Overview
The overall goal of the NIH Research Career Development program is to help ensure that a pool of highly trained scientists is available in appropriate scientific disciplines to address the Nation's biomedical, behavioral, and clinical research needs.
NIAMS support a variety of mentored and non-mentored career development award programs designed to foster the transition of new investigators to research independence and to support established investigators in achieving specific objectives. Candidates should review the different career development (K) award programs to determine the best program to support their goals. Please refer to the individual awards for current eligibility information. This page serves as a resource and does not supersede or change the eligibility outlined in the
specific NOFOs listed unless otherwise noted.
Please contact us at: [email protected] with questions.
General Eligibility Information
For all the following Research Development awards, these general eligibility criteria apply to all individuals that apply. Any candidate with the skills, knowledge, and resources necessary to carry out the proposed research as the Program Director/Principal Investigator (PD/PI) is invited to work with their mentor and organization to develop an application for support. Applicants must be:
- in a mentored research position;
- at the time of award, the candidate must have a “full-time” appointment at an academic institution;
- candidates are required to commit a minimum of 75% of full-time professional effort (i.e., a minimum of 9 person-months) to their program of career development;
- NIAMS specific: NIAMS allows for a minimum of 50% full time professional effort (i.e., a minimum of 6 person-months) for orthopedic scientists; and,
- excluding the Parent K99/R00, by the time of award, the individual must be a citizen or a non-citizen national of the United States or have been lawfully admitted for permanent residence (i.e., possess a currently valid Permanent Resident Card USCIS Form I-551, or other legal verification of such status).
NOTE: Current and former Program Directors/ Principal Investigators (PDs/PIs) on an NIH research project (R01), program project (P01), center grants (P50), Project Leads of program project (P01), or center grants (P50), other major individual career development awards (e.g., K01, K07, K08, K22, K23, K25, K76, K99/R00), or the equivalent are not eligible. Current and former PDs/PIs of an NIH Small Grant (R03), Exploratory/Developmental Grants (R21/R33), Planning Grant (R34/U34), Dissertation Award (R36), or SBIR/STTR (R41, R42, R43, R44) remain eligible, as do PD/PIs of Transition Scholar (K38) awards and individuals appointed to institutional K programs (K12, KL2).
Information on NIAMS-supported Research Career Development Programs
K01: Mentored Research Scientist Career Development Awards
Program Purpose: To provide research scientists with an additional period of sponsored research experience as a way to gain expertise in a research area new to the applicant or in an area that would demonstrably enhance the applicant's scientific career
These awards are generally reserved for individuals interested in switching to a new research field, for individuals who have interrupted their career because of illness or pressing family care responsibilities, or for faculty at minority institutions who wish to enhance their capacity for independent research.
Duration: Up to 5 years
Salary Support: Up to $75,000 plus fringe benefits per year
Research Support: Up to $20,000 per year
Eligibility Information: Candidates for the K01 award must have a research or health-professional doctoral degree. This funding opportunity may support individuals who propose to train in a new field or individuals who have had a hiatus in their research career because of illness or pressing family circumstances.
Links to Application Information:
Mentored Research Scientist Development Award (Parent K01 - Independent Clinical Trial Required)
Mentored Research Scientist Development Award (Parent K01 - Independent Clinical Trial Not Allowed)
K08: Mentored Clinical Scientist Research Career Development Awards
Program Purpose: The purpose of this program is to prepare clinically trained individuals for careers that have a significant impact on the health-related research needs of the nation. This program provides support and protected time for an intensive, supervised research career development experience in the fields of biomedical, behavioral, or clinical research, including translational research.
Duration: Up to 5 years
Salary Support: Up to $100,000 plus fringe benefits per year for 75% minimum effort, 50% for orthopaedic surgeon K08 and K23 recipients. See NOT-AR-16-012 for more information.
Research Support: Up to $20,000 per year.
