Application Process
Apply for a grant with the Building Interdisciplinary Research Careers in Women's Health (BIRCWH) program at Mayo Clinic.
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Eligibility
Appointees must have received an advanced degree such as an M.D., DPhil, O.D., Ph.D. or comparable degree by the beginning date of the training grant appointment.
Additionally, applicants must:
- Have completed any postdoctoral training generally expected for a faculty appointment in their field
- Have no more than six years of research or research training experience beyond their last doctoral degree or fellowship program
- Identify mentors with extensive research experience
- Devote a minimum of 75% of full-time professional effort to the BIRCWH program during their appointment
- Not be or have been a lead investigator on an R01 or subproject of a Program Project (P01), Center (P50, P60, P20, P30, U54) grant, independent mentored career development (K series) grant, or another equivalent research grant award, except for R03 and R21
Appointees receiving NIH funding must also be citizens or noncitizen nationals of the United States or must have been legally admitted as permanent residents.
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Identify a mentor
Identifying a primary mentor is one of the most important steps in applying to the Building Interdisciplinary Research Careers in Women's Health (BIRCWH) program. With input from your primary mentor, you will identify appropriate co-mentors in other disciplines who will bring additional expertise to your research proposal and career.
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Submit a letter of intent to apply
A letter of intent is not required but is recommended. Letters of intent will be due two weeks prior to the application due date. Address your letter to the BIRCWH Executive Advisory Committee and include:
- A brief paragraph describing what you hope to achieve by participating in the program
- A brief paragraph describing the research you would like to conduct as a part of the program
- The name and specialty of your primary mentor
Email your letter to BIRCWH Senior Program Coordinator Patricia R. Simonson.
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Submit the application and required documentation
The application deadlines vary and will be announced to the Mayo Clinic community. Applications should include:
- Candidate Statement (2 pages): statement on training, qualifications, and goals relating to women's health and/or sex/gender differences research
- Career Development Plan (2 pages): description of professional milestones and projected activities to progress toward these goals including the role of the mentoring committee
- Research Plan (4 pages): proposed research project including aims and approach
- Mentor letters of commitment to the scholar's career progress with resources (primary and secondary from differing disciplines)
- Letter from department or division chair stating that research effort commitments will be honored in the event of a successful application and that any salary cap fallout will be covered by the division/department
- Candidate's National Institutes of Health (NIH) Biosketch
- Primary and secondary mentor's NIH Biosketch
Applications should be emailed as a single PDF document to Patricia R. Simonson.
Application review and program acceptance
Applications will be reviewed by members of the BIRCWH Executive Advisory Committee who will score the applications following BIRCWH program guidelines. Applicant scores will be tabulated and ranked, and the top applicants will be interviewed by the BIRCWH Executive Committee.
The following factors will be considered:
- Candidate's qualifications and dedication to women's health and research
- Availability and commitment of qualified mentors
- Scientific and technical merit of proposed research
- Demonstrated potential for becoming a successful investigator and leader in women's health or sex- and gender-based research
Contact
For more information, contact Senior Program Coordinator Patricia R. Simonson at simonson.patricia1@mayo.edu.