Understand Circumstances for Adjustments to Application Budget Requests

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The approved budget listed in your Notice of Award may differ from what you requested in your application. There are three possible reasons:

  1. Initial peer review. Your study section may recommend changes to your Research Plan or budget. For example, it may deem that you can achieve your Specific Aims with less money or less time than you requested. Reviewers may conclude that some of your Specific Aims are not necessary.
  2. Overlap. A grants management specialist or program officer may modify your award based on overlap identified in your Other Support information. If part of your Research Plan or scientific effort has already been paid for by NIH or another organization, we reduce the funding level accordingly.
  3. Programmatic reduction. We may have to reduce your budget if our annual appropriation is not sufficient for us to fund applications at Council-recommended levels. 

Of course, your budget must also be in line with NIAID’s Financial Management Plan, e.g., salaries limited to the levels published on Salary Cap, Stipends, & Training Funds.

Read Negotiation and Your Initial Award and our Grants Negotiation SOP to learn your options if you are concerned that you cannot accomplish your project with the final level of support awarded.

Contact Us

Email us at deaweb@niaid.nih.gov for help navigating NIAID’s grant and contract policies and procedures.

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