Supplements Available for DEIA Mentorship, Bioethics-Related Research

NIAID, along with several other NIH institutes and centers (ICs), recently announced the availability of administrative supplements through two notices of special interest (NOSIs):

• NOSI: Administrative Supplements to Recognize Excellence in Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) Mentorship
• NOSI: Administrative Supplement for Research and Capacity Building Efforts Related to Bioethical Issues (Admin Supp, Clinical Trial Optional)

These NOSIs recognize the role that DEIA mentorship and bioethical research and capacity, respectively, have on NIH’s general scientific priorities, like responding to public health needs and emerging scientific opportunities (e.g., new data sharing infrastructure, innovative technologies).

NOT-OD-23-002 for DEIA Mentorship

Excellent mentorship and training are essential to developing a diverse scientific workforce which in turn can translate into more diverse research. The participating ICs invite administrative supplement applications for existing NIH awards to support scientists who have demonstrated compelling commitments and contributions to mentorship as well as enhancing DEIA in the biomedical science field.

The parent award must have an existing mentoring component. Examples include the following:

• A Diversity Supplement associated with the current competitive segment of the parent award.
• A Research Education Program that describes mentored research experiences.
• A Plan to Provide Mentoring Section.
• A Plan to Enhance Diverse Perspectives.
• A discrete objective related to mentoring (e.g., description of mentoring in specific aim, section in research strategy, or a section in the research training program plan).

Ideally, mentoring activities will provide not only technical expertise but also advice, insight, and professional career skills to college and graduate students, post-doctorates, or early-career faculty throughout their career trajectory. Mentorships can take the form of a dyadic relationship, one mentor working with one mentee, or other configurations, including small groups.

Other examples of DEIA excellence include projects that:

• Enhance training-based, mentoring, networking, cohort-building, career development, or psychosocial intervention to increase persistence of individuals from diverse backgrounds (e.g., those from underrepresented groups in the biomedical research enterprise).
• Demonstrate overall strong commitment and contributions to enhancing DEIA in the biomedical sciences.
• Foster a diverse and inclusive research workforce and environment for trainees from all backgrounds.
• Assume leadership roles in DEIA activities, such as leading committees, initiatives, symposia.
• Engage in DEIA service-oriented efforts beyond the needs of their own research programs.
• Demonstrate positive outcomes and meaningful impact of DEIA activities.

Refer to the notice linked above for a list of nonresponsive research areas to avoid in your application. If your application proposes any of those areas of research, NIAID will return it to you without review.

Earlier this month, NIH’s Chief Officer for Scientific Workforce Diversity (COSWD) Office held an information webinar to provide an overview of the funding opportunity’s application requirements, eligibility, submission, and review. Find a recording of the webinar and COSWD’s answers to frequently asked questions about the NOSI at DEIA Mentorship Supplements.

NOT-OD-23-018 for Bioethical Issues

Administrative supplements are also available to support research on bioethical issues that will not only provide evidence-based knowledge but also inform future policy directions. Applicants can propose to supplement a parent NIH award focused currently on bioethics or address a component related to bioethics that is not currently part of an NIH-funded research project. Applications may focus on areas of research that could include:

• Research involving adolescents and young adults, including topics concerning autonomy and informed consent.
• Policy issues at the intersection of public health surveillance, care delivery, and research.
• Issues within NIAID’s mission that are unique to child-bearing age and pregnant people.
• Enhanced engagement of key populations in research on HIV prevention, treatment, and cure; HIV-related comorbidities and co-infections including those transmitted via sexual contact; and improving dissemination, communication of results, and mitigating barriers to research participation.

For a non-truncated list of possible research areas, including IC-specific language, refer to the NOSI.

A Note on Administrative Supplements

Administrative supplements are funds that are used to cover costs associated with achieving unforeseen research or training objectives but whose aims must remain within the original scope of the peer-reviewed and approved project. Additional activities (e.g., enhanced mentor training in the research training environment through evidence-informed educational modules) need to be a continuation or an extension of the previously approved activities. Administrative supplement requests undergo an administrative, non-conflicted evaluation by NIH staff rather than peer review.

In general, NIAID awards administrative supplements under limited circumstances, and only if extramural scientific divisions have sufficient funds in their discretionary spend pools. Under specific circumstances, support may originate with other NIH funding partners. In this specific case, NIAID grantees may apply for such supplemental opportunities.

Budget Information

The application budget for a DEIA mentorship administrative supplement should not exceed $250,000 in direct costs per year for 1 or 2 years and should not exceed the direct costs of the parent grant. Project periods are limited to 1 year for highly resourced institutions (HRIs) and up to 2 years ($250,000 for each year; potentially up to $500,000 total) for limited resourced institutions (LRIs). Refer to How to Determine Whether Your Institution Is an LRI or HRI for help.

The budget for the bioethics administrative supplement application should not exceed $200,000 in direct costs. Applicants may request only one year of support.

How to Apply

For both administrative supplement NOSIs, submit your application using the Administrative Supplements to Existing NIH Grants and Cooperative Agreements (Parent Admin Supp, Clinical Trial Optional) funding opportunity announcement.

For funding consideration, DEIA mentorship applications must include “NOT-OD-23-002” (without quotation marks) in the Agency Routing Identifier field (box 4B) of the SF 424 R&R form. Likewise, Bioethical issues applications must include “NOT-OD-23-018" in the Agency Routing Identifier field (box 4B) in the SF 424 R&R form.

NIAID will consider applications without this information to be nonresponsive and will not review them. Applicants should follow all instructions in the SF 424 (R&R) Application Guide and the funding opportunity they choose.

For both NOSIs, applications are due on February 17, 2023, by 5 p.m. local time of the applicant organization.

Contact Information

Direct all inquiries about the DEIA mentorship NOSI to COSWD at COSWDevents@nih.gov.

Direct any NIAID-related inquiries to NIAID’s scientific/research contacts, Bianca Steele at bianca.steele@nih.gov or 301-761-5321 or Diane Adger-Johnson at DAdger@niaid.nih.gov or 240-669-2924.

Direct inquiries about the bioethics administrative supplement NOSI to Joana Roe, NIAID’s scientific/research contact, at joana.roe@nih.gov or 240-627-3213.