Implementing the Modified NIH Biosketch Format

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. ….

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Promoting Health, Science, and Public Trust through Laboratory Safety

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….

NIH: The View From 10,000 Feet

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 ….

Join Me and Many Other NIH Experts at the NIH Regional Seminar

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. ….

Federal Agencies and Research Organizations Working In Partnership

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. ….

Looking at Reproducibility

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. ….

Looking Back, Looking Forward

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, ….

PubMed Gets Interactive

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. ….