Application & Requirements

• U.S. Citizenship or Permanent Residency
• Applicants must be a doctoral candidate in all-but-dissertation status at the McCormick School of Engineering with approximately one year to complete their thesis
• Appointment requires a 40 hours/week commitment to their training/research/associated career development activities
• Appointees must not have received more than four years of aggregate NRSA support (training grants or fellowships) at the predoctoral level
• Candidate mentors must have sufficient independent research support or institutional commitment to cover the costs of the proposed research project in excess of the TL1 support

View RFA for predoctoral fellows

Proposal (limit four pages, not including references)

• Candidate's background (limit one page)
• One-year timeline for degree completion (limit one page)
• Research project with a focus on child and adolescent health (limit two pages)

NIH Biosketches

• Trainee and primary mentor
• Must include eRA Commons Username for each
• Please use the updated NIH biosketch format
• Galter Library offers guides on how to create biosketches
  • Creating an NIH biosketch
  • NIH Public Access Policy

Letters of Support

• Required letters: doctoral program chair and primary mentor
• Additional letters as appropriate from co-mentors or consultants
• Letters should document the role of the primary and co-mentor (as applicable) in the career development of the trainee and how the work proposed fits into the overall program funded by the mentor
• Our program directors will assign a clinical co-mentor as/if appropriate at the time of appointment

Candidate Curriculum Vitae

TL1 Applicant Data Form via REDCap

Materials for submission should be uploaded into Competitions. Technical support for submissions in NITRO Competitions can be reached at competitions@northwestern.edu.

Applicants must be either:

1. A clinical postdoctoral fellow pursuing training in child and adolescent health who desires to complement their clinical insight with research skills learned from mentors with diverse backgrounds
2. PhD postdoctoral scholars from engineering and basic, scientific disciplines (possible areas of research include: bioengineering, informatics, population science, health services research, materials science, operations research, imaging, signal processing and analysis, gaming theory and communication disorders) who desire to apply their discipline to a project in child and adolescent health

View RFA for postdoctoral fellows

Other requirements:

• Fellows must have received, as of the beginning date of the NRSA appointment, a PhD, MD, DDS or comparable doctoral degree from an accredited institution
• U.S. Citizenship or Permanent Residency
• All appointed fellows incur a service payback obligation for the first 12 months of support; the second year of the award will serve to pay back the obligation
• Appointment requires a 40 hours/week commitment to their training/research/associated career development activities
• Appointees must not have received more than five years of aggregate NRSA support (training grants or fellowships) at the predoctoral level or three years of support at the postdoctoral level
• Candidate mentors must have sufficient independent research support or institutional commitment to cover the costs of the proposed research project in excess of the TL1 support
• Candidates from outside of Northwestern are invited to apply, but must have an identified mentor at the time of application; please contact Susanna McColley, MD, or Evan Scott, PhD, with questions or for help identifying a faculty mentor

PHS 398

First Page of PHS 398 (no signature necessary)

Abstract (limit 30 lines)

Include the project’s objectives, description of research design and methods and career development goals.

Proposal (limit four pages, not including references)

• Candidate's background (limit one page)
• Career goals and objectives with a focus on child and adolescent health (limit one page)
• Research project with a focus on child and adolescent health (limit two pages)

NIH Biosketches

• Trainee, primary mentor and co-mentor
• Must include eRA Commons Username for each
• Please use the updated NIH biosketch format
• Galter Library offers guides on how to create biosketches
  • Creating an NIH biosketch
  • NIH Public Access Policy

Letters of Support

Letters are required Letters from the primary mentor, co-mentor and one additional faculty mentor familiar with the applicant's experience and career goals. Trainees are expected to work as part of multidisciplinary teams and support from a secondary mentor from a different discipline or department is required. Applicants who would like additional ideas on catalyzing collaboration with a mentor in another area of research are invited to reach out to the program directors during the application process to discuss potential options. For applicants outside of Northwestern University please feel free to contact the program directors for help identifying a primary mentor and co-mentor.

Letters should document the role of the primary and co-mentor in the career development of the trainee and how the work proposed fits into the overall program funded by the mentor.

You may also include additional letters as appropriate from co-mentors or consultants. Applicants from other institutions or who have recently arrived at Northwestern University are also encouraged to provide one or two letters of support from their current/prior institution.

All applicants must complete the TL1 Applicant Data Form via REDCap. Materials for submission should be uploaded into Competitions. Technical support for submissions in NITRO Competitions can be reached at competitions@northwestern.edu.