Grant mechanisms
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Activity code | The letter-number code for a type of NIH award, such as T32 or R25 |
| NRSA | Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award: the legal basis for NIH training grants and fellowships, with set stipend levels, citizenship rules and, for some postdocs, a payback obligation |
| T32 | Institutional NRSA training grant, mostly for predoctoral and postdoctoral trainees. See predoctoral T32 |
| T34 | Undergraduate institutional NRSA training grant. Used by BURT, and formerly by MARC and U-RISE |
| T35 | Short-term institutional training grant, often for summer research |
| R25 | Research education grant for programs such as research experiences, courses and mentoring. See parent R25 |
| UE5 | Cooperative agreement version of a research education award, used for program development phases such as TURTLE |
| K12 | Institutional career development award; NIGMS now uses it for postdoctoral clinician-scientist programs |
| F30, F31, F32 | Individual NRSA fellowships for MD/PhD students, PhD students and postdocs |
| K99/R00 | Pathway to Independence award: mentored postdoc phase, then independent phase |
| P20 | Center or network grant used by IDeA programs such as INBRE |
| R13 | Scientific conference grant |
Programs (current and former)
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| TWD | NIGMS's Division of Training and Workforce Development; created in 2011 as the Division of Training, Workforce Development, and Diversity |
| BURT | Biomedical Undergraduate Research Training (T34), opened in 2026 |
| TURTLE | Tribal Undergraduate to Graduate Research Training and Leadership Experiences |
| MSTP | Medical Scientist Training Program (MD/PhD) |
| MARC / MARC U-STAR | Maximizing Access to Research Careers (Undergraduate Student Training in Academic Research); ended |
| IMSD | Initiative for Maximizing Student Development; ended |
| RISE, U-RISE, G-RISE | Research Initiative for Scientific Enhancement and its undergraduate and graduate successors; ended |
| PREP | Postbaccalaureate Research Education Program; ended |
| IRACDA | Institutional Research and Academic Career Development Awards; ended |
| MOSAIC | Maximizing Opportunities for Scientific and Academic Independent Careers; ended |
| SEPA | Science Education Partnership Award (pre-K to 12) |
| IDeA, INBRE | Institutional Development Award; IDeA Networks of Biomedical Research Excellence |
| BUILD, NRMN, DPC | Building Infrastructure Leading to Diversity; National Research Mentoring Network; Diversity Program Consortium |
| PPI | Postdoctoral Preparation Institute, the postdoc workshops whose 2016 and 2017 pages lived on this domain |
Application and policy terms
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| NOFO | Notice of Funding Opportunity (older term: FOA). PA, PAR and RFA are types of NOFO |
| Parent announcement | A general NOFO open to many institutes, such as the Parent T32 |
| RPG | Research project grant. BURT's eligibility line is based on NIH RPG funding |
| Research-intensive / research-active | Labels in former NIGMS programs for institutions above or below $7.5 million a year in NIH RPG funding |
| IDP | Individual development plan. See our IDP guide |
| Data tables | Standard tables of trainee and faculty data in training grant applications |
| Standard due dates | NIH's recurring deadlines by award type. See the timeline builder |
| Council | NIH institute advisory council, which reviews applications after peer review |
| Payback | NRSA service obligation for the first year of postdoctoral NRSA support |