October 14, 2009
News Articles
Opportunities and Resources
Advice Corner
New Funding Opportunities
News Articles
New Interim R01 Payline for New Investigators
An interim payline is not a final payline. It's an administrative measure that lets us fund the best-scoring grants while we wait for final paylines..
For R01 applications from new investigators, NIAID has set an interim FY 2010 payline at the 10 percentile. For other R01 applications, the interim payline remains at the 6 percentile. Find paylines at NIAID Paylines.
Note that this is not a final payline. Not sure of the difference? Acting very conservatively, NIAID sets interim paylines for R01s and some other grant types. This administrative measure enables us to fund the best-scoring grants while we wait for final paylines, which we calculate using actual budget dollars.
Read more about interim paylines and related information at Paylines and Budget Pages Change Throughout the Year.
Here are two ways to keep up with payline information:
Once we begin setting our true paylines, we send Alerts as the information comes in.
ARRA Awards—You Can Now Take Them With You
Like all changes of institution, you need prior approval from NIAID.
When you change institutions, you can request to keep your ARRA award. If you recall, not being able to move your award was one of the ARRA policy quirks—see our table Grants Policy Differences Between ARRA and Other Grants.
Keep in mind the following rules for transfer requests:
- Like all changes of institution, you need prior approval from NIAID. For instructions, read our Prior Approvals for Post-Award Grant Actions SOP.
- If you received an ARRA supplement on a non-ARRA grant, you have to provide separate documentation for the ARRA supplement.
- You can use the same request letter and justification.
- But be prepared to put together two sets of any other documents your grants management specialist asks for (e.g., federal financial report)—one for the parent grant, one for the supplement.
Previously, payment procedures for the Department of Health and Human Services had prevented NIH from honoring transfers of grants from one institution to another. HHS and NIH have solved that problem, so we can now accept your requests.
ClincialTrials.gov Registration—You May Be On Your Own for Now
Be sure to comply with all legal requirements, recording your data accurately and on time, or you risk losing funding or incurring other serious penalties.
Institutes like NIAID will no longer be able to register and report results for applicable clinical trials in ClinicalTrials.gov unless we are the responsible party (read more at U.S. Public Law 110-85.)
While we don't have an alternative to our contract support that provided this service, NIAID is looking for other ways to assist you. Stay tuned for more information.
If you are the responsible party, you must register with ClinicalTrials.gov and report your results without our help for now, using either your account or your institution's account. Be sure to comply with all legal requirements, recording your data accurately and on time, or you risk losing funding or incurring other serious penalties.
If NIAID is the responsible party, we will continue to register the study in ClinicalTrials.gov. For more information, see the September 4, 2009, Guide notice.
Opportunities and Resources
Find Unique Research Reagents for Nonhuman Primate Studies
Good news if you use nonhuman primate models in your research and need primate-specific reagents. The Nonhuman Primate Reagent Resource maintains a unique collection of research reagents and informational databases.
Supported by NIAID and the National Center for Research Resources, the NHP Reagent Resource produces and distributes recombinant antibodies and fusion proteins for in vivo targeting and depletion of lymphocyte subpopulations, and for blocking co-stimulatory molecules and cytokines.
The Resource also provides the following:
- Database of nearly 1,000 Commercial Antibodies.
- Assay kits that have been documented to cross react with nonhuman primate species.
- Antibody reagents for in vitro diagnostics, including:
- Fluorophore-conjugated antibodies for flow cytometry and confocal microscopy.
- Unconjugated antibodies for in vitro cell activation or cell selection.
- Reference cell lines and immunoglobulins from a number of nonhuman primate species.
- Viruses for nonhuman primate lymphocyte immortalization.
Go to NHP Reagent News Update for an overview of reagents and services. Note that you must Register to request a reagent.
Close the Career Gap With NIAID's Help
Network, publish, apply for grants, and read others' work to help you bridge the gap between where you are now and where you want to go.
The message of NIAID's 2009 Bridging the Gap Conference: "Get moving now."
Those words came from Dr. Milton Hernandez, former director of NIAID's Office of Special Populations and Research Training, now head of NIH's Loan Repayment Programs.
And we can't stress that enough. Network, publish, apply for grants, and read others' work to help you bridge the gap between where you are now and where you want to go.
NIAID has funding opportunities to support you along the way, but we also bring together prominent scholars and senior NIAID staff every two years to lead sessions on mentoring, grantsmanship, career development, and NIH peer review.
Though their presentations are designed for graduate, postdoc, and junior faculty scientists from underrepresented groups, their advice applies to you no matter what boat you're in.
For those who couldn't attend the conference, held on October 1 and 2, 2009, in Bethesda, we have some of the major pointers below.
Put Your Career on the Right Track
Here are some gleanings to move your career forward.
Focus on your goals. At this stage in your career, focus less on your timeline and more on your career goals. If you're getting pulled in other directions, take a moment to consider what things are most likely to lead to publication and establish your career. Make those activities a priority.
Look for scientists who share your background, care about your success, and will give you assignments that are likely to produce a paper or at least give you preliminary data.
