NIH funding under Continuing Resolution

The National Institutes of Health on Friday published a notice detailing how
non-competing grants will be treated under the current continuing
resolution. Congress has yet to clear any of the fiscal year 2008
appropriation bills and agencies have been working under a continuing
resolution (CR) since the start of the fiscal year on October 1. The
current continuing resolution is set to expire on November 16th. As it did
in FY 2006 and 2007, NIH announced it will fund most non-competing awards at 80 percent of previously committed levels while it operates under the CR. When NIH receives its appropriation for fiscal year 2008, these awards will be adjusted. < http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-08-001.html >.

Non-Competing Grant Awards Under the Current Continuing Resolution
Notice Number: NOT-OD-08-001

Key Dates
Release Date: October 5, 2007

Issued by
National Institutes of Health (NIH)

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) continues to operate on a continuing resolution (CR) that currently extends through November 16, 2007.

The CR applies the terms of the FY 2007 appropriations for the period
covered by the CR. Until the final FY 2008 appropriation is enacted, NIH
will issue non-competing research grant awards at a level below that
indicated on the most recent Notice of Award (generally up to 80% of the
previously committed level). This is consistent with our practice during the
CRs of FY 2006 & 2007. NIH will consider upward adjustments to these levels after the final appropriation is enacted, but expects institutions to
monitor their expenditures carefully during this period.

Inquiries
Questions regarding adjustments applied to individual grant awards may be
directed to the Grants Management Specialist identified on the Notice of
Award.

Tony DeCrappeo <tdecrappeo@cogr.edu>
President
Council on Governmental Relations
1200 New York Ave. NW
Suite 750
Washington, DC 20005
202.289.6655
202.289.6698(fax)

(posted 10/7/07)

THIS MESSAGE IS INTENDED FOR PEOPLE APPLYING TO NEH FELLOWSHIPS PROGRAMS AT THE May 1, 2007 DEADLINE.

The May 1, 2007, application deadline for NEH Fellowships is rapidly approaching. Below are two important alerts. Please circulate this message widely.

ALERT 1 - Grants.gov maintenance: As established in the current guidelines, all applications for NEH Fellowships (including Digital Humanities Fellowships, Fellowships for Advanced Social Science Research on Japan, and Faculty Research Awards for faculty at Tribal and Historically Black Colleges and Universities and at Institutions with High Hispanic Enrollment) must be submitted through Grants.gov, the new federal grants portal.

However, Grants.gov has just alerted NEH that its system will undergo significant upgrades and be unavailable for use on Saturday, April 28, and Sunday, April 29. Therefore, NEH encourages all Fellowships applicants to make the necessary arrangements. During that weekend, applicants will NOT be able to

- Download the required PureEdge software;
- Register with Grants.gov;
- Download the application package for NEH Fellowships, Digital Humanities Fellowships, Japan Fellowships, Faculty Research Awards; or
- Submit your application;

You will be able to

- Work on forms that are a part of the application package already downloaded to your computer; and
- Prepare you application up to the point of submitting it.

To avoid the downtime on April 28-29, we recommend that you download your application package now so you can work on it and submit the completed package by the May 1 deadline.

ALERT 2 - Adobe 8.0 Reader required: Several applicants have reported difficulty using the Supplemental Information for Individuals Forms provided by the Endowment in .pdf format. If you are having trouble saving the form, seeing the drop-down menus, or typing in the required fields, your computer is running an out-of-date version of the Adobe Reader software. The current version of the Reader can be downloaded free. At www.adobe.com click the large 'Get Adobe Reader' button on the left side of the screen, then the large 'Continue' button to update your software.

Complete instructions and guidelines for all NEH Fellowships programs can be found on the Endowment's website: http://www.neh.gov/grants/grants.html

If you have questions, please contact us at fellowships@neh.gov

Sincerely,
NEH Fellowships Staff

(posted 4/9/07)

NIH Alert (3/9/2007): Due to long Grants.gov processing times, applicants that submitted on-time for the March 5 R01 receipt date (i.e. all registrations completed prior to submission and received Grants.gov timestamp by 5:00 p.m. local time on March 5) will have until March 14 to complete their error correction process.

NIH eSubmission Items of Interest – January 22, 2007

Weekend Support for Early R01 Submitters

With two weeks left until the February 5 R01 deadline, we have already received over 100 electronic R01 applications. Glad to see so many folks getting an early start on the process.

The eRA Commons Helpdesk will provide special support hours on Saturday, February 3 and Sunday, February 4 from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. ET to support applicants who are trying to beat the deadline rush. Please use the Web option to create your own support ticket (http://ithelpdesk.nih.gov/eRA/). Although there will be limited staff available, they will assist as many applicants as possible.

R&R Budget Form and DUNS Numbers

NIH has recently received a flurry of inquiries about the requirement to include a DUNS number in the R&R budget form. Here’s the scoop.

The Research & Related Budget form is used to provide detailed budget information. “Organization DUNS” is a required field on this form. The form also includes a required “Budget Type” field with check boxes for “Project” or “Subaward/Consortium”.

When the prime applicant fills out this form, they check the “Project” checkbox. The DUNS number for the applicant organization is prepopulated from the SF424 R&R Cover component. The eRA Commons does a validation that compares the DUNS number of the applicant organization provided in the application with the DUNS number in the eRA Commons Institutional Profile. It is critical that the DUNS numbers match in order for application processing to continue. If they do not match, an Error will be given and processing will stop.

