Frequently Asked Questions

The goal of the TBS Program is to provide the training necessary for predoctoral students and postdoctoral fellows (MDs and PhDs) to become the next generation of leaders in translational biomedical research. Emphasis is placed on teaching trainees how to build interdisciplinary collaborative research programs to achieve their career objectives in translational science.

The TBS program complements existing PhD programs at Georgetown University including: Biology, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Cellular Biology, Interdisciplinary Program in Neuroscience, Pharmacology, and Tumor Biology and existing PhD programs at Howard University including: Anatomy, Biochemistry, Microbiology, Pharmacology, and Physiology and Biophysics. Eligible students will broaden their education through a career development plan in human health and disease that includes a didactic curriculum, exposure to clinical medicine, dual preclinical science and clinical mentorship and career enhancement skills, which are tailored to each trainee based on their prior training, and research and career interests. Eligible postdoctoral fellows will enrich their postdoctoral fellowship with similar training.

See Program Page.

See Program page.

To be eligible for NIH funding via the TL1 grant, a trainee must be a citizen or non-citizen national of the U.S., or must be lawfully admitted to the U.S. for permanent residence. Proof of status will be needed at the time of appointment.

Due to a special fund, predoctoral students at Georgetown University who are not U.S. Citizens may also apply to the TBS Program.

Yes, as long as the applicant has passed the admission to candidacy phase of the PhD component of their MD/PhD program at the time of the award.

• Each applicant must identify at least one mentor who currently has sufficient funding and the resources necessary to enable the trainee to conduct their proposed research.

• Both mentors must demonstrate their commitment to training the applicant.

• Postdoctoral fellows must be full-time employees receiving pay and full benefits at their home institution for at least two months prior to the start of the TL1 Award.

See Scholar/Mentor Expectations on Program Page.

Yes, if at least one component of your proposal contains human subject research as in the following examples:

• observational, mechanistic or therapeutic research in humans that complements an animal research project;

• measurement of biomarkers (such as the level of a specific metabolite) in a human population;

• analysis of a severity marker in clinical use;

• secondary analysis of a large database obtained from human subjects;

• research utilizing electronic health records; and,

• clinic to community projects or vice versa.

To ensure trainee competency in human health and disease and rigorous methodology that promotes minimizing bias in experimental design and reporting, the trainee in conjunction with their mentors works together to design the trainee's CDP, which includes five components:

1) didactic education in human health- and disease-related aspects including technical skill development and research methodology; 2) exposure to clinical medicine through mentored rotations in clinics and/or in-patient services; 3) research training in preclinical and clinical translational research via dual mentorship; 4) training in leadership, team science, communication, networking, negotiation, and time management; and, 5) individualized career guidance and acquisition of career-specific skills.

The CDP is tailored to each trainee's prior background and experience, and interests. Trainee strengths and weaknesses are assessed using a standardized rubric that focuses on research skills (experimental design, ethics, research methodology, statistics, and reporting), technical skills (disciplinary knowledge, technical abilities with instruments/equipment, etc.), and collaborative skills (consulting, hiring, presentations, grant preparation, consortium development, etc.). Short- and long-term goals are set, identifying new needed skills or techniques and those that require improvement. Specific objectives are indicated and a timeline is created for the training period.

No. Your research project can focus solely on human subjects.

No. You will need an additional human subject component.

Strictly speaking, no; however, preference will be given to predoctoral students who have passed their qualifying exams within the past year and postdoctoral trainees within 0-3 years of their postdoctoral training.

No. Wait till the next application cycle.

Stipends for predoctoral students and postdoctoral fellows follow the NIH stipend rates for National Research Service Awardees. Link to NIH 2023 Stipend Levels

The TL1 grant will also cover 60% of your university thesis tuition rate for predoctoral students.

Note: Similarly, to every predoctoral student and postdoctoral fellow funded by an individual NIH National Research Service Award (NRSA) training grant, the difference between the PhD student's stipend or postdoctoral fellow's salary and the TL1-funded component cannot be made up from another federal grant since this is how NIH defines "cost-sharing" and no cost-sharing is allowed on NRSA grants. For example, if a mentor wants to pay their postdoctoral fellow with 1 year of experience more than $56,484, that mentor can only use non-US government funds to supplement the postdoctoral fellow's salary. Approval from the TBS Program is also necessary to receive salary supplementation to ensure NIH requirements are not violated.

You need to include a letter from your PhD Program Director that states the date you passed your qualifying exams and that you are in good standing in your PhD program.

If you have not passed your qualifying exams but are planning to take them after the application deadline, you may provide a letter from your PhD Program Director stating their belief that you will pass.

If so, NIH dictates that you are not eligible to apply.

The TL1 grant will fund up to two years of training. However, the second year of funding is not guaranteed and is based on performance in the program.

Note: Similarly, to all predoctoral students and postdoctoral fellows funded by an NIH individual National Research Service Award, total NIH trainee support is limited to: 5 years for predoctoral trainees; 6 years for dual-degree trainees (e.g., MD/PhD, DO/PhD, DDS/PhD, AuD/PhD, DVM/PhD); and, 3 years for postdoctoral fellows.

See Program page.

Early July.

September 1, 2024.

In the Application Directions Section of the Program page. Click the link for the Final Application Layout Checklist.

No, the interest form is optional. However, filling out an interest form is beneficial because you will receive feedback from the TBS Program Review Committee prior to the submission of your final application.

Discuss this with your mentors.

Yes. You need two mentors to complement different aspects of your project. You also need to provide a mentorship plan that involves and integrates both mentors into your training plan.

Click the red box on the Program page for the application.

Your letters of support are included within your final application, which is submitted as a single PDF file. See Final Application Layout Checklist on Program Page.

For All Postdoctoral Fellows: Yes, NIH stipulates that the TL1 grant provides stipends to postdoctoral fellows for subsistence support or to defray expenses during the period of training. NIH does not consider these funds compensation for services rendered. Therefore, NIH dictates that TL1 postdoctoral fellows are not considered employees of that University/Institute and are not eligible to receive employee health insurance or other employment benefits from that University/Institute. The TL1 grant is of a fixed duration, and there is no guarantee or expectation that TL1 trainees will be employed by that University/Institute following the expiration or termination of TL1 grant funding.

For Howard University Predoctoral Students: To be eligible for the TL1 program, you are required to be listed as a student and not employed by other Howard University mechanisms.

NIH requires TL1 trainees to pursue their research training full-time. Full-time is generally defined as devoting at least 40 hours per week to research training activities, or as specified by the awardee institution in accordance with its own policies.

Beyond the full-time training requirement, NIH recognizes that TL1-funded predoctoral students and postdoctoral fellows may engage in part-time employment incidental to their training. Fellows and trainees may spend on average, an additional 25% of their time (e.g., 10 hours per week) in part-time research, teaching, or clinical employment, so long as those activities do not interfere with, or lengthen, the duration of their TL1 training.

https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-17-095.html

See the file in the Scholar/Mentor Expectations on the Program page.

Yes, you can be terminated prematurely if you do not meet the expectations of the TBS Program or you do not comply with the policies of NIH or your home institution.