FY 2005 FUNDING AND OPERATING GUIDELINES

National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
National Institutes of Health

June 2005

Archive Edition

Funding and Operating Guidelines

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GOALS

The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) will continue to apply National Institutes of Health (NIH) cost management guidelines in making Research Project Grant (RPG) awards. Funding levels are initially determined for most mechanisms at the time of the October Council meeting (first Council of the Fiscal Year). Although funding decisions are usually made in priority score/percentile order, the final funding decision includes consideration of program relevance, overlap with existing programs, availability of funds, and National Heart, Lung, and Blood Advisory Council recommendations.

The scores in the table are for planning purposes. No announcements or commitments should be made until an official Notice of Grant Award is received by the Institution’s Business Office. For questions, contact the Program Officer for the application.

The NHLBI is committed to helping new investigators by maintaining a separate payline that is 5 percentile points above the regular RPG payline for FY 2005, as well as funding new investigators for all years recommended. The NHLBI defines "new investigator" as someone:

1. Not previously a PI of an R01 or a project director on a PPG, SCOR, or SCCOR Program/subproject
2. Previously a PI on no more than one R21 or R03
3. Currently holding a position at a domestic institution

The NHLBI will use the following guidelines for funding RPGs:

FUNDING AND OPERATING GUIDELINES

The NHLBI will use the following guidelines for funding RPGs:

Salary Cap:

The FY 2005 salary cap for individuals under a NIH grant or cooperative agreement is $180,100. Additional information regarding this Public Law can be found at the following link: http://grants1.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-05-024.html

New (Type 1) Research Project Grants:

The NHLBI policy for new grants is to award them at the Council recommended level except for specific programmatic and administrative adjustments. Awards are modular for all applications that do not exceed $250,000 direct costs in any given year of support in the recommended competitive segment and categorical for those that exceed $250,000 in any year of support in the recommended competitive segment.

Competing Renewal (Type 2) Research Project and MERIT Extension (Type 4) Awards:

The NHLBI policy for competing renewal and MERIT extension grants that will be awarded in Fiscal Year 2005 differs depending upon the nature of the award in the preceding competitive segment and the likely form of the award for a competitive renewal. Please note that if a proposed award would result in a reduction greater than 25 percent from the Council recommended level, NHLBI program staff will contact the Principal Investigator and the applicant institution before an award is issued to obtain: either (a) a statement that the approved aims and objectives can be accomplished within the proposed level of support, or (b) a revised statement of aims and revised budget for the proposed level of support.

Categorical to Categorical:

For competing renewal and MERIT extension grants that were categorical awards in the preceding competitive segment and will be in excess of $250,000 direct costs in any given year in the recommended competitive segment, the Institute will award at the Council recommended direct cost up to a maximum of 10 percent above the level of the last noncompeting award of the preceding competitive segment, except for specific programmatic and administrative adjustments that may be warranted. The 10 percent maximum will only be exceeded to accommodate non-recurring equipment costs. As F&A costs associated with consortia are no longer considered a direct cost, such costs would be excluded from the base when calculating the maximum that can be requested.

Categorical to Modular:

For competing renewal and MERIT extension grants that were categorical awards in the preceding competitive segment and will be no more than $250,000 direct costs in any given year in the recommended competitive segment, the Institute will award at the Council recommended direct cost up to a maximum of 10 percent above the level of the last noncompeting award of the preceding competitive segment rounded up to the next module. For example, if the last noncompeting direct cost award was $150,000, a 10 percent escalation would be $165,000. As a result, the applicant would be allowed to round up to the next module, and request $175,000 in direct costs. The cap will only be exceeded to accommodate non-recurring equipment costs. For example, if requested equipment costs $15,000, a one-time request for an additional module may be made. However, if one-time equipment costs result in direct costs in excess of $250,000, the award will be made as categorical and so actual equipment costs will be awarded. As F&A costs associated with consortia are no longer considered a direct cost, such costs would be excluded from the base when calculating the maximum that can be requested.

Modular to Modular :

For competing renewal and MERIT extension grants that were modular awards in the preceding competitive segment and will be no more than $250,000 direct costs in any given year in the recommended competitive segment, the Institute will award at the Council recommended direct cost up to a maximum number of modules specified as follows:

If the previous award is 6 or fewer modules, the competing renewal may be one module more than the previous award. For example, if the last noncompeting direct cost award was $150,000 (6 modules), the applicant would be allowed to apply for $175,000 (7 modules).

If the previous award is 7 or 8 modules, the competing renewal may be two more modules than the previous award. For example, if the last noncompeting direct cost award was $200,000 (8 modules), the applicant would be allowed to apply for $250,000 (10 modules).

These modular caps will only be exceeded to accommodate non-recurring equipment costs. For example, if requested equipment costs $15,000, a one-time request for an additional module may be made. However, if one-time equipment costs result in direct costs in excess of $250,000, the award will be made as categorical and so actual equipment costs will be awarded. As F&A costs associated with consortia are no longer considered a direct cost, such costs would be excluded from the base when calculating the maximum that can be requested.

Modular to Categorical:

If the previous award is 9 or 10 modules, any requested increase will cause the competing renewal to be awarded as categorical. In all such cases, the Institute will award at the Council recommended direct cost up to a maximum of 10 percent above the level of the last noncompeting award of the preceding competitive segment, except for specific programmatic and administrative adjustments that may be warranted. The 10 percent maximum will only be exceeded to accommodate non-recurring equipment costs. As F&A costs associated with consortia are no longer considered a direct cost, such costs would be excluded from the base when calculating the maximum that can be requested.

Program Project Grants (Type 1 and Type 2):

Type 1: The direct cost award will not exceed $1,480,000. Facilities and Administrative (F&A) Costs associated with subcontracts are not included in the $1,480,000. Annual increases for recurring costs in non-competing years may be requested at 3 percent per year.

Type 2: The direct cost award will not exceed $1,480,000 or 10 percent more than the recommended amount shown on the Notice of Grant Award for the last noncompetitive year, whichever is greater. Facilities and Administrative (F&A) Costs associated with subcontracts are not included in the calculation. Annual increases in non-competing years for recurring costs may be requested at 3 percent per year.

Noncompeting Renewal (Type 5) Grants:

The Institute will award the recommended level for FY2005 reflected on the FY2004 award notice. However, the Institute retains the right to reduce committed levels when necessary and appropriate. For example, such a reduction would be made to eliminate any overlapping support identified.

Future Year Commitments on FY 2005 New and Competing Renewal Awards:

Generally, future year commitments on the Notice of Grant Award will reflect an annual 3 percent escalation on recurring costs (e.g., Personnel, Supplies). The annual 3 percent escalation does not apply to Modular Grants. Although the NHLBI remains committed at this time to funding at the recommended levels each fiscal year, adjustments may need to be made in the future due to fiscal constraints.

DURATION OF GRANTS

To achieve an average length of four years, the NHLBI will calculate the average length of research project grants awarded at each Council. To reach the average length of four years, the Institute will reduce research project grants recommended for five years to four years beginning with those grants with the least favorable percentile scores and continuing to those with the most favorable percentile scores. With this approach grants recommended for four years will not be reduced to three years by the Institute.