NCI Predoctoral to Postdoctoral Fellow Transition Award F99/K00

Overview

The overall goal of the NIH fellowship, research training, and career development programs is to help ensure a highly trained, heterogeneous pool of scientists is available across appropriate scientific disciplines to address the Nation's biomedical, behavioral, and clinical research needs. NIH fellowships support the training of predoctoral and postdoctoral scientists, dual-degree investigators, and senior researchers.  More information about these fellowships is available on the NIH Research Training and Career Development website.

The purpose of the Predoctoral to Postdoctoral Transition Award (Parent F99/K00) is to support promising graduate students as they complete their doctoral research training and transition to mentored postdoctoral career development opportunities in research areas relevant to the mission of participating NIH Institutes and Centers (ICs), preparing them to become productive, independent researchers.

Award Information

General Award Information

Award Structure

The F99/K00 provides up to 5 years of support across two consecutive phases.

• F99 Phase (Predoctoral): Provides 1 to 2 years of mentored research training to support completion of the research doctorate, including final experiments, dissertation preparation, and selection of a postdoctoral mentor.
• K00 Phase (Postdoctoral): Provides up to 3 years of mentored postdoctoral research and career development support, contingent upon successful completion of the doctoral degree requirements and securing a postdoctoral position in a research area relevant to the mission of the participating NIH ICs. The K00 research direction should be within the mission area of the NIH IC that awarded the F99 phase.

A K00 award will be made only to support a PD/PI who has successfully completed F99-supported training, secured a postdoctoral appointment, and, in coordination with the applicant institution, submitted to NIH a strong research and career development plan to be carried out in a supportive and rigorous research environment. Candidates are expected to obtain a postdoctoral position at an institution other than the one where they conducted their doctoral research.

Expectations

Predoctoral students applying for the F99/K00 award are expected to propose an individualized research training plan for the final 1 to 2 years of predoctoral training, as well as a broad outline of up to 3 years of mentored postdoctoral research and career development activities that will prepare them for a productive, independent scientific research career in a biomedically relevant field.

The mentored research training and career development experience is expected to provide:

• a strong foundation in rigorous research design, experimental methods, and analytical techniques appropriate to the proposed research;
• enhanced ability to conceptualize and think through research problems with increasing independence;
• experience conducting research using appropriate, state-of-the-art methods, as well as presenting and publishing research findings as first author;
• opportunities to interact with members of the scientific community at appropriate scientific meetings and workshops;
• professional and scientific skills needed to transition to the next stage of the candidate’s research career; and
• opportunities to enhance and refine the candidate’s understanding of the biomedical sciences and the relationship of the proposed research to health and disease.

The F99/K00 award is intended for individuals who require at least 12 months of mentored research training in the F99 phase before transitioning to the K00 phase. Accordingly, individuals should propose a well-conceived plan for 1 to 2 years of substantive mentored predoctoral research training that will help them become competitive for postdoctoral research positions. An individual who cannot provide a compelling rationale for at least one year of additional mentored predoctoral research training at the time of award is not a competitive candidate for this fellowship.

Important Dates

All applications are due by 5:00 PM local time of applicant organization.

Fellowship candidates are encouraged to apply early to allow adequate time to make any corrections to errors found in the application during the submission process by the due date.

Eligibility Criteria

Applicant Eligibility

Application Process

How to Apply

Forms

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