About Institutional Training Grants
An institutional training grant is an agreement that supports cohorts of students, postdoctoral researchers, staff, teachers and/or faculty who are selected by the institution to be a part of the training program. These programs typically provide a coordinated training program in a distinct discipline or transdisciplinary area and may offer a stipend and professional development activities to the trainees.
Typically a team of faculty trainers will apply to an agency to host such a program, and once awarded, the faculty team will select annual cohorts of trainees to participate.
A list of current training grant programs at UC Davis can be found here.
Institutional training grants are different from individual fellowships, which generally provide stipends for individuals who are selected by the agency. Graduate Studies has resources for grad students and postdocs interested in individual fellowships and awards.
Training Grant Resources
Click on the topic you're interested in to jump to that area of our Training Grant resources, or simply scroll down to browse!
- Training Grant Support
- Mentor Training
- Training Grant Programs Network
- Training Grant Funding Opportunities
- PDS Training Grant Resources
Training Grant Support
UC Davis Training Grant Support Services (TGSS) is a virtual unit linking staff in Graduate Studies and Proposal Development Services (PDS) at the Office of Research. This unit assists faculty with:
- Finding funding opportunities open to specific research and training goals
- Supporting development and preparation of institutional training grant proposal components including narrative documents, data tables, faculty mentor information, budgets, and institutional support letters
- Coordinating training grant proposal development with other UC Davis units as relevant
- Providing materials for the renewal of an existing training grant program
Training grant proposals are often complex and require thoughtful planning and preparation. TGSS prefers to be notified of requests for support at least four months ahead of a training grant proposal due date.
Templates and Samples of typical proposal components for institutional training grants are available via the links below and by contacting the Proposal Development Services team at pds@ucdavis.edu.
Mentor Training
A core component of many training grant programs is a group of faculty who are available to serve as mentors to the trainees. Each trainee admitted to a training grant program will work with one (or sometimes a team of two) faculty mentors whose research interests are closely aligned with their own.
In training grant proposals it is important to document faculty mentors' past experiences with mentorship and mentorship training and to outline expectations and opportunities for continued mentor training. The UC Davis Graduate Mentoring Initiative offers a holistic mentoring program aimed at fostering a culture of faculty-graduate student mentoring that can be incorporated within new and existing training grant programs. The topics covered are consistent with expectations for mentor training among federal funding agencies.
Training Grant Program Networks
The following networks provide community and resources for existing and proposed training grant programs:
- UC Davis T32 Council (contact Kirsten Asher for details)
- UC Training Grant Consortium
- National Training Grant Community of Practice (NTGCOP)
Training Grant Funding Opportunities
Examples of institutional training grants available from federal agencies include:
- The National Science Foundation Research Traineeship Program
- National Institutes of Health Institutional Training Grants (T grants)
- USDA/NIFA National Needs Graduate and Postgraduate Fellowship Grants Program
- Department of Education Graduate Assistance in Areas of National Need (GAANN)
The timing, amount of funding available, and funding cycles of each of these opportunities vary by agency and program.
Many of these programs are Limited Submissions. Please review the sponsor guidelines carefully or contact limsubmissions@ucdavis.edu for more information.
PDS Training Grant Resources
The materials below have been prepared by the PDS team. Don't hesitate to reach out to us if you need updated versions of these materials to prepare your proposals.
NIH Training Grant Resources
Institutional Training Grants (T series)
About the NIH Institutional Training Grants (T and D series)
- T32 Training Grant (NIH website info)
- NIH All About Grants Podcast: Ins and Outs of Training Grants (miniseries)
Resources developed by the Training Grant Support Services team (an arm of Proposal Development Services)
- Preparing a New Application
- Preparing a Renewal Application
- Checklist for T32
- Example 6 Month Project Calendar
- Section Templates & Guides
- Training Grant Budget
NSF Training Grant Resources
NSF NRT Research Traineeship Program
About the NSF NRT Research Traineeship Program
Important: This funding opportunity is a Limited Submission. Please review the sponsor guidelines carefully and contact limsubmissions@ucdavis.edu for more information.