How do I know if I am funded?

The payline for investigator-initiated grants, is set 3 times a year in conjunction with meetings of the NHLBAC, and is based on the percentile for most grants, or the priority score for some.  Awards made for RFA programs and PPGs are determined based on the priority score; these grants are not percentiled.  The pay lines for various research mechanisms are posted on the NHLBI public web site in the General Funding Guidelines.

Once the pay lines have been set, the Grants Operation Branch (GOB) provides official notification of each new, competing continuation, non-competing continuation, and supplemental award by e-mailing a Notice of Grant Award (NOGA) to a central e-mail address at a grantee institution. Grantee institutions are responsible for notifying PIs and appropriate officials of awards. Authorized institution users can view NOGAs using the NIH Commons.  Each grant application has a unique identifier as seen here:

This unique identifier describes:

• grant application type (e.g., new is type 1)
• activity code (e.g. research project grant is R01),
• organization to which it is assigned (e.g. NHLBI is HL),
• serial number assigned by the Center for Scientific Review,
• suffix year showing the support year (budget period),
• amendment (if resubmitted),
• and other information, e.g., an administrative supplement, or fellowship institutional allowance. 

Each NOGA / Award of Contract includes:

• Issue date
• Type of grant / contract
• Budget and project periods
• NIH contact information, including the names of the assigned Program Director and grants management specialist or contract specialist.
• Terms and Conditions of Award (Terms and Conditions of Awards for Cooperative Agreements)
• Terms and Conditions of Award (contracts may include Advance Understandings)
• Statement of Work (for Contracts only)
• Funding level
• Statutes and regulations that authorize the award

You should thoroughly read the terms and conditions of award outlined in Section III of the NOGA. By spending grant funds, grantees agree to comply with these legal requirements, which may include special program- or award-specific conditions. NHLBI sends a NOGA for each budget period of an award.  For most grants, this will be every year, though recipients of multiyear grants may receive only one NOGA (for more information see the NIH Grants Policy Statement on Notice of Grant Award).

If you are not funded, it may be difficult to decide what to do next. Talk with your Program Director who can advise you and answer questions you may have. NIAID has prepared an excellent resource called “Advice for Unfunded Applicants”, which answers many questions that you may have.