The Ebola outbreak in West Africa is the largest Ebola outbreak in history. NIH appreciates the humanitarian assistance being provided by NIH-supported program directors and principal investigators who travel to West Africa to participate in emergency response activities. As described in NIH Guide Notice NOT-OD-15-010, we have made accommodations to provide additional time for application submission and grant-related reporting for these investigators. ….

The Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare (OLAW) issued new guidance on what is considered a significant change to ongoing animal activities. The guidance was announced in an NIH Guide Notice (NOT-OD-14-126), and outlines the types of changes to research activities that must be reviewed and approved by Institutional Animal Care and Use Committees (IACUCs).

As a reminder, two changes to progress reporting take effect in October. First, reporting on the use of individual development plans is required, as described in NIH Guide Notice NOT-OD-14-113 and a previous Rock Talk blog.

Additionally, the federal-wide progress reporting format — known as the RPPR (Research Performance Progress Report) — is required for all type 5 non-SNAP progress reports submitted on or after October 17, 2014. Please read the announcement in the NIH Guide and the June Extramural Nexus article for more information.

Before NIH awards a grant or contract that involves the use of animals, the recipient institution and all research sites using animals must have an approved Animal Welfare Assurance with the Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare (OLAW). …. As of December 1, 2014, OLAW will only renew domestic Assurances if the institution has current PHS funding. ….

Dedication to the path of research can be rewarding and fulfilling as a career choice. The National Institutes of Health want to encourage outstanding health professionals to pursue careers in biomedical, behavioral, social, and clinical research, and to develop their skills into a lifelong passion for discovery and knowledge. However, far too often, the pursuit of research can be a challenge, especially when faced with high levels of student loan debt. This is how the NIH Extramural Loan Repayment Programs (LRPs) can help!

Does your latest innovative idea have commercial potential and support cutting-edge technological research? Explore NIH funding options for small businesses at the 16th Annual NIH Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Conference that will be held in Albuquerque, NM on October 21 – 23, 2014.

NIH currently requires use of the fed-wide progress reporting format — known as the RPPR (Research Performance Progress Report) — to submit progress reports for Streamlined Non-competing Award Process (SNAP), fellowship, and multi-year funded awards. In April we opened the RPPR for use for all Type 5 Non-SNAP progress reports in anticipation of an October 2014 requirement for RPPR use.

Now, it’s official — all type 5 non-SNAP progress reports submitted on or after October 17, 2014 need to be submitted through the RPPR module of eRA Commons. ….

Reporting financial conflicts of interest is extremely important to maintaining public trust in the biomedical research supported by NIH. The latest update to eRA Commons contains many enhancements to the financial conflict of interest (FCOI) reporting module to improve institutional reporting and promote compliance by NIH grantees. Some of these enhancements include ….

Imagine: You’re serving as a peer reviewer for an upcoming NIH study section, and you are assigned an application that references your colleague’s work. You think your colleague’s input would be helpful in writing your critique of the application. Should you share the information with your colleague? No! Maintaining confidentiality throughout the peer review process is essential to ….

NIH will open use of the fed-wide progress reporting form — known as the RPPR (Research Performance Progress Report) — for all Type 5 Non-SNAP (Streamlined Non-competing Award Process) progress reports on April 25, 2014. We expect to make use of the RPPR for non-SNAP progress reports a requirement in October 2014, so read the Notice for more details, …..