December 9, 2014
We certainly heard a lot of input on the blog on the issue of the new biosketch format. I really appreciate the dialog. Even when the input is critical it is so important to hear what you think. Remember that the blog is just one of many points of input when we make policy decisions, however. In this case NIH ….
November 26, 2014
Many people have been asking about the new NIH biosketch. As you may recall, in May 2014, NIH announced that we were piloting changes to the biosketch section of grant application forms. This modified format allows researchers to describe how their background and expertise relates to their proposed project. We will require this new format for most grant applications submitted for fiscal year 2016 funding, as described in a guide notice published today. This sounds like a long way off but remember that the first applications for FY 2016 funding begin with due dates of January 25, 2015. The new format is now available in the “additional format pages” section of the SF424 applications page. ….
August 27, 2014
As you may know from recent news reports, there have been lapses in safety practices at federal laboratories involving potentially lethal microbes such as avian flu (H5N1) and anthrax, including an incident involving discovery of 60-year old smallpox vials in an FDA laboratory building located on the National Institutes of Health (NIH) campus in Bethesda, MD. Such lapses, which undermine public confidence in biomedical research and could put people’s health at risk, remind us of the need for constant attention to biosafety standards. …. Today, NIH issued a Guide Notice, to reinforce the message that our grantees must meet all applicable federal, state, and local health and safety standards for research conduct. Just as with federal labs, grantee institutions are….
July 24, 2014
ere on the blog we discuss many different aspects of NIH’s research program – policies, funding trends, workforce issues. A few weeks ago, while I was preparing to give the opening talk at the NIH Regional Seminar on Program Funding and Grants Administration, I realized some Rock Talk readers might be interested in learning more about how these topics fit into the big picture of NIH. So, I asked my colleagues to tape this talk, “NIH: The View from 10,000 Feet”, so I could share it with you on the blog ….
June 4, 2014
I’ll be at the June Advisory Council to the Director (ACD) meeting this Thursday and Friday. Several updates and reports from ACD working groups are on the agenda. Two working groups will be presenting reports on the topics they were charged to explore. ….
April 22, 2014
One of my favorite opportunities to meet face-to-face with the extramural research community each year is at the NIH Regional Seminar on Program Funding and Grants Administration. If you or someone you know is new to working with NIH – or maybe just in need of a brush up on NIH funding and related topics – consider joining me June 26-27 in Baltimore, MD for the 2014 NIH Regional Seminar. ….
March 14, 2014
There are many ways my NIH colleagues and I keep up with the concerns of the research community, but one way that I have not discussed in depth on the blog is the Federal Demonstration Partnership or FDP. The FDP is a forum of federal agencies and funding recipients, sponsored by the Government, University, Industry, Research Roundtable of the National Academies, that comes together to work on identifying, testing, and implementing effective processes and systems for the management of federal government-supported research and education. ….
February 7, 2014
Many of you may have seen the recent Nature Commentary by NIH Director Francis Collins and NIH Deputy Director Larry Tabak that talks about how NIH is addressing concerns about reproducibility in science. If you haven’t I’d encourage you to take a look. ….
December 31, 2013
This certainly has been a tough year for the research community supported by NIH. We started off the year on a continuing resolution with the threat of sequester looming. In March sequestration began, and we had to update our fiscal plan to accommodate reduced spending by making fewer competing awards, and in most instances issuing non-competing awards at levels below the expected FY2013 commitments. The impact of the sequester is not just limited to this fiscal year, ….
December 19, 2013
Today NIH’s National Library of Medicine (NLM) is bringing a new way of sharing and exchanging research information, fully integrated with the PubMed website, to a wider audience. For the last few months, NLM has been running a pilot of a commenting system for PubMed’s massive database of biomedical literature. The system, PubMed Commons, allows authors to discuss and share information through comments on article citations. Hundreds of authors have signed up as beta testers and commenters since the pilot began. ….
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