Full Text TW-95-001 MINORITY INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH TRAINING GRANTS NIH GUIDE, Volume 23, Number 28, July 29, 1994 RFA: TW-95-001 P.T. 22, FF Keywords: Biomedical Research Training Fogarty International Center Office of Research on Minority Health Application Receipt Date: March 15, 1995 PURPOSE The Fogarty International Center and the Office of Research on Minority Health support a program to provide international research training opportunities for minority undergraduate students, minority graduate students, and minority faculty members in biomedical and behavioral research. Training grant awards will be made for three years to U.S. colleges and universities to: o encourage minority students to pursue degrees and careers in the biological sciences, especially biomedical and behavioral research, by broadening their undergraduate and graduate education through international experiences; o promote qualities of leadership by expanding cultural perspectives in minority students and faculty; o help prepare the next generation of scientific leaders to work effectively in a global environment; o establish linkages between U.S. scientists and institutions and established centers of biomedical and behavioral research abroad. There may be any or all of the following three components within each institutional award: 1. The international research training program for pre-baccalaureate minority students pursuing life science curricula to conduct short-term research and coursework abroad for approximately 10 to 14 weeks. 2. A pre-doctoral program to enable minority students enrolled in graduate research degree programs to receive research training for approximately 3 to 12 months at foreign institutions. 3. The international faculty development program for individual minority faculty to conduct research at foreign institutions for approximately 3 to 12 months. Applications may be submitted from individual U.S. institutions or from consortia of U.S. institutions with one lead institution. For the purposes of this program, consortia will link institutions that have active international programs with those with limited international research training programs. ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS U.S. Participants and Program Requirements: These institutional training grants will be awarded to U.S. institutions for the purpose of collaborating with one or more foreign research centers that can provide a substantial research training experience for the U.S. minority participants. The applicant institution and any associated institution in a consortium must be a two- or four-year domestic school, college or university. Minority participants must be from underrepresented minority groups including African Americans, Hispanic Americans, American Indians and Pacific Islanders. The program director at the applicant institution will be responsible for the selection and appointment of participants, selection of the foreign training site(s) and the overall direction of the training program. Participating students and faculty members must be members of the minority groups listed above and be U.S. citizens or permanent residents who are pursuing degrees, studying and/or conducting research in the biomedical or behavioral sciences at the time of appointment and during the program. Students and faculty must be affiliated with a U.S. college or university at the time of selection for the program. However, the affiliation need not be with the grantee institution. Undergraduate Students. Undergraduate student trainees must be pre-baccalaureate, pursuing a relevant biomedical or behavioral science curriculum and must show evidence of a commitment to obtaining a postgraduate research related degree in a biomedical or behavioral field of science. The foreign training for undergraduate students will be for approximately 10 to 12 weeks. Graduate Students. Predoctoral students must be enrolled in a U.S. graduate research training program in the biomedical or behavioral sciences. The predoctoral training period at the foreign site may be from approximately 3 to 12 months for the purpose of learning a technique or carrying out a special project or portion of a project related to their doctoral studies. Faculty. The minority faculty development portion of the training grant will provide support for research and studies for approximately 3 to 12 months at a foreign training site. Participants must have regular, full-time faculty appointments at the grantee institution or an institution in the consortium. The research plan must indicate the expected benefits of the proposed work. One faculty person, called the faculty mentor, may accompany each group of approximately four to eight minority undergraduate students and act as a general advisor/mentor during the study abroad. Faculty members serving this purpose are not required to belong to any minority group if a minority faculty member is not available. They must hold full-time tenure track or tenured faculty positions at the grantee institution, hold a doctoral level degree and have a biomedical research plan to be conducted at the foreign host institution. Foreign Site Requirements. The foreign research centers should be universities, colleges or other research institutions that have strong, well-established biomedical or behavioral research and research training programs. Close cooperation between the U.S. and foreign institutions and scientists will be needed to provide the trainees with a foreign mentor or collaborator who is recognized as an accomplished investigator and who will participate in their research training. MECHANISM OF SUPPORT The mechanism of support is the minority international research training grant award (T37). Domestic institutions may request up to three years of support. The stipend level during the period of foreign stay is up to $1,000 per month for undergraduate and graduate students and up to $3,000 per month for the faculty member. Stipends may be supplemented from non-Federal sources only. The stipend plus the home institution support cannot exceed the appointee's annual salary. Research expenses for use at the foreign training site of up to $500 per month may be requested