NIH Staff Involvement on
Extramural Awards --
Cooperative Agreements
There are two basic mechanisms of award -
acquisition and assistance. Acquisition is done through a contract,
and is used to achieve a purpose primarily for the direct benefit or
use of the federal government; thus the government project officer is
very much involved in directing the conduct of the project. On the
other hand, assistance can be either through a grant or a cooperative
agreement, and is used primarily to support or stimulate
investigator-initiated research. A grant involves normal program
stewardship by extramural program staff, with no substantial
scientific/programmatic involvement by federal staff. The cooperative
agreement lies somewhere in between a grant and a contract: although
it is an assistance mechanism like a grant, it is used when there is
substantial federal staff involvement (more than in a grant), but not
to the point of having the federal government play a dominant role in
the conduct of the project (as in a contract). Thus, in awarding a
grant, the federal government can be considered a "patron" of the
research; in awarding a cooperative agreement, the federal government
acts as a "partner" in conduct of the research; and in awarding a
contract, the federal government is the "procurer" of a service or a
product.
ICs make cooperative agreement awards using the code "U" instead of
"R" or "P" - for example, making a U01 award instead of an R01 award.
Otherwise, the same funding criteria and procedures are used as for
grants. The two mechanisms are sufficiently similar that converting
an application submitted for an R01 to a U01 when conditions warrant
(i.e., substantial federal staff involvement) is easily accomplished,
with the nature of the involvement outlined as a term of award. The
intent has been to make the awarding of a cooperative agreement
legally appropriate, not disruptive to the IC or grantee, and as
transparent as possible to the community. Consequently, the awarding
of a cooperative agreement has the same implications regarding a
grantee's fiscal and scientific obligations as exist under a
grant.
Obviously, there are degrees of collaboration. Whether federal staff
involvement in a particular extramural project is significant enough
to warrant use of the cooperative agreement is determined on a
case-by-case basis. Within the IC, the Extramural Program Management
Committee (EPMC) member (or other designated program official) and
Grants Management Officer have ultimate responsibility for this
determination, with concurrence of the Director, Office of Extramural
Programs, OER. When the federal involvement is on the part of
intramural staff, coordination of this process includes the IC
Scientific Director. Thus in that case, the intramural investigator's
responsibility is to notify the Scientific Director and EPMC member
if that investigator is involved in, or is contemplating, a
collaboration in an extramural grant. This ensures that there is
complete and common understanding about the nature and amount of
federal involvement, that there is no conflict of interest in the
administration of the grant because of that involvement, and that
appropriate terms and conditions reflecting the federal staff
involvement are incorporated in the terms of the extramural award.
Examples of substantial scientific involvement are
appended.
NIH Intramural Staff Involvement in Extramural Awards
Examples of Intramural Scientific Staff Activities that Constitute Substantial Involvement:
1. Involvement may initially begin as not substantial, but evolve over time to become substantial, thus requiring reconsideration of the appropriate mechanism of award.
2. Certain kinds of involvement, such as acting as a consultant to provide occasional advice or providing occasional sample analyses, clearly do not constitute substantial involvement.
3. However, it is acknowledged that gray areas may arise that
would require determination on a case-by-case basis.
(See Manual Chapters 1820 and 4815 for additional guidance: http://www3.od.nih.gov/oma/manualchapters/management/1820.htm and http://www3.od.nih.gov/oma/manualchapters/grants/4815.htm )