May 6, 2009
News Articles
Opportunities and Resources
Advice Corner
New Funding Opportunities
News Articles
What's Happening With ARRA?
There's still no paucity of news about Recovery Act funding: new opportunity announcements, new resources, new processes, and even awards are in the hopper.
New Opportunities for Some: AREA, GO Grants
Two recent funding opportunities apply to small audiences: one for institutions with a low level of NIH funding and the other for research to address radiation exposure.
In the AREA
Organizations with limited NIH funding now have an opportunity to apply for ARRA funds. Applicants may request up to $300,000 in direct costs for Academic Research Enhancement Awards (R15).
Applications are due September 24, 2009. Find more details in Recovery Act Limited Competition: Academic Research Enhancement Award.
Small Step for GO Grants
We're going for NIH's GO grants but not too far. For Grand Opportunities for Research and Research Infrastructure, NIAID will fund applications in two topics only:
- Medical countermeasures to restore gastrointestinal function after radiation exposure.
- Radionuclide decorporation agents for radiation or nuclear emergencies.
For more information, read the NIH Guide notice RFA-OD-09-004, and see NOT-AI-09-031 for NIAID's participation. Talk to a program officer before you prepare an application; find contact information in NOT-AI-09-031. Applications are due May 29, 2009.
Opportunities At-a-Glance
Now you can get a compact but comprehensive view of ARRA announcements on NIAID Participation in NIH ARRA Opportunities. Our updated table has:
- All NIH opportunities
- Links to Guide notices
- Both full and short, easy-to-recognize names
- Indication whether NIAID is participating
- Contact information for opportunities we are participating in
- Due dates with expired dates in bold
Keep in mind that for some opportunities whose deadlines have passed we may advertise again next year (for one year of funding).
Awards Are on Their Way
We are finally making the first ARRA awards after some delays caused by the ramping up of new processes in various parts of the government.
If you need to submit revised parts of your application, use the new template in the May 5, 2009, Guide notice.
If you qualify for an ARRA award, don't be concerned if no one has contacted you yet. We have a lot of awards to get through, and it's going to take time.
Peer Review for ARRA
NIH will use parts of its new peer review process and traits unique to ARRA applications, as outlined in the March 4, 2009, Guide notice.
Main features of ARRA peer review are:
- Enhanced review criteria (will be appropriate for most grant types)
- Nine-point scoring system
- Criterion scoring
- No appeals
- No new or early-stage investigator designation
Challenge grants have a unique approach; we will let you know as soon as we have more information.
To read more about NIH's new review system in general, see our December 17, 2008, article "Inside the New Peer Review."
When It's Up to You
Even if you keep up with ARRA policies, you may be pondering your options. For example, can you switch from an ARRA grant to one funded from the regular appropriation? Might you have a choice between an R56-Bridge and an ARRA grant?
In some situations you have an option of an R56-Bridge or a two-year ARRA award, whereas in others you do not. Here are three related questions to help clarify your choices:
If I get an ARRA grant and then learn that my resubmission scored within the payline, can I cancel the ARRA award?
No, except for R56-Bridge awards funded with ARRA money (most are). Once you are on the list for payment for an ARRA grant, you cannot switch to a regular award.
If my application ranks between the 12 and 25 percentile and qualifies for ARRA support, can I pick either an R56-Bridge or an ARRA grant?
Yes. In that situation, it is your choice. An advantage of the R56-Bridge award is that you can resubmit (assuming you have a resubmission left). If your resubmission scores within the payline, we can stop the Bridge and fund the resubmission with regular funds.
Bridges are for only one year, and while we plan to extend them for a second year, that is not certain. ARRA grants funded in FY 2009 are for two years, but you may not resubmit, and we cannot stop them once they are underway.
For renewals, rules are different. If you submit a renewal to an ARRA grant early and get a fundable score, we can depart from our normal policy and terminate the two-year award early to fund the regular award.
Can I accept a Challenge Grant if I already hold a career award?
Yes. You can if the career award allows concurrent support, and you can reduce your time and effort to at least six person months. Otherwise, you have to choose between the Challenge Grant and the career award.
