Method to Extend Research in Time (MERIT) Award

National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
National Institutes of Health

March 2007

Preface

The Method to Extend Research in Time (MERIT) Award program was initiated by the National Institutes of Health in FY l986. Since that time, the MERIT Award has become a symbol of scientific achievement in the research community.

Summary

In October 1985, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) began to offer a limited number of Method to Extend Research in Time (MERIT) Awards to investigators who have demonstrated superior competence and outstanding productivity during their previous research endeavors in areas related to heart, lung, or blood research and who are likely to continue to perform in an outstanding manner in the future.

The principal feature of the MERIT Award is the opportunity to obtain up to ten years of research support in two segments and thereby relieve awardees of the need to prepare frequent renewal applications. Specifically, an initial 4 to 5-year award is accompanied by an opportunity to obtain an extension of 3-5 years through an expedited review of a statement of the accomplishments during the initial period and a brief outline of plans for the extension period. Awardees wishing to continue their research after the conclusion of the MERIT Award funding must submit a competitive R01 application using the Research Project Grant (Parent R01) Announcement Number PA-07-070 Funding Opportunity Announcement (http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PA-07-070.html).

Investigators cannot apply for MERIT Awards. After new and competing renewal investigator-initiated research project grant (R01) applications are reviewed in the usual manner, NHLBI staff and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Advisory Council (NHLBAC) give further consideration to those R01 applications that meet the criteria for a MERIT Award. The Director, NHLBI, notifies those investigators who are selected.

To obtain an extension of the MERIT Award, awardees must submit to the NHLBI, at least 16 months before the end of the initial project period, a progress report accompanied by a 1-page abstract of the research plan for the extension period and a proposed budget. NHLBI program staff and the NHLBAC review the submitted material and make a recommendation to the Director, NHLBI, regarding the extension. Under certain circumstances, the Institute and the NHLBAC may consider a MERIT extension to be inappropriate, and recommend instead that the applicant submit a competitive R01 application.

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Objective

The MERIT Award provides long-term, stable support to investigators whose research competence and productivity are distinctly superior and who are likely to continue to perform in an outstanding manner. It is intended to foster their continued creativity and lessen the administrative burdens associated with the preparation and submission of research grant applications.

General Features

1. Investigators may not apply for a MERIT Award. New and competing renewal investigator-initiated research project grant R01 applications from established investigators that are prepared and submitted in accordance with conventional NIH procedures are the basis upon which NHLBI staff and members of the NHLBAC identify individuals to be offered a MERIT Award.
   
2. A MERIT Award must be accepted by the principal investigator in order to be eligible for the extension based on an expedited review of the research progress and plans for the extension period. In order for the MERIT Award to be activated, the principal investigator must send a letter of acceptance, countersigned by an institutional official.
   
3. Recipients of a MERIT Award may have other research support. However, only the MERIT Award is eligible for a MERIT extension.
   
4. Principal investigators of a PPG or a SCOR or other Center grant may be considered for a MERIT award only if the relevant R01 was active prior to the PPG, SCOR, or other Center grant award, or prior to the potential MERIT nominee assuming the leadership role in the PPG, SCOR, or other Center grant.
   
5. Supplemental applications to existing grants will not be considered for MERIT Awards, but MERIT awardees may apply for and receive competitive supplements to their MERIT Award grant.
   
6. Research supported by the MERIT Award should be in an area for which the principal investigator is well known for scientific achievements and is his or her primary scientific interest.
   
7. MERIT Awards are administered in accordance with NIH and NHLBI grant policies and procedures, with Facilities and Administrative costs paid to the awardee institution in accord with applicable Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) policy.
   1. Unexpended funds in any budget period of a MERIT Award (other than the last) remain available to the principal investigator in subsequent budget periods (i.e., unexpended funds are automatically carried over throughout the entire period of the award) as long as the principal investigator’s institution and the grant are included in either expanded authorities.
   2. Funds restricted from expenditure by a specific term or condition on the Notice of Grant Award may not be automatically carried over without written prior approval by the NHLBI.
      
8. MERIT Awards are transferrable to another institution in accordance with NIH grant policies. Whenever a change of institution is contemplated, the principal investigator should contact the NHLBI as soon as possible.
   
9. MERIT Awards are not transferable to another individual.
   
10. The MERIT Award program applies only to individual research project grants (R01s). In general, cooperative ventures and multiproject R01 grants that involve projects led by other senior scientists are not eligible. However, principal investigators on research grants in the epidemiology and clinical applications areas may be eligible for a MERIT Award if:
    1. The principal investigator will be directly involved in either data analysis or ancillary or follow-up studies during the extension period and
    2. For research activities that involve more than one institution, only the portion of the research activities conducted at the awardee institution by the principal investigator and a small number of direct staff may be considered for a MERIT extension. A supplemental application may be submitted for support of the research activities at the other institutions.
       
11. If a change in principal investigator of a MERIT award is necessary within the first 5 years, the NHLBI may approve a change, but the R37 must be converted to an R01.

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Eligibility

The candidates under consideration for a MERIT Award must meet all of the following criteria.

1. The candidate must be the principal investigator of a new (i.e., Type 1) or competing renewal (i.e., Type 2) investigator-initiated individual research project grant (R01) application that was reviewed by the NHLBAC within the preceding 9 months.
   1. The grant application must be recommended by the NHLBAC for 4 or 5 years of support.
   2. The grant application must be an unamended application and must have received a percentile score in the range of 0.1 to 5.0.
   3. If the grant application is a competing renewal (Type 2), the previous competing application (same grant number) for the grant under consideration:
      1. must have received a percentile score in the range of 0.1 to 10.0; and
      2. must have been unamended.
   4. If the grant application is new (Type 1), the most recent (prior) competing percentiled NHLBI RPG application submitted by the applicant
      1. must have received a percentile score in the range of 0.1 to 10.0; and
      2. must have been unamended.
   5. The grant application must be within the major research area of the principal investigator and research in that area must be expected to continue for the next seven to ten years.
      1. The investigator is recognized as a leader in the field and has made significant contributions to the progress of research in this area.
      2. The principal investigator is expected to devote a minimum of 25 percent effort to the project.
2. The principal investigator must have an impressive record of scientific accomplishment in areas within the purview of the NHLBI.
   
3. The principal investigator must have had a minimum of ten years of independent research support from the NIH at the time of consideration for a MERIT Award. The candidate must have received at least one previous project period of support from the NHLBI.
   1. Research support from the NIH must be continuous.
   2. Research support received as a project leader in a program project or SCOR Program counts toward the ten years of independent research support.
   3. Research support received as part of a cooperative agreement or in response to a Request for Applications (RFA) counts toward the ten years of independent research support.
   4. Career Development Awards (K series) and contract support do not count toward the ten years of independent research support.
   5. Research support from federal sources other than the NIH or from the private sector does not apply toward the ten years of research support necessary for a MERIT Award.
4. The candidate is expected to maintain a high degree of research productivity during the project period of the MERIT Award.

Exclusion Criteria

The following are not eligible for a MERIT Award:

1. Except as provided in item J of the section on General Features above, multiproject R01 grants that contain projects led by other senior scientists are not eligible for a MERIT Award because the research is the result of a team effort rather than an individual effort.
   
2. Grant applications in response to an RFA are not eligible.
   
3. Amended applications are not eligible.
   
4. An NHLBI MERIT Award may not be offered to a principal investigator who has already had a MERIT Award or equivalent award from the NHLBI or another component of the NIH.
   

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