NIH Guide, Volume 26, Number 28, August 22, 1997
Notice: P.T. 34
Effective Date: February 1, 1998
Keywords:
Health Services Delivery
Grants Administration/Policy
Agency for Health Care Policy and Research
The Agency for Health Care Policy and Research (AHCPR) is issuing a policy about the acceptance of applications requesting direct costs of $500,000 or more for any one year. This policy is consistent with the NIH policy published in the NIH Guide, Volume 25, Number 14, May 3, 1996.
Prudent planning and management require AHCPR to know of requests for large budget items as early in the budget and program planning process as possible. Agency review prior to actual application submission could save the applicant the time of developing a new application for an elaborate project which may not be responsive to program priorities or for which funding is not likely to be available. The AHCPR will continue to support research projects with large budgets but needs to consider the possibility of such awards as early as possible.
Policy. An applicant planning to submit a new (Type 1) investigator-initiated grant application requesting $500,000 or more in direct costs for any year (see applicability below) is advised that he or she must contact AHCPR program staff before submitting the application, i.e., as plans for the study are being developed. Furthermore, the applicant must obtain agreement from an AHCPR office/center that the AHCPR will accept the application. Finally, the applicant must identify in the cover letter that is sent with the application the AHCPR official and center agreeing to accept assignment of the application.
Any application subject to this policy that does not contain the required information in the cover letter sent with the application will be returned to the applicant without review. Applicants who are uncertain regarding which center to contact should call the Referral Office, Agency for Health Care Policy and Research. (See "Inquiries.")
Applicability. This policy applies to any unsolicited new (Type 1) research or research training grant application for any mechanism (e.g., RO1, R18) that requests $500,000 or more in direct costs for any one year.
This policy does not apply to applications submitted in response to RFAs, unless specifically stated in the RFA. However, an application submitted in response to an RFA must be responsive to any budgetary limits specified in the RFA or will be returned to the applicant without review.
This policy does not apply to competing renewal (Type 2) applications.
This policy does not apply to an amended (revised, e.g., -01A1, -01A2) application, assuming agreement was obtained when the initial application was submitted.
Procedures. An applicant planning to submit a grant application to which this policy applies is required to contact, in writing with a concept letter, AHCPR program staff when the application development process begins. Minimal contents of the letter must include the purpose of the study, a brief description of its key features, a justification of its significance in terms of scientific merit, policy or other impact, proposed costs by years, and any potential co-funding sources.
The concept letter will be reviewed by AHCPR staff, taking into consideration the significance of the proposed project and relevance to AHCPR's priorities and program balance. The Agency determination will be conveyed to the applicant in writing.
An agreement to accept an application does not imply a commitment for funding. Instead, it indicates that an application will be received and reviewed in accordance with peer review procedures and, if scored well, will receive consideration for funding.
The applicant Principal Investigator must identify in the cover letter sent with the application the AHCPR official and center who have agreed to accept assignment of the application.
An application received without indication of prior concurrence by an AHCPR center or office and identification of that contact will be returned to the applicant without review.
Effective Date. This policy becomes effective with the February 1, 1998, receipt date. Applicants are encouraged, however, to contact AHCPR staff at any time about the preparation of applications to which this policy will apply.
For additional information about the policy, the program staff at AHCPR may be contacted. Applicants who are uncertain about which AHCPR center may have the greatest interest in the research for which support is sought should contact:
Office of Research Review, Education and Policy
Agency for Health Care Policy and Research
Telephone: (301) 427-1525
Current as of November, 1998
AHCPR Publication No. 97-R093
Send Questions & Comments to: info@ahrq.gov
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