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Stanford
Office of Research Administration

Administering NIH Fellowships & Training Grants

Note: italicized items below are from the NIH Research Training and Career Development FAQ

NIH Training Grants Pre-Award Costs

Generally, pre-award costs are not allowed.

Do Training Grants have pre-award cost authority?

  • Stipends and tuition and fees may not be charged to the grant before a trainee is officially appointed and the appropriate paperwork submitted to NIH. There are rare occasions when costs associated with training related expenses and/or trainee travel may be allowable as pre-award costs. Consult with the relevant Grants Management Officer of the Institute/Center when considering pre-award costs.

Rebudgeting of NIH Training Grant Funds

Rebudgeting into or within the stipends and tuition/fees is allowable without prior approval of the NIH awarding IC. However, stipends and tuition cannot be rebudgeted into travel and trainee related expenses.  See NIGMS's Rebudgeting Matrix. 

INTOFROMFROMFROMFROM
INTOTuitionStipendTravelTRE
Tuition---YesYesYes
StipendYes---YesYes
TravelNoNo---Yes
TRENoNoYes---

TRE – Training Related Expenses such as staff salaries, consultant costs, equipment, research supplies, staff travel, trainee health insurance (self-only or family as applicable), and other expenses directly related to the training program.

Can I use the money awarded for stipend and tuition and fees from a fellowship or training grant to pay for health insurance if the TRE funds are not enough for health insurance?

  • No. Funds awarded in the stipend or tuition and fee categories may not be used for other purposes except under unusual circumstances, and only with the prior approval of the NIH awarding office.

Period of Support

Trainees under institutional research training grants generally are appointed for fulltime 12-month continuous periods. Appointments less than 9 months requires prior approval from NIH.

All trainees are required to pursue their research training on a full-time basis. Full-time is generally defined as devoting at least 40 hours per week to the program

Reference: NIH GPS Section 11.3.6.2 Trainees

A trainee may be appointed any time during the budget period for an appointment period of 9 to 12 months.

The stipend may be prorated in the grant award during the period of any approved part-time training. Part-time training also may affect the rate of accrual or repayment of the service obligation for postdoctoral trainees. In no case will it be permissible for the trainee to be engaged in Kirschstein-NRSA-supported research for less than 50 percent effort.

Individuals who must reduce their commitment to less than 50 percent effort must take a leave-of-absence from a Kirschstein-NRSA training grant.

Written prior approval is required if remaining months of the slot can be used for another trainee.

Reference: NIH GPS Section 11.3.6 Period of Support

At the time of the initial appointment and subsequent reappointment of trainees, the Training PD/PI must submit a Statement of Appointment for each trainee through Xtrain. In addition, a signed Payback Agreement must be submitted for each postdoctoral trainee who is in his/her first 12 months of Kirschstein-NRSA postdoctoral support. The Payback Agreement must be mailed to the IC and a copy must be retained by the department.

Stipends or other costs may not be charged to a grant until a trainee has been officially appointed and the appropriate paperwork has been approved by NIH.

Reference: NIH GPS Section 11.3.13.1 Statement of Appointment (Form PHS 2271)

When it is time to terminate a trainee you should review their stipend payments against the appointment forms and address any issues before you initiate the process on xTrain.

Reference: NIH GPS Section 11.3.13.3 Termination Notice (Form PHS 416-7)

Stipends can be supplemented from non-Federal funds provided the supplementation is without any additional obligation for the trainee.

Trainees may seek part-time employment and may spend on average, an additional 25% of their time (e.g., 10 hours per week maximum). Compensation may not be paid from a research grant that supports the same research that is part of the trainee’s planned training experience. Effort devoted to a grant must be paid as salary, not stipend. This is not considered stipend supplementation.

Reference: NIH GPS Section 11.3.10 Stipend Supplementation, Compensation, and Other Income

A Termination Notice for each trainee must be submitted within 30 days of the end of the total period of support through xTrain. The form must be routed and verified by OSR Accounting.

Reference: NIH GPS Section 11.3.13.3 Termination Notice (Form PHS 416-7)

Allowable and Unallowable NIH Training Grant Costs

See Reference: NIH GPS Section 11.3.8 Allowable and Unallowable Costs

Stipends must be paid in accordance with established stipend levels. No departure from the standard stipend provided by NIH under the grant may be negotiated by the recipient organization with the trainee. NIH stipend amounts may be adjusted only at the time of appointment or reappointment. For appointments of less than 12 months, the stipend will be prorated. Research Administrators must work closely with the OSR post-award accountant to resolve any discrepancy between stipend calculated on the Termination Notice and stipend amount paid by Stanford.

Tuition and fees are awarded as a lump sum that can be allocated (without the prior approval of the NIH awarding IC) based on recipient needs.

The NIH provides a lump sum for Training Related Expenses (TRE) that may be used, among other things, to defray health insurance costs to the extent that the same health insurance fees are charged to regular non-Federally supported students and postdoctoral fellows. Applicants may request the lump sum for TRE specified in the funding opportunity announcement.

Health Insurance. Health Insurance (self-only or family) are allowable trainee related expenses only if such charges are applied consistently to all individuals in a similar training status at the organization, without regard to their source of support. Health insurance can include coverage for costs such as vision and/or dental care if consistent with organizational policy.

Allowable costs at Stanford: health care (including the Campus Health Service Fee when required), dental and vision premiums, if elected, but not disability. Additionally, the health care must be obligated at the time of appointment.

Can the salary/benefits of the program director and/or co-director be charged to a training grant?

  • Training Related Expenses can be used to help defray costs such as staff salaries. However, such charges must meet the test of allocability and reasonableness. See the NIH Grants Policy Statement, Section 11.3.8.4 Training-Related Expenses.

Other Prior Approvals

A training grant award included stipends for two postdocs at level 1, but the actual trainees are at level 1 and level 3. What should be done?

  • The Grants Management Specialist identified in the Notice of Award should be consulted. Some Institute/Centers expect grantees to re-budget to accommodate this type of change; others may be able to provide additional funds.

Resources

Additional Compensation for NIH Training Grant (T activity codes) and Fellowship (F activity codes) Postdoc, Predoc and Graduate Trainees from All Funding Sources form

Sample Training Grant Management Workbook

Managing NIH Fellowships and Training Grants Webinars

 

Need further NRSA assistance? Have questions, feedback, or are experiencing other issues? Please reach out to your OSR Post Award Research Accountant