NIH F32 Postdoctoral Fellowship 2026: Stipend, Eligibility & Deadline

NIH F32 Postdoctoral Fellowship at a Glance

The Ruth L. Kirschstein NRSA Individual Postdoctoral Fellowship supports promising postdoctoral researchers undertaking individualized, mentored research training in scientific health-related areas relevant to participating NIH Institutes and Centers.

The fellowship is designed to broaden the candidate’s scientific background, develop additional research and professional skills, and support progression toward the next stage of a biomedical research career.

Who Is Eligible for the NIH F32?

Citizenship or permanent residence

By the time an F32 award is made, the candidate must be a U.S. citizen, U.S. non-citizen national or lawful permanent resident.

Doctoral degree

Before the fellowship can be activated, the candidate must have received an eligible research or clinical doctoral degree or have official certification that all doctoral requirements have been completed.

Eligible degree types include PhD and equivalent research doctorates as well as multiple clinical doctorates such as MD, DO, DDS, DVM, PharmD, DrPH and PsyD.

Full-time training

Fellows are expected to pursue the proposed research training on a full-time basis, normally approximately 40 hours per week or the equivalent full-time standard used by the sponsoring institution.

Clinical residency

F32 support cannot be used for the clinical years of residency training. It may, however, support qualifying research-fellowship years within a residency programme.

Clinical trials

PA-25-423 does not allow the F32 candidate to lead an independent clinical trial. The fellow may gain research experience on a clinical trial led by a sponsor or co-sponsor.

Choosing a Sponsor and Training Institution

Before submitting an F32 application, the candidate must identify a primary sponsor who will directly supervise the proposed research training.

A sponsor team can be used where multiple mentors provide complementary expertise, but one individual must serve as the primary sponsor and coordinate the overall training programme.

Changing research environments is generally preferred

F32 is designed to help candidates acquire new knowledge and skills. NIH therefore generally expects the sponsoring institution to differ from the institution where the candidate completed doctoral training.

Candidates remaining at their doctoral institution must explain the new scientific, technical or professional training opportunities that justify remaining there.

Foreign training is possible

Foreign institutions are eligible under PA-25-423. Candidates proposing training abroad must explain why the foreign sponsor, facilities or training opportunities offer clear scientific advantages over suitable training available domestically.

FY2026 F32 Stipend and Financial Support

NIH NRSA postdoctoral stipends are based on the fellow’s full years of relevant postdoctoral experience when the award is issued.

Tuition and fees

NIH currently contributes 60% of actual tuition and fees up to $4,500 per postdoctoral fellow per year.

Where the fellow participates in formal degree-granting postdoctoral training, the current maximum is 60% of tuition and fees up to $16,000 per year.

Institutional allowance

For FY2026, the institutional allowance for an individual postdoctoral fellow is currently:

• $12,400/year at non-federal public, private and nonprofit institutions, including eligible foreign institutions; or
• $11,300/year at federal and for-profit institutions.

This allowance can help cover fellowship-related costs such as health insurance, research supplies, equipment, books and scientific-meeting travel.

Childcare support

Eligible full-time NRSA fellows may request $3,000 per budget period for qualifying childcare costs provided by a licensed childcare provider.

Current FORMS-I F32 Application Structure

NIH substantially revised fellowship applications for current cycles. Applicants should use the current FORMS-I fellowship instructions rather than copying the structure of older F32 applications.

Candidate section

The current Candidate’s Goals, Preparedness, and Potential section is designed to explain the fellow’s professional goals, preparation, qualifications, development needs and scientific perspective.

Grades are no longer required or permitted in the candidate biosketch under the revised fellowship framework.

Training Activities and Timeline

Applicants describe the planned research, coursework, professional development, mentoring and other training activities by year and explain how those activities address identified development needs.

Research Training Project

The candidate prepares a one-page Specific Aims document and a six-page Research Training Project Strategy. NIH emphasizes that the strategy must be written in the candidate’s own words, although mentors may provide scientific feedback.

