Frequently Asked Questions

These resources may also help you create a list of potential mentors in your field:

• Faculty Profiles
  A list of all Feinberg faculty, by department
• Northwestern Scholars
  A database of faculty members and their research interests, including their recent publications and projects
• Scopus
  An abstract and citation database of research literature and web sources
• DigitalHub
  A collection of research and scholarly output at Northwestern

The Medical Faculty Council offers some helpful tips on mentoring.

For more information, consider "Mentorship in Academic Medicine," edited by Sharon Straus and David Sackett. It's an evidence-based guide that shares strategies for building successful mentoring relationships.

Ask for help from a Liaison Librarian, the designated primary contact between the Galter Health Sciences Library and your specific department or center.

Instructions for sending your previous CITI training certificate to Northwestern can be found on the IRB website.

It's offered each fall on the Chicago campus. The RCR page will be updated when the next date is set.

It's not required for clinical duties, but your grant requirements will note specifically if it's required for your funding. Regardless, we recommend taking RCR training every four years.

The RCR course should be repeated every four years or whenever you receive a new grant or enter a new career state, regardless of the last time you took it.

It varies from program to program — some close their review of application once the deadline has passed, and others once every spot in the program has been filled. Many allow you to join the program at the start of any new quarter, so you may not have to wait a full year for admission.

You can apply for a pilot or voucher award from NUCATS. Voucher awards are for up to $2,500, and pilot awards will fund up to $10,000. NUCATS sends out open calls for applications throughout the year. Residents and fellows who are collaborating with a NUCATS member are eligible to apply.

NUCATS also offers the Northwestern Medicine Enterprise Data Warehouse (NMEDW) Pilot Data Program, a voucher that covers the cost of using an EDW analyst to support proposal development.

No. Please wait until the next cycle.

Reach out to your mentor, program director, division chief or department chair for help. 

A constantly updated list of current internal opportunities is available via NITRO Competitions.

A F32 is not appropriate for every program. Talk with your mentor, program director, division chief or department chair for more information. 

If appropriate, they will help you to navigate the steps required by both the funding agency and Northwestern to prepare and submit an application. You will want to work with your mentor to prepare a brief abstract that you can use to setup a discussion with the program officer at the NIH institute to which you plan to apply. You should check out the next quarterly grant and fellowship proposal writing workshop series (available on the Evanston and Chicago campuses), offered by The Graduate School and the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs.

Check out the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs for some key first steps. Additional details can be found at the NIH grant site.

For the most up-to-date list, sign up for the Office of Research mailing list and check NITRO Competitions frequently.

RedCap, Study Tracker, Galter Health Sciences Library resources and i2B2 are available at no cost. The NMEDW Pilot Data Program may help cover the cost of analysts.

No training is required to use NMEDW and i2B2. If you would like to own and manage a REDCap project, you must complete an administrative session. If you will just be accessing a project with an existing owner, the session is not required.

The Center for Community Health serves as a link between Northwestern and the community. To learn how they can help you, request a consultation.

You must be on the Northwestern Medicine or Northwestern University network or use VPN to access each of these tools.

• REDCap: If a project is already created, the project owner can grant you access. Email redcap@northwestern.edu to request a new project or take over ownership of an existing project. Attendance is required at a new user training session; details will be provided after your request is received.
• NMEDW: If you are requesting access to an existing report or data set, you must be listed as a project contact on the study's IRB. Email the STU and name of the report to nmedw@northwestern.edu for access. If you would like to create a new report or data extract, complete the EDW request form.
• i2b2: If you need help or have questions about your results, contact nmedw@northwestern.edu.
• StudyTracker: When you log in, you will see all of the approved IRB studies that list you as a project contact. If the IRB is external, your PI or a designee can grant you access.

For ClinicalTrials.gov registration and reporting requirements, contact ClinicalTrials.gov@northwestern.edu.

There are a host of discipline-specific, external grants available. Your program director or mentor should be able to point you in the right direction.

Internally, NUCATS offers a Multidisciplinary Career Development Program (TL1) in Child and Adolescent Health. This award supports fellows and postdoctoral scholars in the areas of engineering and pediatrics work as they work to solve child health problems. In addition, NUCATS also has a Mentored Career Development Program (K12) for early-career faculty conducting clinical and translational research. Both award programs provide protected research time, mentorship and career development opportunities.