Form 1 IDRWG Trainee Survey

OMB #0925-xxxx, Expiration date xx/xxxx

Trainee Survey: Introduction

Through a contract with the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Abt Associates is evaluating several research programs of the NIH Roadmap Interdisciplinary Research Working Group. The results of this evaluation will be used to make recommendations regarding the future of these programs. A survey of persons involved in the Interdisciplinary training programs is one component of the evaluation.

You have been identified as a participant in an interdisciplinary training program supported by the NIH. This survey asks you about your experiences with the training program. We expect the survey to take you about 30 minutes.

Privacy and Participation

Participation in this survey is voluntary and nonparticipation will have no impact on you or your institution, and you may skip any question or stop participation at any time. The information you provide will be kept secure to the extent permitted by law, and will not be disclosed to anyone but the researchers conducting this study, except as otherwise required by law. You will not be identified by name, and information from the study will only be reported in the aggregate. Your responses will be combined with those of approximately 350 other respondents in the final report. There is minimal risk of breach of privacy, and we have put in place procedures in place to minimize this risk.

If you have any questions or concerns about the project, you may call Alina Martinez at at 617-349-2312. If you have questions about your rights as a research participant, you may contact Teresa Doksum, the Abt Institutional Review Board Administrator at 617-349- 2896. These may be toll calls.

Burden Disclosure Statement

Public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 30 minutes per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden, to: NIH, Project Clearance Branch, 6705 Rockledge Drive, MSC 7974, Bethesda, MD 20892-7974, ATTN: PRA (0925-XXXX). Do not return completed forms to this address.

Consent

Press enter to continue with the survey if you agree to participate in this study.

Enrollment in Interdisciplinary Training Program

1. Please indicate your current status and your status when you were a trainee in the [grant name] program.

		Current status	Trainee status
	Undergraduate student
	Masters student
	Doctoral student
	Post-doctoral fellow
	Faculty member
	Other, please specify

2. When did you enroll in the training program? Month       Year      

3. When did you or will you complete the training program? Month       Year      

4. Why did you decide to participate in the training program? (Check all that apply)

₁ I was interested in interdisciplinary training

₁ I needed funding

₁ My advisor encouraged me to apply

₁ The training was relevant to my research projects

₁ It is prestigious to be an NIH trainee

₁ I wanted to form connections to faculty and students in other disciplines

₁ I wanted to improve my career choices

₁ I am not sure/do not recall

₁ Other, please specify:________________________

Experiences during Interdisciplinary Training Program

5. What was your overall research objective when you started the training program?

     

6. Did you achieve this research objective?

Yes	1
No	2

7. Please provide information about the disciplinary background, home department, and institution for the mentor(s) in your interdisciplinary training program.

	Discipline	Department	Institution
Mentor 1 - Primary
Mentor 2
Mentor 3
Mentor 4

8. Please indicate how often, on average, you interact(ed) with these mentors during a typical semester.

	Every day	2-3 times a week	Once a week	Twice a Month	Once a month	Once a semester
Mentor 1	1	2	3	4	5	6
Mentor 2	1	2	3	4	5	6
Mentor 3	1	2	3	4	5	6
Mentor 4	1	2	3	4	5	6

9. Did the following scientific products result from the research you conducted during the training program?

		Yes	No
	Presentation(s) at a national conference
	Publications(s) in a peer-reviewed journal
	If yes, please list journal name(s) _________________
	Other publications

10. Please indicate whether you participated in any of the following scholarly activities, either in the two years prior to your traineeship or during your traineeship.

Scholarly Activity	Prior two years	During training
Interdisciplinary lab rotations	1	1
Interdisciplinary internships	1	1
Interdisciplinary research outside a course setting	1	1
Courses with an interdisciplinary focus	1	1
Courses outside your home department	1	1
Courses involving an interdisciplinary research project	1	1
Training in scientific writing or presentation	1	1
Mentoring by faculty in multiple disciplines	1	1
Training in leadership or team building skills	1	1
Training in the responsible conduct of research	1	1
Development of any multidisciplinary or interdisciplinary course or curricula	1	1
Research workshops or seminars	1	1
Research retreats	1	1
Journal clubs or research brown bags	1	1
Team research projects	1	1
Mentored research projects	1	1
Independent research projects	1	1

11. Please indicate how often you engaged in the following activities within the last 6 months, first within your primary discipline (left columns) and then outside your primary discipline (right columns).