Sponsor commitment

Sponsor materials now focus on mentoring approach, commitment to the candidate’s training plan, research environment, previous mentoring commitment and the candidate’s potential.

Additional NIH forms and compliance sections are required as applicable, including human-subjects, vertebrate-animal and resource-sharing information where relevant.

F32 Reference Letters

Current NIH F32 applications require a minimum of three and maximum of five reference letters.

Reference letters are submitted separately from the institutional Grants.gov application. Referees upload their letters directly through the eRA Commons reference-letter system.

Candidates should therefore confirm referee availability well before the deadline rather than waiting for the institutional submission to be completed.

How NIH Reviews Current F32 Applications

NIH’s revised fellowship review framework uses three scored criteria.

1. Candidate’s Preparedness and Potential

Reviewers assess the candidate’s preparation, qualities, research potential and ability to benefit from the proposed fellowship training.

2. Research Training Plan

Reviewers assess the rigor and feasibility of the project, whether the training plan addresses the candidate’s development needs, and whether the sponsor and scientific environment are appropriate.

3. Commitment to Candidate

Reviewers evaluate the sponsor’s mentoring plan and the strength of the institutional and mentoring commitment to successful completion of the candidate’s research training.

F32 Deadlines and Review Cycle

Parent F32 applications normally use the NIH standard fellowship deadlines of April 8, August 8 and December 8.

If a standard NIH deadline falls on a weekend or federal holiday, it moves to the next business day.

How to Apply for the NIH F32

1. Confirm that your research area fits a participating NIH Institute or Center.
2. Read PA-25-423 together with the IC-specific requirements for your intended NIH component.
3. Identify a primary sponsor and, if useful, additional co-sponsors with complementary expertise.
4. Confirm that the sponsoring institution has the required Grants.gov, SAM and eRA Commons registrations.
5. Confirm that your eRA Commons account is affiliated with the applicant organization and linked to a valid ORCID.
6. Develop the Candidate’s Goals, Preparedness, and Potential section.
7. Prepare the Training Activities and Timeline with your sponsor.
8. Develop the Specific Aims and Research Training Project Strategy.
9. Arrange three to five eligible referees and give them sufficient time to submit through eRA Commons.
10. Complete the remaining FORMS-I fellowship forms and applicable compliance sections.
11. Work with your institutional research or sponsored-programs office for submission through ASSIST, an institutional S2S system or Grants.gov Workspace.
12. Verify successful submission and correct any system errors before 5:00 PM local time on 8 December 2026.

NRSA Service Payback Requirement

Postdoctoral NRSA support carries a statutory service-payback requirement during the first 12 months of postdoctoral NRSA support.

The 13th and subsequent months of NRSA-supported postdoctoral training count toward satisfying the obligation month by month. A fellow who receives two continuous years of postdoctoral NRSA support will normally have satisfied the first-year obligation by the end of year two.

Fellows receiving their initial 12 months of postdoctoral NRSA support must complete the required Payback Agreement.

CareerAidHub F32 Application Guidance

Start with training gaps, not only your experiment

An F32 is a research-training award. A technically strong project alone is insufficient if the application does not show what new scientific capabilities, methods, perspectives or professional competencies the fellowship will develop.

Explain why this sponsor and environment fit your development needs

The sponsor should not merely be a famous researcher. The application should show that the mentoring plan and research environment directly address the candidate’s identified development needs.

Do not recycle an old F32 template

NIH substantially revised the fellowship application and review structure. Older examples built around the previous five review criteria may no longer align cleanly with FORMS-I.

Check institute participation before writing the entire application

PA-25-423 is not accepted by every NIH Institute or Center. Confirm participation and institute-specific priorities before investing heavily in a full submission.

Researchers comparing other opportunities can review CareerAidHub’s current postdoctoral fellowships, research grants and funding opportunities, and scientist and research careers.