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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS Applicant FAQ Section Associate FAQ Section
Applicant FAQ Section
Eligibility
Am I eligible for an Associateship award? Eligibility varies by sponsoring laboratory and some laboratories have citizenship restrictions. To determine your eligibility, you must check two different sections of the website. First, look at general eligibility criteria, which are criteria that pertain to every Associateship opportunity. If you are eligible under the general eligibility criteria, check on the specific research opportunity you are interested in for opportunity-specific eligibility requirements. Are NRC Associateship awards only for postdocs? The NRC supports research opportunities for both postdoctoral and senior researchers. There are a limited number of programs for students enrolled in Masters and PhD programs. There are also opportunities to combine teaching with research at a federal laboratory. What are the deadline dates for each review? Review
February Review
May Review
August Review
November Review | Application Deadline
February 1
May 1
August 1
November 1 | Support Documents Deadline
February 15
May 15
August 15
November 15 |
Terms of an Associateship Award
What are the terms of an Associateship award? An NRC Associates receives a stipend, health insurance, and a travel and relocation allowance. The stipend will vary by sponsor. Stipend information and travel allowances can be found here. What is the length of an NRC Associateship award? Most awards are for one year, renewable for up to three years. Some awards initially are two years. Applicants should check specific agency details on this website to determine the initial term of the award.
Applying for an Associateship Award What do I need to do before applying? Prior to applying, you must identify a prospective Adviser and a Research Opportunity. You must contact the Adviser before applying to assure mutual interest in hosting you as a postdoc/visiting scientist. How do I apply for an Associateship award? The application is completed online in the NRC WebRap system. A Statement of Previous Research and a Research Proposal are uploaded in this system. Applicants are also responsible for providing Support Documents (Reference Reports and Transcripts, when applicable) Prior to accessing WebRAP, prospective applicants should read all pages of the Research Associateships website. Follow the instructions on Getting Started and proceed to How to Apply. What are Support Documents? Support Documents consist of Transcripts (not required for Senior applications) and Reference Reports. It is the responsibility of the applicant to contact their reference writers. Will I be notified when my application is complete? You may check the status of your application online to verify that all documents have been received. How are applications reviewed? Applications are reviewed by panels of experts in the discipline area of your proposal. Reviewers include leading researchers in science, engineering and technology from academia, government and industry. What criteria are applied to the review? The criteria that are applied to the review can be found here. You may also view a sample application. How do I get feedback on the review of my application? Your review score and comments will be posted online once the review is complete. This is generally 7-8 weeks after the application deadline. If I do not receive an award when can I reapply? Applicants who pass the review but are not offered an award may reapply during the next review cycle or any time thereafter. Applicants who do not pass the review must wait one year to reapply. Applicants are encouraged to read the comments of reviewers in their application module to improve their application prior to reapplying. Can I use Support Documents from a previous review? All applications should have current documents but our Panelists allow an applicant to carry over Support Documents only from the previous review, but only one time. In other words you can carry them over from the February Review to the May Review but NOT use them again for the August review. To the Top Associate FAQ Section How do I initiate my relocation to the lab?
