Frequently Asked Questions

Yes, GSU has standard boilerplate templates available that can be customized for your project.

For more information please contact GSUTraining@mednet.ucla.edu.

Yes, for more information please contact GSUTraining@mednet.ucla.edu. 

DGSOM provides a database (Minerva) that can support many of the data table requirements. Please visit Data Table Support for more information or contact Ana Batista at ABatista@mednet.ucla.edu to get started.

In special circumstances, support for Data Tables (either full or partial) may be provided by the GSU. Inquiries should be sent to GSUTraining@mednet.ucla.edu at least 6 months ahead of your anticipated due date for data table support consideration.

Participating faculty are more commonly referred to as “preceptors” or “mentors.” PIs are considered participating faculty since they will also participate as mentors on the project. Excluding PIs, mentor biosketches will be combined into a single PDF rather than being uploaded with other Key Personnel.

Similarly, Participating Departments refer to a participating faculty’s department (or division or program) that will actively host trainees. If mentors belong to more than one department/division, PIs may want to decide which departments are participating based on the projects that potential trainees may participate in.

Trainees must have been or be currently engaged in research training under the mentor’s primary supervision.

• Pre-docs: The mentor must chair the pre-doc’s dissertation. This would only include MD students if they are ALSO pursuing PhDs OR taking a gap year(s) to pursue mentored research.
  • Dissertation committee members who are not the chair do not qualify as a mentor.
• Post-docs: The mentor must directly oversee the post-doc’s research project.
• Not applicable trainees:
  • K awardees
  • Residency students who are not also pursuing research
  • Project scientists

In most cases, eligible candidates are citizens or non-citizen nationals of the U.S. or permanent residents. They are required to pursue their research training full time and are normally assigned 12-month appointments, but no less than 9 months. Check the specific FOA for full details.

“Clearly Associated” refers to trainees with experience similar to those appointed to the proposed training grant who are supported by other NIH or other HHS awards like fellowships or research grants, but not by the proposed training grant. Do not count diversity and administrative supplements as “Clearly Associated;” these trainees are directly associated under the same grant number.

Research-related positions generally require a doctoral degree and can include teaching research skills, administering research or higher education programs, science policy, technology transfer, etc. whether in academia or within the research/pharma industry. Additionally, pre-docs who have completed training and moved to post-doc training should be included in this category.

Review the NIH policy on formatting applications on the NIH Format Attachments webpage including font, sizing, and margin guidelines.

• Download the NIH blank Data Table templates (Microsoft Word)
• Tables should be listed consecutively with their full table name and table number
• All column headers (wording and spacing) should remain the same as those on the NIH templates
• Text within tables do not have specific font guidelines from the NIH but must be legible; therefore, it is recommended that font is no smaller than size 10 (NIH templates are default to 10pt font)
• Please refer to each data table webpage for more information
• Please contact GSUTraining@mednet.ucla.edu for Excel templates formatted to match NIH’s MS Word Data Table templates
• Page Limit: None

While optional, it is recommended that applications utilize the Bookmarks function in PDFs to increase organization and significantly ease the multi-page navigation process.

• When creating draft documents in Microsoft Word, use Microsoft Word Style Headers (Heading 1, Heading 2, etc.) to format the title for each section. If using the NIH templates, modify each title by selecting Heading 1, Heading 2, etc. Microsoft should automatically create a bookmark for each table separately when converting to PDF.  
• If the PDF document does not automatically convert headings to bookmarks, do the following:
  • File > Save as
  • Select the appropriate folder
  • Select PDF from the “Save as type” dropdown menu
  • Click “Options”
  • Ensure that the following settings are checked:
    • “Create bookmarks using: Headings”
    • “Document structure tags for accessibility”

Due to the complex nature of T32s, we suggest initiating the process at least 6 - 9 months before the NIH due date. Please contact GSUTraining@mednet.ucla.edu for a timeline.

T32 applications are administratively demanding and require a significant amount of support. With GSU support, we recommend allocating at a minimum 25% time for a dedicated administrator and/or fund manager to provide departmental support and work with GSU.

Yes, please email GSUTraining@mednet.ucla.edu to receive a copy of sample successful applications. 

The Grant Submission Unit provides a wide range of direct and indirect administrative services. Please visit the GSU home page for a full description of potential offerings or email GSUTraining@mednet.ucla.edu to schedule a meeting to discuss how our team can best serve your project. 

Please note, as a pre-award support team, GSU does not provide post-award management (including RPPRs). In addition, our goal is to work along side faculty and their fund managers, not duplicate effort, so GSU will defer all submission and budgetary matters to the PI's fund management team.

Graduate Programs in Bioscience maintains a list of active training programs in the Biomedical and Life Sciences on their website:

UCLA's Competitive Research Training Grant Programs

The Grants Submission Unit also hosts webpages that detail common NIH components.

The National Training Grant Community of Practice (NTGCOP) was established in 2021 to gather training grant support leaders from across the United States for tri-annual meetings that focus on discussing NIH guidelines, sharing resources and supporting training grant administration. NTGCOP members span the spectrum of training grant administration from directors of training grant support offices to administrators of individual training grants. 

Many people involved with UCLA training grants are members of the NTGCOP. If you are interested in joining the community and attending future meetings please visit the NTGCOP website.

GSU Training Grant Team

GSUTraining@mednet.ucla.edu