November 12, 2015
In today’s New England Journal of Medicine, Richard Nakamura, the director of NIH’s Center for Scientific Review (CSR), and I published an essay titled “Reviewing Peer Review at the NIH.” As the competition for NIH research grants has become increasingly stiff, review scores often are pointed to as the reason for failure to obtain funding. Indeed, over the past few years, peer review has come under increasing scrutiny. Critics have argued that peer review fails in its primary mission – to help funding agencies make the best decisions about which projects and which investigators to support. ….
November 9, 2015
All About Grants is back with a new podcast episode on certificates of confidentiality (CoCs). Dr. Ann Hardy, NIH’s human subjects research protection officer, talks about how CoCs can enhance your human subjects research, as well as protect and benefit research participants …..
November 6, 2015
Suppose a funding agency happens to have some extra money and needs to decide how to invest it. Should it invest that extra money in a large, highly productive laboratory, so that laboratory can expand a bit more? Or should it invest that extra money in a small to moderate size laboratory? Given our inability to predict the future with great certainty, which approach represents the smarter investment strategy? Jon Lorsch, the director of the National Institute for General Medical Sciences (NIGMS), has posted an interesting video on just this question. ….
October 30, 2015
Scientists have long considered the research process to be self-correcting; we trust that, even if scientists may sometimes make errors in the lab, those errors will eventually be discovered and corrected as others try to substantiate and extend original research findings. However, as stated in a commentary by NIH Director Francis Collins and NIH Deputy Director Larry Tabak, “A growing chorus of concern, from scientists and laypeople, contends that the complex system for ensuring the reproducibility of biomedical research is failing and is in need of restructuring.”
There are examples that indicate that our processes have room for improvement. For example, a 2008 study ….
October 30, 2015
In eRA Commons, grantees use the eRA Commons closeout feature to electronically file the information necessary to complete grant closeout requirements. In addition to the eRA user guide to the closeout features, eRA has created a video tutorial on ….
October 29, 2015
We periodically need to update our application forms and instructions to accommodate changing policy, new business needs, and sometimes (not often enough) to reduce the amount of information we ask of you. Given our constraints, we have been working to provide systems support to make the mechanics of these transitions easier for you. This particular set of changes implements a number of policy changes impacting applications submitted in 2016, which we announced in a series of recent NIH Guide notices. We would like to give you a quick overview of what is happening. ….
October 28, 2015
Interested in applying for the NIH Loan Repayment Program (LRP)? Join the LRP Director, Dr. Ericka Boone, and LRP information center staff on November 2, 3 p.m. ET for a live LRP application technical assistance webinar to get an in-depth look at the LRP application process. ….
October 27, 2015
Grantees abide by the terms of the NIH Grants Policy Statement (GPS) the moment they draw down the first of their grant funds. NIH updates the GPS annually. ….
October 23, 2015
NIH (including help desks) will be closed Thursday, November 26, 2015 (Thanksgiving Day). If a grant application due date falls on this federal holiday, the application deadline is automatically extended to the next business day.
October 23, 2015
NIH (including help desks) will be closed Wednesday, November 11, 2015 (Veterans’ Day). If a grant application due date falls on this federal holiday, the application deadline is automatically extended to the next business day.
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