The same Research & Related Budget form is used for each subaward/consortium organization. The prime applicant uses the R&R Subaward Budget Attachment form to generate a copy of the Research & Related Budget form that can be sent to the subaward/consortium organization, filled out, sent back to the prime and attached to the R&R Subaward Budget Attachment form.

When the subaward/consortium organization fills out the form they select the “Subaward/Consortium” checkbox for the Budget Type. Ideally we would expect all subaward/consortium organizations to have a DUNS number. However, while the field is a required field (i.e. something needs to be entered) neither Grants.gov nor NIH currently validates on the accuracy of that field at the subaward level. For subaward organizations, eRA Commons only validates that the DUNS field contains a value and that value is not the same DUNS number provided by the prime applicant. At this time eRA Commons does not do any further validations on the accuracy of this number. So (for now), if a subaward/consortium organization is unable to secure a DUNS in time, then a value of nine zeros can be entered in the DUNS field on the subaward/consortium budget form. Note, however, that Federal requirements for reporting on subawards are changing and NIH may need to tighten up the subaward DUNS validation at some point in the future. For now, the workaround can be used without any threat to the processing of the application.

Others have asked if all subaward/consortium organizations also require registration in CCR, Grants.gov and the eRA Commons. At this time subaward/consortium organizations need only complete these other registration processes if they intend to also become an applicant organization.

How Big is Too Big?

Neither Grants.gov nor NIH has set limits for application size. NIH has successfully tested applications up to 140 MB. However, based on analyses of current paper application size and experience gained from grant programs that have already transitioned to electronic submission, NIH expects an average R01 application to be in the 6-10 MB range with 99% of applications falling under 40 MB. If your application has grown substantially larger than these ranges and you are having difficulty working with the application due to its unwieldy size, we have posted some tips for keeping file size under control.

NIH Announced Delay in Transition to Electronic Applications for K, F, T and Complex Grant Programs

Did you see NIH Guide notice NOT-OD-07-038? The transition to electronic application submission for K, F, T and Complex grant programs requires additional Grants.gov forms development. Understandably, all Grants.gov efforts at this time are devoted to their own transition to Adobe forms. NIH is working with Grants.gov to determine new transition dates that allow sufficient time for Grants.gov form development and subsequent NIH development efforts. We’ll post a new timeline as soon as possible, but didn’t want to wait for the new dates to provide a heads-up to the community.

Sheri Cummins
Communications Coordinator
NIH Electronic Submission of Grant Applications
Contractor, LTS

Notice Number: NOT-OD-07-001

Key Dates
Release Date: October 5, 2006
Effective Date: January 1, 2007

Issued by
National Institutes of Health (NIH) (http://www.nih.gov)
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) http://www.ahrq.gov/)
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (NIOSH/CDC) http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/oep)

The purpose of this Notice is to inform the research community of a change in standard receipt dates for grant applications submitted to NIH, AHRQ and NIOSH. The new receipt dates will be effective as of January 2007 and will apply to both paper and electronic applications.

The transition to electronic application submission has heightened our awareness of challenges posed by having very large numbers of incoming grant applications on any single day. We currently spread the workload involved with receiving incoming grant applications across three annual council rounds that include multiple submission dates for each round. However, some of our standing receipt dates allow for six to eight thousand applications to be submitted for a single date. This volume has the potential to cause bottlenecks in a number of critical places: the research administration offices at the applicant institution, which must now submit all applications; Grants.gov and eRA systems, where response time may slow under heavy volume; the Grants.gov and NIH help desks, which have to handle large spikes in call volume; and the CSR Division of Receipt and Referral, which is responsible for referral of incoming applications in a timely way. Spreading receipt dates to have a steady flow of applications rather than “boom and bust” cycles will allow many different groups to have a realistic approach to this complex process and maximize electronic system responsiveness.

The new receipt dates are based on many factors including:

The heaviest receipt dates from all agencies on Grants.gov are the first of the month, the 15th of the month, the first Friday, and last day of the month. The proposed NIH receipt dates have been intentionally offset from these dates to improve Grants.gov response times for NIH applicants.
An effort was made to use recurring days of the month for simplicity (i.e. new R01s would come in on February 5 and renewals on March 5).
The R01s, NIH's most frequently used mechanism, were kept early in the receipt window to allow time for processing. The receipt date of the 5th of the month was chosen to be sure the bolus of submissions that come in on the receipt date and the few days prior missed Grants.gov's heaviest volume days.
The proposed dates provide additional time for proposal development for application mechanisms often used by new investigators - R03s, R21s, and Ks.
The AREA date was already changed in the fall of 2005 so it was not moved.
The New Investigator R01 date was not changed to avoid affecting the pilot. At present this involves only new investigator R01 applications reviewed in forty study sections in CSR (http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-06-060.html
NIH has revised its standard receipt dates as follows. Applications for Request for Applications (RFAs) and Program Announcements (PAs, PARs, PASs) with special receipt dates continue to be due on the specified dates listed in the FOA. For an application to be considered on time it must be received by Grants.gov by 5 p.m. local time for the applicant institution (http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-06-050.html).

Follow link for a chart of the new standard receipt dates.

NIH Streamlined NRSA Postdoctoral Fellowship Application Process

NIH announced a streamlined review process for the Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Awards (NRSA) Postdoctoral Fellowship applications (F32) starting August 5th, 2006. See http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-06-077.html for more details.

