Category: Training/Fellowships/Career Development

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Funding Opportunities: Bridges to the Baccalaureate; Common Fund Awards; Legacy Community-Wide Scientific Resources; Research Centers in Injury and Peri-Operative Sciences

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You may be interested in these recent funding opportunity announcements (FOAs):

Bridges to Baccalaureate Program (R25)
(PAR-13-333)

Purpose: Promote partnerships/consortia between community colleges or other 2-year post-secondary educational institutions granting the associate degree and colleges or universities that offer the baccalaureate degree, with the goal of increasing the pool of community college students from underrepresented backgrounds who pursue research careers in the biomedical and behavioral sciences and who will be available to participate in NIH-funded research
Application due dates: October 18, 2013; September 25, 2014; September 25, 2015
NIGMS contact: Michelle R.J. Hamlet, 301-594-3900

NIH Director’s Pioneer Award Program (DP1)
(RFA-RM-13-006)

Purpose: Support exceptionally creative individual scientists at any career stage who propose pioneering, and possibly transforming, approaches to major challenges that have the potential for unusually high impact on a broad area of biomedical or behavioral research
Application due dates: October 18, 2013; October 10, 2014; October 9, 2015
NIH contact: Ravi Basavappa, 301-435-7204

NIH Director’s New Innovator Award Program (DP2)
(RFA-RM-13-007)

Purpose: Support exceptionally creative early stage investigators who propose bold and highly innovative new research approaches that have the potential for major impact on broad, important problems in biomedical and behavioral research
Application due dates: October 25, 2013; October, 17, 2014; October 16, 2015
NIH contact: Ravi Basavappa, 301-435-7204

Limited Pilot for NIGMS Legacy Community-Wide Scientific Resources (R24)
(PAR-13-324)

Purpose: Maintain existing NIGMS research resources that demonstrate a high value to a community of NIGMS-supported researchers and that are no longer eligible for support under their original initiatives
Letter of intent due date: 30 days before the application due date
Application due dates: October 15, 2013; October 15, 2014; October 15, 2015
NIGMS contact: Mary Ann Wu, 301-435-0787

Research Centers in Injury and Peri-Operative Sciences (P50)
(PAR-13-291)

Purpose: Improve understanding at all levels of the biological processes invoked after traumatic or burn injury, or in critically ill patients, including pertinent aspects of wound healing; and foster translational research, bringing basic scientific observations and principles into the clinical arena and using clinical observations to generate or validate mechanistic hypotheses
Letter of intent due date: 6 weeks before the standard due date
Application due date: Standard dates apply
NIGMS contact: Scott Somers, 301-594-3827

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Encouraging the Use of Individual Development Plans

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Strategic Plan for Biomedical and Behavioral Research TrainingMany of the themes in our strategic plan for research training have been echoed by the Biomedical Workforce Working Group of the Advisory Committee to the Director, NIH. Among these is the use of individual development plans (IDPs) to facilitate career development discussions and planning between mentees and mentors. I’m delighted to share some progress on this front.

A recent NIH Guide notice encourages institutions to:

  • Develop an institutional policy requiring an IDP for every graduate student and postdoctoral scientist supported by any NIH grant, and

For more details, read this blog post from NIH’s Sally Rockey.

The Blueprint for Implementation of our training strategic plan provides links to resources for developing IDPs, including AAAS’s myIDP Link to external web site Web site. Another source of useful tips is a presentation on “Facilitating Career Development through Individual Development Plans” given by Philip Clifford of the Medical College of Wisconsin at our recent Training, Workforce Development, and Diversity Program Directors’ meeting.

IDPs are a valuable tool to help graduate students and postdocs identify their career goals and what they need to accomplish to achieve those goals. They are one part of the changing conversations about preparing trainees for the broader landscape of exciting biomedical careers.

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Funding Opportunities: Research and Academic Career Development Awards; International Cooperative Biodiversity Groups; Program Project Grants; Instrument Development for Biomedical Applications

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You may be interested in these recent funding opportunity announcements (FOAs):

Institutional Research and Academic Career Development Awards (IRACDA) (K12)
(PAR-13-290)

Purpose: Develop a diverse group of highly trained biomedical and behavioral scientists through support of a traditional mentored postdoctoral research experience at a research-intensive institution combined with an opportunity to develop academic skills, including teaching, through workshops and mentored teaching assignments at a partner institution
Application due dates: October 2, 2013; September 24, 2014; September 24, 2015
NIGMS contact: Shiva P. Singh, 301-594-3900

Limited Competition: International Cooperative Biodiversity Groups (U19)
(RFA-TW-13-001)

Purpose: Address the interdependence of natural products exploration for potential applications in health, with investments in research capacity that support sustainable use of these resources, the knowledge to conserve them, and equitable partnership frameworks among research organizations in the United States and low- and middle-income countries
Letter of intent due date: October 20, 2013
Application due date: November 20, 2013
NIGMS contact: Barbara Gerratana, 301-594-3827

