CCTSI K12 Program

MD, DO, PhD, DDS, DVM, DMD and PharmDs at the time of application.

Candidates must have an early career faculty appointment (Instructor, Sr. Instructor or Assistant Professor level) at the time of the award at the University of Colorado or a CCTSI-affiliated institution.

Applicants who are from underrepresented backgrounds are strongly encouraged to apply. Individuals considered underrepresented in the clinical and translational workforce include: Racial and Ethnic minorities (African Americans, American Indians and Alaska Natives, Hispanics or Latinos, Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders), Persons with Disabilities (National Science Foundation) or Persons from  Disadvantaged Backgrounds.

US citizens or non-citizen nationals or hold some other verification of legal admission as permanent resident are eligible to apply.

Individuals who hold (or will hold) a faculty appointment at the Instructor, Sr. Instructor or Assistant Professor level at a CCTSI-affiliated institution at the time of the award.

Must be a CCTSI member (to become a member click here).

Principal investigators on NIH individual mentored career awards (e.g. K01, K08, K22, K23), research projects (R01), FIRST Awards (R29), sub-projects of program projects (P01), center grants (P50) or the equivalent are ineligible.

An individual with another K award proposal submitted and under review cannot apply for this K12 award. The NIH considers the CCTSI K12 review committee as it would an NIH study section, therefore an individual cannot apply for a K12 if the same grant has been submitted as a K award (i.e. K23, K08) to the NIH and is pending review. Please visit our "Frequently Asked Questions" section for additional information.

A pre-application letter of intent (required from all applicants)

Please create one PDF document for uploading online. Required sections should be in the order listed below. Use Arial 11 pt font or larger. Single spaced paragraphs. Page margins no less than 0.5 inches on all four sides. 

1. Face Page: K12 Program Face Page Template

2. Current NIH Biosketch from APPLICANT/Mentee. Please include positions and employment, awards and honors, publications including abstracts and ongoing research support.

3. Biosketches from each MENTOR (two total). Part A section should specifically address how the mentor will support the applicant to become an independent investigator and resources or other opportunities afforded by the mentor for the applicant.  

4. Summary of career goals, not to exceed one page.

• What training or career development opportunities will the K12 program afford you during the time of the award?
• How do you define diversity in science? Do you have experience with diversity in this field? Describe how experiences in your life will contribute to the mission of promoting diversity in the K12 program. If relevant, explain any breaks in your scholarly activity or hardship in your education or career.
• What are your medium-term (5 years) and longer-term career goals?
• How will your division/department support your research efforts?  

5. Specific Aims Page, not to exceed one page. Synopsis of the research proposal, with aims/hypotheses that will be explored during the period of the K12 award. 

Submit the pre-application online, attach a PDF of your materials

LOI is due by Wednesday, July 26, 2023 at 11:59pm MST

Full application (by invitation only, after review of pre-application)

What to provide:

The full application attachment is a single PDF document that is comprised of:

1. Letters of Support from two mentors (can be one letter signed by both mentors) AND Letter of support from division chief or department chair stating (A) 75% of the applicant's full professional effort will be protected for research (50% for applicants from the department of surgery) and (B) the division/department will provide $25,000 per year to support research cost.

• Updated NIH Biosketch from APPLICANT/Mentee (Please include: positions & employment, awards & honors, publications including abstracts and ongoing research support)                               
• Updated NIH Biosketches from each Mentor (two total). Part A Section should specifically address how the mentor will support the applicant, and resources or other opportunities afforded by the mentor for the applicant.

      2. Scientific Proposal (11 pages total) including:

• Prior research experience (~1 page). Please describe your research background that highlight your qualifications for the K12 award. Also, specifically address diversity experiences and issues you have had thus far in your career (personally and/or in your research), and how they have impacted you.

• Career development plan (~2 pages) outlining how mentors, coursework and experiential learning will positively impact the candidate's career. Details regarding expertise of the applicant’s mentors in mentoring, their commitment of time for mentoring the applicant and feasibility to participate in additional CCTSI-sponsored mentor training should be included. See Mentoring section for additional details. In addition, describe how past experiences will contribute to the mission of promoting diversity in the K12 program. Consider personal diversity attributes, and/or how your planned research and career goals will address diversity. If relevant, explain any breaks in your scholarly activity or hardship in your education or career.                                                                                                   
• Specific Aims Page (NOT TO EXCEED 1 page). Synopsis of the research proposal, with aims/hypotheses that will be explored during the period of the K12 award.                                                                             
• Research plan (~7 pages) that pays close attention to study design issues, statistical methods and feasibility. The plan should clearly delineate how the work proposed is clinical and/or translational, and how it will specifically impact human health. **Preliminary data is NOT required.                                                                                         
• Human subjects section (NOT counted in the 11 page limit). In this section, applicants must specifically acknowledge that human subjects portion(s) of their research plan have been submitted to COMIRB for review, with a COMIRB ID# and submission date. Learn more about the protection of human subjects                                        
• References (NOT counted in the 11 page limit)                                   
• Additional letters of support (OPTIONAL, up to three)

