Scholar Selection Process
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Interested applicants must meet in person with the Program Director, Dr. Kjerulff, prior to submission of the application.
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| BIRCWH Scholar Eligibility |
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| 1. Must hold a faculty appointment at the level of Assistant Professor (either tenure-track or non-tenure-track) in the Penn State College of Medicine, College of Health and Human Development, or College of Liberal Arts at the time of appointment as a PSU-BIRCWH scholar. |
| 2. Must have a clinical doctorate or PhD degree or its equivalent. |
| 3. Must have completed any postgraduate training normally expected for a faculty appointment in his or her field (including clinical or postdoctoral fellowship training, or residency if they have chosen not to subspecialize). |
| 4. Must not have been a Principal Investigator on an R01, R29, or subproject of a Program Project (P01), Center (P50, P60, U54) grant, mentored career development (K-series) grant, or other equivalent research grant awards; exceptions are R03 and R21. |
| 5. Must be a U.S. citizen or noncitizen national, or must have been lawfully admitted for permanent residence and possess an Alien Registration Receipt Card (1-151 or 1-155) or some other verification of legal admission as a permanent citizen; individuals on temporary or student visas are not eligible. |
| 6. Must not have more than 6 years of research training experience beyond the last doctoral degree at the time of his or her application. |
| 7. Must identify at least two Penn State BIRCWH mentors in different disciplines. The mentor team should include at least one member from each campus (Hershey and University Park). A list of Penn State BIRCWH mentors is available on the website. The Primary Mentor must have currently funded research. |
| Application Submission |
| The candidate completes a two-page application (attached) attesting to current position and eligibility. Additional required documents are the candidate's CV; a 3-5 page statement of interest and research goals; three professional references (form attached); a signed statement of agreement from the proposed Primary Mentor and the Primary Mentor's CV; and a letter of support from the candidate's Department chair ensuring that 75% effort will be devoted to research and mentored research career development for the duration of the 2- or 3-year appointment as a BIRCWH scholar. (The remaining 25% effort may be devoted to teaching, clinical care, etc.). (A sample letter is attached.) |
| The application and support documents are submitted to the PSU-BIRCWH Program Director, Dr. Kristen Kjerulff, Department of Public Health Sciences, College of Medicine. |
| The application materials have been distributed to all BIRCWH mentors and members of the Advisory Committee; they will soon be available on the Penn State BIRCWH website. |
| Review of Applications |
| Applications are reviewed by the BIRCWH Advisory Committee. The applications are evaluated on the following general criteria: |
| 1. Candidate eligibility (see above) |
| 2. Previous research and training experience and professional interests compatible with the PSU-BIRCWH core areas |
| 3.Identification of at least 2 BIRCWH mentors in different disciplines |
| 4. Strength of the research plan with respect to relevance to women's health or to sex/gender differences related to health |
| 5. Interdisciplinary content of the career development and research plan |
| 6. The need for either a 2- or 3-year research training period |
| 7. Capacity to develop an externally funded research program |
| 8. Professional references. |
| 9. Distribution among clinical and non-clinical scholar candidates and campuses (NOTE: our goal is to have 4 clinical and 4 non-clinical scholars during the 5-year grant period, and to include scholars from the College of Medicine, College of Health and Human Development, and College of Liberal Arts) |
| The PSU-BIRCWH Program Director, Dr. Kjerulff, will review the applications that are received to ensure eligibility and completeness of the application. Candidates may be requested to revise their applications to strengthen the career development or research plan, and they may be asked to provide additional documents, such as graduate transcripts. Promising candidates will be invited for interviews with at least two members of the BIRCWH Advisory Committee. The interviewers will complete the Scholar Candidate Evaluation Form. These forms will be provided to the Advisory Committee, which decides whether or not the candidate should be made a funding offer. Members of the Advisory Committee use rating forms to evaluate each candidate. Rating form 1 and rating form 2. Any members of the Advisory Committee who are named as a potential primary or secondary mentor for a BIRCWH applicant will recuse themselves from discussion, rating, and voting on the applicant. |
| The final step in the selection process is the approval of NIH. Each BIRCWH scholar is reviewed by NIH, which typically takes 3-4 weeks. |