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NIAID Sets R01 Payline, Others on Hold
NIAID has just placed its FY 2005 R01 payline at the 18 percentile. Other paylines will follow; check FY 2005 Paylines and Budget for new information on all award types
as it comes in during the next few weeks.
NIAID's FY 2005 financial management plan begins as follows; we will add more items in the next few weeks:
- Nonmodular noncompeting grants increase 3 percent for inflation.
- Renewal grant applications will be allowed budgets up to 20 percent larger than the previous award.
On December 8, NIH received its FY 2005 appropriation of $28.5 billion, a relatively small 3.1 percent increase over last fiscal year. Our appropriation is part of a $388 billion spending bill that funds every federal agency except the Departments of Defense and Homeland Security. |
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PI Salary Caps Rise for the New Year
For calendar year 2005, Congress hiked the PI salary cap for grantees and contractors to $180,100, or level I of the federal executive pay scale. If you're a PI on a grant or contract, you may charge a higher salary to your award provided you don't exceed the level allowed by your institution.
Existing grantees can rebudget grant monies for a pay increase without our permission under the expanded authorities. New applicants can request up to the new level retroactive to January 1. NIH announced the pay cap in the January 7, 2005, Guide notice, which includes questions and answers on the topic. We've posted the salary caps with other fiscal information to Paylines and Budget. |
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NIH Finalizes Policy for Coded Private Information and Specimens
In its December 30, 2004, Guide notice, NIH put forward its new policy on research involving coded private information and biological specimens by amending the PHS 398 (rev. 9/2004). The update adds clarifications and definitions to all parts of the PHS 398, with most changes in Part II, Human Subjects Research Supplement. Changes appear in purple.
Under the new policy, investigators who do not have access to subjects' identifiers are exempt from human subjects requirements. Research involving only coded private information or human biological specimens is generally not considered to be human subjects research if either:
- Specimens or data are not obtained specifically for the research.
- Investigators and collaborators cannot readily identify a subject through the coded private information or specimen, e.g., a researcher's access to identity is prohibited by a written agreement.
However, investigators who provide coded information or specimens and also collaborate on the research are conducting human subjects research, presumably because they have access to identifiers.
You can find requirements of the HIPAA Privacy Rule that may apply to this area as well as the rest of the OHRP policy that was the basis for the NIH revisions in OHRP's Guidance on Research Involving Coded Private Information or Biological Specimens. |
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Small Grants, PAs, Investigator-Initiated Research -- Let Us Explain
Last month, we informed you in "Twist for Small Grant Applications -- PAs Only, Please" that NIH is requiring small grant -- R03 and R21 -- applications to cite a program announcement number on the application face page, which NIH stated in its November 24, 2004, Guide announcement.
We'd also like to remind you that any small grant application must cite either a program announcement or request for applications, even though the R03 and R21 program announcements state that some institutes and centers accept investigator-initiated small grant applications, which you might think would not require this citation.
It's logical once you understand that, at NIH, program announcements fund investigator-initiated research. NIH requires a PA number because many ICs don't support research under the two broad small grant PAs: NIH Small Research Grant Program (R03) and NIH Exploratory/Developmental Research Grant Award (R21), though they may accept applications under special PAs in defined topics. When applying under the broad PAs, make sure you do not target your application to a non-participating IC.
Though NIAID funds small grants under the two broad NIH PAs for any topic in its mission, other PAs aimed at our high-priority areas often come with higher paylines or funding levels, as is the case with Innovation Grants in AIDS Research. It's often to your advantage to apply under those, rather than the all-inclusive NIH PAs. Our advice: if you have a choice between targeting your grant to a broad NIH PA or an IC-specific one, we suggest you go for the latter.
To find active initiatives, check NIH Funding Opportunities Relevant to NIAID. The Title, Link, and Description box tells you the activity codes supported, e.g., R03 or R21. To sort alphabetically by PA or RFA, use the sort function in the ID Number header.
For more guidance on using small grant PAs for your scientific research, visit the Web sites in the NIH Guide announcements, and contact a program officer in your area of interest. |
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Institutions and Contractors:
Know Your Financial COI Obligations
With research relationships becoming ever more complex, NIH published a reminder of financial conflict of interest requirements for funded institutions and contractors.
If this applies to you, be sure your organization has a written process to identify and manage the financial conflicts of interest of NIH-supported investigators. Your institutional business official will also need to inform investigators of their responsibilities and make sure they comply with NIH reporting requirements.