NIH eSubmission Items of Interest for AORs & SOs – June 27, 2006

Grants.gov and NIH Update SF424 (R&R) and Agency-specific Forms

Grants.gov and NIH recently have made changes to the standard SF424 (R&R) and agency-specific PHS 398 electronic form components. The forms changes provide greater consistency between forms and align the forms with current policy.

Among the changes are:
State Code List has been updated to include US possessions, territories, and Military Codes

Address field for Province has been added

Enumeration values containing abbreviations and full descriptions have been standardized with a value format of abbreviation, colon space, full description (e.g. AK: Alaska)

Type of Applicant pick-list expanded (SF424 (R&R) cover component field 7)

Field length adjustments have been made to:
--Congressional District
--Employer Identification (EIN/TIN)
--Organization name
--Opportunity ID
--Competition ID
--Grants.gov form hover text has been updated

Four new sections of the PHS 398 Research Plan have been added:

Inclusion Enrollment Report and Progress Report Publication List are now separate attachments. These were previously part of section 4. Preliminary Studies/Progress Report. They have been separated out to avoid being counted in the page limit validations. In addition, new distinct sections have been added for Select Agent Research and Multiple PI Leadership Plan.

Some of the previous sections have been renumbered accordingly. The other change to the Research Plan Component eliminates the separate section for Data and Safety Monitoring. This is now incorporated as a subtopic within section 8. Protection of Human Subjects.

PHS 398 Checklist component has been modified to remove the itemized list of policies, assurances, and certifications that appeared on the form. Instead, applicants are instructed to consult a specific website.

The forms changes will be included in all new Funding Opportunity Announcements (FOAs) that NIH posts. Over the next few months, NIH also will update existing FOAs that use the older forms and are open for multiple receipt dates (read on to learn more).

The Challenge of Forms Changes

So, that doesn’t sound so bad…we’ve updated the forms, new announcements will use them and old announcements will be upgraded so that all FOAs are working from a common form set. Simple, right? Not exactly; there are some challenges associated with forms changes.

Until all FOAs can be modified to use the new forms, we will need to maintain and support two form packages and their associated application instructions.

What this means to you:
For new FOAs (Release/Posted Date after June 15), the process is straight forward. The application package attached to the FOA will already contain the new forms and application guide. Make sure the application guide available for download with the forms is used. No other special instructions to applicants are needed.
For older FOAs (Release/Posted Date before June 15), the process becomes more complicated.

FOAs that have a single receipt date (typically NIH RFAs and PARs) will be evaluated and, in most cases, will be allowed to close naturally with no change to the associated form package. No special action needs to be taken.

For older FOAs with multiple receipt dates, you will need to pay close attention to the form set used to create the application package to be submitted. NIH is targeting July 5-15 to update older FOAs for the R03, R15, R21, R21/R33, R33 and R34 grant programs and September 9-15 to update older FOAs for the R43/R44 and R13/U13 grant programs with the new form packages. Once the new form packages are in place for a particular FOA, the old form packages will no longer be accepted by Grants.gov. Any application “in the works” will need to be moved to the new form package (i.e., download new forms and cut-and-paste content from one form to the other). If your business office provides to Principal Investigators versions of the form packages that are pre-populated with your organizations information, you will want to make sure your form package templates are updated. We have timed the updates to occur well in advance of the next standard receipt date of each grant program to provide enough lead time to take any necessary actions.

To assist you in identifying the form version used to create an application package, NIH will populate the Competition ID of new forms packages with the label “Version 2 Forms”. The Competition ID appears at the top of the page when you open an application package with the PureEdge viewer. Similarly, the appropriate application guides will be labeled Version 1 and Version 2 on the cover page and within the footers.

There will be a short period of time when both the old and new form packages will be available for download. Whenever there is a choice, the package labeled “Version 2 Forms” in the Competition ID field should be used. To help in the transition, NIH will develop a splash screen that will alert users to select the Version 2 package. However, the splash screen only will be visible when using the NIH Guide and the download button from within the NIH Guide FOA to find and download opportunities.

The NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts, the NIH Electronic Submission of Grant Applications website and this listserv will be used as the primary communication channels for these activities. When changes are made to the FOAs, anyone that subscribed to receive notification of changes when they downloaded an application package also will receive an automated email from Grants.gov.

UPDATES - NIH MAKES NOTABLE CHANGES TO PHS 398

The following revisions have been made in the PHS 398, Part I, Instructions:

• Instructions for Revised Applications have been modified to remove the R03 exclusion from the guidelines on submission of up to two revised applications. See NIH Guide Notice, NOT-OD-05-046, for policy changes regarding the number of revisions for R03s.
• The "Submission Dates, Review, and Award Cycles" Table has been updated to reflect editorial changes in order to make the postmark/submission information more user-friendly (6/13/05).

Minor formatting revisions have also been made to the following form pages to improve usability:

• Form Page 3, Introduction to Revised Application for SBIR/STTR Phase I has been clarified.
• Form Page 4, formatting of form fields in "% Effort on Project" column has been changed to allow insertion of asterisk.
• Biographical Sketch Format Page, instructions have been added for completing Sections A, B, and C.
• Biographical Sketch Sample, Project Period dates in Completed Research Support samples have been revised to reflect end dates within the last 3 years (6/13/05).

Revisions have been made in the PHS 398, Part II, Human Subjects Research Supplement, to further address "How can you determine whether research that involves only the use of specimens and/or data from pathology archives or a specimen bank and/or data repository is human subjects research?" (4/26/05).

