By Melinda Butsch Kovacic
(Excerpted from The POSTDOCket, Summer 2004)
Making the successful transition to independence has been a recurring theme for postdocs, especially in the biomedical sciences. Postdocs looking to make the transition to independence will be interested to learn more about the National Institutes of Health (NIH) K Awards. These awards are designed specifically for postdocs and early career scientists who may be new to the grant writing process.
There are a number of different kinds of K awards available. Young scientists can apply for the K01 Mentored Research Scientist Award, the K02 Independent Research Award, the K07 Academic Career Award, K08 Mentored Clinical Scientist Award, K22 Career Transition Award, K23 Mentored Patient-Oriented Research Career Development Award, and the K25 Mentored Quantitative Research Career Development Award. When applying for these awards, it is important that applicants read the institutional program announcements (and not just the NIH-wide announcement) as well as the instructions very carefully as each National Institute has its own specifications that differ by the type of award. Eligibility (including citizenship requirements), length of time, and amount of funding, as well as ability to relocate funding for the K award programs also vary. Some programs have different requirements for NIH Intramural Fellows and Extramural Fellows as well. Many of the NIH institutions, such as the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/funding/training/redbook/newintro.htm) provide to their potential applicants web-based slide sets to help individuals easily decipher between available programs in addition to proposal examples and helpful hints to grant development. After viewing these materials, potential applicants should contact their appropriate NIH Institute to identify their NIH Grant Program Director. Finally, it is important that applicants communicate with his or her Program Director at least one year or more prior to the award submission deadline to discuss prospective grant ideas and procedures. Program Directors can provide much insight and will help applicants to effectively maneuver the grant application process.
One example of a NIH Career Award is the National Cancer Institute (NCI) K22 Career Transition Award. This award is intended to facilitate the move from the mentored to the independent stage of one’s career by providing “protected time" to develop and receive support for early research programs. The NCI K22 award applies to doctoral level individuals and clinicians pursuing careers in the cancer prevention, control and population sciences and clinicians who are pursuing basic science careers or patient-oriented research. NCI K22 candidates must have completed at least two years of postdoctoral research or have been in an independent position for less than two years at the time the application is submitted. The unique feature of this award is that individuals in a mentored position may apply without a sponsoring institution. Successful postdoctoral applicants are given up to 12 months to identify an independent position at a sponsoring institution. It is required that awardees will subsequently apply for an independent research project grant to support the continuation of their work by the end of the second year of the K award.
Depending on the institution to which you are applying, successful K22 recipients may seem more appealing to search committees and may help recipients to stand out when being compared to others that are equally talented and have a similar number of publications. The appeal, however, is not universal and may be institution or even department dependent. As grant writing is a lengthy process, it might be useful to potential would-be grant writers to investigate the institutions for which they intend to apply to determine the value of seeking a K22 or any other K award for that matter. Moreover, postdocs should consider applying early in their fellowships, as it is not unusual for applicants to have to resubmit at least once prior to successfully obtaining funding.
The Career Award Wizard found on the NIH Office of Extramural Research Website (http://grants1.nih.gov/training/careerdevelopmentawards.htm.) can help potential recipients to select the right career award for their respective fields and experience.
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