This Program Announcement expires three years from the Release Date shown 
directly below.

BASIC AND TRANSLATIONAL RESEARCH IN EMOTION: SMALL GRANTS

Release Date:  June 15, 2000 (see replacement PA-03-169)

PA NUMBER:  PA-00-106

National Institute of Mental Health
National Institute on Aging
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism
National Cancer Institute
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
National Institute on Drug Abuse

THIS PA USES "MODULAR GRANT" AND "JUST-IN-TIME" CONCEPTS.  THIS PA INCLUDES 
DETAILED MODIFICATIONS TO STANDARD APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS THAT MUST BE USED 
WHEN PREPARING AN APPLICATION IN RESPONSE TO THIS PA.

PURPOSE

This Program Announcement (PA) and PA-00-105 – Basic And Translational 
Research In Emotion (http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PA-00-105.html) 
are revisions of PA-94-059, which was published in the NIH Guide on 
April 29, 1994.  

Under this PA, the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), the National 
Institute on Aging (NIA), the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and 
Alcoholism (NIAAA), the National Cancer Institute (NCI), the National 
Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), and the National 
Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) invite research grant applications to expand 
basic research on the processes and mechanisms involved in the experience and 
expression of emotion.

HEALTHY PEOPLE 2010

The Public Health Service (PHS) is committed to achieving the health 
promotion and disease prevention objectives of "Healthy People 2010," a PHS-
led national activity for setting priority areas.  This PA, Basic and 
Translational Research in Emotion, is related to various priority areas.  
Potential applicants may obtain a copy of "Healthy People 2010" at 
http://www.health.gov/healthypeople.

ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS

Applications may be submitted by domestic, for-profit and non-profit 
organizations, public and private, such as universities, colleges, hospitals, 
laboratories, units of State and local governments, and eligible agencies of 
the Federal government.  Racial/ethnic minority individuals, women, and 
persons with disabilities are encouraged to apply as principal investigators.  
Foreign institutions are not eligible for R03 awards.

MECHANISM OF SUPPORT

This PA will use the National Institutes of Health (NIH) R03 (small grant) 
award mechanism.  Responsibility for the planning, direction, and execution 
of the proposed project will be solely that of the applicant.  The total 
project period for an application submitted in response to this PA may not 
exceed two years.

Funds must be requested in $25,000 direct cost modules.  A maximum of 2 
modules (up to $50,000 direct costs) per year for may be requested for R03 
applications.  The cost of equipment is included in the budget limitation.  
Any necessary escalation must be included within the number of modules being 
requested.  Only limited budget information is required and any budget 
adjustments made by the Initial Review Group will be in modules of $25,000.

More detailed information about modular grant applications, including a 
sample budget narrative justification pages and a sample biographical sketch, 
is available via the Internet at: 
http://grants.nih.gov/grants/funding/modular/modular.htm.

Applicants are strongly encouraged to consult with program staff (listed 
under INQUIRIES) and to obtain the appropriate additional announcements for 
the small grant mechanism.  Special instructions and information for the 
various small grant programs are found via the Internet at:

http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PAR-99-140.html (NIMH)
http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PA-99-049.html (NIA)
http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PAR-99-098.html (NIAAA)
http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PAR-97-006.html (NCI) 
http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PAR-99-126.html (NICHD)
http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PAR-97-038.html (NIDA)

RESEARCH OBJECTIVES

Background

The study of emotion encompasses a wide range of psychological, social, 
developmental, and biological phenomena, including characteristic expressive 
signals, alterations in physiology, and subjective feeling states.  Central 
and autonomic nervous system (CNS, ANS) activity and the role of cognitive 
processing in emotion also are important objects of study, as is the 
contribution of emotional and motivational systems to cognitive faculties 
such as perception, attention, memory, and motor control.  In addition, the 
study of emotion includes overt behavioral responses such as aggression or 
withdrawal, interpersonal relationships and communication, and environmental 
circumstances and experiences that elicit and shape emotion.  Emotion 
research can also include the study of licit and illicit psychoactive 
substances that alter mood states, and conversely, the study of how emotional 
and mood states can predispose to, or modulate the effects of, pain or 
alcohol and psychoactive substances.  This PA also encourages research on 
emotional reactions in the context of the diagnosis and treatment of cancer, 
and the study of emotion as it relates to this disease or increased risk of 
this disease, including outcomes such as social relationships, health care 
provider relationships, adherence and others.  Although most emotion research 
involves human populations, animal models of emotion are also valuable for 
the investigation of particular aspects of emotion and its eliciting 
contexts.

