T32 Proposal Library

Last updated January 3, 2012

This online library has been created to support UCSF researchers in their grant writing process. You'll find links to NIH's instructions, forms, and FAQs, available to everyone.

UCSF researchers and support staff can request access to a repository of successful T32 applications, made possible by award recipients who have generously shared their work. Note: the T32 Proposal Library does not include all UCSF T32 grants.

The limited-access library also contains exemplars of particular sections of the T32 application, drawn from NIH resources and a cross-section of clinically-based and laboratory science-based UCSF T32 applications. These may serve as guidance in the drafting:

  • Tables 1-12
  • Professional Development and Career Guidance (Mentoring) Plans
  • Recruitment and Retention Plan to Enhance Diversity
  • Plan for Instruction in the Responsible Conduct of Research and Ethics

There are also links to descriptions of UCSF’s Core Facilities, descriptions of a selection of both clinical and lab-based facilities and programs, as well as descriptions of the institutional environment and commitment to training, culled from the library of UCSF T32 Applications.

Applying for T32 Grants

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) T32 institutional training grants support predoctoral, postdoctoral, and short-term research training experiences in specified areas of biomedical, behavioral, and clinical research. This funding is also referred to as the Ruth L. Kirschstein Institutional National Research Service Award (NRSA). The program is designed to ensure that a diverse and highly trained workforce is available to assume leadership roles to advance the nation's biomedical and clinical research agenda. T32s support project periods up to five years in duration and are renewable.

NIH T32 institutional training grants are awarded to an eligible institution, such as UCSF, to develop or enhance research training opportunities for individuals selected by the institution. The individual training programs are headed by a leader in the area of focus, the named Principal Investigator on the grant. Within the program, faculty members serve as mentors and provide expertise and research opportunities to trainees as part of the training plan. CTSI maintains a list of current UCSF awardees of grants funded through the T32 mechanism.

NIH Instructions, Forms, FAQs

  • The NIH Grants Policy Statement contains terms and conditions that are binding on UCSF and are incorporated by reference into each grant and cooperative agreement. It is the best starting point when there are questions on roles and responsibilities, application information, and post-award management.
  • It is essential to review the NIH general T32 instruction site.
  • NIH consolidates published information on its training grants into one location, called the T Kiosk. This site includes all individual institute program announcements as well as general policy announcements that affect training grants.
  • The T32 requires an institution, research administration staff, the PI, mentors and trainees to have access to a variety of systems located within eRA Commons, NIH's portal to electronic grants management. All participants must have an eRA Commons account and assigned roles to properly manage a T32.
  • Find NIH Forms and SF424 Guide, including Supplemental guidelines for NRSA (including T32) applications.
  • NIH Institutes and Centers may have institute-specific policies and requirements for T32s, and suggested formats for the information to be included in the program plan. Applicants should contact the prospective awarding component (training grant contacts for each institute are listed at the end of the Program Announcement).
  • NIH maintains a schedule of standard due dates for its funding mechanisms, including the T-series. Use this schedule as a guide to plan ahead - check the next submission cycle for the T32, then build a preparation timetable of at least four to six months ahead of the deadline.
  • After reviewing general policies and the program announcement itself, you may have questions about your T32 proposal or T32 funding you have already received. NIH posts a list of Frequently Asked Questions - NRSA Research Training Grants. A number of the individual Institutes have created FAQs that have general applicability, including NHLBI, NIAID, NIDDK, NINDS, and others.

Accelerate is managed by the UCSF Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI), part of the Clinical and Translational Science Award program funded by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (Grant Number UL1 TR000004) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Cite CTSI NIH Funding Acknowledgment: Important — All publications resulting from the utilization of CTSI resources are required to credit the CTSI grant by including the NIH Funding Acknowledgment and must comply with NIH Public Access Policy.