Click here to submit a Candidate Interest Form
For Candidates/Trainees:
Diversity Supplements may provide up to 5 years of funding for candidates, but this depends on the candidate’s level of education. Funding includes additional research funds, and in the case of students, tuition, stipend, and health insurance. Depending on your academic level and NIH institute, you may be able to request conference funding, research-related equipment, publication fees, and other research-related expenses.
For more detailed eligibility criteria, see: https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PA-23-189.html
Eligible candidates are:
US Citizens, non-citizen nationals of the US, and individuals who have been lawfully admitted for permanent residence (i.e., in possession of Permanent Resident Card, Form I-551) that meet ONE or more of the following eligibility criteria:
A. Individuals from racial and/or ethnic groups.
Blacks or African Americans, Hispanics or Latinos, American Indians or Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders. Also, individuals from racial and ethnic groups that have been shown by the National Science Foundation (NSF) to be underrepresented in health-related sciences on a national basis and the report Women, Minorities, and Persons with Disabilities in Science and Engineering. In addition, it is recognized that underrepresentation can vary from setting to setting; individuals from racial or ethnic groups that can be demonstrated convincingly to be underrepresented are encouraged to apply.
B. Individuals with one or more disabilities.
Defined as those with a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, as described in the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, as amended, and also defined with NSF Data.
C. Individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds, defined as those who meet two or more of the following criteria:
- Were or currently are homeless, as defined by the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act
- Were or currently are in the foster care system, as defined by the Administration for Children and Families
- Were eligible for the Federal Free and Reduced Lunch Program for two or more years
- Have/had no parents or legal guardians who completed a bachelor’s degree
- Were or currently are eligible for Federal Pell Grant Program
- Received support from the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) as a parent or child
- Grew up in one of the following areas:
- A U.S. rural area, as designated by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Rural Health Grants Eligibility Analyzer OR
- A Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services-designated Low-Income and Health Professional Shortage Areas.
NOTE: Only one of the two possibilities in this category can be used as a criterion for the disadvantaged definition.
D. Literature shows that women from the above backgrounds (categories A, B, and C) face particular challenges at the graduate level and beyond in scientific fields.
Women have been shown to be underrepresented in doctorate-granting research institutions at senior faculty levels in most biomedical-relevant disciplines, and may also be underrepresented at other faculty levels in some scientific disciplines.
NIH encourages institutions to consider women for faculty-level, diversity-targeted programs to address faculty recruitment, appointment, retention or advancement.
You will need to submit an eligibility letter as part of your full application. In this letter, you will have to clearly state how you meet the NIH eligibility criteria. However, you do not need to prove your eligibility. In other words, you will not be required to provide documentation.
Contact Mario Schootman, Ph.D. (Translational Research Institute, mschootman@uams.edu), for access to extensive application resources, templates, and examples of previously funded Diversity Supplements. Additionally, Mario Schootman, Ph.D., Jennifer Gan-Kemp, MBA, CRS (Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, JGan@uams.edu), and Moe Elasri, Ph.D. (Research & Innovation, MOElasri@uams.edu) are available to answer any questions and support you in writing an application.