Intramural Research Training Award

Program Objectives

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) IRTA Traineeships are established for the principal benefit of the participants and to provide opportunities for developmental training and practical research experience in a variety of disciplines related to biomedical research, medical library research and related fields. The IRTA components are: 1) Postdoctoral IRTA - is designed to provide advance practical research experience to physicians and other doctoral researchers who are at the beginning stages of their professional research careers. 2) Predoctoral IRTA - is designed to provide practical research training and experience to students, by supplementing academic course work and/or encouraging pursuit of professional careers in biomedical research to: a) students enrolled in doctoral degree programs in biomedical sciences; b) students who have been accepted into graduate, doctoral, or medical degree programs and wish an opportunity to delay or interrupt their education for an interim research experience before entering school. 3) Post baccalaureate IRTA - is designed to provide recent college graduates, particularly minorities, women, and persons with disabilities, an opportunity to postpone application to graduate or medical school and to provide a means to introduce individuals early in their careers to the research field, encourage their pursuit of professional careers in biomedical research, and allow additional time to pursue successful application to either graduate or medical school programs. 4) Technical IRTA - is designed to produce a cadre of highly trained research support professionals capable of performing the latest advanced techniques in a laboratory by developing the trainees' skills in the conduct of basic and applied research. 5) Student IRTA - is designed to provide a developmental training experience to promising high school and undergraduate and graduate students who have expressed a strong interest in or are studying disciplines related to biomedical sciences.