Revisions have been made in the PHS 398 to specify additional acceptable font typefaces (Arial, Helvetica, Palatino Linotype or Georgia are now acceptable); to provide clearer budget guidance for applications that include consortium F&A costs; and to clarify format requirements for Appendix material (Appendix material may be two-sided). See the NIH Guide Notice for details regarding revisions made. Minor formatting revisions have been made to some form pages to improve usability (3/16/05).

Revisions have been made in the PHS 398, Part II, Human Subjects Research Supplement, to further address NIH implementation of OHRP Guidance on research involving coded private information or biological specimens. Notable changes in content have been marked in purple. Minor revisions and formatting changes have been made in the PHS 398, Parts I and III (1/20/05).

Chapter V of the PHS 398 has been revised to reflect that the modular budget format no longer applies to SBIR/STTR grant applications (1/14/05).

Significant revisions have been made in the PHS 398, Part II, Human Subjects Research Supplement, to address NIH implementation of OHRP Guidance on research involving coded private information or biological specimens. Notable changes in content have been marked in purple. Minor revisions and formatting changes have been made in the PHS 398, Parts I and III. On Form Page 3, Research Grant Table of Contents, the ordering of items in the Research Plan has been revised (12/30/04).

Page numbering on Form Page 2 and Form Page 2-continued has been changed to Page 2 and Page 3. Be sure to number all pages in application sequentially (11/23/04).

Clarification of font and format specifications (11/17/04).

New PHS 398 (Rev. 9/04) instructions and forms posted 11/02/2004. See the 11/2/2004 NIH Guide Notice for important details regarding changes made to this version.

(added 9/23/05)

NEWS! - Letter from Director, NIH and Deputy Director for Extramural Research to NIH Research Community

September 04, 2005

Dear NIH research community,

We are all profoundly saddened by the loss of life and the suffering of so many as a result of hurricane Katrina. Our thoughts go out to all those who have been injured and lost loved ones, homes, or even communities.
NIH's first response, as a medical and public health agency, has been, understandably, to address the immediate medical needs of the affected population. We are participants in the Department of Health and Human Services Task Force to respond to these events, and anticipate that approximately 250 NIH staff members will be deployed to the field; we are working with academic partners around the country, consulting and coordinating, to provide needed specialized medical information. We have made 100 beds available in the NIH Clinical Center, as necessary for patients with special needs that the Clinical Center is uniquely suited to meet. These activities continue to develop very rapidly.

We must also look to the future, however, and to the needs of our research community in the affected area. Although we do not have complete information yet we have been able to contact directly the leaders of the concerned academic institutions. We understand that in many areas, the damage to the research infrastructure has been profound, and that valuable, unique research resources may have been lost, or in all likelihood will be lost. In addition, many investigators may not be able return to their laboratories for several weeks to months.

This crisis has elicited tremendous generosity from the biomedical research community. We are grateful for the many of you who have expressed a willingness to help, particularly with the placement of students, postdoctoral fellows, and investigators. To keep everyone informed of developing events and to help NIH manage the outpour of offers of assistance, we have created website pages http://www.nih.gov/about/director/hurricanekatrina/index.htm and http://grants.nih.gov/grants/katrina/index.htm), and we are partnering with a number of organizations. A website recently created by the Association of American Medical Colleges (http://www.aamc.org/katrina.htm ) for example, will help broker interactions between medical school researchers (from students to investigators) who cannot return to their classes or laboratories in the foreseeable future and would like temporary placement elsewhere, and those of you offering placement, including the NIH intramural program. We are also partnership with other organizations to provide similar services for those not directly affiliated with a medical school. The NIH website will list those URLs as soon as they become available. We will continue to update the post-Katrina information on the NIH website as we hear about your needs.

We have also been asked by many what specifically can NIH do for investigators and institutions in this time of crisis. NIH is ready to provide assistance in a number of ways – from extensions in time that include personnel costs and replacement of equipment, supplies, and unique resources damaged or lost as a result of the storm; to flexibility in grant application deadlines. NIH also works with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to ensure that investigators and their institutions have opportunities to obtain maximum support. We have already published two hurricane-related Notices in the NIH Guide, and a third, containing additional information will be published shortly. Hurricane-related information particular to investigators and their institutions is also available at the NIH Office of Extramural Research website (http://grants.nih.gov/grants/katrina/index.htm). We encourage you to visit this and the parent NIH website for the most recent information.

(added 9/11/05)

NEWS! - NSF's RESPONSE TO HURRICANE KATRINA

The following Important Notice was issued yesterday by Dr. Bement on
Hurricane Katrina. NSF's website (www.nsf.gov) also includes additional
information for use by the affected institutions.

Jean I. Feldman
Head, Policy Office
Office of Budget, Finance & Award Management
National Science Foundation
4201 Wilson Boulevard
Arlington, VA 22230
Voice: (703) 292-8243
FAX: (703) 292-9171

National Science Foundation
Office of the Director
Arlington, VA 22230

Notice No. 129
September 07, 2005

IMPORTANT NOTICE TO
PRESIDENTS OF UNIVERSITIES AND COLLEGES
AND HEADS OF OTHER NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
AWARDEE ORGANIZATIONS

All of us at the National Science Foundation are deeply saddened by the
devastation and suffering of the people in the areas affected by hurricane
Katrina. The Foundation's grantee community has our sincerest sympathies as they work to restore their institution's capabilities.

