Office of Research Training and Career Development

Overview

The Research Training and Career Development Office supports research training at the predoctoral, postdoctoral, and early investigator level of career development in scientific areas aligned with the research supported by the Division. The primary goal of this Office is to ensure that sufficient, highly trained research investigators will be available to address research questions pertinent to mental health and mental illness and thereby to reduce the burden of mental and behavioral disorders. Investigators are urged to review the NIMH Strategic Plan and specific research programs within the Division for information on research areas we support and then contact program staff of the Research Training and Career Development Office for additional information on opportunities for support of their research training and career development.

Applicants for institutional (T32) and individual training (F30, F31, F32, R36) and mentored career development (K01, K08, K23, K99/R00) programs are strongly encouraged to incorporate exposure to clinical problems and didactics in the neurobiology of mental illnesses into their training programs. As recommended by the National Advisory Mental Health Council Report on Setting Priorities for Basic Brain and Behavioral Science Research at NIMH, applicants are strongly encouraged to develop integrative applications that span levels of analysis.

The Division encourages the implementation of diverse translational education and research opportunities in institutional research training programs. Training programs may incorporate clinically relevant didactic (e.g. seminars, journal clubs, coursework) and/or research experiences for trainees in order to provide translational exposure from the basic to the clinical dimension. Training programs may also incorporate didactic and/or research experiences that provide translational opportunities within fundamental neuroscience, e.g. experiences that translate from an in vitro to an in vivo system or that translate from human genetic studies to a model system. Such experiences have the potential to offer trainees the opportunity to consider research questions across multiple levels of analysis and from a multidisciplinary perspective.

Office Programs

Institutional Programs

Institutional Training Programs (T32), including the Jointly Sponsored NIH Predoctoral Training Program in the Neurosciences (T32)

Research Education Grants (R25)

Individual Programs

Mentored Career Development Programs (K01, K08, K23) and the Pathways to Independence Program (K99/R00)

Individual Predoctoral and Postdoctoral Fellowships (F30, F31, F32)

Dissertation Research Grants to Increase Diversity (R36)

For a listing of relevant Funding Opportunity Announcements, visit the NIMH page for Research Training, Career Development, and Related Programs.

Additional information of interest may be found on the following web pages:

Contact

Nancy L Desmond, Ph.D.
Office Director and Associate Director for Research Training and Career Development
6001 Executive Boulevard, Room 7197, MSC 9645
301-443-3107, ndesmond@nih.gov

Areas of Emphasis

Multidisciplinary institutional research training that spans the breadth of the research domains supported by the Division and that incorporates training in quantitative skills.
Integrative training across multiple levels of analysis (from genes to molecules to circuits to systems) in humans, non-human primates, or other vertebrate and invertebrate (e.g. fly, zebrafish) models.
We encourage institutional training programs with a focus on developmental neurobiology, drug discovery, social neuroscience, genomics, and/or genetics.