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.

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.

K12 awards are issued approximately every two years. An RFA will be issued when applications can be received.

K12 awards are issued approximately every two years. An RFA will be issued when applications can be received.

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