Support of NIGMS Program Project Grants (P01)
(PAR-13-280)

Purpose: Conduct research that aims to solve a significant biological question within the NIGMS mission through collaborations with outstanding scientists working on different aspects of a similar problem
Application due date: Standard dates apply
NIGMS contacts:
Cell Biology and Biophysics, Catherine Lewis, 301-594-0828
Genetics and Developmental Biology, Judith H. Greenberg, 301-594-0943
Pharmacology, Physiology and Biological Chemistry, Michael Rogers, 301-594-3827
Biotechnology, Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, Susan Gregurick, 301-451-6446

Instrument Development for Biomedical Applications (R21)
(RFA-GM-14-014)

Purpose: Develop new or improved instrumentation with broad applicability to biomedical research
Application due date: October 10, 2013
NIGMS contact: Fred K. Friedman, 301-435-0775

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Chemical Biology Career Workshop Builds Model for Similar Efforts

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CBI Career Development Conference Program CoverAn action recommended in our strategic plan for biomedical and behavioral research training and by a working group of the Advisory Committee to the Director, NIH, is providing graduate students with a greater awareness of their career options. An inaugural career development conference that we co-sponsored and that was recently highlighted in a Chemical & Engineering News article Link to external web site may lead to the development of a sustainable workshop model to inform graduate students about and help them prepare for a range of scientific careers.

Organized by the directors of chemistry-biology interface graduate training programs at 10 Midwestern institutions, the 3-day event took place in June on the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign campus. It brought together nearly 100 graduate students and 30 career mentors with jobs in academia, government and the private sector, including in nontraditional areas such as consulting, patent law and communicating science to the public.

A significant portion of the meeting consisted of structured discussion and presentations organized around different job opportunities. The meeting also included activities that let students improve their communication skills by explaining their research clearly and concisely to various audiences. Other career sessions focused on entrepreneurship and acquiring a postdoctoral position.

Early in the group discussions, students considering careers outside academia shared their concerns about the job market and about whether their graduate research training might potentially narrow their employment opportunities.  By the end of the meeting, however, most had the sense that their graduate training would actually open up new opportunities.  The group discussions also enhanced the mentors’ knowledge of various career paths and raised their awareness of the students’ career development needs.

A formal evaluation of the meeting’s usefulness and effectiveness is under way, and the organizers are experimenting with a variety of novel approaches to ensure sustainability for the conference by rotating venues, sharing organizational responsibilities and developing consistent sponsorships.

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Research on Interventions, Drug Docking and Screening Data Resources

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You may be interested in these recent funding opportunity announcements (FOAs):

Research to Understand and Inform Interventions that Promote the Research Careers of Students in Biomedical and Behavioral Sciences (R01)
(RFA-GM-14-013)

Purpose: Test assumptions and hypotheses on the role of social and behavioral factors in interventions intended to increase interest, motivation and preparedness for careers in biomedical and behavioral research
Letter of intent due date: September 18, 2013
Application due date: October 18, 2013
NIGMS contact: Clifton A. Poodry, 301-594-3900

Drug Docking and Screening Data Resource (U01)
(RFA-GM-14-010)

Purpose: Increase the amount of publicly available, high-quality data describing structures and affinities of protein-drug ligand complexes needed for the development, validation and benchmarking of drug docking and screening software
Letter of intent due date: September 9, 2013
Application due date: October 9, 2013
NIGMS contact: Peter C. Preusch, 301-594-0828

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Research on Women in Biomedical Careers

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A group of NIH grantees convened last November to present and discuss their studies on causal factors and possible interventions affecting the representation of women in biomedical and behavioral research and engineering. Their work is funded through a trans-NIH initiative spearheaded by NIGMS and the Office of Research on Women’s Health. Through this effort, NIH is gathering evidence that will help guide future plans and actions in this arena.

Here are several key areas of focus that are emerging from the research:

  • Bias is powerful and often unconscious, but it can be measured, and it can be altered.
  • Mentor networks are often more effective than mentor pairs.
  • Workplace culture affects career satisfaction and performance, and aspects of culture can be measured and changed.
  • Institutional flexibility policies are typically under-recognized and under-used, in part due to ingrained academic culture and lack of leadership buy-in.

For more on the workshop, read the just-posted summary.

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Scientific Workforce Diversity Awards, Collaborative Science Supplements

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You may be interested in these recent funding opportunity announcements:

MARC Undergraduate Student Training in Academic Research (U-STAR) National Research Service Award (NRSA) Institutional Research Training Grant (T34)
(PAR-13-205)

Purpose: Increase the number of well-prepared underrepresented (UR) students who, within 3 years of graduation, matriculate into competitive/research active Ph.D. or combined M.D.-Ph.D. programs in the biomedical and behavioral sciences, go on to research careers and participate in NIH-funded research
Application due dates: June 24, 2013; June 24, 2014; June 24, 2015
NIGMS contact: Shawn Gaillard, 301-594-3900

Research Initiative for Scientific Enhancement (RISE) (R25)
(PAR-13-196)

Purpose: Develop new or expand existing effective institutional developmental programs designed to academically and scientifically prepare underrepresented students for Ph.D. degrees in the biomedical and behavioral sciences
Application due date: June 20, 2013
NIGMS contact: Robin S. Broughton, 301-594-3900

Reminder: The application due date for Supplements for Collaborative Science is May 15. For details, see this related Feedback Loop post.

