NIH Career Development Award Checklist (K Series)
The NIH Career Development Award checklist is designed to assist you in preparing a standard NIH Career Development Award application. A signed institutional Routing Form is required with ALL applications prior to submission. Refer to the OSPA Review Requirements for additional and special guidelines or contact your Sponsored Programs Officer. You must refer to the NIH Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) and the complete sponsor's guidelines for more detailed instructions and special requirements.
This checklist presents information in sequential order, following the SF424 Guidelines.
Funding Opportunity Announcement
• Identify the FOA you are responding to - usually the current parent announcement as posted by the NIH.
• Follow SF424 Guidelines.
o Determine if you are eligible – many programs require U.S. citizenship or permanent residency.
o Determine which career type you are applying (see the K Kiosk and the Summary of Research Career Development Award Programs table in the SF424 Guidelines for more information).
o Note that the SF424 Guidelines contain Supplemental Instructions for Preparing an Individual Research Career Development Award (CDA) Application (“K” Series).
Format Specifications
• Use permitted fonts (type & size) such as Arial 11. See SF424 Guidelines for details.
• Observe page limitations and margin specifications. Generally, margins must be at least 0.5 inches.
Application Title
• Limited to 200 characters including the spaces between words and punctuation; excess characters will be truncated.
• Avoid using special characters (Greek letters, etc.).
Commons User Name
• Provide username for the Principal Investigator (applicant) and Mentor/Co-Mentor; contact your OSPA SPO to request an account, if needed.
The NIH Career Development Award checklist is designed to assist you in preparing a standard NIH Career Development Award application. A signed institutional Routing Form is required with ALL applications prior to submission. Refer to the OSPA Review Requirements for additional and special guidelines or contact your Sponsored Programs Officer. You must refer to the NIH Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) and the complete sponsor's guidelines for more detailed instructions and special requirements.
This checklist presents information in sequential order, following the SF424 Guidelines.
• Identify the FOA you are responding to - usually the current parent announcement as posted by the NIH.
• Follow SF424 Guidelines.
o Determine if you are eligible – many programs require U.S. citizenship or permanent residency.
o Determine which career type you are applying (see the K Kiosk and the Summary of Research Career Development Award Programs table in the SF424 Guidelines for more information).
o Note that the SF424 Guidelines contain Supplemental Instructions for Preparing an Individual Research Career Development Award (CDA) Application (“K” Series).
Format Specifications
• Use permitted fonts (type & size) such as Arial 11. See SF424 Guidelines for details.
• Observe page limitations and margin specifications. Generally, margins must be at least 0.5 inches.
Application Title
• Limited to 200 characters including the spaces between words and punctuation; excess characters will be truncated.
• Avoid using special characters (Greek letters, etc.).
Commons User Name
• Provide username for the Principal Investigator (applicant) and Mentor/Co-Mentor; contact your OSPA SPO to request an account, if needed.
