UCSF Research Development Office (RDO): Grant Templates and Guides: Eligibility criteria

How Can I Receive a Diversity Supplement?

1.     Determine if you have an eligible grant

Principal Investigators who hold an active R01, R10, R18, R22, R24, R35, R37, P01, P20, P30, P40, P41, P50, P51, P60, U01, U10, U19, U41, U42 or U54 grant are generally eligible to submit a request for a Diversity Supplement to the parent grant. Principal Investigators holding an Academic Research Enhancement Award (R15), an Exploratory/Developmental Grant (R21) or a Small Grant Award (R03) also may apply for a supplement under this program.

Please note that grants eligible for Diversity Supplements vary by Institute. NIH published a Table of IC-Specific Information, Requirements and Staff Contacts; please refer to this before preparing your application.

Eligible Candidate Levels	NCI	NHLBI	NIGMS	NIAID	NIMH	NINDS	NIA	NIDCR
High school	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
Undergraduate	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
Post-baccalaureate	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
Graduate student	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
Postdoctoral fellow	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
Independent investigator	✔	✔	NA	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔

2.    Identify a Candidate

Who Should Be Considered for a Diversity Supplement?

The NIH believes that by providing research opportunities for qualified individuals at various career levels, the number entering and remaining in health-related research careers will increase. Accordingly, Principal Investigators are encouraged to consider administrative supplements under this program for candidates at the following career levels:

• High School Students who have expressed an interest in the health-related sciences.
• Undergraduate Students who wish to pursue graduate level research training in health-related sciences.
• Post-Baccalaureate Students and Post-Master's Degree Students who have recently graduated and wish to pursue further graduate training in health-related research.
• Predoctoral Students who wish to develop their research capabilities in the health-related sciences.
• Individuals in Postdoctoral Training who wish to participate as postdoctoral researchers in ongoing research projects and career development experiences in preparation for an independent career in a health-related research.
• Faculty who wish to participate in ongoing research projects while further developing their own independent research potential.
• Established investigators who become disabled may be eligible for additional support or special equipment that will facilitate a continuing contribution to the goals of the parent grant.

Note that some NIH ICs do not accept applications for all candidate career stages. This information is summarized in the table above.

Eligible Individuals

Investigators are encouraged to identify candidates who will enhance diversity. The NIH is particularly interested in encouraging the recruitment and retention of the following classes of candidates (Detailed in NIH Notice NOT-OD-20-031- https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-20-031.html:

• Individuals from racial and ethnic groups that have been shown by the National Science Foundation to be underrepresented in health-related sciences on a national basis.
  • Blacks or African Americans
  • Hispanics or Latinos
  • American Indians or Alaska Natives
  • Native Hawaiians or other Pacific Islanders
• Individuals from additional racial and ethnic groups that have been shown to be underrepresented at UCSF​
  • Filipino
  • Hmong
  • Vietnamese
• Individuals with disabilities, which are defined as those with a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities.
• Individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds, defined as meeting at least two of the following criteria:
  1. Were or currently are homeless, as defined by the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act
  2. Were or currently are in the foster care system, as defined by the Administration for Children and Families;
  3. Were eligible for the Federal Free and Reduced Lunch Program for two or more years;
  4. Have/had no parents or legal guardians who completed a bachelor’s degree (see the U.S. Department of Education);
  5. Were or currently are eligible for Federal Pell grants;
  6. Received support from the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children as a parent or child;
  7. Grew up in one of the following areas: a) a U.S. rural area, as designated by the Health Resources and Services Administration Rural Health Grants Eligibility Analyzer, or b) a Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services-designated Low-Income and Health Professional Shortage Areas  (qualifying zip codes are included in the file). Only one of the two possibilities in #7 can be used as a criterion for the disadvantaged background

Note: If the candidate meets more than one eligibility criteria, all criteria should be highlighted in the eligibility letter.

3.     Contact your own Program Officer

Talk to your own Program Officer about the eligibility of the parent grant to have this supplement and the willingness of the institute to consider this supplement. Also discuss the duration of the supplement relative to the end of the grant project period. Rules differ by Institute.

 

4.     Contact the IC's Diversity Supplement Program Officer

Contact the Program Officer in charge of the diversity supplement mechanism for your NIH Institute (list of contacts available here). Ask about candidate eligibility, appropriate application submission dates and start and end dates, and application components.

 

5.     Prepare an application

A Diversity Supplement application contains multiple sections. General instructions are provided in FOA (PA-23-189) and on the potential funding institute's website. For more information and templates, see our Preparing an Application page.

Application submission can be expedited if investigators work with their UCSF OSR Staff early in the application process.

 

6.     Submit your supplement

Inform the Program Officer in charge of the diversity supplement mechanism for your NIH Institute that your application has been submitted.