FY 2008 Funding and Operating Guidelines
NATIONAL RESEARCH SERVICE AWARDS AND CAREER DEVELOPMENT AWARDS

GOALS

The NHLBI will continue to apply National Institutes of Health (NIH) cost management guidelines in making National Research Service Awards and Research Career Awards.

National Research Service Awards -Training Grants & Fellowships:

NRSA Stipend Levels

These levels are as follows:
 

Competing and Non-Competing Institutional NRSA - Training Grants:

NHLBI Receipt Dates, Award Date, Limits on full-time training positions for Kirschstein - NRSA T32 Grants

FY 2008 new policies for NHLBI-supported T32 grants are the following.

Receipt dates for competing applications:

• January 25 - The NHLBI will accept all types of competing T32 applications (new, renewal/competing continuation, resubmission/amended) on this date.
  
• September 25 - Only resubmission/amended T32 applications will be accepted on this date.

Award Date:

New competing awards for T32 grants will be issued as early as February. Competing Renewals will usually follow the dates of the last non-competing end date.

Limits on Full-Time Training Positions (FTTPs):

The following strategies to manage the number of FTTPs will enable the Institute to support a greater number of meritorious training programs.

New and Renewal/competing continuation T32s -

• During FY 2008 and thereafter, FTTP allocations will be held to the following limits. (Short-Term/Summer positions will not be affected in FY 2008 and thereafter.)

  New programs (Type 1) may request no more than 8 FTTPs.

  Renewal/Competing continuations (Type 2) that had 12 or fewer FTTPs during the previous award period will be capped at 12.

  Renewal/Competing continuations that had more than 12 FTTPs during the prior award period will be capped at the previous number.

  Renewal/Competing continuations that entail a change of program director since the prior award period will be capped at 8 FTTPs.

Noncompeting renewal T32s - During fiscal year 2008, FTTP allocations will be reduced from the FY 2007 level according to the following plan. Please note that the NHLBI delayed this action for noncompeting awards until FY 2008 to give program directors ample time to plan for the reduction. Short-term trainees will not be affected.

Programs with:
8 or fewer FTTPs - no reduction
9 to 12 - reduced by 1
13 to 16 - reduced by 2
17 or more - reduced by 3

Training Related Expenses for Kirschstein - NRSA Recipients

Training related expenses for predoctoral and postdoctoral trainees will be paid at the amounts shown below for all competing awards made with FY 2008 funds. These amounts also apply to non-competing awards issued in FY 2008 for programs that received competing awards in FY 2007.

Training Related Expenses on Institutional Training Grants (including health insurance)

• Predoctoral Trainees: $4,200
• Postdoctoral Trainees: $7,850

  Non-competing continuations of institutional training awards that started in FY 2005 or earlier will continue to receive tuition, fees, health insurance, and training related expenses at the rates set in the initial Notice of Award and calculated in accordance with the policies in place at that time. Further information about the implementation of Kirschstein-NRSA policies for tuition, fees, and health insurance announced in the NIH NOT-OD-06-093 can be found in the NIH Questions and Answers Related to NOT-OD-06-093 and summarized in the table at the end of this notice.
  

Exchanging Pre and Postdoctoral Slots:

A T32 program may exchange pre- and postdoctoral slots, pursuant to the availability of funds.  The T32 program must have been peer reviewed for pre- and postdoctoral training and must receive prior approval from the NHLBI because of the potential budgetary differences in the slots and the programmatic determination that is appropriate for each individual situation.

Applications with budgets greater than $500,000 in any year:

In May 1996, the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts included an announcement of a new NIH-wide policy regarding acceptance of unsolicited grant applications requesting direct costs of $500,000 or more, in any given year. The NIH policy applies to all unsolicited research or research training applications submitted in response to program announcements for any mechanism (e.g., R01, P01, R18, T32) that request $500,000 or more in direct costs for any one year. The full NIH Guide Notice can be found at:
http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-02-004.html.
The NHLBI summary of the NIH Guide Announcement is available from the following address:
http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/funding/policies/500kweb.htm. Applicants for T32 applications with budgets at or above $500,000 will be asked to submit the form: "Substitute Direct Costs Budget for Entire Proposed Period of Support".

Number of Positions Awarded:

The NHLBI will award the Council recommended numbers of positions except for specific programmatic and administrative adjustments that may apply to an individual grant.

Individual NRSA - Fellowships:

The NHLBI will apply the following increases for awards issued in FY 2008:

Stipends will be awarded at FY 2008 levels. Institutional allowances for predoctoral and postdoctoral fellows will be paid at the amounts shown below for all competing awards made with FY 2008 funds. Institutional allowances for non-competing awards will remain at previously committed levels.

Institutional allowance for individual Fellows sponsored by non-federal public, private, and Non-profit Institutions (domestic & foreign, including health insurance)

• Predoctoral Fellows: $4,200
• Postdoctoral Fellows: $7,850

Institutional allowance for individual Fellows sponsored by federal and for-profit Institutions (including health insurance)

• Predoctoral Fellows: $3,100
• Postdoctoral Fellows: $6,750

Career Development Awards - K Series

The maximum salary for recipients of K01, K02, K08, K22 (extramural phase), K23, K25 and the initial mentored K99 phase (effective with applications submitted under the NIH PA-07-297) of the K99/R00 Research Career Awards is $75,000 per year plus commensurate fringe benefits for full-time professional effort (i.e., 75% to 100%). The salary must be consistent with both the established salary structure at the institution and with salaries actually provided by the institution from its own funds to other staff members of equivalent qualifications, rank, and responsibilities in the department concerned.

Current and former recipients of K12 support may apply for the K01, K08, K22, K23, and K25 provided that they have no more than three years of K12 support by the time the K01, K08, K22, K23, or K25 award is issued. The combined total of K12 plus K01, K08, K22, K23, or K25 support must not exceed 6 years. A candidate for the K01, K08, K22, K23, and K25 may not concurrently apply for or have an award pending for any other NIH career development award.

The NHLBI Research Career Development Award Programs (with the exception of the K18 that requires a minimum of 50% effort and the K24 that requires a minimum of 25% and a maximum of 50% effort) require recipients to devote at least 75% effort per year of their full time professional effort to research-related activities. It is possible for a recipient to devote 100% effort to research-related activities. However, because the NHLBI believes it is important for the clinically prepared to keep abreast of clinical practice, the recipient may be able to devote the remaining 25% effort to patient care or other clinical activities.

The actual salary provided by the K18 and the K24 award is based on the candidate's full-time, 12-month institutional salary and the level of effort requested up to the maximum legislated salary rate in effect at the time of award. For awards in 2008, the maximum allowable annual salary on an NIH award is $191,300 for a full-time position. Therefore, the maximum annual base salary that will be provided for a K24 recipient with 50% effort will be $95,650.

The K07 grant mechanism is not listed above since those awards are issued in response to a specific RFA, in which allowable costs are specifically identified in the RFA.

MENTORED CAREER DEVELOPMENT AWARDS: REVISION OF NIH POLICY CONCERNING CONCURRENT SUPPORT FROM MENTORED CAREER DEVELOPMENT (K) AWARD AND A RESEARCH GRANT, http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-08-065.html

Competing: New and Renewals

The NHLBI will award the Council recommended level except for specific programmatic and administrative adjustments.

Non-Competing Renewal:

The NHLBI will award the recommended level for FY 2008 as shown on the last Notice of Grant Award.