Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) Stipend Increase and Other Budgetary Changes Effective for Fiscal Year 2005

Back to main Grants and Contracts Page

RELEASE DATE: February 4, 2005 NOT-OD-04-023 National Institutes of Health (NIH) Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) Health Resources Services Administration (HRSA)

The stipend levels for Fiscal Year (FY) 2005 Kirschstein-NRSA awards for undergraduate, predoctoral and postdoctoral trainees and fellows are shown below. The Training Related Expenses for trainees and the Institutional Allowance for individual fellows for FY 2005 are also shown below.

IT SHOULD BE NOTED THAT THE DESCRIBED BUDGETARY CHANGES ARE EFFECTIVE ONLY FOR KIRSCHSTEIN-NRSA AWARDS MADE WITH FY 2005 FUNDS. Retroactive adjustments or supplementation of stipends or other budgetary categories with Kirschstein-NRSA funds for an award made prior to October 1, 2004 is not permitted. Budgetary adjustments for training grant and fellowship awards, therefore, will be made only at the time of the FY 2005 award.

STIPENDS: Effective with all Kirschstein-NRSA awards made on or after October 1, 2004, 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:

The new 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 now in the review process.

The NIH encourages institutions to limit the duration of graduate and postdoctoral training to the extent possible. In most cases, graduate and postdoctoral research training from any source should not exceed 6 years and 5 years, respectively. The NIH retains 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 should not be construed as an endorsement of extended periods of postdoctoral research training. The NIH also seeks to address the need to help defray the increasing costs of health insurance for individual NRSA fellows.

It should be noted that the increase in the zero level postdoctoral stipend will increase the maximum amount that NIH will award to support the compensation package for a graduate student research assistant as described at grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-02-017.html.

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 remains at the amounts shown below for all awards made with FY 2005 funds:

Training Related Expenses on Institutional Training Grants

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 amounts will be applied to all competing and non-competing NRSA awards made with FY 2004 funds. These levels are to be used in the preparation of future competing and non-competing Kirschstein-NRSA institutional training grant and individual fellowship applications. They will be administratively applied to all applications now in the review process.

Inquiries