Training Grant Resources

The University of Pittsburgh houses over 60 NIH training programs. The Office of Academic Career Development (OACD) fosters a sense of community among the University’s training grant directors and administrators, coordinates communication, and maintains several institutional training grant resources.

Quick links to:
Training Grant Directory
Training Grant Application Support
Training Faculty Workshops

For additional information or assistance, contact traininggrants@pitt.edu.

Training Grant Directory: www.nihtraininggrants.pitt.edu

A university-wide Training Grant Directory promotes training opportunities externally and serves as a mechanism to collect institutional data. Publicly available NIH training grant data are initially entered by the OACD. New training grant directors automatically receive an email with instructions on how to access the database and how to add additional data. New training grant awards are added quarterly. The overall database is updated annually and an aggregate report is generated annually.

The names and email addresses of training grant directors and training faculty are publicly available. Though not publicly accessible, the database also houses the names and email addresses of data delegates and/or administrative assistants who have been authorized to log into the database and maintain training program data on behalf of the training grant director.

Request Data Delegate or Assistant Access to Directory Database

Training grant directors may identify other individuals to maintain their training grant data within the database (data delegate) or identify an administrative assistant to enhance communication between the OACD and the training grant director. Please submit requests to grant additional access to the database to traininggrants@pitt.edu.

Request Data or Contact Information for Active Training Programs

The OACD maintains a comprehensive spreadsheet of contact information for all active awards. This report is internally available upon request by contacting traininggrants@pitt.edu.

Request Access to the Training Grant Directory Mailman List

Training grant directors, data delegates, and those identified as contacts in the Training Grant Directory are automatically subscribed to this email distribution list. Other individuals may request to be added to this list to keep up to date on training grant announcements and discussions by contacting traininggrants@pitt.edu.

Training Grant Application Support

Search samples of Pitt's successfully funded T series training grant applications >>>

Predoctoral Training Table Data

Predoctoral training data are not housed in a central location. Contact the appropriate graduate student offices or graduate program directors.

Postdoctoral Training Table Data and Plans

Postdoctoral Training Table Data

Table 1: Institutional Data

There are two institutional postdoctoral reports with data relevant to training grant applications and training tables:

• Faculty and Postdoc Data by Department
• Postdoctoral Demographic Data

Table 3: Federal Institutional Research Training Grants and Related Support Available to Participating Faculty Members

The Training Grant Directory includes the names of training faculty by training program, so centralized data do exist to complete Table 3.

Request the Compilation of Table 3 for New or Renewal Applications.

Indicate if the application is new or a renewal and send 1) the name of the grant application, 2) the name of the PI(s), and 3) the names of the training faculty who appear on Table 2 to traininggrants@pitt.edu. Requests should be received at least 2 weeks before any internal submission dates.

Training Plans

Responsible Conduct of Research Plan

For assistance, contact Teri Reiche, Director of the CTSI Responsible Conduct of Research Center at tmr75@pitt.edu for assistance developing a robust RCR Plan.

Diversity Plan

A separate letter of support for diversity recruitment efforts is no longer required. That material will be covered in the Institutional Support Letter. See instructions at the bottom of the page.

The Office of Health Sciences Diversity, Equity and Inclusion remains available to consult on Recruitment and Retention Plans to Enhance Diversity. If you wish, please send your plan to diversity@hs.pitt.edu, as soon as possible, but no later than one week prior to your internal submission date. This office would like to provide thoughtful feedback to your plans; the tighter the time frame, the less able they may be to assist.

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Suggested Application Text

See standardized language for training grant applications relevant to:

• Anti-Racist Pedagogy Workshop
• Career Development Planning
• Faculty Mentoring Training
• Office of Academic Career Development
• Plans for Instruction in Methods for Enhancing Reproducibility
• Trainee Career Options 

Required Institutional Support Letters

Institutional Support

This NIH T32 Parent Announcement issued March 2020 describes the new format for institutional letters of support (not to exceed 10 pages). It replaces free-standing letters of support from individual institutional offices and voids the previous requirement of providing a free-standing letter demonstrating a commitment to protections against harassment and discrimination.

Letters of Support

Institutional Support Letter. The application must include a signed letter on institutional letterhead from a President, Provost, Dean or key institutional leader that describes the activities and resources provided by the institution that will ensure the success of the planned training program and its trainees (not to exceed 10 pages). Institutional commitment to the following areas should be described in the letter: 

• Developing and promoting a culture in which the highest standards of scientific rigor, reproducibility and responsible conduct are advanced.
• Ensuring sufficient resources and support will be available to the training faculty and trainees, for example, to permit early-stage faculty to participate in training and trainees to continue in training if their mentors experience a hiatus in research funding.  
• Supporting core facilities and technology resources and describing how they can be used to enhance training.
• Providing adequate staff, facilities, and educational resources to the planned program.
• Supporting the PDs/PIs and other key staff associated with the planned training program; ensuring faculty have protected time available to devote to mentoring, training and research; considering activities integral to excellent training (such as teaching and mentorship) in tenure and promotion decisions.
• Promoting diversity and inclusion at all levels of the research training environment (trainees, staff, faculty, and leadership); ensuring the research facilities and laboratory practices promote the safety of trainees; ensuring the research facilities are accessible to trainees with disabilities; ensuring a positive, supportive and inclusive research and training environment for individuals from all backgrounds.
• Ensuring that proper policies, procedures, and oversight are in place to prevent discriminatory harassment and other discriminatory practices and to appropriately respond to allegations of such discriminatory practices, including providing any required notifications to NIH (NOT-OD-19-056) or OCR (e.g., see NOT-OD-15-152). 
• Providing the types and levels of support necessary for trainees to successfully complete the research training program.  
• Supporting evaluation of the training program and procedures for responding to evaluation findings.  

All information related to institutional support, as defined above, must be included within the 10-page limit of this letter.

For training grant applications involving one or more schools of the health sciences, please email Lisa Bopp at lbopp@pitt.edu at least 2 weeks in advance of your submission date to request an institutional support letter from Senior Vice Chancellor Anantha Shekhar. With your request include the grant’s Specific Aims page.

For training grant applications outside the schools of the health sciences, please consult with the Office of the Senior Vice Chancellor for Research and your dean’s office.

Training Faculty Workshops: 

Please note that training grants have new expectations for faculty mentor training:

See NIH T32 Parent Award Section IV>>>

Program Faculty

In addition to the information specified in the Application Guide, describe:

• How the program faculty are, or will be, trained to ensure the use of training and mentoring practices that promote the development of trainees from all backgrounds.
• How the program has a diverse team of program faculty, including faculty at a range of career stages and from a variety of scientific backgrounds .
• How the program faculty will provide supportive mentoring.
• In programs where trainees will have multiple mentors, how the faculty will effectively coordinate training and mentorship responsibilities.

Workshops are offered annually to meet the specific needs of both training faculty and trainees.
See description of programs here>>>

For Additional Information or Assistance

Contact traininggrants@pitt.edu

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