Questions and Answers Table of Contents
What are initiatives?
Initiatives are requests
for applications (RFA), requests
for proposals (RFP), and program
announcements (PA) NIAID issues to stimulate research in high-priority
or high-opportunity areas of science. RFAs and PAs are
called funding
opportunity announcements in Grants.gov.
For some areas, the research is mandated by law. In other cases, the
research community may identify a need, or the
research may be in response to a public health event or crisis.
Initiatives encourage investigators
to apply because NIAID
uses set
aside funds
to award grants or contracts and, for some PAs, funds applications beyond the payline.
For an overview, see Application Approach: What Are Your Choices? in the NIH Grant Cycle: Application to Renewal.
Also see the following SOPs: Requests for Applications, Request
for Proposals,
and Program Announcements. For NIAID's active initiatives, go to the NIH Funding Opportunities Relevant to NIAID.
Where can I find NIAID's initiatives?
We post NIAID's initiatives at NIH Funding Opportunities Relevant to NIAID. You can see all NIH initiatives in the NIH Guide.
How do initiative types differ?
While requests
for applications (RFA) and requests
for proposals (RFP) generally
have money set
aside to fund the research, program
announcements (PA) may not. However, even
for PAs that
do not have set aside funds, NIAID may fund applications with percentiles or priority
scores beyond the payline.
Another key difference is that most RFAs have a single receipt
date, so all applications for an RFA are reviewed at the same
time by a single scientific
review group convened by NIAID.
Most PAs use regular NIH receipt or submission
dates and are reviewed by Center
for Scientific Review study
sections.
Most program
announcements identifying location of peer review (PAR), a type
of PA, are reviewed by special
emphasis panels.
For a more
complete comparison, go to Application Approach: What Are Your Choices? and Compare FOAs in the NIH Grant Cycle: Application to Renewal.
Does NIAID use a major portion of its budget for initiatives?
No. Targeted
research is a small proportion of the total dollars NIAID
funds. Each year, we set
aside a certain amount of money for initiatives as
part of our financial
management plan. For details, go to Budget and Funding and the Financial Management
Plan SOP.
Is knowing Institute priorities the key to getting a grant?
Not necessarily, though it can help. Your expertise, achievement of Specific Aims from a previous grant, and career level are key factors in getting a grant. Read Application Approach: What Are Your Choices? in the NIH Grant Cycle: Application to Renewal, as
well as Five Steps to Finding NIAID's
High-Priority Areas.
What are concepts?
A concept is
an initiative in its planning stage and can signal our plans a year
or two ahead of time. Read more at Concepts May Turn Into Initiatives and Application Approach: What Are Your Choices?
For concepts cleared at recent Council meetings, go to
Concepts: Potential Opportunities.
Do concepts compete with each other for dollars?
Yes. Some concepts never develop into initiatives because the number
of concepts identified by NIAID staff
for potential initiatives usually exceeds NIAID's monies to fund applications
and proposals in response to them.
NIAID determines an initiative's level of funding based on its relative
priority and scientific needs. Go to Concepts: Potential Opportunities, Concepts May Turn Into Initiatives, and Application Approach: What Are Your Choices?, and the NIAID Funding Policy and Process SOP for
more information.
Should I wait for a concept to become an initiative before I write an application?
No. Consider whether your expertise lends itself to any of
the research topics and, if it does, contact the program officer for
further discussion. Applications in high-priority
areas may
qualify for special,
above-the-payline funding
even if NIAID does not publish an initiative.
Read more in Concepts May Turn Into Initiatives and go to About Picking a Topic and Application Approach: What Are Your Choices? in the NIH Grant Cycle: Application to Renewal.
Where do NIAID program officers get ideas for concepts?
Program officers determine science areas suitable for an initiative by reading the scientific literature, participating in workshops and conferences, and communicating with investigators, health care professionals, and other experts.
How do NIAID managers determine priorities?
To evaluate and prioritize concepts and initiatives, NIAID holds two annual retreats, the Summer Policy Retreat and Winter Program Review. NIAID also uses other groups, including its Executive Committee, to prioritize initiatives. For more information, see NIAID Funding Opportunity Planning and the Budget Cycle.
How long does it take to develop an initiative?
Budget and planning is a two- to three-year process. It starts with ideas that may be developed into concepts that NIAID staff present to our advisory Council. After Council approval, we may issue an initiative, depending on budgetary and programmatic factors.
For an overview, see NIAID's Budget and Concept Planning Flowchart and the Phasing of Initiatives SOP.
For more on initiative planning, see NIAID Funding Opportunity Planning and the Budget Cycle and Concept Development SOP.
Does Council have to approve a concept before NIAID can publish an initiative?
Yes. For more information on how NIAID approves initiatives, see Concepts May Turn Into Initiatives, the Advisory Council SOP, What Council Does,
and What is concept clearance
and Council's role in it? on
our NIAID
Advisory Council question and answer page.
What if my question wasn't answered here, or I'd like to suggest a question?
Email deaweb@niaid.nih.gov with the title of this page or its URL and your question or comment. We answer questions by email and post them here. Thanks for helping us clarify and expand our knowledge base. |
