What this program funds
The F32 is NIH's individual postdoctoral fellowship: up to three years of stipend support (on the NRSA scale, which rises with experience) plus an institutional allowance, so a postdoc can be funded on their own merit in a training environment they chose. Like all fellowships in the F series, it is reviewed as a training award — the science matters, but so do the sponsor, the environment, and what new capabilities the fellowship years add.
Eligibility in plain English
- You hold (or will hold by the start date) a doctoral degree and are undertaking mentored postdoctoral training.
- You must be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident (a standard NRSA requirement).
- You need a sponsor at the training institution; you can apply before starting the position or early in it — and the earlier in the postdoc, the more support remains available to you.
- NRSA support carries a payback obligation for the first twelve months of postdoctoral NRSA funding, normally discharged simply by continuing in research or related activity afterward — know the rule; don't fear it.
- Confirm specifics with your sponsored-programs office and the current funding opportunity announcement.
What you'll need to submit
- Specific Aims (1 page).
- Research Strategy (6 pages).
- Applicant's Background and Goals for Fellowship Training (6 pages) — including why this lab, this field, and this training now.
- Sponsor and co-sponsor statements covering the training plan, the resources funding the research, and trainee-outcome track record.
- Reference letters (typically 3–5), submitted separately by referees — usually including your doctoral advisor.
- Biographical Sketches (via SciENcv), institutional-environment and responsible-conduct-of-research sections, human subjects or vertebrate animals materials as applicable, and a Data Management and Sharing Plan.
Tips for this mechanism
- Distance from the PhD is the review heuristic. An F32 to continue your dissertation work in your thesis lab is a hard sell; a move to a new lab, technique, or field is the shape reviewers expect. If you must stay, the "what's new in the training" case has to be airtight.
- Apply early — ideally around when you start the postdoc. Review and resubmission commonly consume a year; applying late in a postdoc leaves little fundable time and invites the "training nearly complete" criticism.
- Make the sponsor prove the environment. The statement should commit specific resources to your project and name past postdocs and where they landed — the sponsor's mentoring history is scored, not assumed.
Related programs
- NIH K99/R00 (the transition award many F32 holders target next; open to non-citizens, unlike the F32)
- NIH K01, K08, K23 (mentored career awards after the fellowship stage)
- NIH T32 appointments (institutional postdoctoral training support)