Grant Duration Policy

Purpose

To enable NIAID to achieve an average duration of four years for competing grants.

Procedure

Following its financial management plan, NIAID sets policies that enable it to comply with the four-year average grant length mandated by Congress.

The Institute favors five-year awards for standard research project (R01) grants, and achieves the mandated award duration by balancing the funding of complex grants for longer periods with the funding of short-term R56-Bridge and exploratory awards.

Our policy is as follows:

• Provide up to four years of support for the following:
  • RFA-solicited R01 grants.
  • Selective pay. For more information, see the Selective Pay SOP.
  • End of fiscal year.
  • PA-solicited R01s and new investigator applications beyond the payline.   
• Provide up to five years of support for the following:
  • Investigator-initiated R01 and program project (P01) grants.  
  • MERIT awards. For more information, see the MERIT Awards and Extensions SOP.
  • RFA and PA-solicited program projects (P01), research center grants (P30, P50), and cooperative agreements (U).
• Provide one year of support for R56-Bridge awards. For more information, see the NIAID R56-Bridge Award SOP.
• Not permit a third no-cost extension without approval from the director of NIAID's Grants Management Program. See the No-Cost Extension SOP for more information.

We do not skip a fiscal year in funding a grant except in the following cases:

• A renewal application is either deferred for a funding decision or can't be funded until the following fiscal year because of insufficient funds in the current year.
• A change of grantee causes a gap between the end of the original grant and the start of the grant at the new grantee institution.
• A project has suspended or significantly reduced activity due to an unanticipated situation.
• A fellowship award is not activated until two months or more into the next fiscal year.

NIH's grant duration limit is five years of funding. Waiving this limit requires approval at NIH or HHS level, requiring a very substantive justification.

In some fiscal years, the Institute also sets policies to more evenly distribute grant funding throughout the fiscal year. To accomplish this, NIAID resets grant anniversary dates for many new and renewal grants. See the Resetting Grant Start Dates questions and answers and the Resetting Grant Anniversary Dates table for details on the procedures and how they work.

Grantees

• Submit the following where applicable:
• Competing grant applications following budgetary guidelines in a request for applications or program announcement.
• Noncompeting grant applications on or before the due date.
• No-cost extensions.
  • If an award is under expanded authorities or Federal Demonstration Partnership, submit through the eRA Commons before the end date of the project period.
  • Submit in writing from an institutional business official before the end date of the project period , if they require prior approval. See the No-Cost Extension SOP.
• Competing supplement applications for changes in scope.
• Administrative supplement applications for previously unforeseen costs that do not represent a change in scope. See the Administrative Supplements to Grants and Cooperative Agreements SOP.

Program Officers

• If a study section removes years requested by an applicant, recommend restoring them if scientifically essential.
• Review noncompeting applications for satisfactory progress and document their review on the program officer checklist. If a grantee reports poor performance, work with the principal investigator and grants management specialist to determine the appropriate funding level.
• Work with the grants management specialist to determine the appropriate funding level for a noncompeting application if a substantial unobligated balance exists.
• Nominate a maximum of four years' support for the following applications that score beyond the payline:
• Selective pay awards.
• End-of-fiscal year awards.
• R01 applications responding to PAs.

Grants Management Specialists

• Ensure that awards are issued according to NIH and NIAID policy on the following:
  • Project period system of awarding grants. See the NIH Policy Manual on Project Period System of Awarding Grants and Duration of Recommended Grant Support.
  • Duration of support. See the Procedure section above.
• Work with program officers to issue an award at the appropriate funding level when scientific progress is poor or there is a substantial unobligated balance of funds.

Contacts

Mary Kirker, mk35h@nih.gov, 301-402-6400

If you have knowledge to share or want more information on this topic, email deaweb@niaid.nih.gov with the title of this page or its URL and your question or comment. Thanks for helping us clarify and expand our knowledge base.

Links

Cooperative Agreements SOP

Multiproject Awards (P01, P50, U19) SOP

Program Announcements SOP

NIAID R56-Bridge Award SOP

Requests for Applications SOP

Selective Pay SOP

Which Award Suits You Best? in the NIH Grant Cycle: Application to Renewal