Our Process

At the initial meeting, TGSO will go over what areas of the proposal we can assist with, and how. This includes providing several of the required tables (usually Tables 1, 2, 3, 4, 6A, 6B and portions of 8A and 8C, as well as Table A for NIGMS grants), template language for and assistance with the institutional letter of support, template language to assist with several areas for the body of the grant, and assistance with determining tuition and stipend top-up funding requests.

Tables 5, 7 and 8 are primarily the responsibility of the PI team because they involve making judgment calls by the PI about what trainees and trainee information to include, although TGSO can provide the funding information required for Table 8. In addition, we provide an excel file called the “All Trainees Report” which will help the PI teams create Tables 5 and 8 for new applications.

TGSO will contact all the preceptors listed on the grant to collect faculty and trainee information that is used for the tables, and information on mentor training and diversity activities. However, we prefer that the PI first sends out an email to all of the preceptors to let them know that an email from TGSO will be coming. Once all the preceptors have submitted their information, TGSO will generate the tables, clean the data and then the tables are reviewed by TGS’s Research & Analysis team.

Data for the tables is sourced from the faculty preceptors’ self-reported data, Cognos, MyHR, departmental websites and NIH Reporter. TGSO will then distribute the draft tables to the PI team and upload them to the shared folder for the PI team to review. Next, TGSO will work with the PI team to adjust the tables as needed or correct any errors. We ask that PIs work with us to adjust the tables rather than adjusting the data in the tables themselves.

For grants that require a single institutional letter of support (all T32s and most other training mechanisms), TGSO will provide templated language in the form of a letter from the Provost to the PI that addresses several of the categories listed in the FOA such as descriptions of TGSO, TGS, and the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs (OPA), professional development activities, Northwestern’s anti-harassment and anti-discrimination policies and complaint process, training program evaluation, and mentor training. However, the PI team will need to include any program-specific information called for in the FOA. TGSO will also assist with confirming funding support commitments and language, and will coordinate obtaining the Provost’s signature on the letter. PI teams are expected to obtain supporting documents that confirm commitments, particularly funding commitments outlined in the letter, and upload copies of those documents to the shared folder.

All information regarding student or postdoctoral trainee funding must be described in the institutional letter of support. 

All information regarding student or postdoctoral trainee funding must be described in the institutional letter of support. Graduate students will need additional tuition and stipend funding from Northwestern to cover the difference between the NIH tuition and stipend allotment and Northwestern tuition and stipend.

• In general, the balance of predoctoral stipend (i.e., stipend supplement or stipend top-up) is the responsibility of the student’s adviser or the adviser’s home school unless other agreements are in place.
• For training grants supporting graduate students, tuition scholarships to fund the balance of predoctoral tuition not provided by the training grant are covered by TGS or Feinberg and are budgeted in each school’s TGS allocation. When drafting the proposal, TGS will notify the schools involved (any school where preceptors have their primary appointment) and obtain that school’s written commitment to pay stipend top-ups for any trainees whose advisor is housed in that school.
• TGS may award one affiliate slot (four quarters of tuition and stipend) to successful T32s that are submitting a renewal. The affiliate slot may be used to support a student who might not otherwise be able to be appointed to the T32 (e.g., a student who is not a U.S. citizen).
• Any financial support or commitments for postdoctoral trainees must also be included in the letter of support. For example, if the training program requires postdoctoral trainees to take a class, information on how the tuition will be paid must be included and prior approval from the responsible department/school must be obtained.