NIH NRSA F31 and F31 Diversity Proposal Preparation and Submission

Overview

This page refers to applications for the NIH's PA-11-111 and PA-11-112 predoctoral fellowship programs.

Eligibility

To apply, you must be a US citizen, national, or permanent resident enrolled in a Ph.D. program or equivalent research degree. (For more information, see Section III, subheading “Eligible Individuals,” at the NRSA Guide.

Diversity applicants also require certification that they are members of a group that qualifies for the diversity awards. (See below.)

Your sponsor must also meet UCSD’s eligibility requirement to submit proposals for extramural support. Work with your department graduate coordinator, fiscal manager, or MSO to determine whether your sponsor holds one of the appropriate title codes.

Whether to Submit to OGS or HSSPPO

Students enrolled in Ph.D. (only) programs should submit their applications through OGS. Students enrolled in Pharm.D., Pharm.D./Ph.D., and M.D./Ph.D. programs should submit their applications through HSSPPO.

Acquiring an eRA Commons User ID

Before letters of reference (see below) or the application can be submitted, the student applicant must first have an eRA Commons User ID with the PD/PI role assigned. Contact OCGA to request a user ID or verify that your account has the PD/PI role.

Conflict of Interest Regulations

In August 2012, the US Public Health Service (PHS), of which the NIH is a part, changed its regulations regarding Conflict of Interest (COI) disclosure. Under the new regulations, graduate fellowships (including F31s) are subject to COI disclosure. Prior to submitting the F31 application, all individuals listed as Senior/Key Personnel must submit the Financial Interest Disclosure for PHS-Funded Research form to UCSD's COI office. That is, the student PI, the sponsor, and all other persons listed as Senior/Key Personnel must each submit this form. See this page for more information. When completing the financial interest disclosure form, please note that F31 applicants do not receive UCSD proposal numbers.

(Senior/Key Personnel at institutions other than UCSD may follow their institution's procedures for COI disclosure. Senior/Key Personnel at other institutions that do not have a PHS-approved COI disclosure procedure must follow UCSD's procedure and submit the appropriate forms to the UCSD COI office.)

Please CC gradadvisor@ucsd.edu on all COI form submissions.

Internal Submission Deadlines

Applications for F31 and F31 Diversity Fellowships must be submitted to OGS no later than 14 calendar days before the agency deadline. At this point, all application sheets must be filled in, the Specific Aims and Research Strategy must be in good draft form, and all other attachments must be in final form.

The complete application, including the Specific Aims and Research Strategy in final form, must be submitted to OGS no later than 3 business days before the agency deadline.

OGS cannot guarantee that applications submitted after these deadlines will be properly reviewed or submitted on time.

OGS Submission Deadlines for the August 2013 NIH F31 Application Cycle.

How to Submit to OGS

 Four items are required for submission to OGS:

1)      Application form (electronic)

2)      Budget workbook (electronic)

3)      Application checklist (electronic)

4)      Fellowship Assurance Form (paper)

The application form should be downloaded from grants.gov. All materials (e.g., project summary, project narrative) except for letters of reference (see below) will be attached to this application form.

The budget workbook is described in the Budget section below.

The application checklist must be filled out completely and honestly.  

Once your application form is complete, save it as one .pdf and email it along with your budget workbook and application checklist to Zoe Ziliak Michel, the graduate fellowship advisor.

You must also submit the Fellowship Assurance Form in hard copy. Carefully read the form and sign it. Obtain your sponsor’s signature (or sponsors’ signatures) as well; make sure that your sponsor understands what s/he is signing. (Note that you must have your application complete before this form can be signed.) Submit the form either in person at the Office of Graduate Studies or through campus mail (MC 0003).

Once the application form, the budget workbook, the application checklist, and the fellowship assurance form have been received, OGS will review the application, notify you of changes that need to be made, and submit the application on your behalf.

Proposal Components

Letters of Reference

Letters of Reference must be submitted separately from the rest of the application.  Your referees must submit their letters through eRA Commons and use the appropriate reference form. 

SF424 R&R and Other Forms

Refer to the Fellowship Application Guide pages I-20 through I-22 for formatting and page limit instructions. Further page limit instructions are available here.

Our Sample SF424 R & R explains how the main application form should be filled in.  In Box 14, the student’s Division will be General Campus, School of Medicine, or Skaggs School of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences.

