Who is Eligible

To be eligible for a UM FIRST faculty position, the NIH requires that:

1) Applicants must not have previously held a tenure-track Assistant Professor position at another institution.

2) Applicants must be eligible for early-stage investigator (ESI) status with the NIH. To be eligible as an early-stage investigator, PIs must have completed their terminal research degree or ended their post-graduate clinical training (whichever date is later) within the past 10 years. Additionally, PIs must not have competed successfully as a PD/PI for a substantial NIH independent research award. Training-related and mentored career awards, small research grants, fellowship awards, etc. do not count as substantial independent research awards and do not disqualify a PI from having ESI status. A full list of awards  that maintain ESI status is available here.