Recent years have shown the rapid expansion of concepts and methods for 
studying emotion in all of its aspects.  Outlined in this program 
announcement are current needs that stem from these advances and that 
constitute critical components of a comprehensive basic research strategy, 
with the ultimate aim of fostering mental and physical health and the 
understanding of human development and aging.  Sample research questions are 
provided for illustration; they are not intended to be exhaustive.

Basic Mechanisms of Emotion

The study of emotion involves measurements in a number of different response 
systems (e.g., neural, physiological, subjective, expressive).  To foster the 
rapid and orderly accumulation of knowledge, it is important that multiple 
system measurements be conducted whenever possible.  Interactions of emotion 
with cognition also constitute an important area of study.  For example, more 
detailed understanding is needed of the interplay between emotion and 
cognition that can inform conceptualizations of disorders in which 
impairments of both emotion and cognition are apparent (e.g., schizophrenia, 
depression, alcohol and drug dependence, Alzheimer’s Disease, autism), as 
well as provide data important for promoting emotional self-regulation and 
understanding developmental processes.  In addition, the interplay between 
emotion and cognition may be studied in the context of risk perception and 
decision-making as it applies to treatment and screening among cancer 
patients or individuals at increased risk of cancer, and in the context of 
financial and medical decision-making by older adults.  Sample research 
questions include the following:

o  What are the relationships among behavioral, expressive, physiological, 
and subjective aspects of emotion?  What are the circumstances under which 
these various systems act in concert, and what is the significance of various 
patterns of desynchrony?  What is the timing among the components and the 
developmental course?  What are the biological or psychological consequences 
of the inhibition of one or more components?

o  A number of different emotion theories posit some number of discrete 
emotions.  Other theories approach the domain as two, three or more 
dimensions of emotional response.  How are these two approaches related, and 
can they be reconciled in a comprehensive theory of emotion?

o  What are the continuities across, and distinctions among, the phenomena of 
reflex, emotion, mood, temperament, emotional trait, and emotional disorder?  
What social, psychological, and biological factors mediate their 
interrelationships?  How do these interrelationships change with age?  How do 
these phenomena interact in order to contribute to psychological adjustment, 
normal psychological and biological development, treatment and screening 
adherence, and quality of life among individuals with physical illness or 
those at risk of illness?

o  What are potential mechanisms by which sensation and perception influence 
emotion?  In turn, how are interactions between perception and emotion 
modulated in the experience of pain, in learning and memory, and in cognitive 
development?

o  How do attention and memory act to sustain or interrupt emotional states?  
In turn, how do emotional states serve to modulate or drive mechanisms of 
attention and memory?  How are interactions between attention, memory, and 
emotion modulated or modified by alcohol and psychoactive drugs?  How do 
these interactions change over the course of development?

Emotional Processes in Mental, Substance Abuse, and Developmental Disorders, 
and in Physical Disease

The study of emotional processes in disorders involves both similarities and 
differences from research on basic mechanisms of emotion.  Impairments of 
emotion found in psychopathology and developmental disorders may differ in 
either qualitative or quantitative ways from normal emotional processes.  
Emotional reactions may interact with the course of disease processes to 
alter the course of disorder.  Examples of relevant issues include the 
following:

o  What are the continuities and discontinuities between normative emotional 
processes (e.g., emotional development, expression, understanding, awareness, 
communication) and emotional processes seen in psychopathology, developmental 
disorders, alcohol or drug abuse, or resilience?
  
o  To what extent can behavioral, expressive, physiological, and subjective 
measures of emotion identify intent in individuals at risk for suicidal, 
violent, or self-injurious behavior within the context of preventive 
interventions?

