What is the NIH-IRACDA program?

NIH-Institutional Research and Academic Career Development 
Awards (IRACDA) Program

The purpose of the IRACDA program is to train and mentor a diverse group of biomedical and behavioral scientists to address the nation’s biomedical, behavioral and clinical research needs. The program promotes collaborations between research-intensive institutions (RII) and partner affiliate institutions that have a historical mission and a demonstrated commitment to providing training, encouragement and assistance to students from groups underrepresented in the biomedical and behavioral research enterprise of the nation. The IRACDA program unites a traditional mentored postdoctoral research experience with an opportunity to develop academic skills, including teaching, through workshops and mentored teaching assignments at a partner institution. The program is expected to facilitate the progress of postdoctoral candidates toward research and teaching careers in academia. Other goals are to provide a resource to motivate the next generation of scientists at partner institutions and to build bridges between RIIs and partner institutions that can lead to further collaborations in research and teaching. The program must have a strong research component and the mentored research experience must fall within the scope of the NIGMS mission.