Within your primary discipline							Outside your primary discipline
Not at all				Daily			Not at all				Daily
1	2	3	4	5		Worked on research projects with other individuals	1	2	3	4	5
1	2	3	4	5		Co-authored research proposals with other individuals	1	2	3	4	5
1	2	3	4	5		Co-authored research articles or books with other individuals	1	2	3	4	5
1	2	3	4	5		Published research findings as the sole author	1	2	3	4	5
1	2	3	4	5		Attended research meetings or conferences	1	2	3	4	5
1	2	3	4	5		Presented research findings at a conference	1	2	3	4	5
1	2	3	4	5		Mentored graduate student(s)	1	2	3	4	5

12. Please indicate whether you engaged in the following activities within the last 6 months, first within your primary discipline (left columns) and then outside your primary discipline (right columns).

Within your primary discipline				Outside your primary discipline
Yes	No			Yes	No
1	2		Read articles in scientific journals or publications	1	2
1	2		Participated in working groups or committees	1	2
1	2		Collaborated with other investigators	1	2
1	2		Obtained new insight into your research through discussions with colleagues	1	2
1	2		Established links with colleagues that led to or might lead to collaborative studies	1	2
1	2		Designed a new collaborative study with colleagues	1	2
1	2		Developed new curricula	1	2
1	2		Team taught courses with other faculty	1	2

13. Please rate your agreement or disagreement with each statements.

		Strongly disagree	Disagree	Neither agree nor disagree	Agree	Strongly agree
	The costs and inconveniences of interdisciplinary scientific collaboration outweigh the benefits of such work.	1	2	3	4	5
	Interdisciplinary research is very difficult to conduct.	1	2	3	4	5
	Interdisciplinary research is a better way to explore a biomedical problem than single discipline research.	1	2	3	4	5
	I tend to be more productive working on my own research projects than working as a member of a collaborative research team.	1	2	3	4	5
	Interdisciplinary research interferes with my ability to maintain and expand knowledge in my primary area.	1	2	3	4	5
	Interdisciplinary research exposes me to new scientific approaches and paradigms.	1	2	3	4	5
	Interdisciplinary approach has positively affected the way I conduct research.	1	2	3	4	5
	I am optimistic that interdisciplinary research will lead to valuable scientific outcomes that would not have occurred without that kind of collaboration.	1	2	3	4	5
	The research questions I am interested in generally do not warrant collaboration with other disciplines	1	2	3	4	5
	Interdisciplinary research often leads to valuable scientific outcomes that would not have occurred through a single discipline approach.	1	2	3	4	5
	Interdisciplinary training increases the likelihood that trainees will conduct research that will be translated into practice.	1	2	3	4	5
	Interdisciplinary training has improved my career opportunities.	1	2	3	4	5
	Interdisciplinary training provided a network of professional mentors and contacts in multiple fields that will support my career	1	2	3	4	5

(For Doctoral students only)

14. Are you required to have any faculty members on your dissertation committee from areas outside your home department?

Yes ₁

No ₂

I don’t know ₃

15. What is your current status in your graduate program? (Check all that apply.)

	I am still taking required courses	1
	I have completed required course work	1
	I have passed qualifying exams/paper	1
	I have had my dissertation/thesis proposal accepted	1
	I have defended my dissertation/thesis	1

If there anything else you would like to tell us about your experiences in your interdisciplinary research traineeship, please use the space below.

DEMOGRAPHIC BACKGROUND

Note: Demographic data on race, ethnicity, gender, and disability status are entirely voluntary. (Providing this information, however, is very helpful to this study.)

16. In what month and year did you first enroll in the [grant name] program?

___ ___ / ___ ___ ___ ___ (mm/yyYY)

17. What is your ethnicity? (choose only one)

Hispanic or Latino ₁

Not Hispanic or Latino ₂

18. What is your race? (choose one or more)

American Indian or Alaska Native ₁

Asian ₁

Black or African American ₁

Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander ₁

White ₁

19. What is your gender? (choose one)

Male ₁

Female ₂

20. What is your disability status? (choose one or more)

Hearing Impairment ₁

Visual Impairment ₁

Mobility/Orthopedic Impairment ₁

Other: _________________ ₁

None ₁

21. What is your citizenship? (choose one)

U.S. Citizen/U.S. National ₁

U.S. Permanent Resident ₂

Other non-U.S. Citizen ₃

22. What degrees did you obtain prior to enrolling in the training program?

(Check all that apply)

		Yes
	Masters	1
	Doctorate	1
	Professional Degree	1
	Other Post-Baccalaureate Degree	1
	Other, please specify	1

Thank you for completing this survey

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