Grant Duration Policy

Purpose

To enable NIAID to achieve a Congressionally mandated average duration of four years for competing grants.

Procedure

NIAID funds a mix of short- and long-term grants to get a four-year average length for all grants in a given fiscal year, as required by law.

To help us plan, we set maximum durations for each grant type. For most of our grant types, you can find that information in the funding opportunity announcement under "Budget and Project Period." Unless the funding opportunity announcement specifies otherwise, we set the duration as follows:

• Up to one year of support for R56-Bridge awards.
• Up to four years of support for selective pay grants.
• Five years, with a possible three- to five-year extension, for MERIT awards.

We don't count fiscal years where the following occurs:

• NIAID defers or can't fund a renewal application until the next fiscal year. This may happen if we run out of funds for the current year.
• One of the following situations lasts more than two months into the next fiscal year:
  • Change of institution causes a gap in funding.
  • Project is suspended or activity is significantly reduced.
  • Fellowship award is not activated.

In some fiscal years, NIAID resets a grant start date to more evenly distribute grant funding throughout the fiscal year. This results in a shorter grant duration. See the Resetting Grant Start Dates questions and answers and the Resetting Grant Anniversary Dates table for more information.

NIH's grant duration limit is five years for all grants. Waiving this limit requires an extraordinary justification and direct approval from NIH or HHS.

Applicants

• Apply for a grant type that allows you to complete your project within the maximum grant duration allowed. Talk to a program officer and read Part 2. Game Plan in our  NIH Grant Cycle: Application to Renewal.
• Before asking to extend your grant's project period, ask for an administrative supplement for unforeseen costs that do not represent a change in scope. See the Administrative Supplements to Grants and Cooperative Agreements SOP.

Program Officers

• If a study section removes years requested by an applicant, recommend restoring them if scientifically essential.
• Work with grants management specialists to correct funding issues without altering grant duration, if possible.
• Nominate a maximum of four years' support for the following applications that score beyond the payline:
• Selective pay awards.
• End-of-fiscal year awards.
• R01 applications responding to PAs of RFAs.

Grants Management Specialists

• Work with program officers to correct funding issues without altering grant duration, if possible.
• See GMP's Project Period System of Awarding Grants and Duration of Support SOP and the NIH Policy Manual on Project Period System of Awarding Grants and Duration of Recommended Grant Support.

Contacts

Mary Kirker, mk35h@nih.gov, 301-402-6400

If you have knowledge to share or want more information on this topic, email deaweb@niaid.nih.gov with the title of this page or its URL and your question or comment. Thanks for helping us clarify and expand our knowledge base.

Links

Cooperative Agreements SOP

Multiproject Awards (P01, P50, U19) SOP

Program Announcements SOP

NIAID R56-Bridge Award SOP

Requests for Applications SOP

Selective Pay SOP