|
National Institutes of Health |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
Quick Links
NCRR and the 2009 Recovery Act
|
CTSA Questions and Answers about Training ProgramsLast updated November 19, 2009. ON THIS PAGE:
SEE ALSO: Budget GuidelinesQ: Are the CTSA K12 or T32 programs submitted separately or as part of the U54 application? A: A K12 program content component must be submitted as part of the U54 application and not separately. The T32 program content is an optional component, but it may be needed to serve the training needs of the CTSA. The budget components of the K12 and T32 programs are submitted separately as described in the RFA. Q: Are all costs of an existing RM K12, including infrastructure, included in the K12 component of the CTSA, or should all non-scholar costs be borne by the U component, with its higher F+A costs? A: The CTSA K component budget should include only the costs of the scholars (e.g., salary) and any related expenses (pilot studies, travel, laboratory, etc.). The U component may include administrative costs such as 1) curriculum and degree granting elements to develop and provide lectures, courses, seminar series; 2) programs to provide research educational experiences to undergraduate students, allied health professionals — such as study coordinators and project managers — and non-doctoral master's students; and 3) a faculty core to provide mentor support and training in mentoring, leadership, research and laboratory management, and research team building skills. Q: When developing the total budget for the U54, what budget parameters should be followed for the K12 component? A: The size of CTSA awards will vary, depending on how institutions propose to consolidate existing NIH-funded programs. Each applicant may request total costs annually that approximate up to 40 percent more than the current combined costs of certain NIH awards (such as NCRR-administered K12, M01, K30, Roadmap T32 and K12 awards) held by their institution and its affiliates, with a total funding level of no less than $4 million per year. Applicants who would like verification of their calculations should contact NCRR program staff. Q: We have a Roadmap K12 that runs until 2010. The CTSA lasts 5 years. Can we budget the K12 to run the full 5 years? A: Yes. You should budget the K12 component of a CTSA for the full 5 years of an award. Q: Are the K12 and the T32 separate grant applications, or are the details of these two programs to be included in the 25 pages of the Education Key Function description? A: The K and T components of a CTSA application should be integrated with the U component and described, with other Research Education activities, within the 25 page limit. Q: We are limited to 30 mentor biographical sketches in the application. Can additional biographical sketches for key personnel be included outside the 30-biographical-sketch limit? If so, is there any overall limit to the number of biographical sketches to be included? A: Biographical sketches should be limited to individuals who are named in the application. With regards to mentors, 30 biographical sketches are sufficient to give reviewers an indication of the mentor pool. Q: The CTSA appears to provide two funding mechanisms for training: KL2 and TL1. What are these two mechanisms? A: The submitted application is for a U54 mechanism that includes a mandatory K component and optional T component. The separation into UL1, KL2 and TL1 is done at NIH for administrative purposes. It is not possible to apply directly for the L (linked) mechanisms. Applicability of Training GuidelinesQ: Do the guidelines from the Roadmap K12 RFA also apply to the KL2 component of the CTSA? A: No. The guidelines from the Roadmap K12 RFA do not apply to the CTSA KL2 awards. Q: Do the guidelines from the Roadmap T32 RFA also apply to the TL1 component of the CTSA? A: No. The guidelines from the Roadmap T32 RFA do not apply to the CTSA TL1 awards. The National Research Service Award has specific degree training requirements that are outlined in the CTSA RFA training component. Eligibility RequirementsQ: Is the requirement for the combined doctoral degree with a master's degree in clinical and translational research for the T32 component limited to candidates for professional doctoral degrees (e.g., M.D.)? Could we offer a master's degree in clinical and translational research to Ph.D. candidates for the basic sciences to enhance their involvement in clinical and translational research? A: Yes. Being registered for a Ph.D. in a clinical/translational research topic suffices for eligibility for support through a CTSA T32 program. Q: We currently have a program in Radiation Sciences whereby residents in radiology get a Ph.D. in radiation sciences. Can the T32 component of the CTSA support the stipends of these types of students? A: If the residents already have an M.D., they could be supported through the postdoctoral component of a TL1 or through the KL2 program. Number of Allowed Trainee SlotsQ: Is there a limit to the number of scholars who can be funded under the KL2, or can we exceed our previous cap? A: The number of scholars allowed under a KL2 award is determined by the number of slots requested in that institution's CTSA application and approved through peer review. Institutions who wish to increase the number of slots must receive prior approval from NCRR. The request must include a plan to fund the additional scholars in subsequent budget years. Long-Term and Short-Term TL1 SlotsQ: Is it possible to switch short-term trainees to long-term trainee positions within the TL1 award? A: Institutions may move trainees currently in short-term slots into long-term slots, provided they meet the National Research Service Award (NRSA) eligibility criteria and the degree training requirement. As long as institutions stay within the awarded budget for the TL1, there is no need to ask for permission to do this. A new PHS 2271 appointment form must be submitted to reflect the new appointment period. KL2 Scholar Slots and Institutional FundsQ: If an institution chooses to initially fund some scholars on institutional funds, and slots subsequently open up in the KL funded training program, may those scholars be then moved off institutional funds and into the KL slots? A: Yes, provided that they meet the eligibility criteria. The key here is the cap. Institutions must remain within their allotted number of KL2 funded slots, and within the training period cap of 5 years. Within these parameters, scholars may be moved off of institutional funds and onto the KL2 award. Additional Funding Opportunities for ScholarsQ: The CTSA RFA seems to indicate that CTSA K12 scholars cannot apply, or have pending an application, for a K08 or K23 award. That would prevent K12 scholars from obtaining their own individual mentored career development awards without any gap in funding. Can this really be the intention? A: The listed text under the Eligibility section of the RFA should reference K12 candidates as opposed to existing scholars. The trans-NIH policy stipulates that K12 candidates