Eligibility Information: Candidates for the K08 award must have a clinical doctoral degree. Such degrees include, but are not limited to M.D., D.O., D.D.S., D.M.D., O.D., D.C., Pharm.D., N.D. (Doctor of Naturopathy), and D.V.M. Individuals with the Ph.D. or other doctoral degree in clinical disciplines such as clinical psychology, nursing, clinical genetics, speech-language pathology, audiology or rehabilitation are also eligible. Individuals holding the Ph.D. in a non-clinical discipline who are certified to perform clinical duties should contact the appropriate NIH Institute concerning their eligibility for a K08 award.
Links to Application Information:
NIH HEAL (Helping to End Addiction Long-term) Initiative Career Development Awards:
Learn more about the NIH HEAL initiative
K23: Mentored Patient-Oriented Research Career Development Awards
Program Purpose: The purpose of the NIH Mentored Patient-Oriented Research Career Development Award (K23) is to support the career development of individuals with a clinical doctoral degree who have made a commitment to focus their research endeavors on patient-oriented research.
For the purposes of the K23 award, Patient-Oriented Research is defined as research conducted with human subjects (or on material of human origin such as tissues, specimens and cognitive phenomena) for which an investigator (or colleague) directly interacts with human subjects. This area of research includes: 1) mechanisms of human disease; 2) therapeutic interventions; 3) clinical trials; and 4) the development of new technologies. Excluded from this definition are in vitro studies that utilize human tissues but do not deal directly with patients. In other words, patient-oriented research is research in which it is necessary to know the identity of the patients from whom the cells or tissues under study are derived. Studies falling under Exemption 4 for human subjects research are not included in this definition.
Duration: 3-5 years
Salary Support: Support is provided for salary up to $100,000 for a minimum 75% effort (with the exception of orthopaedic surgeons, who may devote a minimum of 50% effort), fringe benefits.
Research Support: research expenses up to $30,000.
Eligibility Information: By the time of award, the individual must be a citizen or a non-citizen national of the United States or have been lawfully admitted for permanent residence (i.e., possess a currently valid Permanent Resident Card USCIS Form I-551, or other legal verification of such status).
Candidates for the K23 award must have a health-professional doctoral degree. Such degrees include, but are not limited to, M.D., D.O., D.D.S., D.M.D., O.D., D.C., Pharm.D., N.D. (Doctor of Naturopathy), as well as a doctoral degree in nursing research or practice. Individuals with the Ph.D. or other doctoral degree in clinical disciplines such as clinical psychology, clinical genetics, speech-language pathology, audiology or rehabilitation are also eligible. Individuals holding the Ph.D. in a non-clinical discipline but who are certified to perform clinical duties should contact the appropriate Institute concerning their eligibility for a K23 award. Candidates also must have completed their clinical training, including specialty and, if applicable, subspecialty training prior to receiving an award. However, candidates may submit an application prior to the completion of clinical training.
Links to Application Information:
NIAMS Participation in Additional Career Development Award Programs
The Helping to End Addiction Long-term® Initiative
The Helping to End Addiction Long-term® Initiative, or the NIH HEAL Initiative®, is an NIH-wide effort to speed scientific solutions to stem the national opioid public health crisis.
NIAMS participates in several of the HEAL initiatives career programs:
- K08: NIH HEAL Initiative PainCare Clinician Training Program (PCTP):
There are three Notices of Funding Opportunities (NOFOs) for the Mentored Clinical Scientist Development Award (K08):
Clinical Trials Not Allowed; Basic Experimental Studies with Humans (BESH); and, Clinical Trial Required - K23: NIH HEAL Initiative PainCare Clinician Training Program (PCTP): Mentored Patient-Oriented Research Career Development award (K23).
Read the NOFO: K23: Clinical Trial Required - K99/ R00: HEAL Initiative Advanced Postdoctoral-to-Independent Career Transition Award in PAIN and SUD Research K99/R00.
Read the NOFO: K99/R00: Independent Basic Experimental Studies with Humans Required