Note that seemingly tiny errors in the SF424 R&R form can cause an application to error out in the submission. For example, if there is a space before the start of an email address, the application will error out!

Project / Performance Site Location(s):

• UCSD's DUNS number can be found on the Sample SF424 R&R form.  If you are conducting your research at SDSU, note that they will have a different DUNS number.

Research & Related Other Project Information:

• UCSD’s Human Subjects Assurance Number is 00004495.
• UCSD’s Animal Welfare Assurance Number is A3033-01.
• Refer to the Fellowship Application Guide pages I-57 through I-63 for instructions on sections 7-12 of this form.  Diversity applicants will need to attach their Certification Letter for Predoctoral Fellowships to Promote Diversity as part of section 12.

Certification Letter for Predoctoral Fellowships to Promote Diversity (F31 Diversity only)

• This letter may not be written by your advisor/mentor.  Applications with diversity certifications written by the student’s mentor will not be reviewed by the NIH.  The letter may be written by your department chair as long as the chair does not directly supervise or mentor you.  If your department chair is involved in supervising or mentoring you, contact Zoe Ziliak Michel for help finding someone to write the letter.
• The letter must clearly state why you are eligible for the diversity award. This can be established by 1) referring to the groups that qualify under the NSF’s diversity requirements, 2) certifying that you have a disability, or 3) showing you come from a disadvantaged background. The third option is apparently difficult to prove, but it helps if you can show that you have received previous awards or scholarships reserved for those with disadvantaged backgrounds.

Research & Related Senior/Key Person Profile (Extended)

• The student applicant should be listed first, followed by the sponsor, and then the co-sponsor (if applicable).
• Each person’s “Credential, e.g., agency login” should be completed with that person’s eRA Commons login name.
• The student’s project role is PD/PI. 

PHS Cover Letter

Your cover letter should include the following:

• Application Title
• Funding Opportunity / title of NIH initiative
• Request of assignment to particular awarding component or scientific review group (Request may or may not be honored)
• List of individuals who should not review your application and why (if applicable)
• Disciplines involved (if multidisciplinary)
• Statement that you have attached any required approval documentation
• List of referees with their names, degrees, and affiliations

PHS Fellowship Supplemental Form

• See this great set of advice on how to do your specific aims and other application sections
• Note that more attachments are required if your research includes human or animal subjects.
• In section C, the fellowship applicant’s expected degree completion date may not be earlier than the proposed project end date entered in part 12 of the SF424 R & R form.

Budget

This is often the most confusing part of the application.  Budget information is requested in two places: Section 15 of the SF424 R & R form and section E of the PHS Fellowship Supplemental Form.

Start your budget with the Budget Workbook. We've filled the correct information in for students applying for 5 years of funding. (This information is accurate for the August 2012 application cycle.) If you are applying for fewer years of funding, simply clear the appropriate columns, and the formulae will recalculate your proper totals. For example, if you are applying for 2 years of funding, clear columns D, E, and F. (Contact OGS for help if you are applying for a partial year of funding.)

Section 15 of SF424 R & R:

• Lines b. and d. will be 0.00.  In lines a. and c., enter the amount in cell B10 of your budget workbook.

Section E of PHS Fellowship Supplemental Form:

• The lower section (for senior applicants only) will be left blank.  In the top section, mark that funds are requested for Tuition and Fees.  For each year, enter the amount in Row 7 of your budget workbook.  Year 1 will be $14,516; Year 2 will be $16,548; etc.

(You and your department should be aware of two things: first, the NIH will only award 60% of the requested amount for tuition and fees; the remaining fee payment(s) will need to be made up by the department. Second, NIH currently is not allowing for increases in grant/fellowship budgets from year to year. You should still request the increase in tuition for each year as shown in the budget workbook, but be aware that the NIH may not actually increase the amount of tuition and fees offered from the first year.)

Please Note

OGS cannot assume responsibility for errors in your application.  While we will do our best to review the format of your proposal, final responsibility for both format and content rests with the applicant.

Useful Links

OCGA’s NIH Guide

OCGA’s Grants.gov Guide

HSSPPO’s Wiki with Breaking News from NIH 

NIH’s Guide to the SF424 R & R

Grants.gov’s Opportunities search (Search for F31.)