Top Policy Changes

Newest entries appear at the top of the list.

NIH Policy on Submission of Additional Grant Application Materials, June 25, 2008

NIH issued NIH Best Practice Guidelines that define what application materials investigators can submit after the deadline as well as instructions for sending them in. See the June 25, 2008, Guide notice and the July 16, 2008, Funding News article, "When Can You Send More Application Materials?"

Changes to NIH Reimbursement Process for New Reviewers and Reviewers Up for CCR Renewal, May 23, 2008

NIH is phasing out the U.S. Treasury Central Contractor Registration (CCR) for electronic reimbursement of peer reviewers' honoraria and expenses from participating in peer review meetings. A new reimbursement system is being developed. See the May 23, 2008, Guide notice and "Peer Reviewers Can Wave Goodbye to CCR" in the July 2, 2008, Funding News.

NIH Will Password Protect Data Sent to Reviewers, May 14, 2008

Starting on May 15, 2008, NIH will use a password to protect the following kinds of data sent to peer reviewers on compact disc: grant application information, previous summary statements, appendices, and additional materials from the grant folder. See the May 14, 2008, Guide notice as well as our May 21, 2008, Funding News article, "Protect Your Sensitive Data."

Mentored K Awards May Receive Concurrent Support From Any Federal Agency, April 10, 2008

Investigators with mentored career development awards may now receive concurrent salary support from a peer-reviewed grant from any federal agency during the last two years of their award.

Previously, the grant had to be from NIH. See the April 10, 2008, Guide notice, and review the May 7, 2008, Funding News article, "Mentored Ks and Concurrent Support: Revised Policy Kicks In."

NIAID's Category C Pathogen List for Antimicrobial Resistance, March 19, 2008

NIAID clarified the Category C entries on antimicrobial resistance. See the changes at NIAID Category A, B, and C Priority Pathogens, and check out the March 19 newsletter article on "Antimicrobial Resistance Clarified in Category C."

Only NIH Awards Affect New PI Status, February 25, 2008

NIH revised the definition of a new principal investigator (PI). Now, only NIH awards affect new investigator status for future grants. See NIAID's explanation at Are You "New"?

Previously, PHS-level awards outside of NIH could also affect new investigator status.

Animal Welfare Assurance Format and Process Updates, February 15, 2008

Institutions must use the new sample animal welfare assurance format starting April 15, 2008. The institutional official for animal welfare can now submit the signed assurance to olawdoa@mail.nih.gov as a PDF attachment. Institutions should not send documents as attachments. See a list in the February 15, 2008, Guide notice.

FY 2008 NIH Director’s Bridge Awards, January 31, 2008

Under this program, eligible investigators will receive a year of support while they strengthen their revised applications. For more information, read the January 31, 2008, Guide notice.

Policy on Sharing Data Obtained from Genome-Wide Association Studies, January 25, 2008

Investigators must submit Genome-Wide Association Study (GWAS) data to NIH’s GWAS data repository, now called the Database of Genotype and Phenotype (dbGaP). Find additional information and resources, including frequently asked questions and a data sharing plan, at NIH's GWAS Web site.

For more information, read the November 16, 2007, Guide notice.

PI Salary Cap for FY 2008, January 22, 2008

The PI salary cap for FY 2008 is $191,300. See the January 15, 2008, Guide notice. We also wrote about this in our February 6, 2008, newsletter article, "Maximum PI Salary Rises."

eRA Commons Allows Multiple Active Applications, January 17, 2008

Beginning February 8, 2008, eRA Commons will allow investigators to submit an amended application while the earlier application remains active, so NIAID can fund an earlier application if a resubmission receives a worse score.

NIH Requires Public Access to Publications, January 11, 2008

Beginning April 7, 2008, all investigators who receive NIH funding must submit an electronic version of their final manuscript to the National Library of Medicine’s PubMed Central. Manuscripts must be posted within 12 months of the publication date.

Also, investigators must include the PMC or NIH Manuscript Submission reference number when citing articles from NIH-funded research beginning May 25, 2008.

For more information, see the January 11, 2008, Guide notice. We also wrote about this in our February 20, 2008, newsletter article, "NIH Makes Public Access Policy Mandatory."

Federal Information Security Practices For Grants and Contracts, January 9, 2008

Offices of Sponsored Research will need to comply with the Federal Information Security Management Act, Title III of the E-Government Act of 2002 Pub. L. No. 107-347, to protect data.

For more information, see the January 9, 2008, Guide notice.

NIH Gives Peer Reviewers Leeway in Submitting Grant Applications, January 4, 2008

Thanks to a new policy, members of NIH study sections may submit -- as soon as they're developed -- R01, R21, and R34 applications that would normally be submitted for standard submission dates. For further details, see the January 4, 2008, Guide notice and the January 16, 2008, Funding News article, "Peer Reviewers Get More Flexibility in Submitting Grant Applications."

NIH Issues Latest Policy on Late Submission, January 4, 2008

Investigators who cannot submit their grant application on time should read the NIH Policy on Late Submission, issued in a January 4, 2008, Guide notice. This announcement combines information from two previous notices, including one for multiple PIs. It also addresses applications from members of NIH study sections. See the entry above.

Revised PHS 398 Forms and New PI Definition, January 4, 2008

All paper PHS 398 applications for the May 25, 2008, and later receipt dates must use the new instructions and forms. See NIH's January 4, 2008, Guide notice and "Get the Latest Revised Forms and Instructions" from the January 16, 2008, Funding News.

