NIH NRSA Fellowship Information

Stipends

Charging Stipend expenses to the Fellowship MFK

  • Contact the appropriate GAO Contact for the Fellowship before attempting to use a subcomponent, IACT, and/or Jobcode that is not listed below.
    • Predoctoral Fellows – use the following:
      • the subcomponent with a G/P# ending in 97
      • IACT 5610
      • Jobcode FF52 or FT52
    • Postdoctoral Fellows – use the following:
      • the subcomponent with a G/P# ending in 87
      • IACT 5640
      • Jobcode FP02

Rebudgeting of Funds for Stipends (see Award Calculation on page 3 of the Notice of Research Fellowship Award for the awarded budget)

  • The Stipends budget can only be used to pay for stipends.  If the Fellowship terminates early, any unexpended stipends must be returned and cannot be rebudgeted into any other budget category.
  • No funds can be rebudgeted into the Stipend category to accommodate a stipend level different from the established NIH level.

Additional Stipend Information (and Period of Appointment Information)

  • The Fellow is to be given a Stipend, not a Salary.
  • The Fellow must be paid a specific Stipend from the Fellowship, depending on his/her education level and years of experience.  The established NIH NRSA Stipend Levels can be found here.
    • Stipend Supplementation –  A stipend paid to a fellow, in addition to the established NIH NRSA stipend level, is allowed if the conditions of stipend supplementation do not interfere with, detract from, or prolong the fellow’s approved NRSA training program.  An organization can determine what amount of stipend supplementation, if any, will be provided according to its own formally established policies governing stipend support. These policies must be consistently applied to all individuals in a similar status regardless of the source of funds.  NOTE THE FOLLOWING REGARDING THE SOURCE OF THE STIPEND SUPPLEMENTATION:
      • We may supplement stipends from non-Federal funds provided the supplementation is without any additional obligation for the fellow. 
      • Federal funds may not be used for stipend supplementation unless specifically authorized under the terms of the program from which funds are derived. 
      • Under no circumstances may PHS funds (this includes funds from the Fellowship) be used for supplementation.  
    • Compensation – A salary paid to a fellow, in addition to the established NIH NRSA stipend, is allowed only when there is an employer-employee relationship, the payments are for services rendered, and the situation otherwise meets the conditions of the compensation of students as detailed in Cost Considerations-Allowability of Costs/Activities-Selected Items of Cost-Fringe Benefits / IHE Tuition/Tuition Remission of the NIH Grants Policy Statement.  The Compensation must be in accordance with organizational policies applied consistently to both federally and non-federally supported activities, and under no circumstances may the services provided for compensation interfere with, detract from, or prolong the fellow’s approved NIH NRSA training program.  NOTE THE FOLLOWING REGARDING THE SOURCE OF THE COMPENSATION:
      • It is an allowable charge to Federal grants, including PHS research grants; however:
        • The Compensation from research grants will be for limited part-time employment apart from the normal full-time training activities. 
        • The Compensation may NOT be paid from a research grant that supports the same research that is part of the fellow's planned training experience as approved in the NIH NRSA Fellowship application.
        • The Fellow’s Sponsor (the person who signs as the Sponsor on the Activation Notice) must approve all instances of employment on research grants to verify that the circumstances will not detract from or prolong the approved training program.
  • The Fellow must be paid at that given Stipend level for the entire period of appointment (generally 12 months).
  • The Fellow must be appointed for 12-month continuous periods, unless he/she:
    • has a short-term appointment per the Notice of Fellowship Research Award;
    • has prior sponsor approval for an appointment period less than 9 months; or
    • is terminating earlier than expected.
  • The Fellow is to be appointed on a full-time basis (40 hours/week), unless he/she has prior sponsor approval for a less than full time appointment; however, a less than 50% appointment is never allowed (will be required to take a leave of absence instead).

Institutional Allowance

Charging Institutional Allowance expenses to the Fellowship MFK

  • Use the following:
    • the subcomponent with a G/P# ending in 00
      • Exception: fringe benefits will have to post to the G/P# ending in 87 or 97, depending on which G/P# the Fellow is appointed to

Rebudgeting of Funds for Institutional Allowance (see Award Calculation on page 3 of the Notice of Research Fellowship Award for the awarded budget)

  • The Institutional Allowance budget can be used to pay for Institutional Allowance expenses and Tuition & Fee expenses (when Other has been awarded as part of the budget).
  • No funds can be rebudgeted to help pay for Institutional Allowance expenses.

Additional Institutional Allowance Information

  • Awarded as a fixed amount: https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-24-104.html
  • If an individual fellow ends up not in a training status for more than 6 months of an award year, only one-half of that year's institutional allowance may be charged to the grant.
  • These funds are intended to defray expenses for the individual fellow, such as fringe benefits (health and dental insurance only), research supplies, equipment, travel to scientific meetings and to otherwise offset, insofar as possible, appropriate administrative costs of training.

Other

Charging Other expenses (also known as Tuition & Fees) to the Fellowship MFK

  • Use the following:
    • the subcomponent with a G/P# ending in 97
    • IACTs 6305, 6310, 6340

Rebudgeting of Funds for Other (see Award Calculation on page 3 of the Notice of Research Fellowship Award for the awarded budget)

  • The Other budget can only be used to pay for Tuition & Fees.
  • The Institutional Allowance budget can be used to help pay for Tuition & Fees (when Other has been awarded as part of the budget).

Additional Other Information

  • Full Tuition & Fees can be requested when submitting an application.  However, Tuition & Fees will only be awarded as follows: https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-23-076.html
    • Predoctoral Fellow = awarded 60% of the amount requested, up to $16,000/year
    • Postdoctoral Fellow = awarded 60% of the amount requested, up to $4,500/year

Childcare Costs

Charging Childcare expenses to the Fellowship MFK

  • Use the following:
    • the subcomponent with a G/P# ending in 01.
      • Exception: unless subcomponent # is specifically noted on the AAAN
    • IACT 6235

Rebudgeting of funds for childcare costs is not allowed without prior written approval.

Additional Childcare Costs Information:

  • Each fellow is eligible to receive $2,500 per budget period for childcare costs.
  • Childcare costs are permitted for dependent children living in the eligible fellow’s home from birth under the age of 13, or children who are disabled and under age 18. This is inclusive of foster/adoption and part-time custody situations where the child is of appropriate age. The childcare costs do not apply to elder or non-child dependent care costs.
  • F&A costs are not provided on fellowship awards.

F&A

NIH does not award F&A for NRSA Fellowships.

Last Updated: 04/26/2024