Perhaps more importantly, the affected institutions can be assured that they have our support. The Foundation pledges strong and continuing sponsorship of research and education in the areas affected by the storm and its aftermath. We are committed to minimize disruption to our grantees, to the academic science and engineering enterprise, and to the valuable federal investment in colleges, universities, faculty and students in the region. To that end, we are prepared to be as flexible, accommodating and creative as possible.

Many of our awardee institutions in Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi have
announced delays or alterations in the fall schedule. Some may be closed
for months. In addition, numerous faculty and students may be relocating to
other institutions.

NSF will do everything possible to ensure continuity of the research and
education projects that we support, and we also will provide frequent
updates - on our web site, and by e-mail to investigators and their
institutions - concerning procedures to achieve that goal.

In the short term, NSF will extend existing awards to institutions in the
disaster area that are scheduled to expire before October 1, 2005. The
Foundation also will make every effort to assist in the transfer of awards
for faculty and students who temporarily change institutions, including
movement of fellowship stipends, as appropriate, to new awardees. That
being said, it is vital that each investigator contact his or her program
officer as soon as feasible to discuss how each NSF-supported project has
been impacted. This is a necessary step in any further action that NSF may
take with respect to funding.

We also have established a hotline specifically dedicated to hurricane
Katrina where institutions, faculty and students may address questions
relating to NSF awards at (800) 381-1532. Questions may also be addressed by e-mail to katrina@nsf.gov.

The Foundation also will be posting updated information regarding specific
assistance opportunities on our web site at www.nsf.gov. We encourage you to visit the site regularly.

Working together, I hope that we can restore the momentum of discovery that the hurricane slowed, but did not stop.

Arden L. Bement, Jr.
Director

(added 9/8/05)

ANNOUNCEMENT - ACS Petroleum Research Fund (PRF) Announces its Plans for Electronic Proposal Submission and Review

Starting after the December 9, 2005 deadline for research proposals, grant seekers will be able to submit PRF Type AC, B, and G proposals electronically through our new online tool called Internet Grant Applicant Manager (IGAM). IGAM will replace our current process in which applicants are required to mail in 18 copies of a proposal. In addition, prospective reviewers will receive requests for review electronically and will be able to submit reviews online, making the review process easier and more efficient.

(added 9/08/05)

ANNOUNCEMENT! - NIH Non-Competing Progress Reports Centralized

Per the NIH Guide Notice: NOT-OD-04-063 for progress reports due on/after October 1, 2004, NIH has centralized receipt and initial processing of all NIH non-competing progress reports.

The new centralized mailing address for progress reports for all NIH
Institutes/Centers (IC) is now:

Division of Extramural Activities Support, OER
National Institutes of Health
6705 Rockledge Drive, Room 2207, MSC 7987
Bethesda, MD 20892-7987 (for regular or US Postal Service Express mail)
Bethesda, MD 20817 (for other courier/express mail delivery only)

Phone Number: (301) 594-6584

PLEASE NOTE: The address above is only to be used for NIH non-competing
progress reports including progress reports for grants that will transfer
(Change of Grantee Institution) on the anniversary start date.
Correspondance other than progress reports (mid-year change of grantee
institution, grant closeout documents, NRSA paperwork, administrative
supplement requests, Minority/Disability/Re-entry supplement requests, etc.) should be sent directly to the appropriate NIH IC.

The progress report for NIH Grant Number 5R01AI056254-04 is due to the
NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES (NIAID) by 11/01/2005. A pre-printed application face page is no longer being sent to grantee institutions by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) per the NIH Guide Notice located at http://grants2.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-02-066.html. The non-competing grant progress report - PHS 2590 can be found at http://grants1.nih.gov/grants/funding/2590/2590.htm. The Individual Fellowship Progress Report for Continuation Support PHS 416-9 must be used for Fellowship Applications and can be found at
http://grants.nih.gov/grants/funding/416-9/phs416-9.htm.

For those institutions registered in the NIH eRA Commons
(https://commons.era.nih.gov/commons/index.jsp), populated face pages can be printed to be used as the pre-printed face pages. If you are unsure how to find these, please contact the eRA Commons help desk at:

Phone: (866) 504-9552 (Voice -Toll Free)
(301) 402-7469 (Voice - Local)

Please submit the subject progress report by the due date noted above.

Thank you.

(added 9/2/05)

ANNOUNCEMENT - NIH Announces Initial Plans to Transition to the SF424 (R&R) Application and Electronic Submission through Grants.gov

NIH will transition to the SF424 (R&R) form and electronic submission through Grants.gov by individual research program/funding mechanism. Funding Opportunity Announcements (also known as Request for Applications and Program Announcements) will be issued in the NIH Guide and posted in Grant.gov as mechanisms are transitioned. The transition by mechanism will include all active Funding Opportunity Announcements for that program/mechanism. Applications in response to these announcements will require electronic submission through Grants.gov.

Initial plans/milestones for submission dates and mechanisms are as follows:

December 1, 2005 -- Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer Programs (STTR) (R41, R42, R43, R44)

December 15, 2005 -- Support Conferences & Scientific Meetings (R13 & U13)

January 25, 2006 -- Academic Research Enhancement Awards (AREA) (R15)

June 1, 2006 -- Small Grant Programs (R03) & Exploratory/Development Research Grant Awards (R21)

October 1, 2006 -- Research Project Grant Program (R01)

For additional information concerning this change contact:

Grants Info:
Office of Extramural
National Institutes of Health
Phone: 301-435-0714
E-mail: GrantsInfo@nih.gov

(added 8/29/05)

ANNOUNCEMENT! - Revision of NSF Grant Policy Manual

NSF has published a revised version of its Grant Policy Manual (GPM) (NSF 05-031) that will be effective July 1, 2005. This document replaces GPM NSF 02-121 and supercedes all prior versions of the GPM. The revision implements important changes to NSF's policies and procedures, as well as implements enhanced capabilities in Fastlane. A by chapter summary of significant changes has been developed to assist the user in navigating through these changes. The updated version of the GPM can be found at <http://www.nsf.gov/publications/pub_summ.jsp?ods_key=gpm>.

