K12 Information for Applicants

2025–2026 Key Dates 

In the 2025/2026 academic year, Duke will select up to four K12 scholars for a July 2026 start. 

  • Application opens: September 22, 2025
  • REQUIRED LOI: December 5, 2025
  • Application deadline: February 2, 2026
  • Funding begins: July 2026

Eligibility 

  1. K12 scholars must have a research or health-professional doctoral degree or its equivalent, i.e., a Doctor of Medicine (MD), MD/PhD, or PhD degree. An appointment as a Duke Faculty member is required.  An applicant may be in the final year of (postdoc) fellowship, but must have a faculty appointment by the start of the K12 award (please see #5 below). 

  1. All candidates must be U.S. citizens, naturalized citizens, or permanent residents. Individuals on temporary or student visas are not eligible. 

  1. Candidates must be able to commit a minimum of nine calendar months of total professional effort (75%) for career development and research activities associated with the program. For surgeons or others in procedure-based specialties, effort requirements may be reduced to at least 50%. The eligibility of potential candidates holding VA appointments will be confirmed with the NCATS Office of Grants Management and Program staff appointed to the program. 

  1. Commitment to 3 years of research training. 

  1. If you are a Senior Research Fellow, Postdoctoral Fellow, Research Scientist, Research Scholar, or Senior Research Associate, you are eligible for the K12 only if your division chief and department chair affirm that, if funded, you will be appointed to faculty as of the K12 start date. Department Chair recommendation letters must include assurance that you will have received a faculty appointment before or by the start of the K12 appointment. You cannot receive K12 funds until you are appointed to the faculty. 

    Individuals are NOT eligible for an appointment if they: 

  • Have simultaneously submitted or have pending an application for any other PHS mentored career development award (e.g., K01, K07, K08, K22, K23) that duplicates any of the provisions of the K12 program. 
  • Have been or are a current principal investigator on any NIH research project grant (this does not include NIH Small Grants (R03) or Exploratory/Developmental (R21) grants or their equivalents) or equivalent non-PHS peer-reviewed research grants that are over $100,000 direct costs per year. 
  • Have been or are project leaders on sub-projects of program project (P01) or center grants (P50). 
  • Have been or are currently principal investigators on an NIH individual mentored career development award, e.g., K01, K07, K08, K22, K23, or K99 award. 

Institutional K12 recipients may be eligible for the Duke CTSA K12. The cumulative length of time allowed under NIH-sponsored K12 support is generally not more than 5 years. Furthermore, the applicant would need to justify additional mentored research training or training in a team context. 

Appointed K12 scholars may apply for individual mentored K awards (e.g. K01, K07, K08, K22, K23); if successful, the K12 appointment would be terminated early and funding received from the new individual K award. 

Please note: NIH/NCATS will not support international work or work with an international component on the K12 grant, so all research projects must be based in the United States.