Welcome to the Training Grant Support Office (TGSO). TGSO supports Northwestern University faculty, graduate programs, and departments on training grant-related matters, especially with the preparation of institutional training grant applications (new and renewal) submitted to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Science Foundation (NSF), Department of Education, and other funding agencies. The current focus is on institutional training grants that support graduate student and postdoctoral fellow training, such as the NIH Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) Research Institutional Training Grants and NSF's Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (IGERT) grants.

Working collaboratively with individual and institutional entities, TGSO currently provides the following services:

• Data management services for institutional training grant proposals (e.g., data collection, coordination, maintenance, and reporting; proposal data table production; tracking of active and proposed institutional training grants) involving institution-wide data needed for institutional training grant proposals
  • Includes but is not limited to data about faculty, departments and graduate programs, current and past trainees of faculty and training grants, research protocol data, application/admission/completion statistics, and other data as needed 
• Proposal development aids (e.g., budget development tool, project planning aid, sample and boilerplate text to be customized for proposals)
• Sharing of best practices, advice, tips and traps
• Communications on training grant related matters, e.g., new opportunities, policy changes, important funding agency information
• Training grant-related advice, funding agency and NU policy and procedure information, answers to questions, problem resolution, etc.
• Special training grant-related projects

Northwestern faculty - Contact TGSO as soon as you are considering applying for a new or submitting a competing renewal application for a training grant.  Targeted minimum timeframes for requesting services to ensure the most effective proposal development cycle are:

• NIH T32:  
  • Initial planning meeting - at least 6 months prior to application deadline
  • List of faculty mentors - at least 4 months prior to application deadline 
• NSF IGERT
  • Contact TGSO as soon as you anticipate you will apply for the preliminary proposal, and as soon as you are notified if you will be invited to submit a full proposal
• Other Training Grant Funding Sources
  • Contact TGSO as soon as you anticipate you will apply for a training grant
• Special funding or commitment requests of The Graduate School in support of the training grant should be submitted via TGSO at least 1 month prior to the application deadline

Thinking of a new training grant?  Renewal of an existing training grant on the horizon?  Questions? Suggestions?  Issues?

Contact us as early as possible. We're here to help.

Contact:
Ruth W. Allee, Director, Training Grant Support Office
e-mail: r-allee@northwestern.edu
phone: 847-491-8534
fax: 847-467-7600