Applying to the CNCDP-K12
The Child Neurologist Career Development Program-K12 funds exceptional, customized research training for pediatric neurologists or graduates of neurodevelopmental disabilities. Scholars receive a three-year intensive, clinically relevant, basic and/or patient-oriented research mentorship at their home institution. A team of national experts in pediatric neurology and neuroscience provides additional mentoring and career development.
Full Application
If invited following the Letter of Intent (LOI) review, potential CNCDP-K12 Scholars submit a full application. Mandatory in-person interviews and application review meetings will occur at the CNCDP Annual Retreat in conjunction with the CNS Annual Meeting in the fall. Current scholars and new applicants are expected to attend all days of the retreat.
Preparing the online application:
Upload the following required sections as PDF files in the online application.
- Specific Aims (1 page maximum). Use the NIH format with 2-3 specific aims, describing the overall goals and the importance of your research project.
- Research Plan (6 pages maximum). Include a discussion of the background, significance, innovation, approach and methodology of the proposed work. Preliminary data are not required. However, it can be helpful for demonstrating feasibility. Use first-person to distinguish applicant’s work; mentors or others use third-person.
- Diversity Statement (half-page maximum). We are committed to diversity in science across our program and processes. Include a statement that highlights your contributions and commitment to diversity in research and/or the scientific workforce.
- Career Development Plan (3 pages maximum). The applicant and mentor are jointly responsible for describing how support from the CNCDP-K12 award will further the applicant’s career development in pediatric neurology research and how it will lead to a successful transition to a K08 or K23 award. A timeline is very helpful. Specifically, include the following:
- A brief summary of your career path and experience, including a self-appraisal of your training needs and how your mentor and mentorship committee will successfully fulfill your needs (often called a gap-based plan)
- A systematic plan: (1) that shows a logical progression from your prior clinical, research and training experiences to the experiences that will occur during the K12 award period; (2) that justifies the need for further career development; and (3) that utilizes the relevant research and educational experiences of your institution.
- A description the professional responsibilities/activities (including other research projects) that will occur during the K12 award period.
- Literature Cited (no page limit)
- Biosketch The applicant must submit their NIH formatted biosketch as well as a biosketch for each member of their mentorship team.
- Mentor Statement (3 page maximum). The primary mentor must provide a statement (not to exceed 2 pages) regarding his/her availability and plan for mentorship of the K12 Scholar, prior mentoring experience (including success of former trainees, especially K awardees and/or physician-scientists), relevant research and educational resources available within the mentor’s lab and institution, as well as his/her current research funding and commitment to provide any needed research support to the scholar beyond what is provided by the K12 award. Provide a clear description of how often the mentor will meet with the scholar, and how the mentor envisions mentoring/training the scholar to achieve the goal of applying for and attaining an individual K award within 3 years. If there are additional co-mentor(s)/secondary mentor(s), a separate co-mentor(s) statement can also be included (maximum 1 page). All mentor statements should be combined and uploaded to the mentor field (3 page maximum total for all mentor statements).
- Statement of Institutional Support (no page limit). Written by the Department Chair or equivalent, this statement must confirm the current faculty appointment (or the imminent faculty appointment of a graduating resident/fellow) and must attest that the successfully funded applicant will be able to contribute 75% of full-time professional effort to the K12 award research and career development. This statement must include a specific description of non-research responsibilities to assure that protected time will not be encroached upon by clinical/administrative effort. Clinical effort calculation should be explicit in terms of the following:
- 1/2 day per week is equal to 10% effort
- 1 week of full-time clinical inpatient service is a minimum of 2% effort
- On-call responsibilities cannot occur during protected time for research
- Vacation time must be pro-rated and cannot come exclusively from protected research time
Institutional Funding Expectations:
The institution will be expected to guarantee a minimum of 50% protected time for research subsequent to the end of the 3 years of K12 funding, sufficient for the scholar to submit an initial application for a K08 or K23 award and, if needed, to revise and resubmit. This support, attested to in the statement of institutional support, can be expected to be a minimum of 18 months if revision is necessary.
The institution must state in the application that the scholar will be guaranteed 50% protected time for at least 18 months following conclusion of the K12 funding period. The institution is released from this guarantee if the CNCDP program terminates the funding of a scholar prior to the end of the full 3-year term, or if the scholar fails to pursue research funding subsequent to the 3-year term. Any release from this guarantee must be via communication between the CNCDP and the Department Chair.
The statement of institutional support must have a clear statement about the anticipated cost of the research, the source(s) of any funding that will be required beyond the $38,000 provided as part of the K12 award, and a commitment to provide the resources needed for successful conduct of the proposed research.