Before spending NIH funds under a new award, grantees and contractors must let us know of any financial conflicts of interest. Grantees should contact Mary Kirker, mk35h@nih.gov, NIAID's chief grants management officer; contractors should inform Charles Grewe, cg59b@nih.gov, our chief contracting officer. During your award, report all conflicts within 60 days, and show how you are managing, reducing, or eliminating them. For more information, read the December 6, 2004, Guide notice. |
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Hats Off to NIAID Committee
Members
We'd like to thank the approximately 1,000 people who generously gave their time to serve on one of NIAID's review or advisory committees. Their invaluable contribution enables NIAID to fund the best science possible to improve public health. To give these worthy people their due, we've updated Thank You Members of NIAID Peer Review and Advisory Committees, which lists everyone who has served on an initial peer review committee, Council, or other NIAID advisory committee during the past year. If by some chance we missed you or if your information is not correct, please send us your name and affiliation, and accept our apologies.
If you're becoming an established investigator, consider volunteering to be a peer reviewer. NIH peer review relies on the generosity and hard work of scientists who donate their time to serve on NIAID and CSR review committees. Though serving is a lot of work, it's also a great learning experience. And many people find it rewarding to be able to "pay back" their community. Find information for getting involved on our Thank You site. |
Opportunities and Resources
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Find Your Mouse
Whether you need a transgenic or knockout model, you may be able to find your mouse at the NIAID Exchange Program. Through it, NIAID is underwriting the cost of making novel mouse models available to the research community. The program is funded in partnership with Taconic's Emerging Models Program.
Due to Institute subsidies, mice can be offered at a lower cost and without breeding restrictions. An extramural NIAID Mouse Repository Committee chooses the strains based on expected interest by the scientific community and degree of genetic standardization and phenotypic characterization.
While the NIAID Exchange Program focuses on animals of immunologic interest, other repositories house a broad range of mutants. Mutant Mouse Regional Resource Centers, the Jackson Laboratories Jax Mice and Services, and the European Mutant Mouse Archive provide archiving and distribution services. The Jackson Labs also maintains a searchable database of worldwide mouse strains and stocks at the International Mouse Strain Resource. |
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Seeking New Applicants for Developmental Centers for AIDS Research
If you're an AIDS investigator at an institution with a high level of AIDS research, consider applying for a Developmental Center for AIDS Research (D-CFAR) award. NIAID and six other NIH institutes and centers already fund 18 standard and two D-CFAR (P30) grants and are looking for new applicants, especially
for the D-CFARs.
To help investigators become competitive, D-CFAR awards fund AIDS investigators at institutions that may not currently be competitive for a standard CFAR. Three-year, one-time D-CFAR core awards can receive up to $750,000, paying for collaborations and access to core research facilities with the goal of strengthening a future standard CFAR application.
CFARs promote AIDS research by building infrastructure and promoting basic, clinical, behavioral, and translational research at institutions that receive significant AIDS funding from multiple NIH ICs. By helping independent laboratories share resources, CFARs foster research synergy and coordination, support emerging opportunities, and promote economies of scale. Launched by NIAID in 1988, six other NIH ICs now participate in the CFAR program.
To be eligible for a D-CFAR, an institution must have a significant NIH AIDS funded research base -- called FRB -- for the fiscal year preceding the CFAR application, in this case FY 2004. See the PA for required FRB levels.
Receipt date for all applications is June 16. If you're thinking of applying, please contact either Janet Young, Ph.D., 301/496-6714, jy6r@nih.gov, or Ann Namkung, M.P.H., 301/496-9176, an107z@nih.gov. For more information, read the CFAR program announcement and go to the CFAR home page. |
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NIH Web Site Beckons
New Investigators
If you're relatively new to the NIH grants world, check out the new Resources
for New Investigators Web site for multi-Institute
resources
at a glance.
While we have your attention, don't forget to check the appropriate box on the application face page so NIH recognizes you as new, since reviewers adjust their expectations for people like you. Read more advice on writing that application in our All About Grants tutorials, including Are You "New"?. |
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PHS 398 Site Update,
As Promised
We said we'd let you know when we finished updating the Funding News site to reflect the latest PHS 398, so here's the latest. This month, we updated the Annotated R01 Research Plan and Summary Statement. We plan to add links to the HTML PHS 398 instructions when they're online.
During last month's major site revision, we think we found and adjusted all the old information. But it's a big site, so if you notice anything amiss, please drop us a note using the Feedback Form. |
Advice Corner
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It's Faster With Quick Facts
For fast facts on applying for a grant, check out Quick Facts on Research Grant Applications. Its another navigational and short answer tool for the NIAID Funding site in addition to our NIAID Funding Questions and Answers, process flow charts for Standard Operating Procedures, Site Map, and alphabetical Find It! list.
If you're looking for policy and funding updates and other news, visit Latest Site Updates, Top Policy Changes, our NIH Funding Opportunities Relevant to NIAID list, Special Announcements, and the NIAID Funding News newsletter. |
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