For electronic grant applications, see SF 424 Cover and PHS 398 Cover Page Supplement.

For paper applications, Form page 1 in either the PHS 398 Grant Application or PHS 2590 Non-Competing Continuation Progress Report.

Go to Form page 1 in NIH's PHS 398 or Form page 1 in the PHS 2590 (paper applications only).

Costs associated with the general operation of an institution and the conduct of its research activities. Formerly indirect costs. HHS supports full reimbursement for F&A costs for most grant programs. Institutions negotiate F&A rates with NIH.

Allowable F&A costs include:

• Depreciation use allowance.
• Facilities operations and maintenance.
• General administration and expenses.
• Departmental administration.
• Sponsored project administration.
• Libraries.

Also see direct costs and modified total direct costs.

Go to NIAID's Make Sure Your Institution Has Negotiated F&A Rates in the Strategy for NIH Funding.

facilities contract

Field and attachment to the Research and Related Other Project Information form of an electronic grant application that identifies institutional resources and support for the principal investigator.

In it, the principal investigator describes how the scientific environment will contribute to the success of the project. Peer reviewers use that information to assess the environment initial peer review criterion.

Go to these resources:

• NIAID's Strategy for NIH Funding
  • Strategy to Prepare the Forms and Just-In-Time
  • Complete the Forms
• NIH's SF424 (R&R) Application Guides

Process FDA uses to accelerate development and review of drugs to treat serious diseases and fill an unmet medical need.

Fast track drugs are eligible for accelerated approval and possibly priority review, which together with fast track, are FDA's approach to making therapeutically important drugs available sooner.

Go to FDA's Fast Track, Accelerated Approval and Priority Review.

Web site that publicizes federal government procurement opportunities, including contracts, over $25,000.

Go to these resources:

• FedBizOpps.gov
• NIAID's Federal Business Opportunities SOP
• NIAID's Contracts portal

Regulations governing federal government procurement. FAR is published as 48 CFR Chapter 1; its provisions are implemented and augmented by agency supplements—see HHSAR.

Go to HHS Acquisition Regulations and FAR.

General roadmap for federal spending, outlining the categories and amounts. The budget takes into account federal spending and revenue, which the U.S. collects largely through federal taxes. See authorization and appropriation.

Go to these NIAID resources:

• NIAID Funding Opportunity Planning and the Budget Cycle
• Paylines and Funding portal

Cooperative initiative among federal agencies, including NIH, and outside organizations that receive federal research funding. It conducts demonstration projects that simplify and standardize requirements to increase research productivity and reduce administrative costs.

Go to these resources:

• Federal Demonstration Partnership
• NIAID's Expanded Authorities or Federal Demonstration Partnership SOP

Form that federal recipients of grants or cooperative agreements use to report financial expenditures on their awards. Institutions submit this report through the eRA Commons. To see the form, go to Federal Financial Report.

Go to NIAID's Know When to Submit Financial Reports and File Your Final Reports at Award End in the Strategy for NIH Funding.

Official, daily government publication communicating proposed and final regulations and legal notices issued by federal agencies, including announcements of the availability of research funds.

Go to the Federal Register.

Law authorizing government agencies to enter into cooperative research and development agreements with private companies. See technology transfer.

Go to 15 USC 63 Sec. 3710 and NIAID's Office of Technology Development.

Online form every institution and collaborating institution conducting human subjects research must file with the Office for Human Research Protections, HHS, to establish policies and procedures to protect human subjects as required by 45 CFR 46.

An FWA is an institutional assurance of protection for human subjects. For individuals, see Individual investigator agreement.

Go to these resources:

• OHRP's Electronic Submission System for Federalwide Assurances and IRB/IEC Registrations
• NIAID's Obtain a Federalwide Assurance and IRB, IEC, and FWA Requirements for International Research in the NIAID Human Subjects Application and Grant Handbook

Agreed-to amount beyond an initial cost estimate in cost-reimbursement arrangements. A fee may be set at the outset of performance, as in a cost-plus-fixed-fee contract, or may vary within a specified range, as in a cost-plus-incentive-fee contract.

