Funding News Edition: September 15, 2021 See more articles in this edition
If you are concerned about complications related to the COVID-19 pandemic disrupting your planned research project, read NIH’s Clarification and Guidance for Applicants Preparing Applications for the Fall 2021 Due Dates During the COVID-19 Pandemic. The NIH Guide notice extends previous instructions for investigators considering the pandemic’s impact on application Research Plans.
Applications should not propose COVID-19 pandemic contingency plans, as peer reviewers will not evaluate them. NIH instructed peer reviewers to “assume that temporary, emergency problems arising from the COVID-19 pandemic will be resolved” and not let possible complications affect overall impact scores.
Similarly, NIH is Extending the Special Exception to the NIH/AHRQ/NIOSH Post-Submission Material Policy During the COVID-19 Pandemic: May 2022 Council, which means applicants can continue submitting a one-page update with preliminary data as post-submission material if the chosen funding opportunity announcement allows preliminary data and the one-page update arrives at least 30 days before the corresponding study section meeting.