Please address any questions or comments about the GPM to the Policy Office, Division of Institution and Award Support, at (703) 292-8243 or by email to policy@nsf.gov.

(added 8/09/05)

ANNOUNCEMENT - NIH Announces New Functionality in its NIHMS System

NIH has issued a 2nd notice regarding its new functionality in the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Manuscript Submission (NIHMS) system for the NIH Policy on Enhancing Public Access to Archived Publications Resulting From NIH-Funded Research (public Access Policy). Now third parties, such as assistants, librarians, and publishers, with the publisher's permission can upload Public Access Policy related manuscripts to the NIHMS system on behalf of the author. To do this, click on "MyNCBI" from http://www.nihms.nih.gov/.

(added 8/09/05)

ANNOUNCEMENT! - NASA Planetary Science Summer School

Applications are due June 3, 2005, for NASA's 17th Annual Planetary Science Summer School, which will hold two sessions this summer, July 25-29 and August 1-5, at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California. Science and engineering post-doctoral and graduate students with a strong interest in careers in planetary exploration are encouraged to apply. Preference is given to U.S. citizens. The student teams will carry out the equivalent of an early concept study responsive to a selected NASA Announcement of Opportunity, prepare a proposal authorization review presentation, present it to a review board, and receive feedback. At the end of the week, students will have a clearer understanding of the relationships among mission design, cost, and schedule, and the trade-offs necessary to stay within cost and schedule while preserving the opportunity to acquire high-quality science. They will also understand the lifecycle of a space mission. Partial financial support is available to a limited number of individuals to help defray the expense of travel and lodging only. Applications are to be submitted electronically by June 3, 2005 at http://www2.jpl.nasa.gov/pscischool/ .

For further information, visit http://www2.jpl.nasa.gov/pscischool/ or contact Ms. Anita M. Sohus, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, M/S 311-100, 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, CA 91109; phone 818-354-6613; e-mail Anita.M.Sohus@jpl.nasa.gov.

(added 4/14/05)

INFORMATION! - NIH Policy on Enhancing Public Access to Archived Publications Resulting from NIH-Funded Research

Please refer to the attached memorandum from NIH Director Elias A. Zerhouni, M.D., regarding the recently announced NIH policy on enhancing public access to archived publications resulting from NIH-funded research.

Additional information on this policy is available at http://www.nih.gov/about/publicaccess/index.htm.

NEWS! Conference - Working Together: R&D Partnerships in Homeland Security

DHS Science and Technology is sponsoring an R&D conference in Boston on April 27-28, 2005. This conference encourages R&D partnering among scientists and engineers from government, national laboratories, universities and research institutes, and private sector firms investing in R&D, to address the collective science and technology research goals of the U.S. homeland security community. It will bring together more than 600 attendees supporting homeland security research and development, for information exchange and subsequent collaboration. Abstracts for technical sessions may be submitted to the conference web site, through February 7, 2005. Additional information on the conference and session topics is provided in the flier attached. Please bookmark the web site for forthcoming information on registration and program updates.

Conference Flier

(added 1/26/05)

NEWS! New NIH Salary Cap - Effective January 1, 2005, the Executive Level I salary level increased to $180,100.

The announcement, with helpful information and Q&A's, may be found here: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-05-024.html

(added 1/20/05)

NEWS! NASA Solicitation and Proposal Integrated Review and Evaluation System (NSPIRES) - NASA is transitioning from its existing dated peer review management system to a new web-based system for the submission and review of research proposals. The current system SYS-EYFUS is being phased out and the new system NASA Solicitation and Proposal Integrated Review and
Evaluation System (NSPIRES) is being introduced for proposal submission to
solicitations released in January 2005. NSPIRES is designed to ultimately
receive complete electronic proposals for NASA research opportunities,
including NASA Research Announcements (NRAs), Announcements of Opportunity (AOs), unsolicited proposals and Congressionally directed financial
assistance. NSPIRES will also serve as the NASA gateway for receipt of
Grants.gov proposals. Currently, SYS-EYFUS supports only the submission of
proposal cover page data online and NSPIRES will initially only duplicate
that proposal capability for the present.

The main change NSPIRES introduces is that the submission of online proposal
data will become the responsibility of the submitting organizations
Sponsored Research Business Office (or functional equivalent), rather than
the responsibility of the Principal Investigator as at present. This
significant NSPIRES change will allow NASA to be consistent with Grants.gov
operations, the Federal Governments common site through which organizations
will also soon be able to submit grant proposals to NASA. To help simplify
this transition, NSPIRES will also offer proposal management and tracking
capabilities to the submitting organization community, with each user able
to conform NSPIRES capabilities to their unique organizational management
needs.

NSPIRES is a comprehensive, user-friendly tool for responding to
solicitations, preparing proposal data, working with team members and
collecting the documentation required to submit a proposal to NASA. This
enables much of this work to be performed electronically, even if hard copy
proposals are still required for the present. NSPIRES will enable a
proposer to release NASA-required online proposal data to his or her
Authorizing Official over the web for submission to NASA.

