NIH Releases New Policy for Data Management and Sharing

October 29, 2020

Today, nearly twenty years after the publication of the Final NIH Statement on Sharing Research Data in 2003, we have released a Final NIH Policy for Data Management and Sharing. This represents the agency’s continued commitment to share and make broadly available the results of publicly funded biomedical research. We hope it will be a critical step in moving towards a culture change, in which data management and sharing is seen as integral to the conduct of research. Responsible data management and sharing is good for science; it maximizes availability of data to the best and brightest minds, underlies reproducibility, honors the participation of human participants by ensuring their data is both protected and fully utilized, and provides an element of transparency to ensure public trust and accountability.

“All About Grants” Podcast – Human Subjects’ Protection and Monitoring Plans

October 29, 2020

Dawn Corbett, NIH’s Inclusion Policy Officer, shares why human subjects’ protection and monitoring plans are important in this next NIH’s All About Grants podcast. We will discuss what should be included in these plans as part of your application, what should be left out, what are risks and what are benefits to study participants, how reviewers assess it all, and so much more. 

Researchers, if You Received a Survey, Please Provide Us with Your Perspective on the Impact of COVID-19

October 29, 2020

Since March, COVID-19 has greatly impacted the way we all work. NIH has been tracking how well our policies meet the needs of our research community in response to the ongoing pandemic. To get a better understanding of how COVID-19 is impacting our extramural researchers, we launched the Impact of COVID-19 on Extramural Researchers Survey in mid-October. If you received an invitation to take this survey, please take 15-20 minutes to complete it. This survey will be open until Friday, November 13th. The results from the survey will inform policy and program decisions, so participation is critical.

Seeking Your Ideas on the NIH-Wide Strategic Plan for COVID-19 Research

October 29, 2020

From shifting public health needs to the unprecedented pace of biomedical discovery, everything about the coronavirus response is evolving. This goes for the NIH-Wide Strategic Plan for COVID-19 Research as well, so too must it evolve.

We want your help on the next iteration of the Plan. A Request For Information released yesterday seeks public feedback on the current Plan (NOT-OD-21-018). You or your organization can submit ideas here by December 7, 2020.

Automated Trainee Diversity Report Required with RPPRs for Most T, K and Research Education Awards Beginning October 30, 2020

October 23, 2020

An automatically generated Trainee Diversity Report will replace the manual report that signing officials are required to submit with RPPRs for most institutional training, career development awards and research education grants, effective October 30, 2020.  The automated report will leverage existing electronic demographic data entered by trainees in the Personal Profile of eRA Commons to minimize the need for manual data entry by recipients and reduce their burden.

Institutions to Submit FCOI Policy Electronically in eRA Commons, Effective November 12, 2020

October 23, 2020

NIH requires institutions to maintain an up-to-date, written, and enforced policy to identify and manage Investigator Financial Conflicts of Interest (FCOI) and to post the policy on their publicly accessible website. Starting November 12, 2020, NIH recipients will be required to submit their publicly assessible FCOI policy to NIH via the eRA Commons Institution Profile (IPF) Module.

Share Your Ideas to Foster Research Integrity and the Responsible Conduct of Research

October 22, 2020

We all have a vested interest in maintaining the integrity of biomedical research. It is critically important to do so, after all, so the public can trust the resulting scientific findings. These posts from 2020, 2019, and 2018 highlight a few ways NIH works toward this goal of an environment promoting integrity and discouraging misconduct (check out this NIH All About Grants podcast for more on this).

Now it’s your turn to share some ideas. Our colleagues with the HHS Office of Research Integrity (ORI) recently published a Request for Information seeking your input. The feedback they receive will be invaluable for conducting future outreach and developing educational resources for the research community.

NIH Will Continue to Accept Preliminary Data as Post-Submission Material Through August/October 2021 Councils

October 21, 2020

In recognition of the fact that COVID-19 may still be adversely affecting the ability of applicants to generate preliminary data, NIH will continue to accept a one-page update with preliminary data as post-submission materials for applications submitted for the August/October 2021 council (beginning with applications submitted for the January 25, 2021 due date for Summer 2021 review meetings), ONLY if the Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) used for submission allowed preliminary data in the application.

Developing a Culture of Safety in Biomedical Research Training

October 15, 2020

The National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) is committed to supporting safety in the nation’s biomedical research and training environments. In a Perspective in the current issue of Molecular Biology of the Cell (MBoC), we focus on strategies for improving laboratory safety. Some of these strategies are also applicable to other forms of safety including the prevention of harassment, intimidation, and discrimination. Lab safety is also the focus of an upcoming webinar for the training community, Developing a Culture of Safety in Biomedical Research Training, on Thursday, November 5, from 2:00-3:00 p.m. ET.