April 1, 2009
News Articles
Opportunities and Resources
Advice Corner
New Funding Opportunities
News Articles
Breaking Budget News: New Payline, Bridges
New funding decisions are good news for many NIAID applicants.
New Paylines, New and Early-Stage Investigators
We are raising the FY 2009 R01 payline for new and early-stage investigators (ESI) to the 25 percentile to enable us to reach NIH targets. These awards will be for four or five years and funded from our regular appropriation.
Also see our new FY 2009 paylines for fellowships and career awards. Find all paylines at Paylines and Funding.
For funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), see Funding Range for ARRA Awards on How NIAID Will Use the Stimulus Money.
Other R01 Investigators
(Editor's note—article updated with new information on April 16, 2009. Go to Financial Management Plan for current information.)
Please note—this section does not apply to new PIs or ESIs.
You may recall that in our last issue we announced that we would not have R56-Bridge awards. We have changed that decision to help applicants who have better scores and can resubmit.
Percentile to 12. We will fund applications that rank at or below the 12 percentile payline with our FY 2009 appropriated dollars for the requested length of the award.
Percentile 12 to 25. You will be in one of two categories. You must qualify for ARRA funding to get an ARRA award—see Eligibility and Selection for NIAID's ARRA Funds.
- R56-Bridge
- You will get a one year R56-Bridge if you can resubmit your R01 application by the November 5, 2009, receipt date for non-AIDS applications or January 7, 2010, for AIDS applications.
- In most cases, we will provide a second year of funding if your resubmission does not succeed.
- Two-year ARRA R01
- If you have no resubmissions left or choose not to resubmit, we will offer you a two-year ARRA R01.
Make the Most of the Stimulus
Though NIAID is spending most of its stimulus money on applications already submitted, PIs also have opportunities to apply for ARRA funds.
We've created a tool that lets you quickly discern which opportunities NIAID is participating in—go to NIAID Participation in NIH ARRA Opportunities.
Keep in mind that if you list NIAID as the primary institute for an opportunity we are not participating in, your application may not be reviewed. Based on referral guidelines, the Center for Scientific Review will assign it to another institute, which may not accept the assignment.
Coming Up Fast: Challenge Grants
Thinking of applying for an NIH ARRA Challenge Grant? Act fast: applications are due on April 27. Challenge Grants are unique opportunities to receive up to $500,000 a year in total costs for two years.
They're on a fast track: peer review takes place in June or July, Council review in August, and awards in September or October this year.
Keep in mind that many of the topics are broad and appropriate for a variety of research projects. If you are interested in applying, discuss your topic with your program officer to see if it fits the goals of the program.
Be sure your application excites reviewers by proposing research that fills knowledge gaps, explores scientific opportunities, or creates new technologies, data, or methods that would quickly and significantly advance the field.
Can you use an existing investigator-initiated application? Yes. And the converse is true too—read the information in the box below.
For more information, see the NIH Challenge Grants RFA and our Challenge Topics for NIAID.
Some Supplements in the Works
We're seeing a lot of interest in Recovery Act-funded grant supplements, which add money to an existing grant. Keep in mind that our approach is narrower than the one NIH spells out in its Guide notices.
Administrative supplements. Unlike many institutes, we are using most of our ARRA monies to fund meritorious applications that already underwent peer review rather than supplement existing grants.
Also note that our application process differs somewhat from NIH's, so if you decide to apply for an administrative supplement, read the information on our site—NIAID Supplements Through the Economic Recovery Act and the new Details on NIAID's ARRA Administrative Supplements.
Normally, we don't allow administrative supplements during the last year of the grant or during a no-cost extension, but we are waiving that restriction for ARRA. See the question below, Can I get an ARRA award to extend my grant?
Competing supplements (revisions). NIAID accepts eligible applications only under the National Center for Research Resources (NCRR) Competitive Revision Applications program, which is part of the NIH-wide competing supplement notice NOT-OD-09-058.