Individual award to students and scientists at predoctoral, postdoctoral, or senior investigator levels; underrepresented groups and the disabled.

Activity codes are as follows:

• F31, Individual NRSA Predoctoral Fellowships to Promote Diversity in Health-Related Research
• F32, Postdoctoral Individual NRSA
• F33, NRSAs for Senior Fellows

Go to these NIAID resources:

• Fellowships in the Advice on Research Training and Career Awards tutorial
• Training and Career portal

Final contract proposal revision that NIAID asks offerors to submit after negotiations have ended. It documents cost and technical agreements reached during negotiations.

Go to NIAID's Negotiation, Source Selection, and Award SOPs and Contracts portal.

Recorded factual material commonly accepted by the scientific community as necessary to document, support, and validate research findings.

Go to NIAID's Data Sharing for Grants: Final Research Data SOP.

Significant financial interests that would likely bias NIAID grantees or contractors. By law, institutions must manage, reduce, or eliminate these conflicts. See see conflict of interest.

Go to NIH's Financial Conflict of Interest portal and NIAID's Financial Conflicts of Interest for Awardees SOP.

Policy to establish consistency in funding, which specifies budget levels for items such as paylines, programmatic reductions, R56-Bridge award levels, and caps for renewal grants. 

Go to these NIAID resources:

• Financial Management Plan SOP
• Paylines and Funding portal

Formerly used term—see Federal Financial Report (FFR).

Fixed-price contract that cannot be adjusted for a contractor's costs. It provides maximum incentive for a contractor to control costs and perform efficiently and imposes a minimum administrative burden on the contracting parties.

Go to FAR 16.202-1.

Contract that provides for a firm or, in some cases, an adjustable price. Fixed-price contracts with an adjustable price may include a ceiling price, target price, or both.

Unless otherwise specified, these prices can be adjusted only by clauses in a contract. Go to FAR 16.206-1.

See funding opportunity announcement.

• Involvement of human subjects or animals in research.
• Extensive foreign travel by grantee project staff for collecting data, surveying, sampling, and similar activities.
• Grant activities that may involve the population, environment, resources, or affairs of a foreign country.

Also see domestic.

Go to these NIAID resources:

• Foreign and International Grants and Components SOP
• Grants Policy and Management Training for Foreign Investigators tutorial

Private or public nonprofit institution or for-profit organization in a country other than the U.S. and its territories. Also see domestic.

Go to these NIAID resources:

• International Awards questions and answers
• Foreign and International Grants and Components SOP
• International Awards portal

Process that permits all sources to compete for a contract. See justification for other than full and open competition.

Go to these resources:

• FAR 6.003
• FAR 16.206-1

Review meeting of a majority of institutional review board members, including at least one nonscientific member. To gain IRB approval, a majority of members present at a meeting must agree.

Go to these NIAID resources:

• Get IRB or IEC Approval in NIAID Human Subjects Application and Grant Handbook
• Human Subjects Certifications: IRB or IEC SOP

Generally refers to an application's percentile or overall impact score that is within an NIH institute's payline. NIAID also funds some other applications, e.g., those that are high-priority or deferred for funding. See gray zone.

Go to these NIAID resources:

• How NIAID Makes Funding Decisions in the Strategy for NIH Funding
• Funding Decisions questions and answers
• Paylines and Funding portal

Federal grant funding opportunity published in Grants.gov. NIH FOAs can be requests for applications or program announcements.

For electronic applications, applicants use the SF 424 Application Guide instructions and forms in the Grant Application Package.

For paper applications, instructions and forms are in the PHS 398 Grant Application. For each FOA, NIH publishes announcements with additional information and instructions in the Guide.

See initiative, institute-specific program announcement, and parent program announcement.

Go to these NIAID resources:

• NIAID Funding Opportunities List
• Funding Opportunity Announcements questions and answers
• Application portal

Budget outline that NIAID develops according to the budget allocation for a fiscal year. It specifies standard items, such as paylines, selective pay amounts, R56-Bridge award pools, and caps for renewal grants. Also see appropriation.

Go to NIAID's Financial Management Plan and Paylines and Funding portal.