NIH K12 Awards

Physician Scientist Award (Program) (PSA) (K12)

For support to a newly trained clinician appointed by an institution for development of independent research skills and experience in a fundamental science within the framework of an interdisciplinary research and development program.

Purpose

The purpose of this program is to support institutional career development awards designed to prepare newly-trained clinicians who have made a commitment to independent research careers, and to facilitate their transition to more advanced support mechanisms, e.g., K08 and K23.

Appointment and Termination Forms for K12s

If not addressed on the NOA, check with the NIH awarding Institute or Center to determine if the if the K12 or KL21 program requires submission of the PHS 2271 Appointment form and/or the PHS 416-7 Termination Notice via xTrain.

Guidelines for submitting the statement of appointment and termination notices for the K12& T32 are similar, but there are some differences.

Statement of Appointment

	T32	K12
SUPPORT FOR PERIOD OF APPOINTMENT Stipend / Salary / Other Compensation	List the stipend level to be paid from the grant based upon the NIH PGY stipend levels. This level of support does NOT change for the duration of the appointment period.	List the salary amount to be paid to the scholar during their appointment period. Typically, the funds for salary for an individual scholar are limited by the RFA (e.g., $100,000). Note: The salary amount listed (exclusive of fringe benefits) should be based on their salary at the time the appointment form is submitted, and not their future salary.
Effort (Not listed on form)	Trainees are expected to devote full time to the proposed research training. As a % of effort is associated with salary and not stipend, an % of effort is not applicable for training grants.	Scholars are typically required to devote 9 person-months (75%) of full-time professional effort conducting research and research career development activities (note: surgeons may have a lower % as identified in the RFA).

T32

K12

SUPPORT FOR PERIOD OF APPOINTMENT

Stipend / Salary / Other Compensation

List the stipend level to be paid from the grant based upon the NIH PGY stipend levels.

This level of support does NOT change for the duration of the appointment period.

List the salary amount to be paid to the scholar during their appointment period.

Typically, the funds for salary for an individual scholar are limited by the RFA (e.g., $100,000).

Note: The salary amount listed (exclusive of fringe benefits) should be based on their salary at the time the appointment form is submitted, and not their future salary.

Effort (Not listed on form)

Trainees are expected to devote full time to the proposed research training. As a % of effort is associated with salary and not stipend, an % of effort is not applicable for training grants.

Scholars are typically required to devote 9 person-months (75%) of full-time professional effort conducting research and research career development activities (note: surgeons may have a lower % as identified in the RFA).

Termination Notices

	T32	K12
Signatures	Business Officials must review and sign forms before routing to NIH	Business Officials do not have to review or sign off. Department personnel should confirm amount paid from grant matches what is on termination notice. Note: the $ amount prefills from the statement of appointment form and is not editable.

T32

K12

Signatures

Business Officials must review and sign forms before routing to NIH

Business Officials do not have to review or sign off.

Department personnel should confirm amount paid from grant matches what is on termination notice.

Note: the $ amount prefills from the statement of appointment form and is not editable.

Paying Scholars

The salary amount listed on the appointment form should not vary from the amount directly charged to the grant for the % effort during that appointment period.

If the individual receives a promotion and an increase in pay, prior approval would be required to charge the grant an amount higher than what is listed on the appointment form. Note: A salary increase alone is not sufficient reason to request prior approval to charge a salary higher.

Any salary not directly charged to the grant but associated with the scholar’s effort, must be cost-shared (this would include an increase in pay related to an annual salary increase).

Similar to T32s, most institutes have a “one person - one slot” policy whereby a scholar whose appointment terminates prior to scheduled completion may not be replaced by a new appointee for the remaining number of months.

Research and Career Development Support

Along with other proposal and award documents, review the RFA or PAR, for more information on the types of expenses that can be supported.

Carry Over/Forward

Generally, carry over of an unobligated balance into the next budget period requires Grants Management Officer prior approval. Always carefully read your specific K12 award's terms & condtions, as some will state the following:

If a scholar is not appointed within the current budget period, these uncommitted and/or unexpended funds must be reported as an unobligated balance and noted as such on the FFR. Carryover of these funds requires prior approval from the Institute.

Scholar Appointment Period = Budget Period

All funds for the scholar, their research supply costs and program costs must be spent within the budget period.

Requests for carry over are generally not approved.

Scholar Appointment Period crosses two Budget Periods

For scholars whose appointment period does not align with the budget period, only their salary (as listed on the appointment form) & associated fringe can be reported as an unliquidated obligation.

All other research costs associated with the scholar or program will be restricted and prior approval will be required from NIH before the funds can be spent.

The earlier the submission of the FFR, the earlier the request for carryover for scholar’s research costs can be submitted.

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