We are not reviewing applications for other ARRA competing supplements, even those responding to that notice.
For NIAID instructions, eligibility, and other information, go to Details on NIAID's ARRA Competing Supplements.
Sign Up for ARRA Updates!
Now you can receive email updates whenever we post changes to our Recent Changes to the NIAID and the Economic Recovery Act Section. Because the emails are based on revisions to this page, you will be notified for significant changes only. Go to Subscribe to get on board.
For this section, we're using a new subscription service called GovDelivery. As you sign up, you'll see a subscription center that differs from the one we use for other alerts. We will eventually use GovDelivery, which should be more reliable, for all our alerts.
Here are some of the new tools on our ARRA site:
- Recovery Act Questions and Answers for NIAID Investigators—we've gotten lots of questions; keep sending them, and we will post them here.
- NIAID Participation in NIH ARRA Opportunities—easy to use "yes-no" table.
- How NIAID Administrative Supplements Differ—a few items differ from facts in the Guide notices.
- Details on NIAID's ARRA Administrative Supplements
- Competing Supplements
- Details on NIAID's ARRA Competing Supplements
Your ARRA Questions and Answers
If you're puzzled by ARRA, look for answers in our Recovery Act Questions and Answers for NIAID Investigators. If your question is not there, send it to deaweb@niaid.nih.gov and we'll reply promptly.
Here are some commonly asked questions we've recently received.
Can I get an ARRA award to extend my grant?
Though NIAID is funding a limited number of administrative supplements, you may qualify for additional funds, but we cannot use ARRA money to extend grants.
You can request an ARRA administrative supplement during a no-cost extension, but your grant has to be active at the time of the supplement award. A no-cost extension will not be processed earlier than 90 days before the end of your project.
When requesting an extension, keep in mind that you must have enough time to get meaningful results during the funding period.
Is NIAID funding both investigator-initiated applications and applications responding to RFAs using ARRA funds?
Yes. Even though we announced funding using investigator-initiated paylines, we are also funding (at comparable scores) applications that respond to requests for applications.
Are there NIH initiatives in which NIAID will not participate?
Yes. For example, NIAID is not participating in the Grand Opportunities grants announced in the March 20, 2009, Guide notice. And under the NIH-wide competing supplement notice NOT-OD-09-058, NIAID is accepting applications under the NCRR Competitive Revision Applications program only.
For a quick reference, you can see a list of all NIH opportunities that we are and are not participating in at NIAID Participation in NIH ARRA Opportunities. We expect more opportunity announcements to come, so stay in touch.
How are new investigators and early-stage investigators affected by two-year R01 grants?
For NIAID, new and ESIs will typically not be affected by the two-year awards. See the New Investigators section of Opportunities for NIAID Applicants.
If I am preparing an R01 grant application now for a deadline during FY 2009, can it be considered for stimulus funds if it is within the 25 percentile?
No. All applications submitted for FY 2009 funding are already here, even though there are more receipt dates this fiscal year. Anything submitted from now on will be for funding next fiscal year.
As explained on the NIAID Paylines page, the FY 2009 paylines are for applications reviewed for the September 2008, January 2009, and May 2009 Council meetings.
Are there restrictions on the amount a PI can request for equipment?
Yes. In general, you have a $100,000 equipment limit when using ARRA funds. However, your request may exceed $100,000 if you are the only PI who will use it and you fully justify your request.
For larger requests, look to the National Center for Research Resources (NCRR). See the Equipment section of the Opportunities for NIAID Applicants page.
If I get a two-year R01 through Recovery Act funds, can I resubmit my original application?
No. You cannot revise and resubmit an ARRA grant. But if you submit a renewal to an ARRA grant early and get a fundable score, we can terminate the two-year award early. This is a departure from our normal policy.
If I missed the opportunity to get a two-year ARRA award, what happens if I'm outside the payline next year? Could the payline be different next fiscal year?
For high-quality applications that score beyond the payline, we plan to have a regular (not ARRA) R56-Bridge program for FY 2010. We can't predict NIAID Paylines for next year; they may very well be different.
