The IPERT program (PAR-24-252​) supports creative and innovative research educational activities designed to complement and/or enhance the training of a workforce to meet the nation’s biomedical research needs. Each IPERT program must address the NIGMS goal of developing a highly skilled biomedical workforce. Activities proposed for IPERT should be designed to equip participants with technical, operational, and/or professional skills required for careers in the biomedical research workforce. The research education activities must be available and accessible to participants beyond those in a single program, department or institution. Further, an IPERT must describe plans to widely disseminate to the biomedical research community the resources developed that prepare and facilitate the advancement of participants in biomedical research.

Program Goals &​ Structure

NIGMS anticipates that the scope, purpose and objectives of IPERT programs will vary considerably based on different organizational contexts and missions. Funded programs will have robust program leadership structures, participant recruitment plans, and evaluation and dissemination plans. IPERT activities must be open to the biomedical research community and may be designed to support career stages from the undergraduate to the professional.

In each case, an IPERT application must have a focus on one or more of the following:

• ​ Courses for Skills Development: In-person or virtual courses designed to develop the skills necessary for biomedical research workforce careers. For example, courses where participants develop
  • Technical skills: appropriate and safe research methods, new technologies, quantitative/computational approaches, pedagogy
  • Operational skills: independent knowledge acquisition, rigorous experimental design, data interpretation
  • Professional skills: management, leadership, communication, teamwork/collaboration, mentoring, career navigation.
• Mentoring Activities: For example, activities where participants are trained as mentors; or where participants receive advice, insight, and professional career skills training appropriate to their career stage as part of a mentoring network or similar formal mentoring structure. The typical informal mentoring activities associated with research experience programs and courses for skills development are assumed to be an integral part of those activities, and therefore, do not typically merit the selection of "Mentoring" as a separate activity.
• Curriculum or Methods Development: For example, activities where participants develop or enhance curriculum, methods, novel instructional approaches, or computer-based tools that are intended to improve biomedical research education at numerous organizations​.

Program Considerations

• IPERT activities must be open to the biomedical community and not be restricted to participants from a single organization. NIGMS prioritizes programs that are open to participants nationwide. Strong justification should be provided for proposed programs with regional participant pools.
• Innovation is a central feature of the NIGMS IPERT funding opportunity. The proposed program should either apply novel concepts, methods, or technologies, or use existing concepts, methods, or technologies in novel ways, to achieve the program's overarching goal of enhancing the training of the nation's biomedical research workforce.
• Renewal applications will not be accepted. Applications proposing programs related to those previously supported by NIGMS through IPERT R25 or R13 conference grants must strongly justify the need for the program and additional funding from NIGMS. Such applications must include new elements that are distinct from or significantly build on the initial award activities. An application that simply proposes to continue previously supported activities will not be considered for funding.
• Institutions or organizations seeking support solely for scientific meetings that fall within the NIGMS mission (including conferences, seminars or similar activities) should refer to the NIGMS R13 Support for Scientific Meetings.
• The IPERT program is not intended to support project-based mentored research experiences for students at any academic level.

Please read the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for a comprehensive description of the required components of the Research Education Program Plan and detailed instructions for completing the application.

This IPERT NOFO (PAR-24-252) has major changes from the previous IPERT NOFO (PAR-21-196). The key changes are listed below:

Information for Applicants

Applicants are strongly encouraged to

• Read the NOFO PAR-24-252 including Related Notices in the Overview Section
• Refer to Applicant Webinar materials below
• Contact the IPERT Program Officers for preliminary, non-binding feedback on the proposed program’s fit by sending a single email to Drs. Sydella Blatch Alexander, Kalynda Gonzales Stokes, and Joyce Stamm, that includes a one-page program summary with the following information:
  • Brief rationale for the proposed program and program objectives
  • If applicable, a brief explanation of how the proposed program differs from current or previous NIGMS R25 or R13 support,
  • Summary of activities proposed for the areas of focus of your proposed program: courses for skills development, curriculum or methods development, and/or mentoring activities,
  • Proposed participant pool, including career stage(s), biomedical field(s), geographic distribution/organizations from which participants will be recruited.

IPERT Webinar Slides

IPERT Frequently Asked Questions

Funded IPERT Grants