to support the clinical years of residency training. However, these awards are appropriate for the research fellowship years of a residency program. Research clinicians must devote full-time to their proposed research training and confine clinical duties to those activities that are part of the research training program.