NIH Fiscal Operations and Interim Salary Cap Guidance

March 31, 2017

NIH continues to operate under a continuing resolution, meaning that we will issue non-competing research grant awards at a level below that indicated on the most recent Notice of Award (generally up to 90% of the previously committed level), as we have in past years. See our March 17 Guide notice for details. We have also issued interim guidance on salary limits for NIH grants and cooperative agreements. ….

What is a “Person Month” & How Do I Calculate It?

March 31, 2017

A “person month” is the metric for expressing the effort (amount of time) principal investigators (PIs), faculty and other senior personnel devote to a specific project. The effort is based on the type of appointment of the individual with the organization; e.g., calendar year (CY), academic year (AY), and/or summer term (SM); and the organization’s definition of such. For instance, some institutions define the academic year as a 9-month appointment while others define it as a 10-month appointment.

Conversion of percentage of effort to person months is straight-forward. To calculate person months, multiply the percentage of your effort associated with the project times the number of months of your appointment. For example: ….

Enhancing Our Grants and Application Information

March 31, 2017

It’s been about a year since we transformed our grants.nih.gov website and the NIH application guide to streamline information, and the time it takes you to locate it. Since the initial changes, we’ve continued to quietly evolve these pages based on your feedback. …

How Do I Withdraw My Application?

March 31, 2017

To withdraw an application after it has been validated by eRA Commons and moved on to the Center for Scientific Review, there are two ways you can request the withdrawal. ….

Following Up On Interim Research Products

March 28, 2017

The role of preprints — complete and public draft manuscripts which have not gone through the formal peer review, editing, or journal publishing process – continues to be a hot topic in the biological and medical sciences. In January, three major biomedical research funders – HHMI, the MRC, and the Wellcome Trust, changed their policies to allow preprints to be cited in their progress reports and applications.

Thinking about preprints also raises questions about the broader class of interim research products, and the role they should play in NIH processes. Other interim products include products like preregistration of protocols or research methods, to publicly declare key elements of a research project in advance. While, under current policy, NIH does not restrict items cited in the research plan of an application, applicants cannot claim preprints in biosketches or progress reports.

So, in October, we issued a call for comments to get a fuller understanding of how the NIH-supported research community uses and thinks about interim research products. Today I’d like to follow up with what we’ve learned from your input, and the policy changes this feedback suggests. ….

Outcomes of Amended (“A1”) Applications

March 23, 2017

In a previous blog, we described the outcomes of grant applications according to the initial peer review score. Some of you have wondered about the peer review scores of amended (“A1”) applications. More specifically, some of you have asked about amended applications getting worse scores than first applications; some of you have experienced amended applications … Continue reading “Outcomes of Amended (“A1”) Applications”

Top 5 Reasons to Attend a 2017 NIH Regional Seminar on Program Funding and Grants Administration

March 7, 2017

Are you an investigator or research administrator new to working with the NIH grants process? If so, then don’t let the 2017 NIH Regional Seminars pass you by. Registration is underway for the Spring seminar in New Orleans, LA (May 3-5). If these dates or location don’t work for you, consider the Fall seminar in Baltimore, MD (October 25-27, 2017). Here are our top five ….

How Can I Check If I Am Eligible to Submit an Application Under NIH’s Continuous Submission Policy?

March 7, 2017

NIH’s continuous submission policy provides members of review and advisory groups and reviewers with recent substantial service the benefit of submitting R01, R21, and R34 applications at any time in response to active funding opportunity announcements (FOAs) that have standard due dates. You can check your eligibility to submit applications under NIH’s continuous submission policy by logging into eRA Commons …. NIH recently published consolidated guidance on continuous submission. ….