      3. Budget (NOT counted in the 11 page limit). Please include dollar amounts and brief justification (~1 page) for:

• Salary and fringe of applicant (based on job position)
• Supplies, travel, patient care costs, tuition and other expenses related to the project.
  
• This can be limited to one page.

Submit the full application online with a single PDF of all your materials

Full application is due Friday, September 15, 2023 by 11:59pm MST

Are there limitations to the $25,000/year that your department is donating to the award? For example, may you use this to supplement your salary?

The $25,000 should be used to support the research proposal, and may include such items as laboratory personnel salary, participant incentives, supplies, and small equipment. Ideally, it should not be used in support of the awardee’s salary. The $20,175 in support provided by the CCTSI may be used for research supplies, project support, tuition and fees for advanced coursework, or salary support. In addition, $2,000 yearly is provided for travel support. The use/need for all funds should be justified in the application budget.

How many awards are available?

The CCTSI receives funds for 6 awards concurrently. Due to the rolling nature of K12 scholars receiving subsequent independent funding, the number of awards available for past RFAs has varied from 3 to 7. There are two additional awards specifically supported by Children's Hospital Colorado, and are therefore earmarked for applicants with appointments at Children's.

How do you site the CCTSI grant?

Please refer to the How to Site our CCTSI Grant for all publications, patents, or other tangible outcomes from this project during and after project completion.

What happens after you have completed your submission online?

After we receive your completed application, it will be assigned to at least 2 local reviewers for evaluation who will have varying degrees of expertise in your research subject matter. All reviewers will convene for an NIH-style study section to discuss and numerically rank the proposals. Applicants and mentors of the top 10-20% ranked proposals will be invited for a brief interview with the K12 leadership after review. The main focus of the interview is to ensure that career development expectations are aligned between the applicant, his/her mentors, and the K12 program’s leadership.

You recently submitted a K proposal to the NIH. Are you eligible to apply for the K12 award?

As mentioned above, the NIH does not allow a unique career development award to be simultaneously reviewed by two NIH study sections. The NIH considers the CCTSI K12 study section to be equivalent to an NIH K study section. Therefore you may not apply for the K12 program if you have the same proposal current under review at an NIH study section.

• If you currently have submitted a K application that has not yet received a score (or not discussed), please contact K12 leadership prior to beginning the CCTSI K12 application process to determine your eligibility.                                                                                                  
• If you have previously applied for a K award, but received a non-fundable score, you are eligible to apply for the K12. However, you may not submit a revised application (e.g. A1 application) for your original K proposal until the K12 review process is complete.

Does the K12 award include fringe benefits?

Fringe benefits are provided via the award based on the employee level/type of the applicant, so the absolute amount is likely to vary between applicants.

Applicants are required to identify two active mentors, physically located at a CCTSI-affiliated institution. Mentors of K12 scholars are expected to be very involved in the scholar’s research and career development. More specifically, the scholar and one of their mentors will be expected to participate in the CO-Mentor Program.

Possible mentoring models for this award are listed below; however, other models may also be acceptable. 

Clinical/Methodological Mentors: Many scholars require co-mentors with differing skills and areas of expertise. For example, a translational project may require one epidemiological mentor who is adept in study design while the second mentor has expertise in the processing and analysis of samples obtained from human subjects. This model encourages collaborative efforts between senior clinical and translational investigators and the mentee.

Senior/Junior Mentors: In this model, one mentor provides extensive experience in the scholar’s research area of interest while the second, junior mentor, is a mid-level investigator with independent funding and less research experience. In this model, the junior investigator provides for the daily operational mentoring of the scholar, while the senior mentor may advise the mentee on both big picture research goals and career development. This system allows a scholar to gain the expertise and insight of two mentors at different stages in their careers.

Resources

• First R01
• Translational Science Meeting in Washington, DC
• Co-Mentor program
• Funded KL2 Award Examples - Please email individual scholars who received our past awards for examples of funded KL2 awards