Expedited Council Review and Award

This SOP has internal roles only.

Purpose

To enable NIAID's advisory Council to expedite the review and approval of applications so the Institute can award qualifying grants before the next Council meeting.

Procedure

NIAID uses expedited Council review to make early awards for the following types of grants:

• Investigator-initiated grants that are within the NIAID payline and have no special concerns or unresolved appeals.
• Applications responding to requests for applications and program announcements.
• R56-Bridge awards.

Grants that cannot be expedited are selective pay, MERIT awards and MERIT extensions, appeals, barred applications with unresolved issues, applications exceeding the 20 percent cap for renewal awards, foreign grants, and other special issue grants.

Acting on behalf of all Council members, one Council member from each of the three NAAIDC subcommittees performs second-level review as soon as a majority of summary statements are in IMPAC.

This review takes place approximately eight weeks before Council meets and is the basis for issuing awards earlier. Staff can read more at Release of Funds for Solicited, Opportunity Pool, and Career Transition (K99/R00) Awards SOP.

At the meeting, the full Council ratifies the results. For January and May Councils, NIAID can fund grants a few weeks after the initial peer review meeting, before the Council meeting.

Since Council reviews applications in September for funding in the next fiscal year, applicants may have to wait to get their awards until the Institute receives its appropriation. Before receiving its appropriation, NIAID uses interim paylines and funds a limited number of awards.

In rare cases (e.g., an exceptional project that could have tremendous, immediate impact), NIAID will fund grants during the current fiscal year, but the DEA director must sign a special waiver form to allow this to happen.

Applications selected for funding that have received expedited review should receive funding as soon as possible.

Council Members

Use the Council version of the Electronic Council Book to perform early review of applications.

Grants Management Specialists

• Request just-in-time information and ask the program officer to review it. Tell the program officer that the application received expedited Council review.
• Tell the program officer to complete and return the Program Officer Checklist within three working days. Specify the due date.

Program Staff

• After the Office of Extramural Research Policy and Operations (OERPO) updates the NIAID Planning and Reporting System and the Institute and Center Operations module, complete the Program Officer Checklist.

Contacts

Contact for NIAID Staff—OERPO

Contact for NIAID Staff

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

Bars to Grant Awards SOP

Electronic Council Book SOP

Foreign and International Grants and Components SOP

MERIT Awards and Extensions SOP

Program Officer Checklist SOP

Program Announcements (PA) SOP

NIAID Planning and Reporting System (NPARS) SOP

NIAID R56-Bridge Award SOP

Requests for Applications (RFA) SOP

Selective Pay SOP

Special Issues Requiring Council Review SOP