Why do you refer to two-year awards when September 2010 is only one and a half years away?
You're right, September 2010 is not two years away. That deadline is for NIAID to spend the money. The grantee has additional time.
Grants.gov Put to the Test—What You Need to Know
We have some good news and not-so-good news regarding Grants.gov's capacity to handle the influx of submissions stemming from the Recovery Act. You may have read or heard concerns about the system being overloaded.
First, the good news: NIH's Office of Extramural Research is working to shore up Grants.gov so investigators aren't shut out.
That said, most investigators who want stimulus money from NIAID won't be affected by backups. The bulk of our awards go to investigators who applied for funding in FY 2008 and FY 2009 but didn't receive it. These applications are already in the system.
On the flip side, here's the not-so-good news. For new submissions, we must use Grants.gov. There is a silver lining: you won't be penalized for a system failure as long as you document the problem and contact the Grants.gov Contact Center.
For more information, see NIH's Having Problems with Your Application Submission?
Getting Newsworthy Topics Into the News
If you're about to publish a newsworthy discovery, notify our Office of Communications and Government Relations (OCGR).
Our staff can get coverage from major news outlets and national publications by preparing news releases and coordinating media inquiries.
Call as soon as your article is accepted for publication, so we can determine how to best highlight your findings and field questions from the press. Read more in our Requesting NIAID's Help on Publicizing Research Advances SOP.
Watch a Video on Enhancing Peer Review
Knowing what happens to your application once it goes to peer review can help you prepare.
You can watch two new videos about changes to the NIH peer review system at Training & Communications Resources:
These videos serve as supplements to the materials on the Enhancing Peer Review site.
Upcoming Grants Policy and Management Training Workshop
Are you a U.S. grantee with foreign subcomponents who is trying to navigate NIH grant waters? NIAID is hosting a grants policy workshop to help you sail through.
Learn about grants and funding policies, and get resources and tips to help manage your award.
Training takes place in Miami, Florida, on April 21 to 23, 2009. To register, go to the NIAID Grants Policy and Management Training registration page; find other information at Upcoming NIH Grants Policy and Management Training Workshops.
Opportunities and Resources
National Science Foundation Releases Recovery Act Plans
Many of you who are seeking funding from us may also turn to the National Science Foundation (NSF).
Like NIH, NSF has set policies for spending its $3 billion in ARRA monies:
- Fund applications that are already submitted and will be reviewed by the end of FY 2009.
- Consider funding unsuccessful applications from FY 2008.
- Issue "standard" awards with durations of up to five years.
- Make a priority of funding new PIs and high-risk, high-return research.
For further details, including how much NSF is allocating to its programs, read Important Notice 131 at NSF Information Related to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
Advice Corner
Reader Questions
Feel free to send us a question at deaweb@niaid.nih.gov. After responding to you, we may include your question in the newsletter, incorporate it into the NIAID Research Funding site, or both.
"For a diversity supplement, can we add fringe benefits to the $50,000 salary cap for postdocs and faculty or does the cap include fringe benefits?"—Antoinette Beasley, University of Pittsburgh
The latter—the $50,000 includes both salary and fringe benefits. For more information, see the Diversity Supplement Program Announcement.
If you have additional questions, contact the person listed on our Research Supplements to Promote Diversity in Health-Related Research page.
"I heard NIAID would be funding R01s to the 25 percentile—but NIAID Paylines says the R01 payline is the 12 percentile. Which is correct?"—Elaine Young, University of Florida College of Medicine
The 12 percentile is for R01s funded through our regular FY 2009 appropriation.
The 25 percentile applies to R01s eligible for funding through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), a different pot of money. ARRA levels are listed on Funding Range for ARRA Awards on How NIAID Will Use the Stimulus Money.
You may want to read Don't Confuse Stimulus Money With Our FY 2009 Budget for more information.
New Funding Opportunities
See these and older announcements at NIAID Funding Opportunities List.
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