Who incurs a payback obligation?
Any NRSA postdoctoral trainee or fellow appointed after June 10, 1993, incurs a payback obligation during their first year of support. But only the first year of training incurs a payback obligation; the second year of training pays back the first year, with each month of qualifying payback activity paying back one month of NRSA support. Trainees and fellows who receive two full years of NRSA training fulfill their payback obligation at the end of the second year of NRSA research training. Predoctoral NRSA trainees or fellows appointed since 1993 do not incur a payback obligation.
