Leadership Education and Advancement Program (LEAP) for Diverse Scholars

About LEAP

The Leadership Education and Advancement Program for Diverse Scholars is a comprehensive mentoring and leadership development initiative aimed at supporting early career social and behavioral scientists from underrepresented racial and ethnic populations. The program focuses on empowering these scholars to conduct high-quality research aligned with the mission of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK).

LEAP for Diverse Scholars provides fellows with access to senior scholars and mentors who offer guidance in navigating career milestones and leadership roles across various academic settings. The program fosters a powerful network of accomplished researchers, mentors, and peers, creating opportunities for ongoing support, collaboration, and lasting professional relationships.

By participating, fellows can access dedicated career development funds to support their professional growth, enhance their research capabilities, and pursue unique opportunities that will distinguish them as leaders in their respective disciplines. The program ultimately aims to prepare fellows to submit competitive grant applications and excel in their chosen career paths.

AT A Glance

Format/Location: Virtual, with two in-person workshops

Duration: 24 months

Term: April 1 - March 31

Stipend/Funding: Up to $2,000 is available to each fellow for research or career development activities (e.g., preliminary data collection, attending additional conferences). Fellows are required to use funds in a manner consistent with the career development plan that is created in collaboration with their LEAP mentor.   Partial travel support may also be provided for in-person components.

Who Can Apply

Early career social and behavioral scientists from underrepresented racial and ethnic populations who show promise in research related to NIDDK’s mission but who have not yet received R01 funding and have not ascended to a leadership position in their respective disciplines or professional associations. See eligibility requirements for full details.

How to Apply

Applications for the 2025/2026 cohort will be open November 1, 2024-March 16, 2025.

Through LEAP I have been connected with a mentor that conducts significant research in my specialty of diabetes psychology. This mentorship has resulted in me possibly being a consultant on a recently approved NIH grant. I have also gained support as I transitioned to my faculty/assistant professor role. I have been able to network with other scholars of color and gain support as I navigate academic medicine institutions/research endeavors.

LEAP Participant

Program components

One-on-one mentoring

The focus of the one-on-one mentoring consists development and implementation of a career development plan (also known as an individual development plan) is focused on:

building the strengths of the fellows to conduct independent research
the conceptualization, draft, and submission of a research application to a federal or private funding agency (e.g., NIH).

Grant writing discussions

Fellows will view a series of online career development seminars that address various research, methodological, administrative and ethics topics relevant to research careers. Two-hour, small group sessions are held every other month to help fellows apply the concepts and skills to their research proposals.

Leadership development

LEAP's Leadership Development Program is delivered through a series of five virtual sessions and a two-day, in-person event held in Washington, DC. Participants are provided with advance notice of the in-person event and their travel costs are covered.

LEAP Boot Camp

LEAP Boot Camp—held during APA’s Annual Convention—includes a variety of research or leadership-focused workshops (e.g., grant writing tips, effective grant management). Mentees participate in a full-scale mock review, in which their grant application is reviewed and scored by two outside experts. Reviewers critically review the research plan and prepare critiques using the NIH template that is provided to the mentee after the mock review. Written feedback offered by reviewers includes extensive recommendations and suggestions for improvement.

Career Development Funds

Up to $2,000 is available to each fellow for research or career development activities (e.g., preliminary data collection, attending additional conferences, etc.). Fellows are required to use funds in a manner consistent with the career development plan that is created in collaboration with their LEAP mentor.

Executive coaching

LEAP trainees are provided with the opportunity to be coached by advanced career leading leaders in their respective cross discipline fields. This one-on-one coaching takes place in six one-hour Executive Coaching sessions. Coaching sessions focus on providing professional support, helping trainees understand their current leadership competencies and how they are perceived by others, and assisting with trainees' identification and clarification of current leadership goals and appropriate action steps to reach those goals.

ELigibility Requirements

To participate in LEAP for Diverse Scholars, applicants must:

Be of an underrepresented racial/ethnic background (e.g., African American/Black, Latinx, American Indian/Alaska Native, or Asian American)
Be a postdoctoral fellow or early career faculty
Be an early-stage investigator. NIH’s definition of an early-stage investigator is someone who has “completed their terminal research degree or end of post-graduate clinical training, whichever date is later, within the past 10 years and who has not previously competed successfully as PD/PI for a substantial NIH independent research award.”
Hold a doctoral degree in a behavioral science discipline (e.g., psychology, anthropology, public health, sociology, economics, neuroscience, epidemiology, biotechnology), medical degree, or other discipline
Be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident of the United States
Have a research focus aligning with NIDDK’s mission
Have support from their institution to submit grant applications as a principal investigator
Have not received R01 funding
If selected for this program, submit a grant application, attend in-person sessions and webinars, and be willing to complete evaluations of the program at multiple time-points