Notice of Change to NIH’s Policy on Special Council Review of Research Applications

February 24, 2022

NIH recently announced an update to the Special Council Review (SCR) policy to align with updated Other Support disclosure requirements. Effective with the FY 2022 May/June Council round, Advisory Council members will continue to provide additional consideration of new and renewal applications from well-supported investigators who currently receive $2 million or more in total costs, per year of active NIH funding.

Salary Cap Guidance

February 17, 2022

While operating under a continuing resolution, all legislative mandates that were in effect in FY 2021 for NIH grant, cooperative agreements, and research and development contract awards remain in effect. This includes restricting direct salary support to the salary limitation set at Executive Level II of the federal pay scale. The Office of Personnel Management released new salary levels for the Executive Pay Scale that became effective in January 2022.

Working on a Human Subjects Study Record in Our Human Subjects System? ACTION NEEDED: Re-Save the Record Before Submission

February 17, 2022

Prior to submission of your application or Research Performance Progress Report (RPPR), you should re-save study records in Work in Progress applications even if you are not making changes to the study record. The Save operation updates the underlying data to match that required by the new FORMS-G.

K99/R00 Candidates Can Continue to Take Advantage of COVID-Related Eligibility Extensions

February 17, 2022

Under normal circumstances, individuals must have no more than four years of postdoctoral research experience to be eligible to apply for a K99/R00 Pathway to Independence award. Due to ongoing disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, NIH will continue to allow up to a two-receipt cycle eligibility extension for candidates on K99/R00 applications to parent announcements. If you are planning to take advantage of this flexibility, there are a few details to keep in mind.

Extending Existing Guidance for Preparing Applications During COVID-19 

January 11, 2022

For Spring 2022 due dates, NIH recently extended the guidance that while grant applications should not include contingency or recovery plans for problems resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, investigators may address effects due to the pandemic on productivity or other scoreable issues in the personal statement of the biosketch. NIH also extended the special exception for post-submission material to applications submitted for the August/October 2022 Council rounds.