Training Grant Program Resources

Many new and renewal NIH training applications now require a combined Institutional Letter of Support signed by the Executive Vice Chancellor that describes all institutional resources supporting the planned training program and its trainees as well as how the program strategically fits within the overall training grant landscape of campus. This single institutional support letter replaces the former process of collecting multiple letters of support from across campus.

To obtain the most current version of the Institutional Letter of Support template, please complete this brief form and the current template will be emailed to you as a GoogleDoc link within 10 business days. This will kick off the collaborative editing process within the GoogleDoc, where the PI/PD and staff will make edits and add detailed program information directly into the shared document. 

At least four weeks prior to the submission deadline, once the PI/PD has tailored the letter to their specific program (no longer than 10-pages), tag Jenn Bourque (jbourque@ucsd.edu) in the GoogleDoc or email the link back to us. The letter then will be reviewed, approved, routed for signature, and then returned to the PI/PD and staff for inclusion in the proposal. 

Depending on program particulars, the review process may involve the Division of Graduate Education and Postdoctoral Affairs, Department Chairs, School Deans, and the appropriate sponsored projects office prior to routing to the Office of the Executive Vice Chancellor for final signature. 

The new compensation requirements for graduate student researchers (GSRs) have increased the gap between existing GSR stipend rates and NIH T-series training grant salary caps. These grants provide critical funding support to our GSRs as well as our research enterprise. They also bring significant prestige to our talented students and to our institution. 
 
We are pleased to announce that Chancellor Khosla has committed up to $4.3 million in funding for fiscal year 2024-2025 to provide relief for PIs who are successful in securing training grants for their students. Funding will be provided to cover stipend gaps, with PIs continuing to fund tuition and fees. 
 
We appreciate our faculty PI colleagues who brought this need to our attention and whose leadership on these institutional training grants is essential to their success.

Detailed implementation guidelines are below and available online here.

See bottom of page for FAQ's.

Trainee-centered mentoring is an essential component of a successful research training experience. Below are resources at UC San Diego and beyond to support faculty mentors of research trainees.

• Individual Consultations: Faculty Leadership and Development provides consultations with PIs and other faculty leaders on best practices in mentoring, strategies for working with your trainees and staff, and navigating common challenges encountered in the research training environment. Contact Ellen Beck for details. 
• Individual Development Plans (IDPs) for Graduate Students and Postdoctoral Scholars:  Mentors can use IDPs to facilitate communication about a trainee's short- and long-term career objectives as well as the professional development plans to reach these goals. 
• Health Sciences Faculty Mentor Training Program: a formal structured mentorship program in Health Sciences designed to support the success of junior faculty, while also improving their sense of satisfaction and engagement with the institution. Recently this training has been made available to the broader campus community, if interested please email: hsfacaffairs@health.ucsd.edu 
• Equity in Graduate Education (EGE) Resource Center: offers professional and organizational development opportunities that foster reflection, healthy discussion, and practical strategies for equitably recruiting, admitting, and serving students. A three-part workshop series (Introduction to Equity-Minded Mentoring, Fostering Wellbeing in Racialized Mentoring Environments, and Creating Cultures of Mentoring & Wellbeing) is offered annually through the UC San Diego Division of Graduate Education & Postdoctoral Affairs. 
• NASEM Science of Effective Mentoring Resources: The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine compiled and analyzed current research on effective mentors and developed these interactive resources, for example an amazing podcast offering short glimpses into real mentorship experiences through the eyes of both student mentees and faculty mentors.
• National Research Mentoring Network (NRMN): resources to support the adoption of evidence-based mentoring practices to prepare trainees for successful careers.
• Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Postdoctoral Scholar Mentoring: Annual award recognizing faculty who serve as effective advisors, advocates, role models, and colleagues for UC San Diego postdocs.

NIH is prioritizing comprehensive program evaluations, logic models, and assessment, with a focus on trainee goals and learning outcomes in its proposal reviews. As the community continues to develop best practices, here are some resources to help you in creating your program assessment strategy.

• Center for Research & Evaluation: resources for evaluation design/methodology, program monitoring/progress reports, data collection, data analysis, and evaluation reporting.
• Teaching & Learning Commons: resources for assessment, setting program learning outcomes, and implementing an assessment plan.
• NIH TWD Webinar: 2022 Training, Workforce Development, and Diversity on Program Assessment and Evaluation.
• NSF NRT Evaluators: resources for program evaluation specific to NSF Research Traineeship programs. 

University facilities and trainings support the cutting-edge research conducting across campus and ensure research is conducted in an ethical and responsible manner. The below resources delineate expectations for the high standards of ethical behavior for faculty and students involved in research and provide procedures for addressing allegations of misconduct in research.

• Core Facilities: listing of current research core facilities accessible to UC San Diego faculty, fellows, staff, and students.
• Laboratory Safety Manual: online manual for policies, procedures, and services for campus research and teaching laboratories. 
• Research Compliance Training: required and recommended training for researchers and research support staff. 
• Responsible Conduct of Research Training: information on upcoming RCR training options for students, postdocs, and trainees compliant with NIH and NSF requirements. 
• Research Ethics Program: a resource for the campus community to identify and address ethical challenges intrinsic to the conduct of science, engineering, and other academic scholarship.
• NIGMS Training Modules for Reproducibility Clearinghouse: training modules and resources to enhance rigor and reproducibility in research.
• Rigor and Reproducibility: teaching on the topic of rigor and reproducibility.

UC San Diego values a positive, supportive, and inclusive research and training environment for individuals from all backgrounds. Below are resources from the Office of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion as well as our Principles of Community that are vital to the success of the University and the well-being of its constituents.

• Principles of Community: guiding principles of UC San Diego to foster the best possible working and learning environment.
• Diversity Programs: listing of the more than 30 programs designed to enhance equity, diversity, and inclusion on campus.
• Interactive Diversity Dashboards: transparent institution-wide data displays of diversity among undergraduate and graduate students, staff, and faculty as well as results of campus climate surveys and reports prepared by campus committees, task forces, advisory panels and other groups regarding faculty, gender, equity and racial diversity.
• Graduate Diversity Coordinators Program: department and program representatives within the UC San Diego community that are committed to recruiting diverse graduate students.
• Resources on Managing Implicit Bias in Hiring: as part of UC's commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion, training was created to increase awareness of implicit bias and reduce its impact.
• National Center for Faculty Development & Diversity: NCFDD is an independent professional development, training, and mentoring community for faculty members, postdocs, and graduate students. UC San Diego maintains an institutional membership, which can be activated here.

In Spring 2021, Northwestern University, together with Georgetown University, Emory University and University of Wisconsin-Madison, invited UC San Diego to join a new group that was coming together to discuss NIH guidelines, share resources, and support training grant administration. This group is called the National Training Grant Community of Practice and meets three times per year. Below are recordings and slides from these meetings. If you're interested joining the community of practice, please email the organizing committee (NationalTrainingGrantCommunity@gmail.com) to get added to the listserv.

• Next Meeting: October, 24, 2024 at 2pm EST

* A New Google Shared Drive has been created for all members of the National Training Grant Community of Practice. Please request access to this shared drive to view comprehensive resources; to reduce redundancy, no additional resources will be posted as links on this page, rather interested individuals should request access to the Shared Drive to view all community of practice resources. If you have trouble accessing the Shared Drive, please email NationalTrainingGrantCommunity@gmail.com.