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Request for Information on Recommendations on Re-envisioning U.S. Postdoctoral Research Training and Career Progression within the Biomedical Research Enterprise
NIH is issuing a follow-up Request for Information (RFI) as part of its effort to gauge feedback from the biomedical research community to inform implementation of recommendations from the Advisory Committee to the Director on re-envisioning NIH-supported postdoctoral training.
NIH established an Advisory Committee to the Director (ACD) Working Group on Re-Envisioning NIH-Supported Postdoctoral Training (ACD Postdoctoral WG) to explore the status of the postdoctoral training system, identify and understand critical factors and issues relating to the perceived decline in the number of postdoctoral scholars, and to provide recommendations to address these factors. As part of this ACD-led effort, community input on the status of the postdoctoral training system was encouraged through four listening sessions and through a February 2023 Request for Information (RFI): Re-envisioning U.S. Postdoctoral Research Training and Career Progression within the Biomedical Research Enterprise (NOT-OD-23-084).
Based on feedback, the ACD Postdoctoral WG issued six (6) high level recommendations:
On April 23, 2024, NIH released NOT-OD-24-104, “ Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) Stipends, Tuition/Fees and Other Budgetary Levels Effective for Fiscal Year 2024.” The Notice announced increases of 8% and 4%, respectively, of stipends for post-doctoral and pre-doctoral NRSA participants. As mentioned in the Notice, “NIH is being responsive, as much as possible given the constrained budget environment, to the Advisory Committee to the Director Working Group on Re-Envisioning NIH-Supported Postdoctoral Training report recommendations. In fact, FY 2024 stipend levels for predoctoral and postdoctoral trainees and fellows represents the largest year-over-year increase in recent history. We are committed to reaching the $70,000 recommendation over the next 3–4 years, as appropriations allow.” NIH issued a news release coincident with the issuance of NOT-OD-24-104.
Information Requested
As a follow-up to NIH’s ongoing efforts to better support the postdoctoral scholar workforce, NIH is issuing this follow-up RFI to gain public input on how NIH might most effectively implement certain recommendations developed by the ACD Postdoctoral WG to address current challenges affecting the postdoctoral trainee community. NIH is particularly interested in receiving input from trainees ( e.g., graduate students, postdocs), as well as early-stage investigators, biomedical faculty, training directors, postdoctoral and graduate student office leaders, biotech/biopharma industry scientists, and research education program advocates. Please note that response fields are limited to 200 words.
All comments must be submitted electronically on the submission website.
Responses must be received by 11:59:59 pm (ET) on October 23, 2024.
Read the full NOT-OD-24-150 notice for more information.
Extramural Loan Repayment Program for Health Disparities Research (LRP-HDR)
The NIH Loan Repayment Programs are designed to recruit and retain highly qualified health professionals into biomedical or biobehavioral research careers. To that end, the NIH will repay up to $50K annually of a qualified health professional’s qualified education debt if s/he contractually agrees to engage in NIH mission-relevant research at a domestic, nonprofit, or government entity for an average of at least 20 hours per week (i.e., .5 FTE) for at least 2 years. Please contact preaward@atsu.edu for more information.
Extramural Clinical Research Loan Repayment Program for Individuals from Disadvantaged Backgrounds
The objective of the LRP-IDB is to recruit and retain highly qualified health professionals from disadvantaged backgrounds into clinical research careers. The NIH invites qualified health professionals who contractually agree to engage in NIH mission-relevant clinical research for an average of at least 20 hours per week (i.e., .5 FTE) for at least 2 years, initially, to apply for an award. The Extramural LRP repays up to $50K annually of a researcher’s qualified educational debt in return for a commitment to engage in NIH mission-relevant clinical research at a domestic, nonprofit, or government entity. Please contact preaward@atsu.edu for more information.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is soliciting comments from the public on the NIH Draft Public Access Policy and 2 supplemental draft guidance documents regarding government use license and rights and costs for publications. The NIH Draft Public Access Policy builds upon NIH's long history of providing public access to scholarly publications resulting from the research it supports and proposes additional steps to accelerate access.
Read the entire article here.
NIH publishes funding opportunities and notices in the NIH Guide daily. Each Friday, a cumulative listing is published for the week.
Join the NIH Guide LISTSERV for direct access to weekly content updates.
View the 2024 National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research Forum at ATSU
The forum provided a comprehensive update on NIDCR’s latest research initiatives as well as an opportunity to learn about acting NIDCR director Dr. Jennifer Webster-Cyriaque's inspiring career pathway to oral health research and mentorship. Attendees were able to discuss joint research initiatives and strategies to enhance patient care and oral health outcomes, especially for the underserved.
NIH’s Adoption of Common Forms for Biographical Sketch and Current and Pending (Other) Support by May 25, 2025
A high-level summary of NIH specific updates are as follows:
General Information
Biographical Sketch
Current and Pending (Other) Support
NIH is in the process of aligning NIH specific fields and instructions to the Common Forms and will post the NIH instructions of the Common Forms and NIH Biographical Sketch Supplement once finalized and approved through the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget under the Paperwork Reduction Act.
NIH will update respective application forms, instructions, and resources to support the need for applicants and recipients to provide full transparency and disclosure of all research activities, foreign and domestic.
NIH is coordinating with SciENcv on the development of the Common Forms in SciENcv for use by NIH applicants and recipients and developing an Application Programming Interface (API) with SciENcv to aid applicants and recipients in completion of the Common Forms for full implementation by May 2025.
Additional Guide Notice(s) will be coming later this year with further details on Common Form instructions, availability of the Common Forms for NIH in SciENcv, as well as updates on the availability of the API.
Read the full NIH NOT-OD-24-163.
Osteopaths Seek More Slots on Federal Research Panels
Osteopathic physicians have similar jobs and training to M.D.s. But they say they're lagging far behind when it comes to representation on federal panels that make key recommendations on medical research funding and policy.
Why it matters: The disparity could keep federal dollars from programs that teach one-quarter of America's future physicians and perpetuate negative perceptions that hurt newly minted D.O.s' chances of getting into certain residencies.
State of play: There are just two D.O.s among the 462 experts serving on national advisory councils for the National Institutes of Health, compared with 213 M.D.s, per an analysis the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine shared with Axios.
The small number of D.O.s on NIH advisory councils put osteopathic medical schools at a disadvantage for getting research funded, said David Bergman, AACOM's senior vice president of government relations and health affairs. Read the full article here.