Early Stage Investigators and
the Program Perspective
AMANDA BOYCE, PH.D.
NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF
ARTHRITIS AND
MUSCULOSKELETAL AND SKIN
DISEASES
Following up on Dr. Rockey’s talk…
 Get to know the Program Director for your
scientific area
 Contact them about your research ideas
 Fit
with institute mission and priorities
 Best grant mechanism or program
 Best study section for review
Career Development Awards
 K01
 NIA: for early or mid-career award for individuals with some
prior postdoctoral research experience
 K02
 FIC: Independent Scientist in Global Health Award – within 7
years of last doctoral degree or fellowship
 NINDS: Independent Scientist Award – years 1-3, salary,
fringe, and supplies – years 4-5: if the applicant obtains an
R01 or equivalent grant, salary and fringe
 K07
 NCCAM and NIAAA: Academic Career Award (Development
Award) – for more junior investigators who are interested in
developing academic and research expertise
Career Development Awards
 K22
 NCI: Transition Career Development Award – within 2 years
of first independent cancer research position
 NIAAA: Career Transition Award – only NIAAA NRSA
(F32/T32) trained postdoctorates with between 2 and 6 years
of postdoctoral training are eligible to apply – apply as a
postdoctorate – grant awarded when in a tenure-track position
 NIAID: Research Scholar Development – no more than 5 years
of postdoctoral training – apply as a postdoctorate – grant
awarded when in a tenure-track position
 NLM: Independent Career Development Award for Biomedical
Informatics – within 2 years of first independent cancer
research position – OR after a minimum of 2 years of
postdoctoral training (apply as a postdoctorate – grant
awarded when in a tenure-track position)
New Investigator Specific R03s
 NIAMS: Small Grant Program For New Investigators
 NIDCD: Small Grant Program – within 7 years of
degree or fellowship
 NIDCR: Small Grant Program for New Investigators
 NIDDK: Small Grant Program for NIDDK
K01/K08/K23 Recipients
 NINR: Small Grants for Behavioral Research in
Cancer Control
Research Grants Available to All
 NIDCR Small Research Grants for Data Analysis and
Statistical Methodology applied to Genome-wide Data
(R03) – “Investigators who have not previously received
funding from NIDCR as a Principal Investigator are
encouraged to apply.”
 R21
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NIAID: “New investigators who feel unready to compete for an
R01 are using the R21 successfully to gather preliminary data
for their R01 applications.”
NIAMS: “Projects that will be considered a lower priority
include new investigator starter grants.”
NIDDK: “R21s should NOT be used by new investigators to
gather preliminary data for a standard R01.”
NINDS: “FY 2009 success rates for NINDS R21 New
Investigators: 11% vs. NINDS R01 New Investigators: 19%”
Loan Repayment Program
 Commit to perform research for 2 years, and the NIH
repays up to $35,000 per year of your qualified
educational debt and covers the resulting taxes.
 You must be conducting research in of the following 5
areas:
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Clinical Research
Pediatric Research
Contraception & Infertility Research
Health Disparities Research
Clinical Research for Individuals from Disadvantaged
Backgrounds
Common Funding Strategies for ESIs
 Setting a higher (better) payline for ESIs
 Not making Institute-specific administrative cuts
 Supporting ESIs for five years (many Institutes
only fund 4 year R01s)
 Partial “bridge” funding
Special Funding Strategies for ESIs
 NHLBI: priority funding for the first competitive renewal. (1)
The individual cannot be a principal investigator on an
Independent Scientist and/or other non-mentored career
award or on another R01 or a sub-project director on a multiproject award, and (2) must be currently holding a position at
a domestic institution with a faculty rank up to and including
an Associate Professor or equivalent.
 NIAAA: ESIs just beyond the NIAAA nominal payline are
invited to submit a letter to respond to the summary
statement critique. These responses are reviewed by Program
staff, and when deemed appropriate, the application may be
recommended to Institute leadership for award.
 NICHD: Special funding consideration will be given to
research project grant applications submitted by new
investigators supported by NICHD Career Development
Awards (Ks).
To Reiterate…
Get to know the Program
Director for your scientific
area!