Draft Stem Cell Guidelines—Weigh In, Learn Impact
NIH is working to implement Removing Barriers to Responsible Scientific Research Involving Human Stem Cells, Executive Order 13505. As a first step, it has developed Draft NIH Guidelines for Human Stem Cell Research and is seeking public comment before finalizing them, which must be done by July 7, 2009.
If you'd like to offer your two cents, you have until 11 p.m. EST on May 26. Go to the Comments Form to submit your thoughts online or send them to the following address:
NIH Stem Cell Guidelines
MSC 7997
9000 Rockville Pike
Bethesda, Maryland 20892-7997
Effect on Applications and Research Underway
Until final guidelines come out, NIH issued the April 17, 2009, Guide notice on how it is handling competing applications and awarded grants involving human embryonic stem cell research.
In a nutshell, here's what you should know:
- New Applications
- NIH will accept applications, but review and funding will be deferred.
- Applicants will be able to revise their application to comply with finalized guidelines. These modified applications will then be peer reviewed and considered for funding.
- Peer Reviewed Applications
- Applications that have been peer reviewed will be held for funding decisions.
- Investigators with highly ranked applications will be able to modify their grant to comply with final guidelines.
- Ongoing NIH-Supported Research
- Ongoing research may continue, but investigators may not start new uses of human embryonic stem cells unless previously reviewed and approved by NIH.
- NIH will not consider requests for either competing or administrative supplements—including those under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act—that involve human embryonic stem cells until the Stem Cell Guidelines are final.
What About Noncompeting Grants?
In addition to the information in the Guide notice, we've learned this: institutes can issue awards that have budget start dates of July 1, 2009, or sooner, and include a previously approved use of human embryonic stem cells.
Don't Expect Notice of Award Emails
Just a reminder that NIH does not alert you of a Notice of Award. As we told you last year, you must go to the Commons to find your notice, whether for a new or renewal application or a progress report.
Use the Commons Status module or Issued Notice of (Grant) Award query.
Commons Goes Offline Memorial Day Weekend
NIH will completely shut down the eRA Commons from May 22 to May 26 to fix major systems issues and upgrade hardware. If you have a deadline then, you should plan to submit well before the shutdown.
During the outage you will be able to submit your application to Grants.gov but not use any eRA services until the system comes back up. See Overview of eRA Services for Grant Applicants for a list of what's affected.
As always, you are not penalized for missing Commons or Grants.gov deadlines due to systems issues as long as you document the problem and contact the appropriate help desk.
To avoid clogging the system when it goes back up, NIH has moved the submission deadline for GO grants—RFA-OD-09-004 and NOT-AI-09-031—to May 29 and may make other changes. We'll keep you posted.
Correction Window Still Open for Challenge Grants
NIH is keeping the error correction window open until May 8, 2009, for Challenge Grant applications.
Due to a massive volume of submissions for April receipt dates, it couldn't process some applications for viewing in the eRA Commons within the standard two-day correction window.
If you submitted your Challenge Grant application by April 27 but still can't see it in the Commons, immediately contact the eRA Help Desk. If you already reported an issue, the Help Desk should have responded by now; try contacting them again.
Several non-NIAID opportunities are affected, too. See a complete list in the May 1, 2009, Guide notice.
Late Applications Due to Flu-Related Closings—Not a Problem
NIH realizes that concerns about the H1N1 flu may cause some institutions to close for business. If your institution was closed, you can submit your application late, following NIH's usual guidelines.
Include a cover letter noting the reasons for the delay. You do not need to ask permission, and the delay should not exceed the time your institution is closed.
See the May 1, 2009, Guide notice for the official word.
Opportunities and Resources
Updates to Our Small Business High-Priority Areas
Looking to increase your odds of securing Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) or Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) funding? Check out our Small Business High-Priority Areas of Interest page, which lists new and updated areas of interest to our program divisions.
DAIDS has added the following new topics:
- Nanotechnology imaging and sensing platforms for improved detection and characterization of latent HIV infection in reservoirs.
- Development of novel and improved assays that are highly sensitive, specific, and cost effective for the determination of HIV incidence.
DAIDS also updated some entries to include nanotechnology-based approaches to the following:
- Development of novel anti-HIV drugs and therapeutics with focus on technological aspects such as multiplex analysis of drugs and innovative, streamlined methods for drug screening and drug delivery (for example, multifunctional therapeutics based on nanotechnology).
