Writing and submitting an NRSA (or equivalent) is no cake-walk. It can take months to write it, submit it, get rejected, revise it, and then resubmit it.
Either way, make sure you are eligible first. Below are the eligibility requirements for a F31 NRSA. You can google it and go to the NIH website for more info.
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1. Eligible Applicants
1.A. Eligible Institutions
You may submit (an) application(s) if your organization has any of the following characteristics:
* For-profit organizations
* Non-profit organizations
* Public or private institutions, such as universities, colleges, hospitals, and laboratories
* Eligible agencies and labs of the Federal government including NIH intramural labs
* Domestic institutions
* Foreign institutions
The sponsoring institution must have adequate faculty and facilities available on site to provide a suitable environment for performing high-quality research training. Applicants requesting fellowship support for foreign research training must demonstrate in the application that the foreign institution and sponsor offer unique opportunities and clear scientific advantages that are not currently available in the United States. Only if there is a clear scientific advantage will foreign training be supported.
1.B. Eligible Individuals
Any individual with the skills, knowledge, and resources necessary to carry out the proposed research training is invited to work with his/her sponsor and institution to develop an application for support. Individuals from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups, individuals with disabilities, and individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds may also be eligible to apply for the Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Awards for Individual Predoctoral Fellowships (F31) to Promote Diversity in Health-Related Research (PA-06-481).
The applicant must be at the dissertation research stage of their training and must show evidence of both high academic performance in the sciences and substantial interest in a research area of high priority to the participating Institutes.
Participating Institutes may have different eligibility requirements for individuals applying for a Kirschstein-NRSA F31 award. Additional information and requirements specific to a particular Institute are located at the F31 contact website
Citizenship: By the time of award, the individual applicant must be a citizen or a non-citizen national of the United States or have been lawfully admitted for permanent residence (i.e., possess a currently valid Alien Registration Receipt Card I-551, or other legal verification of such status). Non-citizen nationals are generally persons born in outlying possessions of the United States (i.e., American Samoa and Swains Island). Individuals on temporary or student visas are not eligible. Individuals may apply for the Kirschstein-NRSA F31 in advance of admission to the United States as a Permanent Resident recognizing that no award will be made until legal verification of Permanent Resident status is provided.
Degree Requirements: An applicant must have a baccalaureate degree and be currently enrolled in a Ph.D. or equivalent research degree program (e.g., Eng.D., D.N.Sc., Dr. P.H., D.S.W., Pharm.D., Psy.D., Sc.D.), a formally combined M.D./Ph.D. program, or other combined professional/clinical doctoral/research Ph.D. graduate program (e.g., D.D.S./Ph.D.) in the biomedical, behavioral, or clinical sciences at an accredited domestic or foreign institution. With the exception of the combined degree programs described above, the Kirschstein-NRSA F31 may not be used to support studies leading to the M.D., D.D.S., or other clinical, health-professional training (e.g., D.C., D.M.D., D.N.P., D.O., D.P.M., D.V.M., N.D., O.D.).
