REQUEST FOR APPLICATIONS (RFA) 

Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI)
Research Education, Training and Career Development Core (CTSI-Ed) 

RFA Release Date: December 1, 2025

HIGHLIGHTS

• $16,000 award to support a research project over a two year period

• Research and professional career development (two year program) 

  • Career development focuses on science communication, community engagement, and team science; career development complements the mentored research

• Open to: 

  • Predoctoral students pursuing a PhD (or dual degree with a PhD) who have passed their written and oral preliminary examinations; and

  • Recently graduated PhDs looking for a postdoctoral fellowship position or current postdoctoral fellows within 3 years of completing their PhD 

  • Students with clinical rotations within the award period are not eligible to apply

  • All PhD students, postdocs and medical fellows who meet eligibility requirements are welcome to apply

TRDP Program Description

The Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI) provides institutional research funds for predoctoral students and postdoctoral fellows with a demonstrable and significant interest in translational research/science focused on human health.  The program provides early stage investigators with significant experience in clinical and translational research/science as a foundation for the development of an independent research career.  

The TRDP Program seeks applicants conducting translational research and/or translational science. Translational research fosters the multidirectional and multidisciplinary integration of basic research, patient-oriented research, and population-based research, with the long-term aim of improving the health of the public. Translational science investigates the scientific and operational principles underlying each step of the translational process in order to make it predictable and efficient. Applications describing translational science projects are encouraged.

Funds are designed to support a modest research project that will result in at least one first-authored publication in a peer reviewed journal for the Scholar.  The TRDP project must be secondary to the applicant’s primary research endeavors and must advance the Scholar’s research along the clinical and translational research spectrum. 

A portion of the funds may also be used to support didactic coursework or attendance at workshops that will facilitate successful completion of the TRDP project by developing the applicant’s skills in clinical and translational research/science.  

The Translational Research Development Program will award up to 2 Scholars, with a maximum award of $16,000 in research funds. In addition to the awardee’s current primary research mentor, awardees must engage a translational mentor who will help advise and guide the TRDP project.  This translational research mentor must be a faculty member who conducts clinical or translational research, or a biostatistician at the University of Minnesota who will provide significant mentoring for the project. The translational mentor’s experience and expertise should complement that of the primary mentor.