The NIH Clinical Center (CC) Department of Bioethics leads or participates in several international initiatives designed to support bioethics research training. Our efforts mostly focus on supporting the development of advanced bioethics expertise in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), typically at the doctoral and post-doctoral level.
Current initiatives include:
- Mentored research program for early career bioethics scholars from low- and middle-income countries: support for an individual bioethics scholar to pursue part of their doctoral or post-doctoral research in the NIH CC Department of Bioethics (2-3 months)
- Postdoctoral research fellowship in bioethics: support for an individual bioethics scholar to pursue post-doctoral research and training in the NIH CC Department of Bioethics (2 years)
- Indo-US Clinical Research Ethics Fellowship (partnership between the Indian Department of Biotechnology and the NIH CC Department of Bioethics): support for an individual bioethics scholar (either Person of Indian Origin (PIO) or Overseas Citizen of India (OCI)) to pursue post-doctoral research and training in a Host Institute in India (3 years) with short residence at the NIH CC Department of Bioethics (2-3 months). This fellowship is administered by the Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science & Technology, Government of India . Applications need to be submitted through their grant portal when there is an open call for proposals.
- African Postdoctoral Training Initiative (APTI): support for an individual bioethics scholar to pursue post-doctoral research and training in the NIH CC Department of Bioethics (2 years) and the fellow's home institution in Africa (2 years). This program is administered by the the African Academy of Sciences (AAS) , in partnership with NIH and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) . Applications need to be submitted through their grant portal when there is an open call for proposals.
- International workshops in advanced research ethics or ethics of health policy
If you are interested in applying to participate in one of these initiatives, please consider reviewing the information on how to write a bioethics research proposal for our bioethics research training programs.
In addition, other NIH Institutes and Centers support bioethics research and/or training in LMICs through the following programs (please note that the NIH CC Department of Bioethics is unable to offer guidance on how to apply):
- International Research Ethics Education and Curriculum Development Award: support for innovative master's level research ethics education in LMICs (up to 5 years)
- International Bioethics Research Training Program: support for doctoral and postdoctoral research training programs in bioethics in LMICs (up to 5 years)
- Emerging Global Leader Award: support for individual bioethics scholars with a junior faculty position in LMICs 3-5 years)
- Ethical, Legal and Social Implications (ELSI) Exploratory/Developmental Research Grant: support for studies that break new ground, extend previous discoveries in new directions or develop preliminary data in preparation for larger studies on the ethical, legal and social implications (ELSI) of human genome research (up to 2 years)
- Ethical, Legal and Social Implications (ELSI) Small Research Grant: support for small, self-contained research projects on the ethical, legal and social implications (ELSI) of human genome research (up to 2 years)
- Ethical, Legal and Social Implications (ELSI) Research Grant: support for research projects on the ethical, legal and social implications (ELSI) of human genome research (up to 5 years)
- Infrastructure Development Training Programs for Critical HIV Research at Low-and Middle-Income Country Institutions: support for training programs to achieve (among other things) high-quality ethical review of research in LMICs (up to 3 years)