Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) Individual Senior Fellowship (Parent F33)
Last verified by NonDilute: 2026-04-29. Official notice and agency instructions control.
If you're an established researcher with a PhD/MD looking to pivot into a new NIH-relevant field and your institution will sponsor you, this fellowship funds your salary and research support during the transition.
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What this is
The Ruth L. Kirschstein NRSA Individual Senior Fellowship supports mid-to-late-career scientists (typically PhD or MD holders with research experience) who are making significant shifts in their research focus or building new technical capabilities. Applicants must be sponsored by an eligible institution and commit to becoming independent investigators in areas aligned with NIH institute missions. This is fundamentally a research fellowship for academics and nonprofit researchers, not a commercialization or product-development fund.
Who can apply
Applicants must be U.S. citizens, nationals, or permanent residents with a research doctorate (PhD, MD, DVM, or equivalent) and prior research experience. You must be sponsored by an eligible institution (universities, nonprofits with 501(c)(3) status, small businesses, or other for-profit organizations). Solo founders and early-stage startups are not the intended audience; this is designed for researchers embedded in or affiliated with formal research institutions.
Eligible applicant types
- Private institutions of higher education
- Public and State controlled institutions of higher education
- Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education
- Small businesses
- For profit organizations other than small businesses
- Others (see text field entitled "Additional Information on Eligibility" for clarification)
- Nonprofits that do not have a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education
Full description — from the agency
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) awards senior individual research training fellowships to experienced scientists who wish to make major changes in the direction of their research careers or who wish to broaden their scientific background by acquiring new research capabilities as independent investigators in research fields relevant to the missions of participating NIH Institutes and Centers.
Topics: senior research fellowship · career transition · nih training award · independent investigator · research capability development · postdoctoral advancement
Public-source funding discovery only. This summary is generated from public agency data and may be incomplete or stale. NonDilute is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or acting on behalf of any government agency. Official notices and agency instructions control. NonDilute does not determine eligibility, provide grant-writing advice, or guarantee funding.