NIH Research Performance Progress Reports (RPRR): Individual Development Plans (IDP)

FIU has chosen to require that Individual Development Plans (IDP) are used for all graduate students and postdoctoral fellows associated with NIH grant awards. To comply with the new NIH policy, investigators preparing Research Performance Progress Reports (RPRR) must report on the use of IDP’s at FIU in Section B. Accomplishments. Specifically, in the box for Question B.4, which asks whether the project provided opportunities for training and professional development, faculty must:

1. Assert that FIU requires the use of IDP’s.

2. Report that FIU strongly recommends that students use the FASEB (http://www.faseb.org/portals/2/pdfs/opa/idp.pdf) or AAAS myIDP templates (http://myidp.sciencecareers.org/) to create, refine, and update IDP’s but that FIU does not require a specific IDP template at this time.

3. Indicate that the minimal requirements for IDP’s at FIU include:

  1. Identification and prioritization of specific skills and strengths that need to be developed to meet long-term career objectives
  2. Description of approaches to master those skills and increase strengths
  3. Implementation plan with timetable, covering duration of training period
  4. Documentation of regular review of IDP with faculty mentor

As a reminder, IDP’s should not be included in the material sent to DOR or to NIH.

Sample text to address IDP use in Section B. Accomplishments, Question B.4:

FIU requires that IDP’s are used for all students, including postdoctoral fellows, funded by a NIH grant award. FIU faculty must ensure that students comply with this requirement. Students are encouraged to utilize IDP templates recommended by FASEB or AAAS, but there is no mandatory IDP template at this time. After conducting self-assessments and surveying opportunities with their mentors, in the context of their long-term career goals, FIU students must draft IDP’s that identify and prioritize specific skills and strengths that need to be developed, and describe approaches and estimate timelines to master those skills. Faculty mentors are expected to review IDP’s with students at regular intervals and to conduct annual reviews of students’ performance relative to IDP goals. When RPRR’s are processed in the Office of Research and Economic Development, PI’s are required to certify on the NIH Assurance Form that an IDP was used with each student associated with an NIH award as detailed in Section D of their RPPR.