Phased NSPIRES registration is planned. Organizations submitting proposals
to NASA need to register first before investigators at those organizations
can register themselves and set up an affiliation with those organizations.
To begin the process, instructions on organizational registration have
already been sent to the Organizational Electronic Business Point of Contact
listed in the Central Contractor Registry (CCR www.ccr.gov) at those
institutions doing business with NASA.

-----------------------

Greg Lindsay
COTR, NASA Peer Review Services
Office of Infrastructure, Management, and HQ Operations
NASA Headquarters

(added 12/20/04)

NEWS! The Omnibus NASA Research Announcement (NRA) entitled "Research Opportunities in Space and Earth Sciences - 2005 (ROSES-05)"

In late January 2005, the NASA Science Mission Directorate (which replaced both the Office of Earth Science and the Office of Space Science) will release a single NRA entitled Research Opportunities in Space and Earth Sciences - 2005 (ROSES-05). ROSES-05 replaces the approximately 5-10 individual Earth Science NRA's that have been routinely released in previous years. The ROSES-05 NRA essentially covers every research opportunity in Earth and space science that NASA is soliciting in 2005. These research opportunities are referred to in this NRA as "program elements," each of which is described by a single section in the Appendix. The ROSES-05 NRA is very similar to the ROSS-04 NRA for space science, with the addition of approximately 17 program elements in Earth science for 2005. The ROSS-04 NRA may be found at http://research.hq.nasa.gov/code_s/nra/current/NNH04ZSS001N/index.html.

The body of the ROSES-05 NRA provides uniform guidelines for the submission, evaluation, selection, and implementation of awards in response to all of the program elements solicited. Unless specifically stated otherwise in ROSES-05, all proposals submitted to all program elements will follow the guidelines provided in the 2005 edition of the NASA Guidebook for Proposers (the 2004 edition is available at http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/procurement/nraguidebook/). Appendix A of the ROSES-05 NRA contains approximately 23 program elements in Earth-Sun System research, Appendix B contains approximately 18 program elements in Solar System research, Appendix C contains approximately 10 program elements in Universe research, and Appendix D contains approximately 2 program elements in Multidisciplinary research.

The earliest due dates for proposals for program elements are about 75 days after this NRA release date, while the remaining due dates are staggered through the end of 2005. Once it is released, you are urged to examine this ROSES-05 NRA carefully both for its possible interest to you in terms of submitting a proposal to the program element(s) of interest, as well as its requirements (incorporating the NASA Guidebook for Proposers) that establish common proposal formats and submission procedures for all program elements. This standardization should make it much easier for the community to respond to NASA Research Announcements.

Questions about ROSES-05 may be addressed to Dr. Paul Hertz, Assistant Associate Administrator for Science, Science Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC 20546-0001; E-mail: paul.hertz@nasa.gov; Telephone: 202-358-0986.

NEWS! IMPORTANT CHANGES TO PHS APPLICATIONS - The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has issued new instructions for grant applications. These new guidelines take effect beginning with the December 1, 2004 submission deadline, although the new forms are not mandatory until May 10, 2005. We strongly suggest that you begin to use the new forms immediately. All forms are available here: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/forms.htm

Major Changes to PHS 398 (http://grants1.nih.gov/grants/funding/phs398/phs398.html)

Face Page:
· Title field length increased to 81 characters
· eRA Commons User Name field added (this is currently optional)
· Human Subjects Research box modified to include new data element for Clinical Trials

Form Page 2:
· Now 2 pages with 5 distinct sections: Description, Performance Sites, Key Personnel, Other Significant Contributors, and Stem Cells
· Project Summary should state the application’s broad, long-term objectives and specific aims, making reference to the health relatedness of the project (i.e., relevance to the mission of the agency).
· Project Summary should also describe the relevance of this research to public health, using no more than 2 or 3 sentences.
· Other Significant Contributors: new field to allow PI to identify individuals who will contribute to the project but are NOT committing any specified measurable effort. Note that bio sketches are required, but not Other Support.

Form Page 4 and 5 and Modular Budget Format Page:
· Budget pages modified to implement the policy on Direct Cost Limitations (see separate announcement). Specifically, the Consortium/Contractual Direct Costs budget row has not been moved to above the Subtotal Direct Costs line.

Font Size Requirements:
· NIH now requires the use of Arial-11 or Helvetica-11 point font.

NIH Peer Review Criteria have been updated to better accommodate interdisciplinary translational and clinical projects.

Research Plan instructions now include a distinct section on Resource Sharing.

Major Changes to PHS 2590 (http://grants1.nih.gov/grants/funding/2590/2590.htm)

· Number of copies: Only one signed original and one signed copy need to be submitted, if sending in hardcopy
· E-SNAP submission is encouraged.
· Note refined definition of “Key Personnel”
· A new category for “Other Significant Contributors” is incorporated to allow PI to identify individuals who will contribute to the project but are NOT committing any specified measurable effort.
· First 2 SNAP Questions have been modified:
1) SNAP Question #1, Changes in Other Support. If there is a change in active support for key personnel, complete Other Support information must now be submitted (previously only submitted the changes).
2) SNAP Question #2, Changes in Level of Effort. This only applies to the PI and other personnel specifically named on the Notice of Grant Award.


