NINDS Institutional Research Training Program (T32) | PAR 19 211

Opportunity Information: Apply for PAR 19 211

The NINDS Institutional Research Training Program (T32) funding opportunity (PAR-19-211) is an NIH discretionary grant designed to support institution-led research training programs that align with the mission of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS). The central goal is to build strong, structured training environments that consistently produce well-trained neuroscientists who leave the program with the practical research skills, scientific grounding, and professional development needed to make meaningful contributions to neuroscience research. Rather than funding individual trainees directly, this mechanism supports an organized program at an institution that can recruit, train, and mentor cohorts of trainees within a clearly defined scientific theme.

Programs funded through this FOA are expected to strengthen both the breadth and depth of training in NINDS mission areas by combining multiple training elements into one coherent experience. This includes didactic coursework or structured instruction, hands-on research training, and career development activities, all anchored around a focused theme that gives the program a clear identity and purpose. The research scope is flexible: programs may emphasize basic, clinical, and/or translational neuroscience, as long as the overall content fits within NINDS priorities. The emphasis is on high-quality, intentional training design, not simply providing research assistantships.

A major feature of this opportunity is its strong expectation that trainees will develop core competencies that are essential for rigorous and modern neuroscience. Programs must include clear mechanisms to ensure trainees gain a thorough understanding of experimental design, develop strong statistical and analytical skills, and learn how to communicate science effectively in both oral and written forms to different audiences (for example, scientific peers, clinicians, interdisciplinary collaborators, and broader public audiences). In addition, regardless of the specific scientific theme, programs are expected to create meaningful opportunities that build quantitative literacy and encourage the use of quantitative approaches in trainees research. In practice, that means trainees should not only be exposed to quantitative methods, but also be supported in applying them directly to their own projects.

The training supported by NINDS under this FOA is intended to be relatively focused and time-limited, typically lasting 1 to 2 years per trainee. The program can support one or more trainee groups, specifically: dissertation-stage predoctoral students (generally in their 3rd and/or 4th year of graduate school), postdoctoral fellows, and fellowship-stage clinicians. A key restriction is that NINDS does not support first- or second-year graduate students under this particular announcement, which signals that the institute expects trainees to be beyond early-stage coursework and ready to benefit from deeper research immersion and advanced professional development.

Eligibility to apply is broad across U.S.-based organizations that can host and administer an institutional training program. Eligible applicants include public and state-controlled institutions of higher education, private institutions of higher education, certain nonprofit organizations (including both 501(c)(3) and non-501(c)(3) nonprofits that are not institutions of higher education), and eligible tribal entities and organizations (including federally recognized tribal governments and other tribal organizations). The FOA also explicitly highlights that a range of institution types are included among eligible applicants, such as Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Hispanic-serving institutions, Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs), Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions, Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs), faith-based or community-based organizations, U.S. territories or possessions, and certain tribal governments that are not federally recognized.

At the same time, there are clear limits related to foreign participation. Non-domestic (non-U.S.) entities (foreign institutions) are not eligible to apply, and non-domestic components of U.S. organizations are not eligible to apply. However, foreign components are allowed as defined by the NIH Grants Policy Statement, meaning a U.S.-based applicant program may be able to include certain well-justified international elements or collaborations if they meet NIH definitions and requirements, even though the applicant organization itself must be U.S.-based.

From an administrative standpoint, this opportunity is listed under CFDA number 93.853 and is offered by the National Institutes of Health. The opportunity record shows an original closing date of February 24, 2021, and it does not specify an award ceiling or expected number of awards in the provided excerpt. Overall, the FOA is best understood as NIH support for institutions to run high-quality, theme-based neuroscience training programs that combine rigorous research experiences with formal skill-building in experimental design, statistics, quantitative methods, and scientific communication, targeted primarily to advanced predoctoral trainees, postdocs, and clinician fellows who are positioned to gain the most from a concentrated 1- to 2-year training experience.

• The National Institutes of Health in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "NINDS Institutional Research Training Program (T32)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.853.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2019-03-06.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2021-02-24. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Eligible applicants include: Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments), Nonprofits having a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Nonprofits that do not have a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Private institutions of higher education, Others.

Apply for PAR 19 211

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