Mentored Career Development Awards: Change in NIH Policy Concerning Concurrent Support From Career Development

The NIH has modified its policy on mentored career development awards (K Awards) to allow award recipients to hold concurrent support from their career award and a competing research grant when recognized as a Principal Investigator or subproject Director. Thus mentored career award recipients in the last two years of their support period will be permitted to reduce the level of effort required for the career award and replace that effort with an NIH research grant or subproject provided they remain in a mentored situation. This policy will permit those candidates who are ready to apply for and receive NIH research support to continue to benefit from the period of protected time offered by the career development award.

Effective for competing applications submitted for February 1, 2004 and beyond, mentored career award recipients, in the last two years of career award support, are encouraged to obtain funding from NIH either as Principal Investigator on a competing research grant award or cooperative agreement, or as project leader on a competing multi-project award. Requested budgets for a competing research grant or a subproject on a multi-project grant should request appropriate amounts for the salary and associated costs for the career recipient's effort.

At the time the research grant is awarded, the effort required on the career award may be reduced to no less than 50 percent and replaced by effort from the research award so that the total level of research commitment remains at 75 percent or more for the duration of the mentored career award. This change in policy applies to the following mentored career award mechanisms: K01, K07 (developmental) K08, K22, K23, and K25, as well as the individuals mentored through institutional K12 awards.

For additional information concerning this change, click here: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files /NOT-OD- 04-007.html

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