Contact UsResearch Career Development Awards
Pathway to Independence Award
Program Purpose
The purpose of this program is to increase and maintain a strong cohort of new and talented, NIH-supported, independent investigators. This program is designed to facilitate a timely transition of outstanding postdoctoral researchers or clinician-scientists from mentored research positions to independent, tenure-track or equivalent faculty positions, and to provide independent NIH research support during the transition that will help these individuals launch competitive, independent research careers.
PD/PI
Eligibility
Career level
U.S. citizen or non-citizen, with research or clinical doctoral degree, and no more than 4 years of Post-Doctoral research experience.
INSTITUTION
Eligibility
U.S. domestic institutions.
Relevant Policy Notices
- NOT-OD-18-156: Career Award (K) Policy Update: Temporary Adjustments to Percent Effort or Part-Time Institutional Appointment
- NOT-OD-18-157: Career Award (K) Policy Update: Concurrent Support from a Mentored K Award and a Research Grant
- NOT-OD-17-094: Clarification and Update: Salary Supplementation and Compensation on Research Career Development (K) Awards
- Frequently Asked Questions Regarding the Usage of Person Months
- Early Stage and Early Established Investigator Policies
- NIH Grants Policy Statement - Research Career Development ("K") Awards
- NIH-NSF Definition of a Postdoctoral Scholar
- NOT-OD-04-007: MENTORED CAREER DEVELOPMENT AWARDS: CHANGE IN NIH POLICY CONCERNING CONCURRENT SUPPORT FROM CAREER DEVELOPMENT AWARD AND A RESEARCH GRANT
- NOT-OD-04-056: Determining Full-Time Professional Effort for Career Awards
- NOT-OD-08-065: Revision of NIH Policy Concerning Concurrent Support from Mentored Career Development (K) Award and a Research Grant
- NOT-OD-09-036: NIH Policy Concerning Career Development (K) Awards: Leave, Temporary Adjustments to Percent Effort, and Part-Time Institutional Appointments
- NOT-OD-10-019: Update on the Requirement for Instruction in the Responsible Conduct of Research (NOT-OD-10-019)
- NOT-OD-11-002: Proposal Preparation Costs Allowable as a Direct Charge for Mentored Career Development Awards
- NOT-OD-13-045: Request for Information (RFI): Inviting Comments and Suggestions on the Implementation of the Recommendations of the Advisory Committee to the NIH Director Working Group on the Biomedical Research Workforce
- NOT-OD-15-009: Request for Information (RFI): Physician-Scientist Specific Grant Program to Facilitate the Transition From Training to Independence
- NOT-OD-15-013: Notice of Clarification of 4-Year Limit of Postdoctoral Research Eligibility for K99 Applicants for PA-14-042 NIH Pathway to Independence Award (Parent K99/R00)
- NOT-OD-15-052: Notice of Reissuance of the NIH Pathway to Independence Award (Parent K99/R00)
- NOT-OD-15-053: Notice of NIHs Interest in Diversity
- NOT-OD-15-089: Racial and Ethnic Categories and Definitions for NIH Diversity Programs and for Other Reporting Purposes
- NOT-OD-16-004: NIH & AHRQ Announce Upcoming Changes to Policies, Instructions and Forms for 2016 Grant Applications
Forms and other Guidelines
- FAQs about Applying Electronically
- FAQs about Biosketches
- Organization Registration
- SF424 Application Guide
- Special Instructions for Submitting K22 Applications from Unaffiliated Applicants using the SF424 (R&R)
- How to Write a Grant Application
- Quick Guide for Grant Applications
- Overview of the NIH Grants Process
Currently Supported Investigators
Search for currently supported investigators using NIH RePORTER
Program Data, Outcomes and Evaluations
- Evaluation of the NIH Individual Mentored Career Development Awards Program (2011)
- Feasibility, Design and Planning Study for Evaluating the NIH Career Development Awards (Westat, 2007)
- NIH Statement in Response to the NAS Report, Addressing the Nation's Changing Needs for Biomedical and Behavioral Scientists (NIH, 2001)
- Review of the NIH Biomedical Research Training Program (NIH, 1989)
- Expanding Underrepresented Minority Participation: America's Science and Technology Talent at the Crossroads (National Academies Press, 2011)
- Research Training in the Biomedical, Behavioral, and Clinical Research Sciences (National Academies Press, 2011)
- Addressing the Nation's Changing Needs for Biomedical and Behavioral Scientists (National Academies Press, 2000)
- Trends in the Early Careers of Life Scientists (National Academies Press, 1998)
- Survey of Graduate Students and Postdoctorates in Science and Engineering
- Science & Engineering Indicators
- Science and Engineering Doctorate Awards
- Research Career Development Awards: Competiting applications, awards and success rates
- Research Career Development Awards
- Research Career Development Awards: Total funding and average size
- Individual Career Development Awards: Number of entry-level awards
- Trends in K Awards: Research Career Development Awards by Institute/Center FY 2010 - 2014
- Trends in K Awards: Research Career Development Awards by Institute/Center FY 2003 - 2009
- Trends in K Awards: Individual Research Career Development Awards by Institute/Center
- Trends in K Awards: Individual Research Career Development Awards: Funding by Institute/Center, sorted by average amount
- Clarifying Percent Effort and Support for Career Development