Find a good mentor. Mentors can last a lifetime so it's important to build relationships.
As Dr. Willie Brown, professor emeritus at UC San Diego, noted, "you can find mentors in anybody" and many times, "you have an opportunity to mentor the people who mentor you."
But choose carefully. Look for established, respected scientists who share your background, care about your success, and will give you assignments that are likely to produce a paper or at least give you preliminary data.
When considering who fits the bill, talk to other students and research advisors to learn who will let you use their network of contacts to build your career.
Make sure you find someone who understands that you need to balance your career with his or her work, but remember that you have to reciprocate. Most mentors expect you to care about their research, understand the importance of their work, take more than one of their classes, and visit them during office hours.
If you already have a mentor and the relationship isn't working, propose alternative research within that mentor's portfolio or look elsewhere—but don't react negatively. Find a way to move your career forward without burning bridges.
Are you from an underrepresented group? Try for a diversity fellowship to support your mentorship. Your institution can get up to five years' support, which can give you leverage to get the projects you want. Read more at Predoctoral Grants Support Minority and Disabled Students.
Begin developing your research proposal. After you have somebody to guide you, find research that can make an impact on your field and get you published—even if you're more than a few years away from doing independent work. When deciding what to fund, NIAID looks for projects that can move your field forward.
Read more at Strategy to Pick a Project in the Strategy for NIH Funding tutorial on getting an independent research grant.
It's not too early to look into NIAID funding.
Consider applying for NIAID support. With fellowships and career development awards for investigators at many levels of their career, it's not too early to look into NIAID funding.
Go to Advice on Research Training and Career Awards to learn more about NIAID's options.
You may also qualify for private scholarships, like Ford Foundation Diversity Fellowships for people from underrepresented groups who are interested in teaching or the Keystone Symposia Fellowship Program for laboratory research. NIAID's List of Foundations and Other Funding Sources can help you find more opportunities.
Use Our Web Site
We have information on planning and writing grant applications and managing your awards in our All About Grants Tutorials. For example, New Investigator Guide to NIH Funding explains basic funding concepts.
We also keep an up-to-date list of NIAID Funding Opportunities List, track Special Announcements, and explain Top Policy Changes.
If you're a member of an underrepresented group, you can find information and people who can advise you at Diversity Programs Supported by NIAID.
If you've checked out our Web pages and still want to know more, feel free to contact our Office of Special Populations and Research Training at AITrainingHelpDesk@niaid.nih.gov.
Advice Corner
Clinical Investigators: Protect Privacy
With a Certificate of Confidentiality, you can refuse to disclose identifying information in a civil, criminal, or other proceeding.
When you conduct clinical research, protect your subjects from forced disclosure of personal information with an NIH Certificate of Confidentiality.
Having a certificate can encourage participants to take part in your study by assuring them that their privacy will be protected. With a certificate, you can refuse to disclose identifying information in a civil, criminal, or other proceeding.
Learn how to apply at NIH's Certificates of Confidentiality Kiosk and in NIAID's new Certificates of Confidentiality SOP.
Progress Reports—Use New Form, Make ARRA Section
NIH is giving you a grace period until November 1 to send in the right form.
Working on your progress report? Take care to do the following things.
Check that you're using the new progress report, marked "06/2009." Go to PHS 2590 for the latest forms and instructions.
If you're sending an eSNAP for tomorrow's deadline, take a moment to verify that you have the correct form. eRA Commons didn't switch to the new form until October 9, so NIH is giving you a grace period until November 1 to send in the right one. For more information, see the August 28, 2009, Guide notice.
Also, for ARRA supplements, send your progress report as a clearly-labeled section of your parent grant's report. Don't send it separately.
For summer research supplements, also provide information about the employee experience. Get details at Scientific Progress Reporting on NIH's Administrative Supplements Providing Summer Research Experiences for Students and Science Educators.
To learn more, check your Notice of Award and read ARRA: Scientific Progress, Financial and Closeout Reporting for ARRA Supplements in NIH's October 2009 Extramural Nexus newsletter.
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.
"What is allowable under the Training Related Expenses category on a T32?"—Linda Coventry, Harvard School of Public Health
We touch on training-related expenses in our tutorial (under "What Do Training Funds Pay For?"), and the T32 program announcement has more details—see its Section II/2.A. Allowable Costs.
To check whether we will allow a particular expense, contact Shellie Wilburn in our Grants Management Program at 301-594-9676 or swilburn@niaid.nih.gov.
"If I received $50,000 in 2009 for a K award supplement, will I get another $50,000 in 2010, or do I have to reapply?"—Yong-Hui Zheng, Michigan State University
The $50,000 supplement is for this year only. It is possible we may do this again next year, but we have not decided yet. When we do, we will announce it here in NIAID Funding Newsletter and the Research Funding Web site.
"Can I include capital equipment in the budget for a U01?"—an anonymous reader
Yes. It goes in the equipment category.
New Funding Opportunities
See these and older announcements at NIAID Funding Opportunities List.
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