Trainee FAQs

1. Can a trainee hold additional employment during his/her traineeship?

It depends. Supplemental income in the form of work may be allowed. CCPR Training Program Director and Administrator approval is required prior to accepting any positions. Per NIH policy, additional employment is limited to 25% per year. There are no exceptions allowed to this policy.

As of 2023-24, T32 trainees fall under the GSR labor unit.  Under the terms of the GSR contract, a T32 traineeship is officially considered to be a full-time (50%) appointment.  This means that, beyond receiving approval from the T32 director, approval must be received from your home department to work more than 50% during the Academic year (summer appointments shouldn’t need these additional approvals).

Please note: Supplemental income may not be paid from a research grant that supports the same research that is part of the trainee’s planned training experiences as approved in the training program.

2. Are you allowed to hold other grants/fellowships/awards while a CCPR trainee?

NIH Policy states: “An individual may not receive support under a Kirschstein-NRSA institutional research training grant concurrently with another federally sponsored fellowship or similar Federal or non-Federal award that provides a stipend or otherwise duplicates provisions of the Kirschstein-NRSA award”.  So this precludes concurrently holding just about any additional major award, such as a DYF, NIH F31, NSF GRFP, or a year-long graduate mentorship award. For questions about what is allowed, please ask the program director.

3. Can I accept a GSRM during my traineeship?

All trainees are eligible to apply for the Graduate Summer Research Mentorship Fellowship (GSRM), but students who accept a GSRM award during the same academic year of your traineeship may not be eligible for the Graduate Division supplemental stipend to the traineeship. This is determined by the Graduate Division. Trainee appointments usually begin in October and continue to the end of the following September.

4. Can I take a leave of absence?

Yes, but the director must be notified immediately of any leave of absence. In addition, stipend payments will be discontinued (there are exceptions for parental leave – contact the training director and administrator for more information).

5. Can I go abroad to do fieldwork?

No, it’s expected that the traineeship is conducted at the home institution.

6. What are the core courses that I need to take?

Trainees are expected to complete at least 1 core class prior to or during their year of traineeship. Any exception to the core class criteria requires director’s approval. You are also required to attend CCPR California Population Research Topical Seminar Series (Soc M225A or Econ M204A).

– SOC M213A/BIOS/CHS/ECON M208): Introduction to Demographic Methods
– SOC 213B: Applied Event History Analysis
– SOC 213C/CHS M209: Population Models and Dynamics
– SOC 226A&B: Introduction to Theory and Major Empirical Research in Social Demography
– SOC 236A,B,C: International Migration
– SOC 239A: Stratification, Inequality and Mobility
– SOC 239B: Stratification, Inequality and Mobility
– CHS 205: Immigrant Health
– CHS M222/SOC 206 Understanding Fertility: Theories and Methods
– CHS M247 Population Change and Public Policy
– CHS M263: Social Demography of Los Angeles
– CHS 431: Foundations of Reproductive Health
– ECON 232:Topics in Econometrics
– ECON 261B: Labor Economics
– ECON 262D: Development Economics
– ECON 262P: Population Economics

7. Do I have to be CITI certified?

Yes, CITI certification is required whether or not you conduct IRB research. Please email your CITI certification to CCPR staff (ccpradmin@ccpr.ucla.edu).

UCLA CITI Link: Human Subjects Protection Certification via CITI | UCLA Office of the Human Research Protection Program

Required CITI certifications:

  1. Human Research (Curriculum Group) Group 1: Human Subjects Research (Course Learner Group) 1 – Basic Course (Stage)
  2. Responsible Conduct of Research (Curriculum Group) Social and Behavioral Responsible Conduct of Research OPTIONAL (Course Learner Group) 1 – Basic Course (Stage)

8. Do I need to acknowledge the traineeship on my publications?

Yes, you must acknowledge both the training grant (T32HD007545) and CCPR (P2CHD041022) on any and all publications resulting from your work as a trainee, regardless of whether you’re 1st, 5th or 25th author. This applies post graduation as well as while you are a trainee. Any work begun while a trainee should  thank the T32 and P2C and should be submitted to PubMed Central. For additional information
regarding acknowledgements, please visit:  https://ccpr.ucla.edu/acknowledgement/

9. Can I attend other conferences, other than PAA?

Travel funding is for PAA attendance. Any exception would need prior approval from the program director.

10. Must stipends be distributed on a monthly basis?

Yes. This is a requirement of the university’s effort reporting.