Revised Instructions for Inclusion of Appendix Materials in Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) Institutional Research Training Grants (Parent T32 and T35)

Notice Number: NOT-OD-11-100

Release Date:  July 28, 2011

National Institutes of Health (NIH)

This Notice revises instructions for the inclusion of appendix materials in Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) Institutional Research Training Grant applications as described in the T32 and T35 Funding Opportunity Announcements (FOA) (PA-11-184) (PA-11-185).

Instructions in current FOA (no longer in effect):

Appendix

Do not use the appendix to circumvent page limits. Follow all instructions for the Appendix as described in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide.

Revised Instructions (the following instructions replace the instructions above):

Appendix

Do not use the appendix to circumvent the page limitations of the Training Plan. All appendix material must be submitted as PDF attachments. A summary listing all of the items included in the appendix is required, and should be the first PDF file of the Appendix. Applications that do not follow the appendix requirements may be delayed in the review process.

Research publications of trainees and mentors are not normally included as part of the Training Grant applications, but are allowed. Other types of publications reflecting on the activities of the program as a whole may also be included. When publications are allowed, appendix materials should be limited to those which are not publicly available. Applicants may submit up to 3 of the following types of publications:

• Manuscripts and/or abstracts accepted for publication but not yet published.
• Published manuscripts and/or abstracts where a free, online, publicly available journal link is not available.
• Patents directly relevant to the project.

Publications that are publicly accessible must not be included in the appendix. For such publications, the URL or PMC submission identification numbers along with the full reference should be included as appropriate in the Progress Report section of the Research Training Program Plan, and/or in the Biographical Sketch.

Do not include unpublished theses or abstracts/manuscripts submitted but not yet accepted for publication.

Some materials other than publications that are unique to training grant applications (but not typically included in research grant applications) may be included as appendices. In general, the appendix may be used to provide samples of materials that are referred to in the body of the application, but are too cumbersome to include in the Research Training Program Plan without disrupting the narrative flow. In general, appendix materials should be kept to a minimum and not detract from the application. For renewal applications, appendix material should be limited to new information since the last submission. Examples of items that might be provided in an appendix include:

      i.        Syllabi for key courses, core courses and electives, including courses in Responsible Conduct of Research, Survival Skills for Research, etc.;

     ii.        Retreat, seminar series, and other program activity agendas, rosters, and schedules (for the past one or two years only);

    iii.        Examples of forms used to document trainee progress and monitoring by the program;

    iv.        Examples of materials used in recruitment and particularly recruitment and retention to enhance diversity of the student pool;

     v.        Lists of meetings attended by students and their presentations (during the last two years); and

    vi.        Student biosketches (current students only).

As a reminder, tables other than the required Data Tables 1-12, must be incorporated into the 25 page limit of the Research Training Program Plan (items 2-4).  These additional tables must not be included in the appendix materials.

Please direct all inquiries to:

Rodney Ulane, Ph.D.
NIH Research Training Officer
Email: nihtrain@mail.nih.gov