You should submit your Request for Movement of Household Goods form to your PC or PA three weeks prior to your proposed move date. Your request will be sent to our contracted moving company, Azar Storage, and they will contact you directly to arrange your move. Then what? An Azar Storage representative will contact you. If you do not hear within a reasonable time, please contact your PC or Nancy Diener, 202-334-2731, our program’s relocation liaison. If I don’t have a place by the time of the move, can goods be stored? How long? We will pay for storage for up to 2 weeks. Beyond that, you would have to pay. The moving company will return to move your belongings out of storage into your home when you find one. Can I move pianos? Cars? No. These are not covered but you can negotiate with the mover to move the piano and pay directly when your other goods are moved. We will not authorize cars however—the insurance risk is too great. What if my goods are damaged? This is an issue between you and your mover. We do not get involved in resolving these problems. We suggest being very careful about inspecting things before the move and, after the move, as soon as possible contacting your movers. They usually have a window of time to respond to problems. Can I use another company? Yes, but you will have to have to pay “up front” and reimbursement will be based on the allowable costs established by the NRC. Also, we have carefully negotiated our contract with our movers so that they are very familiar with our program and its rules and regulations regarding moving so that you would not be in any jeopardy having things moved that were not allowed. Also, they have competed for our contract, so they are quite reasonable. Can I move myself? Yes—be sure to keep all documentation and receipts, which we will need to reimburse you. Insurance and Payments When can I expect my health insurance identification card? The NRC will process your health insurance application once your Starting Date form has been received from the laboratory confirming that you have officially started tenure. The NRC will send your application to Aetna with the current address listed on the Starting Date form. You will receive your health ID card directly from Aetna within 1-2 weeks. Why did I receive my first check as a check and not direct deposit? As with most payroll systems, a test must be done to make sure the routing and account numbers are verified through the ACH Bank Transit system. If a direct deposit fails, a check will be issued after a 14-day waiting period. I will be traveling abroad this month and I was wondering what to do about health insurance. Does the Aetna plan cover me while I am overseas? As long as you are on professional or programmatic travel for the NRC you are covered by health insurance. If medical costs are incurred while on travel, you will have to pay out of pocket and submit a claim to Aetna when you return home. Travel Am I required to use the NRC Travel Agency to book my travel? All international travel must be booked through Omega Word Travel to ensure that federal regulations are met. We strongly encourage you to use Omega World Travel for domestic travel for the same reason, but it is not a requirement. If I want to request a travel advance when should I send my Travel Authorization to the NRC? Travel Authorizations need to be received no later than 30 days before the departure date. Will my travel reimbursement be issued via check or direct deposit? For U.S. citizens/permanent residents, reimbursements will be issued through direct deposit if this is how your stipend is paid. For nonresident aliens, mid-month reimbursements will be issued via check. Month-end reimbursements will be issued through direct deposit if this is how your stipend is paid. Where can I find a list of the current per diem rates? The per diem rates are set by the Federal government. Domestic per diem rates can be found at www.gsa.gov; international per diem rates are found at www.state.gov. Are rental cars allowable for professional/programmatic travel? Due to federal regulations, rental car approvals are issued on a case by case basis. A justification for the rental car must be provided on the travel authorization form. Can personal travel be combined with professional/programmatic travel? Yes. However, personal travel must be approved on the Travel Authorization Form and any increase in airfare will be the Associate’s financial responsibility. Are fax transmittals allowable? You can send the Travel Authorization Form via fax. However, we do request that all Travel Expense Reports be mailed with original receipts. Taxes My taxes are due soon and I haven’t received a 1099-MISC or W-2. What does this mean? As an associate with the RAP program, you will not receive a 1099-MISC or W-2 from the NRC. If you are a U.S. citizen or permanent resident, you will receive a Statement of Stipends Paid Memorandum through email in mid February. This memo will state your stipend, travel, and health insurance amounts for the tax year. If you are a nonresident alien, you will receive a Form 1042-S in mid-April. Do I need to pay social security tax? No. Fellowship awards to postdoctoral researchers under the NRC Research Associateship Program are classified as non-compensatory grants. Since you do not perform services in return for your award, you are not considered an employee and do not pay social security tax. When is my tax return due? Your filing deadline is dependent on your residency for tax purposes. If you are a U.S. citizen or permanent resident, your filing date will be April 15th. If you are a nonresident alien, your due date will generally be June 15th. However, if you meet the Substantial Presence Test, you are considered to be a resident for tax purposes, and must file by April 15th. Guidance on the Substantial Presence Test can be found on the IRS website at http://www.irs.gov. I’m a nonresident alien. Why did you withhold tax on my work-related travel expenses? The National Academies is required to withhold at 14% on all payments made to you, or on your behalf. All travel expenses are considered a benefit of the award and are taxable. Taxable travel includes reimbursements made to you and any direct-billed expenses booked through our travel agency or moving company.
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