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News Articles
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We're Putting You on Alert!
Don't risk missing funding opportunities or policy
changes. Starting in September, we'll send you
emails through a dynamic new system, called Email Alerts,
that will help
you
stay informed about your topics of
interest.
Email Alerts lets you tailor information you receive, so you can zip to the NIAID Research Funding Web site at the most auspicious times.
When you edit your profile in the  Subscription Center, you can choose from a list of categories you wish to be notified about, for example, funding, concepts, AIDS, and research training. The newsletter is just one of many choices.
At any time, you can change your selections or unsubscribe. In the next two weeks, we will migrate our mailing lists to the Email Alerts system, an approach we successfully piloted with small business awardees.
As part of the transition, the NIAID Funding News newsletter is getting a facelift too. Your email will arrive in HTML unless you choose to receive a text version. View a screen shot for a sneak preview.
When you receive the email with the new look, don't delete it -- it's not spam! If you're using a spam filter, add NIAID_Alerts@niaid.nih.gov to your list of permitted incoming email (whitelist).
You may notice that Email Alerts does not originate from an NIH server and that links include special codes. We'll be using a service provider to send the messages. This will give us feedback on which articles and resources are most popular, so we can better meet your needs. |
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Getting to Know Us -- All Over Again
Reset your bookmarks! The Research Funding site has a new address and navigation. After months of usability testing, NIAID has launched a new user-friendly design on parts of the NIAID Web site, including Research Funding.
As NIAID migrates to a content management system, site-wide templates will create a uniform look that will soon sweep through the rest of the site. For an orientation to the new look and feel, see NIAID Redesign.
The transition will also cause more links to change, so we'll establish forwarding messages for key pages. Send your thoughts or questions using the Contact Form. |
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Electronic Payment for Reviewers -- Its Time Has Come
Starting September 30, NIH will use electronic bank deposits to pay peer reviewers for their expenses. If you are a reviewer or expect to be one soon, you should register your bank account number in the U.S. Treasury Department's Central Contractor Registration database
by September 1.
The database will reimburse you directly into your bank account at a flat rate that should approximate actual expenses. If you do not have a U.S. bank account, you still need to register but will receive a check in the mail instead.
You'll register only once, not for each meeting. It doesn't matter if your institution is in the system -- you must sign up separately by taking two steps:
- Get your own unique DUNS number either by telephone or on the Web at D&B D-U-N-S Number Guide for Government Contractors & Grantees.
- Register as an individual online on the Central Contractor Registration site.
You should also read the August 19, 2005, Guide notice on security and privacy issues involved in signing on with Central Contractor Registration and the August 5, 2005, Guide notice on the process. Before you begin, you may want to consult CSR's New Process for Reimbursement of NIH Peer Reviewers guidance. |
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New Fix for Calculating Clinician Compensation
PIs can now include clinical practice compensation in their institutional base salary, a new approach NIH worked out with the Association of American Medical Colleges.
This solves a dilemma for medical schools and practitioners: how to account for clinical practice pay without exceeding NIH-mandated levels of effort for grants and contracts.
For PIs who get one salary from their institutions and another from a clinical practice, different accounting procedures had made it virtually impossible to comply with the rules.
Under the new approach, institutions must do the following:
- Set compensation.
- Pay or direct payment.
- Include clinical practices in payroll or salary appointment systems.
Institutions must also keep all related financial documents and have them ready for possible review by NIH. For more information, read the August 4, 2005, Guide notice. |
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No Raises for Some Training Grant Costs in FY 2006
To avert cuts in training positions in FY 2006, NIH will freeze tuition, fees, and health insurance costs for T32 renewals at each
grant's previous levels.
Though grantees don't get annual increases for these items, their costs for new and renewal awards are eating up T32 funds at an alarming rate -- see table below.
Increase in T32 Tuition, Fees, and Health Insurance Costs
| |
Competing renewal
T32s* (percent) |
New competing and
noncompeting
T32s** (percent) |
| |
Predoctoral |
Postdoctoral |
Predoctoral |
Postdoctoral |
| Increase in median cost |
34 |
82 |
21 |
47 |
| Annualized increase |
6 |
13 |
4 |
8 |
* FY 2004 renewal awards made in FY 1999.
**Increases for noncompeting awards are capped, creating a slower growth rate.
For new applications, NIH will continue to pay 100 percent of the first $3,000, and 60 percent of the balance over $3,000 for tuition, fees, and health insurance. When applying, list these items at their full cost. NIAID will make the necessary adjustments at the time of award.
NIH is planning a public meeting this winter to draft a new tuition policy for FY 2007, a move it announced in the August 2, 2005, Guide notice. |
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Getting the Ball Rolling for Public Pubs
We'd like to applaud our colleagues who have heeded NIH's call to give the public access to scientific publications. It's important to Congress that taxpayers can view the information they've paid for.
Making publications public also helps scientists, health care providers, students, teachers, and other Americans find credible health-related information and helps NIH manage its research portfolio.
Sharing is getting easier: many journals will upload publications for the author. When publishing, check to see if this is possible.
For general information, go to the NIH Public Access Policy Authors' Manual and Public Access Policy -- PowerPoint or Public Access Policy -- PDF, an NIH slide presentation that explains the policy, issues, and process -- all on NIH's Public Access page. |
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Multiple PIs -- Your Thoughts, Please
Now's your chance to comment on how NIH should implement a government-wide policy that allows more than one principal investigator for grants and contracts, a change driven in part by the NIH Roadmap.
The deadline is September 16, 2005.
For details, read the July
18, 2005, Federal Register and the July
29, 2005, Guide notice. |
Opportunities and Resources
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Deadlines Approach for NIH's Loan Repayment Program
If you're a health professional with graduate or professional school loans, NIH can help pay for your educational debts -- as much as $35,000 a year plus taxes. To participate, you must spend at least two years and commit at least
50 percent of your time to performing clinical or pediatric research.
You can apply for the Loan Repayment Programs September 1 through December 1, 2005. Go to Apply Here on the NIH Loan Repayment Web site. |
Advice Corner
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More Help for R34s
Looking for step-by-step instructions on applying for R34 planning
and U01 implementation grants? Our new Investigator-Initiated Clinical Trial Planning and Implementation Grants SOP can help you out.
For more information on this new process, see our other helpful online resources. Go to NIAID's Clinical Trial Planning and Implementation Grants main page and our July 29, 2005, article "R34 Clinical Trials Update" for links to R34-related pages. |
 New
Initiatives
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