How to Apply

Program Eligibility & Team Formation

UF pre- and postdoctoral trainees with an outstanding track record of performance and productivity during their doctoral and postdoctoral programs are encouraged to apply. Candidates must also demonstrate a strong interest in interdisciplinary approaches to cancer research in one of our thematic research focus areas.

Trainees

  • UF Trainees who are U.S. citizens or permanent residents are eligible to apply.
  • Applications should be submitted by paired teams of Ph.D. (or dual-degree) students and/or postdoctoral trainees.
  • Teams must be from two different colleges, departments or disciplines.

Faculty Mentors

  • Team applications must be preapproved by the trainees’ primary mentors and, for teams involving graduate students, the PhD major graduate program.
  • Participating faculty must have peer-reviewed independent R01, or R01-like research support*, one of which must be cancer-focused.

*NCI-specific requirements for NCI T32 training programs

Faculty/Mentors/Preceptors are expected to have independent R01, or R01-like, research funding. New and Early Stage Investigators with no such funding may serve as co-mentors.

For the NCI T32, R01-like research funding includes peer-reviewed research grants from other federal sources and private foundations. The award duration is expected to be for at least 3 years with a minimum of $150,000 direct costs per year. Grants under a no-cost extension do not qualify.

Research Projects

  • Team projects must be cancer-focused.
  • This is a two-year training program. TICaRT teams must be able to complete their team projects within this timeframe.
  • TICaRT teams are expected to develop projects that will result in joint collaborative publications.

Program Benefits & Trainee Support

  • Teams will be appointed for one year and will be renewed for a 2nd year pending satisfactory progress.
  • Trainee support is provided for stipends, tuition & fees (for graduate students), travel allowance, and training-related expenses (including health insurance)
  • Budgetary levels are fixed by the National Institutes of Health and vary depending on the number of years of experience following doctoral degree. Current levels of support can be found at NOT-OD-24-104.
  • Additional trainee support is provided by the UF Health Cancer Center.

Application Timeline

Call for applications opens: February 10, 2025

Application deadline: April 15, 2025 at 11:59 p.m.

New cohort joins TICaRT Program: August 16, 2025

Application & Selection Process

Team applications include: cover sheet with demographic information and program affiliations of team members and mentors; Team Research Plan; Team Mentoring Plan; and NIH Biosketches for each team member and mentor.

  • Team Research Plans are written jointly by the applicants, working together as a team for the first time. They describe the common research interest or question that brought the team together, rationale for the collaboration, and how team members’ backgrounds and/or experiences are complementary.
  • The Team Mentoring Plan is written jointly by the team mentors and addresses their familiarity with and support for the team’s proposed collaborative research, willingness to co-mentor the team, relevance of proposed research, planned frequency and type of contact with team members

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