Other NIH Changes:
(1) Updated Criteria for Evaluation Research Grant Applications
(http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-05-002.html)

Reviewers will be instructed to use the updated review criteria as the basis for evaluation research grant applications in order to reflect the overall impact that the project could have on the advancement of science. Criteria include:
· Significance
· Approach
· Innovation
· Investigators
· Environment

Additional criteria which will be considered in the determination of scientific merit include:
· Protection of Human Subjects from Research Risk
· Inclusion of Women, Minorities and Children in Research
· Care and Use of Vertebrate Animals in Research
· Budget (reasonableness of the budget and the requested period of support in relation to the proposed research)

(2) NIH Policy on Sharing of Model Organisms for Biomedical Research
(http://www.grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-04-042.html)

Investigators are expected to include a description of a specific plan for sharing and distributing unique model organism research resources generated using NIH funding so that other researchers an benefit from these resources, OR state appropriate reasons for why such sharing is restricted or not possible. PI’s are also expected to address if or how they will exercise their intellectual property rights while making model organisms and research resources available to the broader scientific community.
· Will material transfers be made with no more restrictive terms than in a Simple Letter Agreement or the Uniform Biological Material Transfer Agreement?
· How would inappropriate “reach-through” requirements on materials transferred be addressed?
· How will technologies remain widely available and accessible to the research community, for example, if any intellectual property rights arise for which a patent application may be filed?

(3) Change in Direct Cost Limitations on Solicited Applications
(http://grants1.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-04-040.html)

Applications in response to those Program Announcements (PAs) and Requests for Applications (RFAs) that include a limitation on direct costs are to exclude from that limit the facilities and administrative (F&A) costs requested by consortium participants. The F&A costs requested by the consortium (subcontractor) will be reflected in the PHS 398 application, but will not be counted as a direct cost when determining if an applicant is in compliance with a direct cost limitation. This change will allow applicants for interdisciplinary research and research teams to propose consortium arrangements without a negative impact on their ability to fully utilize the direct cost limitations of the solicitation. (added 11/05/04)

NEW! - NIH Announces that new non-competing progress reports (continuations) should be mailed* to a new centralized address:

Division of Extramural Activities Support, OER
National Institutes of Health
6705 Rockledge Drive, Room 2207, MSC 7987
Bethesda, MD 20892-7987 (for regular US Mail)
Bethesda, MD 20817 (for courier/express mail delivery)

*Applicable only if your progress reports are not being submitted through the Commons. (added 9/24/04)

NEWS! GUIDELINES FOR EXPORT CONTROLS - Yale faculty, students and staff need to recognize when export control regulations may apply or when an export or OFAC license may be required in connection with research. To learn more about Yale's Guidelines on Export Controls visit the "Policies and Regulations" section of our website. (added 09/03/04)

UPDATE! NSF GRANT PROPOSAL GUIDE, NSF 04-23, Effective September 1, 2004

The New NSF GPG contains changes that are mostly to clarify and define procedures. These include:

• Chapter I, Section F, due dates have been defined, including submission windows.

• Chapter I, Section C.2.a., discusses the importance of selecting the correct program for the cover page. If the proposal is not submitted in response to a specific program announcement, then choose "Grant Proposal Guide" and "No Closing Date."

• Chapter II, Section B, restates the format policy to clarify that there may be no more than 15 characters (including spaces) per 2.5 cm. Margins must be at least 2.5 cm.

NEW! NEW ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS - AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY (ACS)

To: Grant Administrators
From: Scientific Program Directors, American Cancer Society
Subject: Change in Eligibility Requirements for Extramural Grants

The major goal of the Extramural Research Grant Program at the American Cancer Society is to fund the best and brightest cancer research scientists early in their careers.

To sharpen the Society's focus on funding the best young investigators, we have made several important changes to the eligibility requirements that will be phased in beginning with the next submission deadline, October 15th, 2004.

Complete information about current ACS programs can be found on our website at www.cancer.org/research; select Funding Opportunities followed by Index of Grants.

As always, if questions arise, please call the appropriate Scientific Program Director who can assist applicants with questions pertaining to eligibility or in preparation of their grant submissions.

ANNOUNCEMENT- Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare (OLAW) is pleased to announce the availability of a new web tutorial for investigators:

How to Write an Application Involving Research Animals
http://www.niaid.nih.gov/ncn/clinical/researchanimals/tutorial/index.htm

Developed by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), in conjunction with OLAW, the tutorial provides a step by step guide to the preparation of an application and covers such topics as considering alternatives, obtaining assurances and IACUC approval, just in time processes, NIH review of animal subjects applications, grant awards, IACUC monitoring of awards, and reporting requirements.

Although designed specifically for NIAID applicants, the information is relevant to any investigator submitting an application to the NIH for an activity involving animals.

NEWS! - The Department of Education (DOED) now requires that proposals be submitted via e-GRANTS. From e-GRANTS you may access all of the Department's web-based grant systems. Faculty should remember Yale's policy that all proposals, regardless of how they are submitted, must be reviewed and approved by the Grants & Contracts office prior to submission.

NEWS! - "FIND GRANT OPPORTUNITIES" is now available to the public at www.Grants.gov. Beginning October 1, 2003, it will host information on all competitive grant opportunities from all 26 Federal grant-making agencies from one location. Find will give you access to hundreds of grant opportunities from across the federal government. You will also be able to register to be notified automatically of future grant opportunities as they are added to the site. After October 1, 2003 all competitive grant announcements will be posted on Grants.gov.

ANNOUNCEMENT - GRANT OPPORTUNITIES!
See information regarding AFAR's 2004 Grant Programs under the Funding Opportunities section of our web site