Stephanie Tomlinson Develops New F31 Handbook to Assist Students

Stephanie Tomlinson, the Grants and Development Coordinator in the Department of Statistics and Data Sciences, developed the 16 page, F31 Handbook in early 2018 to assist graduate students in navigating the application process for this NIH pre-doctoral fellowship. 

What is the F31 Handbook?

The F31 Handbook is a condensed version of the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) pre-doctoral fellowship application guidelines for the Kirschstein-NRSA predoctoral fellowship award. Students who have taken a look at the guidelines published by the NIH (https://grants.nih.gov/grants/how-to-apply-application-guide/forms-e/fellowship-forms-e.pdf) will see it is 124 pages long versus the 16 pages of this handbook. By condensing the text of the guidelines and highlighting NIH and university requirements, the handbook will help pre-doctoral students navigate the application process and increase the likelihood of being awarded funding. There are many requirements from content to formatting that applicants must adhere to in submitting a successful application. The handbook is a living document which will be updated prior to each application deadline as necessary.

Why was it created and who can use it?

The F31 Handbook is created to assist predoctoral students whose topic of research pertains to the mission of the NIH: “NIH’s mission is to seek fundamental knowledge about the nature and behavior of living systems and the application of that knowledge to enhance health, lengthen life, and reduce illness and disability.” (https://www.nih.gov/about-nih/what-we-do/mission-goals)  The topics of research funded by the NIH can range from basic to secondary or provide a clinical training experience, including fields such as biomedical, physics, and statistics among others.

The immediate benefit to predoctoral students of getting a graduate fellowship is having the freedom to focus on their research without committing time as a Research Assistant, Teaching Assistant, or Assistant Instructor. Being awarded a fellowship will also increase the students' competitiveness in the job market by having evidence that their ideas are novel, warranting external support. Also, students will enjoy feedback from reviewers external to the university! Even the application process itself is helpful in giving students the opportunity to learn about and become comfortable with putting together and writing for grant applications—a skill that will be vital later in their postgraduate career.

How can it be used?

Funding from the F31 activity is used to support stipend, tuition, and institutional costs (medical insurance and minimal supplies) for the student. This funding will largely replace the stipend, tuition, and medical insurance provided by being a GRA, AI, or TA, allowing the graduate student to focus their time on their own research.

What else do we need to know?

• F31 funding is available only to US citizens, non-citizen nationals, or lawfully admitted permanent residents.
• 22 organizations within the NIH currently participate in the F31
• Angel Syrett (angelita@austin.utexas.edu) provides a helpful workshop to graduate students preparing to submit an F31 application!
• What starts here changes the world (with the help of external funding)