Definitions of Special Issues Presented to Council

Related Extramural SOP: Special Issues Requiring Council Review

Present the following special issues to Council:

  1. Reinstatement of Research Aims. Applications for which the division is requesting to reinstate Specific Aims or research not recommended for support by the study section.
  2. Not Discussed Applications. Any "Not discussed" applications a division proposes to award.
    • Applications unanimously judged by the peer review committee to be less competitive are rated “Not Discussed” and do not receive numerical scores. Up to 50 percent of applications in a study section can be rated “Not Discussed.”
    • NIAID may award these applications as selective pay grants or (very rarely) as NIAID R56-Bridge awards or may fund applications that responded to a request for applications or program announcement.
  3. Non-Peer-Reviewed Applications. Used in some circumstances.
  4. Deferred Applications. All applications deferred from the previous Council, independent of review results.
  5. Appeals. Formerly called rebuttals. Applicants may appeal the results of peer review for flaws in the review process.
  6. Foreign Applications and Grants. Foreign applications a division proposes to award and transfer of a grant or application to or between a foreign institution or international organization.
  7. Council Member Applications. Applications proposed for award where a Council member is PI. A subcommittee other than the one on which the Council member serves reviews these applications.
  8. Human Subjects. Applications proposed for award with unresolved concerns about protection of human subjects. See Research Using Human Subjects.
  9. Biohazards. Applications proposed for award with unresolved concerns about biohazards.
  10. Use of Animals in Research. Applications proposed for award with unresolved concerns about protection of animals in research. See the Animals in Research for Grants SOP.
  11. Minority Recruitment Plans in Institutional Training Grant Applications. Fundable, National Research Service Award applications with inadequate plans for minority recruitment. When the study section deems a plan inadequate, options are: 1) take no special action, pay by overall impact score; 2) defer payment pending submission and staff approval of a recruitment plan; or 3) defer for study section rereview pending receipt of an acceptable plan.
  12. Inclusion of Women and Minorities as Subjects in Clinical Research. Applications a division plans to award with an unresolved inclusion issue ("U" code). See Human Subjects Inclusion Codes.
  13. Inclusion of Individuals Across the Lifespan as Subjects in Clinical Research. Applications a division plans to award with an unresolved inclusion issue ("U" code). See Human Subjects Inclusion Codes.
  14. Renewal Applications With a Greater Than 20 Percent Increase. Renewal applications a program division wishes to award with an increase in direct costs of more than 20 percent over the final noncompeting year. See the Renewal Funding SOP.
  15. Discretionary. Applications program staff present to Council for items such as adding substantial funds or years when obtaining Council's advice for public health, political, or scientific reasons is important.

 

Content last reviewed on