NIH NRSA Postdoctoral Fellows Stipend Levels

last updated 09/08/09

RUTH L. KIRSCHSTEIN NATIONAL RESEARCH SERVICE AWARD (NRSA) STIPEND INCREASE AND OTHER BUDGETARY CHANGES EFFECTIVE FOR FISCAL YEAR 2009

• Career Level Stipend for FY 2008
• Institutional Allowance and Training Related Expenses for NRSA recipients

RELEASE DATE: March 27, 2009

NOTICE: NOT-OD-09-075

National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)
Health Resources Services Administration (HRSA)

This Notice supersedes NOT-OD-07-057 and NOT-OD-08-036, and establishes new stipend levels for fiscal year (FY) 2009 Kirschstein-NRSA awards for undergraduate, predoctoral and postdoctoral trainees and fellows, as shown in the table below. The Training Related Expenses for trainees and the Institutional Allowance for individual fellows remain as previously announced in NOT-OD-06-093 and are also summarized below.

The budgetary categories described in this Notice are effective only for Kirschstein-NRSA awards made with FY 2009 funds. All FY2009 awards issued using FY2008 stipend levels will be revised to increase the stipend category to the FY2009 level. Retroactive adjustments or supplementation of stipends or other budgetary categories with Kirschstein-NRSA funds for an award made prior to October 1, 2008 are not permitted.

STIPENDS: Effective with all Kirschstein-NRSA awards made on or after October 1, 2008, the following annual stipend levels apply to all individuals receiving support through institutional research training grants or individual fellowships, including the Minority Access to Research Career (MARC) and Career Opportunities in Research (COR) programs. These awards are made under the authority of Section 487 of the Public Health Service Act, as amended.

The stipend levels are as follows:

Career Level Stipend for FY 2009

Undergraduates in the MARC and COR Programs
Freshmen/Sophomores	$ 7,896
Juniors/Seniors	$ 11,064
Predoctoral	$ 20,976
Postdoctoral
Years of Experience
0	$ 37,368
1	$ 39,360
2	$ 42,204
3	$ 43,860
4	$ 45,504
5	$ 47,460
6	$ 49,344
7 or more	$ 51,552

These stipend levels are to be used in the preparation of future competing and non-competing NRSA institutional training grant and individual fellowship applications. They will be administratively applied to all applications currently in the review process.

NRSA support is limited to 5 years for predoctoral trainees, and 3 years for postdoctoral fellows. The NIH provides eight levels of postdoctoral stipends to accommodate individuals who complete other forms of health-related training prior to accepting a Kirschstein-NRSA supported position. (The presence of eight discrete levels of experience, however, does not constitute an endorsement of extended periods of postdoctoral research training.)

It should be noted that the maximum amount that NIH will award to support the compensation package for a graduate student research assistant remains at the zero level postdoctoral stipend, as described in NOT-OD-02-017.

INSTITUTIONAL ALLOWANCE AND TRAINING RELATED EXPENSES FOR KIRSCHSTEIN- NRSA RECIPIENTS:

The Training Related Expenses for each predoctoral and postdoctoral trainee as well as the Institutional Allowance for all predoctoral and postdoctoral fellows will be paid at the amounts shown below for all awards made with FY 2009 funds:

Training Related Expenses on Institutional Training Grants
Predoctoral Trainees	$4,200
Postdoctoral Trainees:	$7,850
Institutional Allowance on Individual Fellows Sponsored by non-Federal Public & Private Institutions (Domestic & Foreign)
Predoctoral Fellows:	$4,200
Postdoctoral Fellows:	$7,850
Institutional Allowance for Individual Fellows Sponsored by Federal and For-Profit Institutions
Predoctoral Fellows:	$3,100
Postdoctoral Fellows:	$6,750

Expenses allowed within these cost categories are described in the appropriate program announcements, which can be found at http://grants.nih.gov/training/nrsa.htm.
These levels for training-related expenses and institutional allowances are to be used in the preparation of future competing Kirschstein-NRSA institutional training grant and individual fellowship applications, and will be administratively applied to all applications currently in the review process.

INQUIRIES

Questions concerning this notice or other policies relating to training grants or fellowships should be directed to the grants management office in the appropriate NIH Institute or Center, AHRQ, or HRSA.

Inquiries concerning this Notice may be directed to:

Rodney Ulane, Ph.D.
NIH Research Training Officer
National Institutes of Health
6705 Rockledge Drive, Room 3516
Bethesda, Maryland 20892-7963
Phone: (301) 451-4225
FAX: (301) 480-0146
Email: NIHTrain@mail.nih.gov