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Purpose: The National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) will award Minority Access to Research Careers (MARC) Undergraduate Student Training in Academic Research (U-STAR)

National Research Service Act (NRSA) Training grants to eligible institutions as a means of supporting undergraduate academic and research training to help ensure that a diverse and highly trained workforce is available to assume leadership roles related to the Nation’s biomedical and behavioral research agenda. The MARC U-STAR program is designed to have a significant impact on the health-related research needs of the Nation by providing support to students underrepresented in the biomedical and behavioral sciences and improving their preparation for highly selective Ph.D. level training and future careers. The program supports efforts to strengthen the science/math course curricula, pedagogical skills of faculty, and biomedical research training at institutions with significant enrollments of students from underrepresented groups.
Mechanism of Support: This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) will utilize the Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) Prebaccalaureate Institutional Academic and Research Training Grant (T34).
Funds Available and Anticipated Number of Awards: Because the nature and scope of the proposed research training will vary from application to application, it is anticipated that the size and duration of each award will also vary. The total amount awarded and the number of awards will depend upon the number, quality, duration, and costs of the applications received.
Budget and Project Period: Awards for T34 institutional NRSA training grants may be for project periods up to five years in duration and are renewable. Trainees are required to pursue full-time research training for a consecutive 24- month period.
Application Research Training Program Plan Component Page Length: The page limit for items 2, 3, and 5 is 25 pages collectively (see Section 8 of the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide).
Eligible Institutions/Organizations: Only domestic, non-profit, private or public institutions that offer the baccalaureate degree in subjects related to biomedical and behavioral science and with substantial enrollments of students from groups that are underrepresented in the biomedical and behavioral sciences research enterprise of this country are eligible to apply for support from MARC U-STAR training grants.
Eligible Program Director(s)/Principal Investigator(s) (PD/PI): An eligible MARC PD/PI is any full-time faculty member with the skills, knowledge, successful past training record, and available resources necessary to carry out the proposed undergraduate academic and research training program. The PD/PI should have strong records in research, teaching, training, and administration. The PD/PI will be responsible for the selection and appointment of eligible trainees to the MARC training grant, the overall direction of the program, management and administration of the training program, program evaluation and the submission of all required forms to NIGMS in a timely manner.
Number of PDs/PIs: More than one PD/PI, i.e., multiple PDs/PIs, may be designated on the application.
Number of Applications: An eligible institution may apply for and hold only one MARC U-STAR academic and research training grant.
Resubmissions: Resubmission applications will be accepted. See new NIH policy on resubmission (amended) applications (NOT-OD-09-003, NOT-OD-09-016). Such application must include an Introduction addressing the previous peer review critique (Summary Statement).
Renewals: Applicants may submit a renewal application.
Application Materials. See Section IV.1 for application materials.
Note: Applications for the MARC U-STAR T34 training grant do not use SF424 Research and Related (R&R) form data tables (Table 1 – 12). Instead MARC T34 applicants may use the suggested data tables (Tables A – D) shown in this FOA. While applicants are not required to use these suggested tables, the information contained on them must be presented in the application in some format. For ease, the tables can be downloaded from the NIGMS/MORE Web site http://www.nigms.nih.gov/Minority/applications.htm.
General Information: For general information on SF424 (R&R) Application and Electronic Submission, see these Web sites:
SF424 (R&R) Application and Electronic Submission Information: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/funding/424/Index.htm. Applicants for MARC U-STAR training grants should include the SF 424 (R&R) Detailed Budget Form.
General Information on Electronic Submission of Grant Applications: http://era.nih.gov/ElectronicReceipt/
Hearing Impaired: Telecommunications for the hearing impaired is available at: TTY 301-451-5936.

Eligible ApplicantsIf an institution/organization cannot accept Federal funds directly, it must submit a letter stating that it will accept the award, but that funds must be administered through a fiscal agent organization. This agent must be identified in the letter from the applicant and the letter must be countersigned by an authorized representative of the fiscal agent organization. The letter should include the fiscal agent’s point of contact, address, telephone number, fax number and e-mail address. Both the fiscal agent organization and the applicant school or institution/organization must submit complete management

Eligible Institutions

The following organizations/institutions are eligible to apply:

Public/State Controlled Institutions of Higher Education
Private Institutions of Higher Education
Hispanic-serving Institutions (HSIs)
Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs)
Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs)
Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions
Only domestic, non-profit, private or public institutions that confer the baccalaureate degree in subjects related to biomedical or behavioral science and that has a substantial undergraduate enrollment of students drawn from groups that are underrepresented in the Nation’s biomedical and behavioral science research fields are eligible to apply. Foreign institutions are not eligible to apply.

Eligible Individuals

Any individual with the skills, knowledge, successful past training record and resources necessary to organize and implement a high-quality academic and research training program is invited to work with their institution to develop an application for support.

The MARC PD/PI should be a full-time faculty member with strong records in research, teaching, training, and administration. The PD/PI will be responsible for the selection and appointment of eligible trainees to the MARC training grant; the overall direction of the program, management and administration of the training program, program evaluation, and the submission of all required forms to NIGMS in a timely manner.

Multiple PD/PIs: More than one MARC PD/PI (or multiple PD/PIs), may be designated on the application for training programs that require a team approach and therefore clearly do not fit the single PD/PI model, e.g., interdisciplinary or multidisciplinary training. The decision to apply with a single PD/PI or multiple PD/PIs is the responsibility of the investigators and applicant organizations, and should be determined and justified by the goals of the training program. Applications for grants with multiple PD/PIs require additional information. When considering multiple PD/PIs, please be aware that the structure and governance of the PD/PI leadership team as well as the knowledge, skills and experience of the individual PD/PI will be factored into the assessment of the overall scientific merit of the application. Multiple PD/PIs on a program share the authority and responsibility for leading and directing the training program, intellectually and logistically. Each PD/PI is responsible and accountable to the grantee organization for the proper conduct of the program, including the submission of required reports.

Applications with multiple MARC PD/PIs must provide a Leadership Plan that emphasizes how leadership by multiple PD/PIs will benefit the research training program and the trainees. A single Contact PD/PI must be designated for the purpose of communicating with the NIH, although other individuals may contact the NIH on behalf of the Contact PD/PI when necessary. Because training programs are intended to be coherent a single award will be made. NIH will not allocate the budget or training positions between multiple PD/PIs. Multiple PD/PI application should include reasonable numbers of PD/PIs and each should be included for a specific purpose. Multiple PD/PI applications should not include all mentors of the training grant as PD/PIs, except in unusual cases.

Additional instructional information associated with the multiple PD/PI option is located in Section 8 of the Application Guide instructions 8.10.10 (Multiple PD/PI Leadership Plan). For background information on the Multiple PD/PI initiative, see: Multiple Principal Investigators.

Available Funding

Because the nature and scope of the proposed research training programs will vary from application to application, it is anticipated that the size and duration of each award will also vary. Although the financial plans of NIGMS provides support for this program, the total amount awarded and the number of awards will depend upon the number, quality, duration, and costs of the applications received. Applicants are strongly urged to contact appropriate IC scientific staff listed under Section VII for guidance prior to preparing the application.

Grantees are expected to be familiar with and comply with applicable cost policies and the NRSA Guidelines (NIH Grants Policy Statement - Institutional Research Training Grants). Funds may be used only for those expenses that are directly related to and necessary for the academic and research training not otherwise available and must be expended in conformance with OMB Cost Principles, the NIH Grants Policy Statement, and the NRSA regulations, policies, guidelines, and conditions set forth in this document.

Agency Name

National Institutes of Health