NIH National Cancer Institute (NCI)
The NCI Predoctoral to Postdoctoral Fellow Transition Award (F99/K00) - RFA-CA-21-059

Limited funding opportunity - a university-wide internal selection process is required. The purpose of the NCI Predoctoral to Postdoctoral Fellow Transition Award (F99/K00) is to encourage and retain outstanding graduate students recognized by their institutions for their high potential and strong interest in pursuing careers as independent cancer researchers. The award will facilitate the transition of talented graduate students into successful cancer research postdoctoral appointments and provide opportunities for career development activities relevant to their long-term career goals of becoming independent cancer researchers.

Stanford Cancer Institute internal deadline: October 14, 2021
Date applicant to be notified by SCI to proceed with his/her application: October 21, 2021
Letter of Nomination DRAFT to SCI Director: October 28, 2021
Deadline for submission of application materials and completed PDRF form to the RMG Fellowship office: November 11, 2021
Application receipt deadline: November 18, 2021

NIH program announcement: RFA-CA-21-059

• • For the F99/K00 award, individuals may receive up to 6 years combined support for both phases, which includes up to 2 years in the F99 fellowship phase and up to 4 years in the K00 career development phase..
  • For the F99 phase, award budgets are composed of stipends, tuition and fees, and institutional allowance.
  • For the K00 phase, award budgets are composed of salary and fringe benefits, tuition and fees, research and career development support, and indirect costs.
  • Please see program guidelines for additional details regarding allowable and unallowable costs.
  

• An applicant must be a citizen or a noncitizen national of the United States, or has been lawfully admitted for permanent residence (i.e., possess a currently valid Permanent Resident Card USCIS Form I-551, or other legal verification of such status), or be a non-U.S. citizen with a valid U.S. visa. For applications submitted on behalf of non-U.S. citizens with valid U.S. visas, the visa status during each phase of the F99/K00 award must allow the PD/PI to conduct the proposed research at the applicant institution. For the F99 phase of the award, the applicant F99 institution is responsible for determining and documenting, in the nomination letter, that the applicant's visa will allow the applicant to remain in the U.S. to complete the F99 phase of the award, and that there are no known obstacles that would prevent the applicant from obtaining a visa for the K00 phase.
• The applicant must have a baccalaureate degree and be currently enrolled as a graduate student in the third or fourth year of a mentored PhD or equivalent research degree program (e.g., DrPH, ScD) in the biomedical, behavioral, or clinical sciences at a domestic institution. F99 eligibility is determined from the date of enrollment as a graduate student at the PhD institution and includes the time spent to earn a MS degree unless there was a major change in research area and a change in research mentor.
• The F99/K00 award may not be used to support studies leading to the MD, DDS, or other clinical, health-professional degree (e.g., DC, DMD, DNP, DO, DPM, DVM, ND, OD, AuD). Students matriculated in a dual-degree program (e.g. MD/PhD, DO/PhD, DDS/PhD, or DVM/PhD) are not eligible for the F99/K00 program.
• Please see program guidelines for additional criteria regarding eligibility.

The objective of the NCI Predoctoral to Postdoctoral Fellow Transition Award (F99/K00) is to identify and encourage outstanding graduate students who are recognized by their institutions as having high potential and strong interest in pursuing careers as independent cancer researchers, and then to facilitate their successful transition to postdoctoral positions. The F99/K00 award is intended for individuals who require 1-2 years to complete their Ph.D. dissertation research training (F99 phase) before transitioning to mentored postdoctoral research training (K00 phase). Consequently, applicants are expected to propose an individualized research training plan for the next 1-2 years of dissertation research training and a plan for 3-4 years of mentored postdoctoral research and career development activities that will prepare them for independent cancer-focused research careers.

By October 14, 2021, please submit one PDF file containing the following, in the order listed below, via email attachment to:

Gayle White
Stanford Cancer Institute
gwhite5@stanford.edu

File name: Last name_NCI_F99/K00.pdf

Institutional representative: not applicable. You do not need to submit your internal proposal through your institutional official for approval. You may submit your internal proposal directly to Gayle White. 

1) Title page

The NCI Predoctoral to Postdoctoral Fellow Transition Award (F99/K00)(RFA-CA-21-059) 

Nominee name, title, department, email address

Name of the Ph.D. program

Current year in the graduate program

Citizenship status or current Visa

Nominator name, title, department, email address

2) Nomination letter

Letter must be prepared by the primary mentor, co-signed by the PI, and addressed to the Stanford Cancer Institute review committee.  This letter should confirm that the nominee will be at the dissertation research stage of training at the time of award, and must provide evidence of high academic performance in the sciences and commitment to a career as an independent cancer research scientist. The primary mentor must confirm his/her successful track record of mentoring predoctoral students.  If the applicant is not a U.S. Citizen or permanent resident, the sponsoring institution must include information about the candidate’s visa status, an assurance that the candidate’s visa provides sufficient time to complete the F99 phase of the award at a U.S. institution, and assurance that there are no known obstacles (e.g. home country requirement) to the candidate obtaining a visa at the time of the K00 transition.

3) Dissertation Research Project summary

Must be prepared by the nominee (one page limit)

4) Nominee's CV

Selection Process

The proposals will be reviewed by a Stanford Cancer Institute internal committee. The committee will select the applicant to represent Stanford.

Institutional representative: not applicable. You do not need to send your internal proposal to your RPM/RMG or your CGO/OSR for institutional review and approval. You may submit it directly to Gayle White.