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‘OXIDE-izing’ Diversity in Chemistry—and Beyond

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We are constantly seeking new ways to foster the development of a diverse and inclusive biomedical research workforce. One notable example is our partnership with the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Department of Energy (DOE) to support a series of workshops on increasing diversity in chemistry departments.

The workshops focused on disability equity , racial and ethnic equity  and gender equity . The organizing committees and workshop participants, mostly chemistry department chairs, felt that progress was made during each workshop. However, the insights and good intentions engendered by such meetings can have an all too high vapor pressure and gains can be lost. Enter OXIDE.

OXIDE, which stands for the Open Chemistry Collaborative in Diversity Equity , is a 5-year grant effort co-funded by NIGMS, NSF and DOE to address multiple areas of diversity, including gender, race-ethnicity, disability and sexual orientation. With the desire to keep the momentum gained from the previous workshops, OXIDE seeks to maintain a connection among the chairs of chemistry departments and partner with social scientists to take advantage of their findings.

OXIDE’s recurring National Diversity Equity Workshops facilitate discussion among these groups on the latest diversity research and its implications for chemistry departments. The next workshop , which is open primarily to chairs or thought leaders of the leading research-active chemistry departments, will be held April 15-16, 2013, in Arlington, Virginia. Presentation slides will be archived on the Oxide Web site.

OXIDE also partners with the American Chemical Society’s Chemical & Engineering News to conduct and publish annual faculty demographic assessments  of more than 75 research-active chemistry departments, allowing for longitudinal examination of data trends.

Perhaps most importantly, OXIDE embodies the commitment of the chemistry community, NIGMS and other federal agencies to advancing diversity and inclusion. Its approaches—and findings—might be useful to other scientific communities.

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Networking Theme for 2013 Training, Workforce Development, and Diversity Program Directors’ Meeting

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TWD Program Directors' MeetingA goal of our Division of Training, Workforce Development, and Diversity (TWD) is to create a community of trainers and educators dedicated to developing a well-prepared, diverse biomedical research workforce.

Toward that end, the focus of this year’s TWD Program Directors’ Meeting (link no longer available) is on networking. The meeting, to be held on June 12-14 in Chicago, will address the value of sustained networking among the grantees, students and other communities served by these programs. The meeting will enable program directors to learn more about other TWD programs; establish connections with potential new partners, especially regional “neighbors”; and collectively address the Institute’s research training objectives.

Plenary sessions and keynote talks will cover the diversity of the U.S. research workforce, STEM training in the context of NIH-funded biomedical and behavioral research, and innovative approaches for evaluating and assessing our training programs. NIGMS and NIH leaders will give overviews of the Institute’s training strategic plan and the implementation of the report from the Diversity in the Biomedical Research Workforce Working Group of the Advisory Committee to the Director, NIH.

The meeting is primarily intended for program directors and associate deans (or the equivalent) at institutions with these TWD student and predoctoral training programs: Bridges to the Baccalaureate, Bridges to the Doctorate, IMSD, IRACDA, MARC T36, MARC U-STAR, RISE, PREP, NIGMS T32 predoctoral programs and IDeA INBRE.

Online registration is open now at www.TWDNIGMS.org (no longer available) and closes May 10, 2013.

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Give Input on NIH Biomedical Research Workforce Plans

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The report of the Biomedical Research Workforce Working Group of the Advisory Committee to the Director, NIH, includes recommendations that could have a broad impact on NIGMS training programs.

NIH has just issued a request for information (RFI) on implementing the working group’s recommendations. As summarized in a blog post by NIH’s Sally Rockey, the RFI seeks your input on these topics:

  • Developing individual development plans (IDPs) for those in graduate and postdoctoral training supported by NIH funds from any source,
  • The length of time NIH should provide support for graduate students,
  • Providing more uniform benefits packages for postdocs,
  • Gathering information about individuals receiving NIH support for their training,
  • Reporting by institutions of aggregate career outcomes of graduate students and postdocs on a public Web site,
  • Considering multiple career outcomes as indicators of success when reviewing training grants, and
  • Launching a dialogue with the extramural biomedical research community to assess how NIH supports the biomedical community, including faculty salaries.

I strongly encourage you and your colleagues to submit comments by the April 22 deadline, because your input is key to developing policies that serve the scientific community and improve the training experience of graduate students and postdocs.