Diversity Policies & Resources

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Resources from NINDS OPEN

Resources to Prepare Your Application

Learn about NINDS and how to prepare your application.

• OPEN Youtube Playlist: Watch recorded Technical Assistance Webinars to learn more about how to apply to NINDS funding opportunities.
• Building Up the Nerve: Listen to our podcast for help navigating your career in neuroscience! 
  • Season 1: The Life Cycle of an NINDS Grant
    • We discuss the NIH grant process from application to award with NINDS staff.
  • Season 2: Building a Grant Application
    • We discuss the components of fellowship and career award applications with awardees.
  • Season 3: Mentoring
    • We discuss strengthening your mentoring relationships with trainees and faculty.
  • Season 4: Demystifying the Hidden Curriculum
    • We discuss the unwritten rules of scientific training and careers with scientists.
• Suggestions for a Good Career Development Plan: Training grants require a career development plan. Review our suggestions to create a strong career development plan. 
• Introductory Webinar to NIH and NINDS: New to learning about NIH? Watch this webinar or listen to Season 1 of our Building Up the Nerve podcast.
• Diversity Awards: Check out the Resources section at the bottom of any of the diversity awards for specific resources for each program.
• Research Capacity Building for Resource Limited Institutions: Are you at a Resource-Limited Institution (RLI)? Find specific resources and funding opportunities on our Research Capacity Building for RLI page.

Policies

Information on NIH and NINDS policies around diversity and representation.

• NIH-wide Policies
  • NIH's Interest in Diversity: A diversity statement that describes NIH's interest in the diversity of the NIH-funded workforce. Programs to enhance diversity focus on underrepresented racial/ethnic groups, individuals with disabilities, and individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds, and institutions primarily serving underrepresented groups.
  • Racial and Ethnic Categories and Definitions for NIH Diversity Programs and for Other Reporting Purposes: Definitions of the racial and ethnic categories described in NIH's Interest in Diversity policy.
• T32 Training Grants
  • Diversity Recruitment and Retention Requirement for Training Grants: Information on suggested approaches for the recruitment and retention of students and fellows for T32 grants.
  • The Role of NINDS T32 Programs in Training a Diverse Workforce(pdf, 271 KB): NINDS expectations for T32 programs with regard to diversity issues and information about opportunities available to T32 programs that can aid in diversity recruitment and retention.
• R13 Conference Grants
  • NINDS Guidance for R13 Conference Grant Submissions: Addressing “Appropriate Representation”: Information and resources for R13 applicants on effective ways to design an appropriate conference plan for inclusion.
• NINDS Strategic Planning
  • Report from the 2010 Workforce Diversity Strategic Planning Advisory Panel(pdf, 594 KB): Report from the NINDS Advisory Panel for Workforce Diversity, charged to examine the current NINDS investment in nurturing diversity in the neuroscience workforce, and to make recommendations for current and future programs that will further the goal of NINDS to engage all segments of our society in the effort to reduce the burden of neurological disease.  
  • Discussion Panel Reports from 2020 NINDS Strategic Planning for Training and Workforce Diversity Goal: Discussion panelists were charged with defining neuroscience training and diversity challenges and opportunities for the next 5-10 years to help identify actionable goals for improving neuroscience research training, career development, and ensuring a vibrant, talented, and diverse workforce.
    • Trainee Discussion Panel(pdf, 273 KB)
    • Basic Science Faculty Discussion Panel(pdf, 241 KB)
    • Clinical Faculty Discussion Panel(pdf, 276 KB)

Selected Past Workshops

Information on selected past workshops related to diversity at NINDS.

• NINDS Biennial R25/T32 Workshops
  • Sustaining a Neural Network: Fostering an Inclusive Research Culture – April 29-30, 2024
  • Maintaining a Neural Network: Transforming Mentorship - April 25 - 26, 2022 (Virtual)
  • Strengthening a Neural Network: Pathways for Institutional Change Regarding Diversity and Inclusion - April 29 - 30, 2019
  • Activating a Neural Network: Admission Strategies to Increase Diverse Neuroscience Trainees - April 10 - 11, 2017
  • Forming a Neural Network: NINDS Diversity Research Education (R25) Meeting - April 11-12, 2016
• NIH Blueprint Workshops
  • 2023 Writing Your Own Blueprint: The NIH Blueprint Diversity Conference – July 11-12, 2023
  • 2021 Writing Your Own Blueprint: The NIH Blueprint Diversity Conference – April 7-8, 2021
  • Virtual Workshop for NIH Blueprint Diversity - April 16, 2020 

Professional Development Opportunities

Venues for professional development activities, scientific presentations and networking opportunities with peers, faculty and academic biomedical research institutions.

• NINDS-Funded Programs

  • Neuroscience Development for Advancing the Careers of a Diverse Research Workforce (R25) Programs

• Conferences
  • Association of American Indian Physicians (AAIP)
  • Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students (ABRCMS)
  • Association of Minority Health Professions Schools, Inc. (AMHPS)
  • Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU)
  • Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS)
  • American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES)

Contacts

Michelle Jones-London, PhD | Associate Director, Office of Programs to Enhance the Neuroscience Workforce (OPEN)
NINDSDiversityTraining@mail.nih.gov 

Marguerite Matthews, Ph.D. | Section Chief, Career Preparation, OPEN
marguerite.matthews@nih.gov

Lauren Ullrich, Ph.D. | Section Chief, Career Advancement, OPEN
lauren.ullrich@nih.gov

Related Topics

Diversity Resources
Resources across NIH and the federal government around diversity

National Science Foundation Statistics
Current data on representation of different groups in the U.S. scientific workforce.

NIH Common Fund Diversity Initiatives

Information on the trans-NIH “Enhancing the Diversity of the NIH-Funded Workforce” program.

NIH Director's Advisory Committee Diversity Working Group

Access the 2012 “Diversity in the Biomedical Research Workforce Working Group Report.”

Diversity in Extramural Programs

Information about how NIH promotes a diverse scientific research workforce.

Scientific Workforce Diversity Office

The Chief Officer for Scientific Workforce Diversity (COSWD) leads NIH’s effort to diversify the national scientific workforce and expand recruitment and retention.

Mentoring Resources
"Mentor: Someone whose hindsight can become your foresight”

CIMER - Center for the Improvement of Mentored Experiences in Research

NRMNet – Mentoring to Diversify the Biomedical Workforce

AAMC: Minorities in Medicine

Biomedical Faces of Science

Introduction to Mentoring: A Guide for Mentors and Mentees

Keystone Diversity in Life Science Program

The Leadership Alliance

Mentoring: Key to Building the Pipeline of Addiction Researchers

Minority Serving Institutions

Resources to Minority Serving Institution lists. Note these lists are not maintained or affiliated with NIH/NINDS.

• NASA Minority Serving Institution (MSI) Exchange
• U.S. Department of Education Eligibility Matrices