may not apply for a similar mentored K award (i.e., K23) simultaneously. However, appointed K12 scholars supported through institutional K12 (and KL2) awards may apply for K23 support. If they are successful, they then move from one mechanism to the other. Q: Can a candidate who has submitted K23 application but has not received a score or has been informed that he or she has an unfundable score apply for a KL2 appointment? A: Both the KL2/K12 and K23 academic awards are geared for more junior candidates who are interested in developing academic and research expertise. This serves as a conflict for applicants wanting to apply to several K awards where the research training and didactic coursework are essentially the same. Therefore, someone who has submitted a K23 but has not received a score or summary statement may not submit a KL2 application that essentially duplicates the provisions and research proposal of the submitted K23 until the funding status of that K23 award is known. Even if the candidate receives an unfundable score, there may still be a pending decision. There is still a possibility that the grant may receive a recommendation for high program priority by the program staff, and the grant may be funded. Therefore, the candidate must be certain that a grant is unfundable. (It would be optimal to have that statement in writing.) If the K23 is funded, then no KL2 application may be submitted, and if the K23 is not funded, then an identical KL2 application may be submitted (assuming no other identical K23 application has been resubmitted). Q: Can a KL2 scholar accept a small grant award? A: Yes. KL2 scholars may be named PIs on a competing NIH research grant application (R01, R03, R15, R21, R34, or equivalent application from another federal agency) or a sub-project director on a competing multi-component research or center grant or cooperative agreement application (P01, P50, U01, etc. or an equivalent application from another federal agency). However, the effort requirement of the KL2 award applies. The K appointees must be in their final two years before a reduction in effort to 6 person-months (50 percent full-time professional effort) is permitted. Q: Can KL2 scholars at CTSAs train at foreign sites? A: Foreign training experiences will be considered on a case-by-case basis. Prior approval is required for all scholars who wish to conduct research overseas. To request approval, the principal investigator or director of the Career Development component of the CTSA will have to submit a letter to NCRR describing the mentoring plan for the foreign training, countersigned by an appropriate institutional official. The letter must provide detailed justification for the foreign training, including the reasons why the facilities, the mentor, or other aspects of the proposed experience are more appropriate than training in a domestic setting. NCRR will submit all documentation for approval to the NIH Fogarty International Center. Q: Can TL1 postdocs train at foreign sites? A: Foreign training experiences will be considered on a case-by-case basis. Prior approval is required for all postdoctoral trainees who wish to conduct research overseas. To request approval, the principal investigator or director of the Career Development component of the CTSA will have to submit a letter to NCRR describing the mentoring plan for the foreign training, countersigned by an appropriate institutional official. The letter must provide detailed justification for the foreign training, including the reasons why the facilities, the mentor or other aspects of the proposed experience are more appropriate than training in a domestic setting. NCRR will submit all documentation for approval to the NIH Fogarty International Center. Salary Support for KL2 ScholarsQ: I have a KL2 scholar who will not have completed her research by the end of our CTSA budget period. Can I apply for a carryover for her to complete the research in the coming year? A: Carryovers for this purpose are rarely necessary as the next budget period already has salary and training support for the full set of K scholars submitted by the PI and approved in your CTSA application by Council. Voluntary Institutional Salary Support for KL2 ScholarsQ: What is implied by the voluntary institutional support guideline statement that indicates an institution may supplement no more than 50 percent of the scholar's KL2 salary support? A: following are three examples of how the voluntary supplement support guideline for KL2 scholar salaries may be applied:
Q: With respect to the voluntary institutional support guideline, does "KL2 awarded salary support" include the fringe benefit costs? Does the support include the $25,000 – $50,000 provided for research/travel support? In other words, does the 50% limitation on cost sharing apply to the total package (salary, fringe benefits, research/travel) or to components of the package, and, if the latter, to which components does it apply? Can cost sharing cover just the research/travel component? A: Voluntary institutional support may only be provided toward the salary and fringe benefits of the KL2 scholars. Voluntary institutional commitment may not be applied to any other budget categories. Q: We have 10 KL2 scholars funded in the KL2 component of the grant. Four additional scholars soon will transition from the KL2 or other K grants (individual K support or institutional K) to R grants. We are proposing 45 percent effort for each scholar-investigator for the first year that he or she holds R funding, so as to continue the scholar's protected time during this transition. May these four additional scholars be funded from the UL1? A: There are two scenarios here: namely, the situation before receiving R support and the situation after receiving R support.
Before receiving R support, KL2 scholars may not be funded from the UL1 component, because that support is exactly duplicative of support existing elsewhere within the CTSA grant (i.e., the KL2) and does not meet the standard of an innovative educational program to qualify for UL1 support. In other words, the UL1 cannot be a "parking space" for KL2 scholars who are anticipated to receive R grants. They must remain on the KL2 and upon receipt of R grant support, they may leave the KL2 entirely or remain on the KL2 at a reduced effort that may not be less than 50 percent, provided they meet the requirements cited in NOT-OD-08-065 After receiving R support, you may offer protected time of 45 percent funding support from the UL1 and combine this with the protected time of the R grant(s), provided this level of support does not exceed 100 percent effort. The grantee's name would appear on the budget page of the UL1, and institutional F&A rates would apply to the 45 percent support provided by the UL1. Contact InformationPlease contact your NCRR Grants Management Specialist or your Program Officer if you have questions regarding this information. Carol Merchant, M.D., M.P.H |
 |
National Institutes of Health (NIH) Bethesda, Maryland 20892 |
 |
Department of Health and Human Services |
 |