- Development of pharmacological tools for pharmacokinetics/pharmacodynamics in fluids and tissues.
- Development and delivery of nanotechnology-based therapeutics to target pathogen or pathogen-infected cells for Mycobacterium avium, Pneumocystis pneumonia, and Cryptococcus neoformans (and other pathogenic fungi).
- Preclinical microbicide formulation and delivery approaches for new and existing microbicides.
- Preclinical development and evaluation of novel technologies to enhance HIV vaccine potency to prevent HIV infection or disease.
Here is new information from DAIT:
- Innovative treatments for primary immunodeficiencies.
- Diagnostic tests to identify or screen for primary immunodeficiencies.
- Development of new reagents and non-murine animal models for allergy research.
DMID updated its entry with:
- Vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics for emerging and reemerging influenza viruses such as the 2009 H1N1 influenza.
Catching Up With Malaria Research
Those of you who tuned into the "NIAID Malaria Research: Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow Webinar" last month took away vital information on the progress we've made in this area.
Along with Institute Director Dr. Anthony Fauci, staff from our Division of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases and Division of Intramural Research took part to talk about topics such as:
- Novel approaches to malaria control
- Pathogenesis and protection
- Treatment and vaccines
In case you missed the Webinar, you can see what transpired by reading the transcript "NIAID Malaria Research: Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow."
Learn More About Peer Review
Peer review has changed, and NIH has set up a new Web page to help you move along with it. Go to Guidelines for Reviewers to look through templates and examples of critiques.
While reviewers can use these resources to get tips on creating critiques, others can see what reviewers are doing so they can write their applications accordingly.
Learn more about meeting reviewer expectations in Know Your Audience and Part 5. Assignment and Review in the Strategy for NIH Funding.
You may also want to go to Peer Review Policies and Practices to learn more about updates to peer review. The site gives you links to notices, guidelines, and policies.
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.
"Do PIs need to submit revised Specific Aims if they accept a one-year R56-Bridge award?"—a program officer asks
For Specific Aims, Bridges follow the same rules as ARRA R01s: no need to revise if the investigator can get meaningful results during the funding period. Read Before You Can Get Stimulus Money for details on submitting Specific Aims and budget information.
"Can a PI request a one- or two-year ARRA administrative supplement for 2009 through July 17?"—a program officer asks
Yes, but keep in mind that it is unlikely we will have money left for FY 2009 supplements the closer we get to the FY 2009 deadline of July 17. See Deadlines by Funding Year.
"When can I expect my FY 2009 ARRA administrative supplement?"—an anonymous reader
We will fund FY 2009 administrative supplements as soon as we are able to make the awards. We don't know exactly when but definitely before the end of summer.
"Is NIAID funding ARRA applications from RFAs, including R21s?"—Jim Wiley, Department of Veterinary Molecular Biology, Montana State University
Yes, we are funding applications from requests for applications at comparable levels to the cutoffs for investigator-initiated applications listed at Funding Range for ARRA Awards.
"Do you provide sequencing services, for example sequencing the Sphingobium indicum B90A genome using pyro/Solex and Sanger sequencing, and if so at what cost?"—Rup Lal, University of Delhi
Much of the information you are looking for is at
Microbial Sequencing Centers. If you have other questions, you can contact Dr. Maria Giovanni, assistant director for microbial genomics and advanced technology at
mgiovanni@niaid.nih.gov.
"As an associate in a department of pathology with seven years of postdoctoral experience, am I eligible to apply for a K01? "—an anonymous reader
For the Mentored Research Scientist Development Award (K01), you need to be a clinician or Ph.D. in the fields of epidemiology and outcomes research and must have had independent research experience after earning your degree.
Except the K99/R00, all K awards require either U.S. citizenship or permanent residency status (Alien Registration Receipt Card, Form I-551). People on temporary or student visas are not eligible.
For details, go to the following:
For additional information, contact our Office of Special Populations and Research Training at AITrainingHelpDesk@niaid.nih.gov.
New Funding Opportunities
See these and older announcements at NIAID Funding Opportunities List.
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