Understanding How Funds Expire

September 9, 2013

I have detected conversation swirling in our community about a rumored change in NIH’s policy for granting no-cost extensions. The thought is that no-cost extensions should not be sought because if funds remain at the end of the project period then NIH will take money back from the grantee. ….

Keeping Up With the Biomedical Research Workforce Initiative

August 30, 2013

Over the past two years I’ve frequently discussed the recommendations from the NIH Advisory Committee to the NIH Director (ACD) on the Biomedical Research Workforce. I know there’s been loads of information coming from us about how we are implementing these recommendations. I’m happy to share our new website that compiles all of this biomedical workforce initiative information.

Reporting to NIH on Race and Ethnicity of Clinical Research Participants

August 21, 2013

The inclusion of women, different racial and ethnic groups, and children is extremely important in clinical research to understand who is affected by a given disease or condition and to develop the appropriate treatments. …. I’m bringing this topic to your attention because there has been some confusion about the distinction between race and ethnicity and how to report this information to the NIH. ….

New Data, New Data Book Updates

August 9, 2013

Besides our data and analyses here on Rock Talk, the NIH Data Book on RePORT.NIH.gov should be your first stop when looking for longitudinal and historical data on budget, funding rates, and other facts about NIH funding. The NIH Data Book also contains national biomedical workforce data such as statistics on graduate students and postdocs in the biomedical, behavioral, social and clinical sciences using data from the NSF-NIH Survey of Graduate Students and Postdoctorates in Science and Engineering. The latest data from this survey (2011) are available and ….

The NIH Data Book also contains national biomedical workforce data such as statistics on graduate students and postdocs in the biomedical, behavioral, social and clinical sciences using data from the Survey of Graduate Students and Postdoctorates in Science and Engineering.

Using eRA Commons to Improve Data on the Biomedical Research Workforce

August 2, 2013

In April I blogged about the various ways NIH is taking on the challenge of improving data on the biomedical research workforce, particularly those who receive training support from NIH. In 2009 we began requiring eRA Commons accounts for all postdocs listed in the grantees’ annual progress report and over the next year we’ll be extending this requirement to capture data on NIH-supported graduate students and undergraduate students as well.

Individual Development Plans for NIH-supported Trainees

July 23, 2013

We continue to make progress on implementing the recommendations proposed by the Advisory Committee to the NIH Director (ACD) working group which studied the biomedical research workforce. We have just posted a Notice in the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts announcing that NIH encourages grantees to develop an institutional policy requiring an Individual Development Plan (IDP) for every graduate student and postdoc supported by any NIH grant, regardless of the type of NIH grant that is used for support.

Chimpanzees in Biomedical Research

June 26, 2013

Today NIH made an important announcement about the use of chimpanzees in biomedical and behavioral research. After accepting the findings of an extensive Institute of Medicine (IOM) study commissioned by NIH, and reviewing the implementation recommendations from the Council of Councils and public feedback, NIH leadership has decided to significantly reduce the use of chimpanzees in the biomedical research it supports, and expects to designate the majority of NIH-owned chimpanzees for retirement.

More on Percentiling

June 21, 2013

Understanding NIH’s system of percentiling can be a challenge. My posts on how percentiles relate to paylines and success rates continues to get a lot of hits. A recent presentation by NIH’s Center for Scientific Review provided an example that I thought might be helpful to people trying to understand more about how a percentile is calculated for some grant applications. ….