Skip to Content

QUICK REVIEW GUIDE
Individual Biomedical Informatics Fellowship (F37)
PURPOSE: Individual biomedical informatics fellowships provide support for the training of informatics scientists able to perform research into basic informatics problems or to application of informatics to any area of biomedicine, including clinical medicine, basic biomedical research, clinical and health services research, public health, professional education, and administration. Post-doctoral, pre-doctoral and, in certain specified fields, some post-baccalaureate candidates are eligible.

This fellowship is suitable for training in informatics specializations ranging from clinical informatics to the informatics of molecular biology and other large research datasets. Applications that focus on building new skills or extending the applicant's existing expertise are particularly desirable. This fellowship may lead to a degree, although it is not a requirement.

Upon completion of training, fellows should be able to conduct basic or applied research at the intersection of biology and medicine with computer and cognitive sciences, and are expected to be familiar with the use and potential of modern information technology. Fellows in informatics will achieve this goal through an individually-tailored program of formal coursework and research experience, culminating in a project. The program of coursework should develop or augment the trainee's basic competency in each of these areas: computer science, information science, cognitive science, and knowledge of one or more domains of Biomedicine.

The fellowship must provide hands-on experience obtained via a defined project related to one or more of the NLM program areas. Projects may be in basic informatics research areas or address an informatics application. An applied informatics project does not require the form or concepts of a research project, and need not be hypothesis-driven, but the proposal should provide sufficient detail to permit reviewers to judge importance of the problem, feasibility of the approach, and the post-training utility of the informatics techniques required.

Each fellow must have a mentor who provides guidance and oversight for the training program. The mentor should be expert in an area of informatics or information science that is pertinent to the proposed program, and should be an active investigator in the area of the proposed research. The mentor may be at the applicant's home institution or at another institution. If the latter, the plan for supervision and interaction must be described.

MECHANISM OF SUPPORT: This program announcement for Individual Biomedical Informatics Fellowships uses the F37 funding mechanism. Training awards provide stipends to fellows as a subsistence allowance to help defray living expenses during the research training experience. The project period may be for up to three years, and awards are not renewable.

The current annual NLM stipend for postdoctoral trainees is determined by the number of FULL years of relevant postdoctoral experience at the time of award. The range is from $31,092 (0 years) to $48,852 (7 or more years.) Applicants not holding a doctoral degree at the time of award are eligible to receive the base NRSA predoctoral stipend. The 2002 NRSA stipend for predoctoral trainees is $18,156. In addition, trainees may be eligible for supplemental increases for professional training and experience in health care and biological sciences, engineering and computer sciences, and library and information sciences.

NLM will award 100% of the combined costs of tuition, fees, and health insurance up to $3,000 and 60 percent of the combined costs above $3,000. The base formula for travel allows up to $1,000 per year per trainee. NLM provides an institutional allowance of $6000 per year per trainee to defray the costs of other research training expenses, including consultant costs, equipment, and research supplies. Salary for mentors, secretarial, and administrative assistance, etc., is not allowed.

ELIGIBLE APPLICANTS: Only domestic non-Federal organizations, public or private, such as Medical, Dental or Nursing schools or other institutions of higher education, may accept an award on behalf of an applicant. Before submitting a fellowship application, the applicant must identify a sponsoring institution and an individual who will serve as a sponsor (also called mentor or supervisor) and will supervise the training and research experience.
  • Postdoctoral Trainees. By the date of appointment, postdoctoral trainees must have received a Ph.D., M.D. or comparable doctoral degree from an accredited domestic or foreign institution.
  • Professional Degrees: Applicants may be individuals without doctoral degrees who have significant professional training and experience in closely related cognate fields. Applicants with no post-baccalaureate training need substantial professional experience in an area relevant to health or biomedical informatics.
  • Predoctoral trainees: Candidates must have received a baccalaureate degree by the beginning date of their appointment, and must be enrolled in a program leading to a Ph.D. in biomedical sciences or in an equivalent research doctoral degree program. Health-professional students who wish to interrupt their studies for a year or more to engage in full-time research training before completing their professional degrees are also eligible.
NIH REVIEW CRITERIA
The usual NIH criteria apply: significance; approach; innovation; investigator; environment. In addition, reviewers will consider the following:
  • Candidate: An assessment of the candidate's previous academic and research performance and the potential to become an important contributor to biomedical, behavioral, or clinical science.
  • Training Potential: An assessment of the value of the proposed fellowship experience as it relates to the candidate's needs in preparation for a career as an independent researcher.
  • Protections: The adequacy of the proposed protection for humans, animals, or the environment, to the extent they may be adversely affected by the project proposed in the application.
  • Inclusion: The adequacy of plans to include subjects from both genders, all racial and ethnic groups (and subgroups), and children as appropriate for the scientific goals of the research.
  • Budget: The reasonableness of the proposed budget and the requested period of support in relation to the proposed research.
  • Training In The Responsible Conduct Of Research: Applications must include a description of a program to provide instruction in scientific integrity and the responsible conduct of research.
NLM REVIEW CRITERIA
Applied fellowship applications will be judged as such and not as research training applications. Applications with an applied rather than research focus must include:
  • An outline and description of the project including specific hypotheses, objectives, and milestones as appropriate
  • A specific section labeled Milestones following the Research Plan. Milestones should be well described, quantifiable, and scientifically justified. A discussion of the milestones relative to the progress of the project, as well as the implications of successful completion of the milestones for further investigation or implementation, should be included.
  • The clarity and completeness of the specific goals and feasibility of milestones is critical.

Last updated: 20 November 2003
First published: 20 November 2003
Metadata| Permanence level: Permanence Not Guaranteed