Modules for Enhancing Biomedical Research Workforce Training (R25 - Independent Clinical Trial Not Allowed)
Funding Agency:
- National Institutes of Health
The NIH Research Education Program (R25) supports research educational activities that complement other formal training programs in the mission areas of the NIH Institutes and Centers.
The overarching goal of this R25 program is to support educational activities that complement and/or enhance the training of a workforce to meet the nation’s biomedical, behavioral and clinical research needs.
Module Development and Accessibility Expectations
To accomplish the stated overarching goal, NIGMS will support modules that focus on the following:
- Developing and disseminating Courses for Skills Development or Curriculum or Methods Development in alignment with one of the NIGMS topic areas defined in the annually released Notices of Special Interest (NOSIs) located in the Related Notices section above. Because of the complex nature of the training module topics, experts in the subject areas are encouraged to be included on the development and dissemination team.
- Assessing the current training needs of the intended audience, specifying the skills and knowledge that will be gained by the audience and how the module will enhance the biomedical research workforce.
- Filling a gap in the existing educational resources and ensuring the content is relevant and broadly useful for audiences that include biomedical researchers at one or more professional levels including students, postdoctoral scientists, staff scientists, clinical researchers, research faculty, etc. When piloting the modules, the developers should recruit participants for feedback that are reflective of the intended audience to ensure the effectiveness of the modules.
The training modules may employ different formats and approaches but should be timely, informative, engaging, easily accessible, and free to the research training community. Some general expectations are as follows:
- Platforms: A shareable format that is easily available to the public at no cost. Examples include, but are not limited to, interactive online modules; videos or case studies with supporting discussion materials or problem sets; online open courses; or computer-video simulations.
- Length of awards: Training modules should be developed, piloted, and disseminated within the first two years of the award. Depending on the complexity of the project, budgets may be awarded for up to three years to allow for module evaluation, modification and dissemination in year three.
- Evaluation: A clear evaluation plan should include a description of the methods, metrics, and timeline of the training module deployment. Evaluation should include verifiable outcomes and how the module developers will obtain feedback about the effectiveness of the training.
- Dissemination: Training modules must reach a broad, diverse group of biomedical researchers. Examples of dissemination include, but are not limited to the following.
- Scientific or Educational Conferences: Through participation in a conference(s), grantees are encouraged to present an overview of the modules, progress in developing the modules such as pilot study and evaluation results, and tutorials for effective uses of the modules.
- NIGMS portal: Once the modules have been developed, tested, and made available, links to these educational resources will be posted on the NIGMS training module clearinghouse web site.
- Accessibility: Training module programs are expected to be accessible to scientists from all backgrounds and abilities, for example, scientists with disabilities. Funded activities are encouraged to explore innovative methods to enhance the accessibility of materials so that all members of the biomedical research workforce may benefit from the training modules.
Applications may request up to $250,000 in direct costs to cover the entire award project period but need to reflect the actual needs of the proposed project. Budget categories should not include inflationary escalation for recurring costs in outyears.
January 26, 2024
Kalynda K. Gonzales Stokes
National Institute of General Medical Sciences
Email: kalynda.stokes@nih.gov