NIH also updated the new PI definition to include exceptions for STTR Phase I (R41) and SBIR Phase I (R43). See NIAID's explanation at Are You "New"?. We also wrote about this in our "Small Business Investigators Can Be 'New'" article in the February 6, 2008, Funding News.

New Rule for Appendices, January 4, 2008

Anyone submitting a paper PHS 398 application for the May 25, 2008, and subsequent due dates must provide appendix material on CD only. Also include five identical CDs in the same package with the application.

Find additional information in the January 4, 2008, Guide notice and the January 16, 2008, newsletter article, "Submit on CD: Appendices for Paper Applications."

NIH Issues Additional Guidance for ClinicalTrials.gov Registration, December 21, 2007

Investigators must register applicable clinical trials in ClinicalTrials.gov and certify that they have done so in their grant application or progress report. This requirement is part of Public Law 100-85, which expands the scope of clinical trials registered in ClinicalTrials.gov.

Read the December 21, 2007, Guide notice, our December 5, article, "New Law Affects ClinicalTrials.gov," and our January 16, 2008, newsletter article, "Certify That You've Registered with ClinicalTrials.gov."

Error Correction Window for Electronic Applications Reduced to Two Business Days, December 5, 2007

NIH has reduced the error correction window for electronic applications from five to two business days for all electronic applications with submission deadlines on or after January 8, 2008. For details, read the November 30, 2007, Guide notice and "E-Application Correction Window: Two Days" in the January 16, 2008, Funding News.

Notice of Award Letters Will Be Electronic, October 9, 2007

NIH will no longer provide paper notification of the Notice of Award (NoA) letters after January 1, 2008. Instead, NoAs will be emailed to grantee organizations. Grantees can also view the Notice of Award in the eRA Commons through the Status module. Read more in the October 9, 2007, Guide notice, and find details in our November 7, 2007, article, "Notice of Award Letters Will Go Electronic."

Noncompeting Grants During the Continuing Resolution, October 9, 2007

NIH will issue noncompeting research grant awards at a lower level than shown on your most recent Notice of Grant Award, typically up to 80 percent of the previously committed level. Read more in the October 5, 2007, Guide notice.

Deadline for Submitting Changes to FY 2007 Grant Information, September 17, 2007

The deadline to review fiscal year 2007 grant award information is November 1, 2007. Visit the NIH Extramural Awards by State and Foreign Site to examine the .CSV file for your state. For more information, read the September 17, 2007, Guide notice.

Expiration Dates Adjusted May Cause Email Overload, September 17, 2007

Earlier this year, submission deadlines changed and left some funding opportunity announcements with an expiration date earlier than the last submission date. Between September 18 and November 2, 2007, expiration dates will change to the day after the submission deadline.

If you signed up with Grants.gov to receive updates to all funding opportunity announcements, you will receive hundreds of emails indicating changes. For more information, read the September 17, 2007, Guide notice. We also wrote about this in our September 19, 2007, Funding News article, "Expiration Dates and Emails From Grants.gov."

Shorter CSR Review Cycle for R01s of New Investigators, August 14, 2007

All new investigators may submit an amended R01 application for consecutive review cycles, saving four months. NIH has changed the Center for Scientific Review review schedule for standard receipt dates to accommodate. For more information, see the August 9, 2007, Guide notice and the August 15, 2007, Funding News article, "Faster Resubmissions for All New Investigators." Read Are You "New"? for the definition of a new investigator.

Submit Financial Status Reports Electronically Through Commons, July 27, 2007

NIH requires that organizations submit their financial status reports (FSRs) due on or after October 1, 2007, using the electronic FSR system in the eRA Commons. This includes all initial FSRs being prepared for submission and any revisions being submitted or resubmitted to NIH. For more information, see the July 27, 2007, Guide notice.

More on "New" PI Definition, July 18, 2007

NIH expanded its definition of a new investigator. Investigators appointed as PI for an ongoing grant who were not listed as PI on the original application still qualify as a new investigator. See our newsletter article, Are You 'New'?

NIH Excludes Holidays from Application Viewing Window, June 22, 2007

Federal holidays will not count toward the two weekday application viewing window. Applicants will have two full, non-holiday weekdays to review their assembled application in the eRA Commons. For more information, read the June 22, 2007, Guide notice. We also wrote about this in our July 18, 2007, newsletter article, "Federal Holiday Means More Application Viewing Time."

Clarification for Eligibility for Reentry Supplements, June 21, 2007

NIH has clarified its qualifications for research supplements for reentry into a research career. Candidates must have been in a postdoctoral or faculty position at the time that they left active research. See the June 21, 2007, Guide notice.

Definition of "New" PI Changes, May 22, 2007

NIH's definition of a new investigator recently changed. The list of grants that do not interfere with "new" status now includes Shannon (R55) and High-Priority, Short-Term Project (R56-Bridge) awards. For a list of awards, see our newsletter article, "New PI Definition is Evolving."

Changes to Commons Functions, New Assistant Role, May 1, 2007

eRA Commons users will notice several changes throughout the system, particularly in the eSNAP function. eSNAP has improved support for the use of person months as a measure of effort, and there are new checkboxes to note changes in select agent research and multiple PI leadership plans. PIs may now assign someone to an assistant role who can view the status of their electronic applications. For more information on the changes, read the May 1, 2007, Guide notice and the May 22, 2007, Funding News article, "Commons News: eSNAP and Other Changes."