K99/R00 Environment and Institutional Commitment Statement

The NIH Intramural Research Program offers both strong well-established research programs and multiple resources for career enhancement of postdoctoral fellows. There are approximately 1200 Principal Investigators, training 3800 postdoctoral fellows, 300 graduate students, and 600 postbaccalaureate students. There are two types of fellows. Those who are not government employees but trainees (known as IRTAs (Intramural Research Training Award) and CRTAs (Cancer Research Training Award) for US citizens and Visiting Fellows for foreign nationals may stay a maximum of five years. Those who are government employees are Research and Clinical Fellows, generally more senior fellows but who may have less than 5 years postdoctoral experience.

Resources, including core facilities for initiatives such as genomics, proteomics, FACS, mouse breeding, etc., and a large research hospital with 240 beds, offer essentially any scientific service a fellow might require. There are numerous lecture series, with three NIH-wide series of particular note: the Wednesday Afternoon Lecture Series featuring distinguished scientists from around the world, the NIH Director’s Lecture Series featuring newly tenured or about-to-be tenured PIs, and the Clinical Center Grand Rounds. In addition to these, there are about 100 Scientific Interest Groups that sponsor their own seminars and workshops.

Two types of training in Research Integrity are provided: an on-line Introduction to the Responsible Conduct of Research course that all new scientific staff are required to take, and yearly ethics case discussions around topics and cases selected by the NIH Committee on Scientific Conduct and Ethics. Coursework in many scientific areas is offered through the Foundation for Advanced Education in the Sciences and the Clinical Center, including Introduction to the Principles and Practice of Clinical Research (IPPCR), Principles of Clinical Pharmacology, and Demystifying Medicine. Additional coursework offered and/or required includes: Laboratory Safety training, Protection of Human Research Subjects, Technology Transfer Online Training, a Radiation Safety Course, Using Animals in Intramural Research, Clinical Research Training, Working Safely with HIV and Other Blood-borne Pathogens, Working Safely with Nonhuman Primates, and Universal Precautions. Additional training covers New Employee Ethics Orientation, NIH Computer Security Awareness, Prevention of Sexual Harassment Training, Disability Awareness Training, and NIH Standards of Ethical Conduct (Annual Ethics) Training. The Office of Intramural Training and Education (OITE), in collaboration with the NIH Fellows Committee and the Office of Research on Women’s Health, offers a variety of training programs specifically for fellows: speaking and writing courses, a career series, and survival skills programs including grant writing. Once a year, the NIH holds a 2-day Research Festival, at which all speakers are intramural scientists – associated with it is a Job Fair for the postdoctoral fellows.