2 Comments
NIH provides stipends to NRSA fellows and trainees as a subsistence allowance to help defray living expenses during the research training experience. NIH does not provide stipends as a condition of employment with either the Federal government or the sponsoring institution. While stipends are not provided as a condition of employment, this policy is not intended to discourage or otherwise prevent recipient institutions from hiring NRSA trainees and fellows as employees or providing them with benefits consistent with what the institution provides others at similar career stages.
For more information, see the full Guide Notice. Please direct all inquiries to NIHTrain@mail.nih.gov.
Will the Grants Policy Statement be updated to address this? Section 11.3.8 still indicates that fringe benefits are unallowable costs, which runs counter to the idea that the policy doesn’t discourage institutions from offering employment to trainees.
NOT-OD-23-111 was issued as a reminder of existing NIH policies impacting NRSA trainees and fellows. While stipends are not provided as a condition of employment, NIH policy is not intended to discourage or otherwise prevent recipient institutions from hiring NRSA trainees and fellows as employees or providing them with benefits consistent with what the institution provides others at similar career stages. The NIH GPS will be updated to reflect this language.