for each undergraduate student, graduate student, or faculty member. Training-related expenses, such as health insurance, foreign tuition and fees, for use at the foreign training site of up to $500 per month may be requested for each undergraduate student, graduate student, or faculty member. Foreign living expenses will be up to $1,000 per month for undergraduate and graduate students and up to $2,000 per month for faculty members, in addition to stipend. Appointment may range from 10 to 14 weeks for undergraduates and a minimum of three and a maximum of 12 months for the predoctoral students and faculty. Stipends, training, and travel expenses are offered only for the time period participants are en route to or working in the foreign country. No expenses are provided for domestic research or training. If especially justified, the domestic applicant institution may request up to five percent of the requested total direct costs for the support of the principal investigator and/or other grant-related personnel for domestic administrative efforts. These costs must be specifically related to this grant. Indirect costs will be awarded to the grantee institution at a rate of eight percent of the allowable direct costs. Each of the training grant awards will not exceed a total of $400,000 per year, including direct and indirect costs. FUNDS AVAILABLE It is expected that 6 to 10 new, competitive awards will be made in FY 95. RESEARCH OBJECTIVES The Minority International Research Training grants are designed to enable qualified minority undergraduate students, graduate students and faculty members to participate in international biomedical and behavioral research programs. This training grant program is expected to attract students and scientists in the developmental stages of their educations and careers to increase their awareness of international research opportunities and to acquaint them with the full range of career opportunities in biomedical and behavioral research. Minority faculty members are expected to gain by the foreign research experience in ways that will contribute to the research and teaching programs at their U.S. institutions. Their association with the foreign institution will, in many cases, provide future undergraduate and graduate research training sites. This program is designed to supplement the current programs of the FIC available to all scientists, such as the Fogarty International Research Collaboration Award (FIRCA), a variety of Foreign Funded fellowships, the Senior International Fellowship (SIF) for U.S. scientists, the International Research Fellowship (IRF) for foreign scientists in developing nations, and other programs. SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS The FIC and ORMH staff will closely follow the progress of each training grant program through site visits and periodic meetings of program directors. The components of the training grant may include the following: A. The Minority Undergraduate Program This component of the training grant will offer a biomedical research experience for minority undergraduate students at research centers abroad where arrangements have been made to house and train the students for approximately 10 to 14 weeks at any appropriate time of the year. The training may include short courses in the language and culture of the host country. Student participants will be chosen by the grantee institution. The research training must be carried out during at least half of each weekday. Support for the undergraduate students will be available only while abroad. Each group of four to eight students may be accompanied by a faculty member who would also conduct research. This person is the Faculty Mentor--see below. The student research projects might include collection of data, samples or other information for research purposes. The projects may not include routine clinical laboratory work without a research component. Additional, direct support for the minority student participants on return to the U.S. may be available from the FIC for attendance at scientific meetings to present the results of their foreign research experience. B. The Minority Predoctoral Program The training grant may include a predoctoral component which will provide support for research training of minority predoctoral students at a foreign institution for approximately 3 to 12 months as a part of the requirement for the doctoral degree program (but not professional degree programs such as M.D., O.D., D.D.S., Pharm.D., or D.V.M. programs) in which the student is enrolled. The minority student will receive support from the training grant for the foreign training portion only, and the application must demonstrate the benefit of foreign training which may include some course work, but must primarily be for the conduct of research, to learn a technique, to participate in a study or to utilize a unique resource or study population. Participants will be chosen by the grantee institution. C. The Minority Faculty Development Program Within this institutional training grant, the faculty development program supports minority faculty members employed at U.S. colleges and universities to carry out international, collaborative research abroad for periods of 3 to 12 months. Faculty members will be selected by the grantee institution and will conduct research on a biomedically related topic in collaboration with the foreign laboratory. The faculty participants will be chosen by the grantee institution. To participate, the U.S. faculty member must have a doctoral-level degree or equivalent experience and training. The purpose of this program is to enhance the current research skills of the investigator by providing a new research direction, an extension of her or his current research activities through a foreign collaborative effort or for providing a unique site which offers a special research facility or special human or animal study population. The research experience will also benefit the faculty member's ability to communicate new scientific concepts and directions of international developments in her or his role as an instructor in the U.S. In addition to the conduct of the research this program may be used to develop a site