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This fall, NIA reissued our R36 Dissertation Award to Promote Diversity funding opportunity, and we are happy to announce it now comes with a larger salary and additional expenses budget. Since this important program began in 2005, NIA has awarded dozens of R36 awards with consistently strong success rates . The R36 has three due dates per year and the next one is Feb. 16. Begin preparing your application now!
R36: The basics and what’s new
The R36 is a dissertation award, which means it provides research and salary support during the final one to two years of graduate studies, when a student is working on their dissertation. The R36 aims to promote diversity in the aging research workforce; therefore, candidates from groups that are underrepresented in the biomedical sciences are encouraged to apply.
Under this year’s reissue, the R36 can now provide up to $42,500 per year in salary and $28,656 in additional expenses. The additional expenses can cover research costs or support fringe benefits such as health insurance. This represents a substantial increase in the NIA R36 budget amount, which we hope will better support living expenses for graduate students and enable them to stay in the field of aging research.
Is the R36 right for me?
Graduate students in the transition period of thinking about moving to their next career stage have three main options when applying for individual awards from NIA: the F31 , the F99/K00 , and the R36 . The R36 can fund a maximum of two years and is limited to U.S. citizens and permanent residents. Therefore, if you are an earlier stage graduate student looking for more than two years of funding to finish your Ph.D., the F31 would be a better fit. If you currently hold a visa, you should consider instead the F99/K00, which is open to international students conducting research in the United States. The F99/K00 is also a great option if you know you want to continue to an aging research postdoc, as it can provide both predoctoral and postdoctoral funding.
Writing a strong R36 application
As an applicant, your research plan should describe a clear and realistic path to finishing your dissertation and completing any other requirements to graduate on time. Describe what you are planning for your next career stage — perhaps a postdoc or another research-focused position in aging — and how you are preparing for that next step. R36 applications are reviewed “in-house” in NIA’s AGCD-4 Chartered Review Committee . These reviewers have a broad range of expertise, from molecular biology to behavioral and clinical research.
Get started early and apply by Feb. 16!
Write a draft of your specific aims page and send it my way via NIATraining@mail.nih.gov . I will let you know whether your research is a good fit for NIA and then connect you with a program officer in your scientific area who can provide more detailed feedback. I will also be happy to answer any questions about the R36 via email or in response to a comment below. We wish you good luck in your applications and look forward to helping support your next career steps!
Applications Training and Career Development 2024-01-10T00:00:00Z