NIH’s Next Generation Researchers Policy Now Posted

August 31, 2017

Today we posted a policy (NIH Guide Notice NOT-OD-17-101) describing current plans for the Next Generation Researchers Initiative.  Since I first blogged about it in June, NIH leadership have reviewed data (see accompanying blog) and deliberated about how best to proceed.  Our goal is to increase the number of NIH-funded early-stage investigators and assure, as best we can, that funded early-stage investigators have a reasonable chance to secure stable funding during the earliest stages of their independent research careers. This new policy will supersede previous notices on new and early stage investigators (NOT-OD-08-012, NOT-OD-09-013 and NOT-OD-09-134). ….

Data On Trends According to Career Stage

August 31, 2017

By the 21st Century Cures Act, the Next Generation Researchers’ Initiative calls on the NIH to develop policies to increase funding opportunities for new researchers seeking to secure early independence. To put the Initiative in perspective and to extend on previous blogs we’ve posted on changing demographics in NIH-funded researchers, we thought it would be useful to explore trends according to career stage.

First, some definitions.  We define “Early Stage Investigators” (ESI) as those who are within 10 years of completing their terminal degree or post-graduate clinical training and who have not yet secured independence as a PI of a substantial NIH research award.  ….

Monitoring the Impact of Hurricane Harvey on Research

August 31, 2017

The devastating effects of Hurricane Harvey cause deep concern about the health and safety of people and animals, and about the health of the biomedical enterprise in the affected areas. While everyone’s immediate efforts need to be focused on getting through this immediate crisis, we want to assure our applicant and grantee community that NIH will be doing our part to help you ensure your research continues. We issued a Guide notice reminding the community about our natural disaster policy, Reminder: NIH Natural Disaster Policy – Hurricane Harvey. To give you an idea of the ways NIH can help in these situations, our website on Extramural Response to Natural Disasters has a list of available resources, including guidance on animal welfare issues. ….

Next Generation Researcher Policy Announcement – Coming Soon

August 15, 2017

In June, NIH announced plans for a new initiative to provide additional support to the next generation of researchers. We will be announcing policy details this month. Stay tuned to the Notices published in the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts. We will also include an announcement here on the NIH Extramural Nexus & Open Mike blog site, when the policy is published.

August 30: NIH Webinar on Research Performance Progress Reports (RPPRs)…Test your Knowledge!

August 13, 2017

Did you know there are three types of Research Performance Progress Reports (RPPRs) that are associated with an NIH grant award? Can you name them? If you said “Annual, Interim, & Final RPPRs”…way to go! What does each one include? How and when do you submit each? What changes have been made in 2017 and what are still to come? On Wednesday, August 30, from 2:00-3:30 ET, NIH experts are planning to answer these questions, along with sharing the latest updates on RPPR policies and process updates. This webinar is designed for principal investigators, signing officials, and delegated officials responsible for the development and submission of progress reports to the NIH.  Registration is now open ….

4 Questions For Researchers and Institutions Involved In Human Subjects Research

August 11, 2017

Last September, and in January of this year, we wrote about a suite of initiatives aimed at improving the quality and transparency of the NIH-supported research that most directly engages human participants – clinical trials. These initiatives include dedicated funding opportunity announcements for clinical trials, Good Clinical Practice training, enhanced registration and results reporting on … Continue reading “4 Questions For Researchers and Institutions Involved In Human Subjects Research”

Grants Administration & Policy Workshops That Will Have You Asking…”Why Didn’t I Attend Sooner?”

August 11, 2017

Update: The two day seminar has reached capacity today. However, the following workshops are still available to attend without seminar registration: Human Research Reviews: Mastering the Process, Intellectual Property – Understanding Requirements and Recipient Responsibilities, and Intellectual Property – A Hands-on Demonstration of iEdison. Further details …..