For Applicants

***NEW***
We are now accepting applications for a new BIRCWH Scholar.  The application can be found under the "Downloads" section of this page.

Application updated 9.2.08

Eligibility

BIRCWH Scholars:
The Scholar position is a junior faculty appointment, not a fellowship. At the time of the award, candidates for support as BIRCWH (K-12) Scholars must:

1. Have a clinical doctorate or PhD degree or its equivalent (MD, PhD, DO, DDS, DVM, OD, DC, PharmD, DNP).
2. Have completed any postgraduate training normally expected for a faculty appointment in their field (including clinical or postdoctoral fellowship training, or residency if they have chosen not to subspecialize).
3. Be junior faculty who have the potential to establish their own funded research programs. Applicants must have faculty appointments or qualify for joint appointment.
4. Identify 2-3 mentors with extensive research experience.
5. Be able to spend 75 percent of full-time professional effort conducting research and research career development activities. Their department or school must be able to demonstrate the potential scholar has been given adequate laboratory or clinical research space and all the appropriate infrastructure support to successfully complete research projects.
6. Not be or have been a Principal Investigator on an R01, R29 or subproject of a Program Project (P01), Center (P50, P60, U54) grant, mentored career development (K-series) grants, or other equivalent research grant awards; except for R03 and R21.
7. Be a U.S. citizen or noncitizen national, or must have been lawfully admitted for permanent residence and possess an Alien Registration Receipt Card (I-151 or I-155) or some other verification of legal admission as a permanent citizen. Individuals on temporary or student visas are not eligible.
8. During their tenure as BIRCWH Scholars, participants are required to apply for independent research grant support. When a BIRCWH Scholar obtains a federally funded extramural award, they will be considered to have successfully completed the BIRCWH training. Although NIH requires that BIRCWH salary support be terminated when a Scholar receives extramural funding, Scholars may still participate in the training and mentoring aspects of the BIRCWH program, if they so desire.

Support is in the form of a minimum of two consecutive 12-month appointments, renewable in annual increments for up to three years total, with a possible fourth or fifth year of funding if judged appropriate by the Advisory Committee.  Renewal of the contract is contingent upon satisfactory progress as reported to the Advisory Committee and to the NIH in the annual progress report of the Program. Scholars are encouraged to apply for independent research grant support during the period of BIRCWH (K-12) support, and are allowed concurrent salary support only while in the last two years when in compliance with NIH Policy Notice, NOT-OD-04-007 which can be found at:  http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-04-007.html.

In order to accommodate the needs of those interested in participating in this program who may have had a career hiatus because of family responsibilities, uniformed service, etc., there is no limit on time elapsed since completion of training. At the time of their application, scholars cannot have more than six years of research training experience beyond their last doctoral degree.

Selection Criteria

Candidates will be selected by the Interdisciplinary Advisory Committee, based on the scholar’s application and a group interview. The evaluation criteria for the BIRCWH program will be:

• Candidate’s commitment to a career in interdisciplinary women’s health research   
• Quality and match of mentorship team to the scholar’s interests and team’s mentorship plan
• Candidate’s potential to develop as an independent and productive women’s health researcher
• Significance and quality of the of the interdisciplinary scientific proposal
• Strength of training plan
• Justification of need for additional training and career development
• Strength of the department/school’s support of the scholar (release time and resources)
  

Back to BIRCHW Home Page