or sites for the foreign research activities of the undergraduate or graduate students. The faculty member may accompany students participating in the undergraduate research program while also conducting research. D. Faculty-Mentor The faculty member in this position will act as a mentor to the four to eight minority students and may receive support from this training grant while with the students. She or he must also carry out a research project while at the foreign site. However, a major purpose of the mentor is to assist the students in adjusting and coping with all phases of their research, training and cultural experience while living abroad. If a faculty mentor will be an important part of the program but a minority person is not available, a non-minority person may fill this position so the students will not be denied the international research opportunity. STUDY POPULATIONS INCLUSION OF WOMEN AND MINORITIES IN RESEARCH INVOLVING HUMAN SUBJECTS It is the policy of the NIH that women and members of minority groups and their subpopulations must be included in all NIH supported biomedical and behavioral research projects involving human subjects, unless a clear and compelling rationale and justification is provided that inclusion is inappropriate with respect to the health of the subjects or the purpose of the research. This new policy results from the NIH Revitalization Act of 1993 (Section 492B of Public Law 103-43) and supersedes and strengthens the previous policies (Concerning the Inclusion of Women in Study Populations, and Concerning the Inclusion of Minorities in Study Populations), which have been in effect since 1990. The new policy contains some provisions that are substantially different from the 1990 policies. All investigators proposing research involving human subjects should read the "NIH Guidelines For Inclusion of Women and Minorities as Subjects in Clinical Research," which have been published in the Federal Register of March 28, 1994 (59 FR 14508-14513) and printed in the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts, Volume 23, Number 11, March 18, 1994. Investigators also may obtain copies of the policy from the program staff listed under INQUIRIES. Program staff may also provide additional relevant information concerning the policy. APPLICATION PROCEDURES Applications are to be submitted on the grant application form PHS 398 (rev. 9/91) using the special instructions related to Institutional National Research Service Awards (Section VII). Note the requirement to use NRSA substitute pages MM, NN, OO to be acceptable for initial review. Application kits are available at most institutional offices of sponsored research and may also be obtained from the Office of Grants Information, Division of Research Grants, National Institutes of Health, Westwood Building, Room 449, Bethesda, MD 20892, telephone (301) 710-0267. The RFA label available in the PHS 398 (rev. 9/91) application form must be affixed to the bottom of the face page of the application. Failure to use this label could result in delayed processing of the application such that it may not reach the review committee in time for review. In addition, the RFA title and number must be typed on line 2a of the face page of the application form and the YES box must be marked. Applications must be received by March 5, 1994. The completed application and three legible copies must be sent or delivered to: Division of Research Grants National Institutes of Health Westwood Building, Room 240 Bethesda, MD 20892** In addition, two copies of the completed application must be sent to Dr. Wolff at the address listed under INQUIRIES. REVIEW CONSIDERATIONS All applications responding to this RFA will be reviewed for scientific and technical merit by an NIH initial review group, followed by a second level review by the Fogarty International Center Advisory Board. To be eligible for review, applications must be complete and submitted in accordance with the application procedures stated above. Reviewers will pay particular attention to the proposed method of selecting participating faculty and students, the proposed benefit to the participants and the justification for selecting the foreign training site(s). Letters from the foreign collaborators and their institutional officials indicating their willingness to participate in this training program must accompany the application. AWARD CRITERIA Applications will compete for funds assigned to the Minority International Research Training Grant Program of the Fogarty International Center. The following will be considered in making funding decisions: how the proposal will contribute to the achievement of the program's objectives; scientific, technical and educational merit of the application as determined by peer review; and availability of funds. INQUIRIES The opportunity to clarify any issues or questions from potential applicants is welcomed. Direct inquiries regarding programmatic issues (and the two copies of the application for the Fogarty International Center) to: Dr. David Wolff International Research and Awards Branch Fogarty International Center Building 31, Room B2C39 Bethesda, MD 20892 Telephone: (301) 496-1653 FAX: (301) 402-0779 Direct inquiries regarding fiscal matters to: Ms. Silvia Mandes International Research and Awards Branch Fogarty International Center Building 31, Room B2C39 Bethesda, MD 20892 Telephone: (301) 496-1653 FAX: (301) 402-0779 AUTHORITY AND REGULATIONS This program is described in the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance No. 93.106. Awards are made under the authority of the Public Health Service Act, Title III, Part A, Section 307b (42 USC 2421) and administered under PHS grants policies and Federal regulations, most specifically 42 CFR part 61. This program is not subject to the intergovernmental review requirements of Executive Order 12372 or to Health Systems Agency review. The Public Health Service strongly encourages all grant recipients to provide a smoke-free workplace and promote the non-use of all tobacco products. This is consistent with the PHS mission to protect and advance the physical and mental health of the American people. .
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