o  Do individual differences in emotional reactivity and regulation, 
including responses to stress, produce differential vulnerabilities to mental 
or developmental disorders, including alcohol and/or drug dependence?  
Conversely, does alcohol/drug use or dependence produce changes in emotional 
reactivity?  How do stimuli associated with alcohol or drug use become 
triggers of emotional and subjective states that may lead to relapse?

o  Among cancer patients and people at increased risk for cancer, how do 
individual differences in emotional processes relate to reports of fatigue, 
return to work, adherence to treatment, nutritional recommendations, cancer 
screening behaviors, health care provider patient relationships, and other 
sequelae of the cancer diagnosis or known risk status?  What are the 
psychological and/or health consequences of the use of denial/repression 
among cancer patients?

o  How can individuals be trained to best identify emotions and mood states 
that may represent a possible risk for relapse of physical or mental illness?  
Does focusing on such emotions/moods help prevent relapse, or actually 
increase risk for relapse?

o  How do cognitive changes associated with late aging modify the expression 
of emotion and its underlying processes in older individuals?

Individual Differences

Research is suggesting that individual differences in emotional responsivity 
may mark specific vulnerabilities to mental disorder, including alcohol or 
drug dependence; the detailed examination of these individual differences is 
critical for understanding etiology and for designing prevention efforts.  
In-depth study is needed of the determinants, consequences, and sequelae of 
infant temperament.  Research in adult personality variation also is 
beginning to examine individual differences in emotional responsivity, with 
some indications of connections to physiology.  Sample research questions 
include the following:

o  What are the biological (including genetic) and experiential sources of 
individual differences in emotional reactivity and regulation throughout 
development?  How do biological and experiential influences combine and 
interact?  How do these change with age?

o  How do individual differences in emotionality relate to phenomena such as 
activity level, attention, and cognitive processes?  What are the neural 
substrates that underlie relationships among such phenomena and how do these 
relationships maintain or change over time?

o  Among children with developmental and learning disabilities or childhood 
illness, how are individual differences in emotional processes related to 
functioning over time?  How does the presence of developmental and/or 
learning disabilities or other pediatric problems influence the development 
of emotional regulation and reactivity over time?

o  What biological, social, personality, and cognitive factors interact with 
emotion-based individual differences to contribute to psychopathology and 
drug use?

o  How do emotions get attached to attitudes, stereotypes, and identity?  How 
do these influence illness and recovery?

Developmental Aspects

Data are accumulating rapidly in areas such as children's understanding and 
experience of emotions, and in emotional communications occurring between 
parents and children beginning in the earliest weeks of life.  The import of 
findings related to the development of emotions would be well served by an 
overarching theoretical framework specifying the ontogeny of emotion.  Also, 
the primary concentration to date on the early years of life needs to be 
broadened to include focused attention on early and middle childhood, 
adolescence, adulthood, and old age.  Sample research questions include the 
following: 

o  Are connections among various components of emotional response present at 
birth?  Do they change with age, particularly during periods of transition 
(e.g., adolescence)?  How do changes in bodily systems with age affect the 
nature and intensity of emotional response and the interrelationships among 
response systems?  Do such changes predispose toward psychopathology in older 
individuals?

o  What are the determinants, age-specific characteristics, and consequences 
of emotional attachments across the lifespan?  What are the parallels among 
attachment patterns in infancy, in childhood, in adolescence, in adulthood, 
in old age?

o  How do cognitive factors (e.g., intelligence, learning disabilities)  
influence the development of emotional processes over the lifespan?

o  What affective processes are particularly germane to coping with events in 
the family life cycle (e.g., marriage, divorce, birth, transition to 
parenthood, aging, retirement, grandparenting, dealing with death and 
bereavement, coping with substance use of family members)?
  
o  What are the developmental psychobiological contributions of stress and 
other environmental influences on emotional development and expression?

o  What is the role of emotion in brain development over the life course and 
what are the relevant mechanisms?  What is the role of endocrine and immune 
systems and their neural control over the course of development and aging?

o  Does prenatal exposure to alcohol or abused drugs or use of abused drugs 
in adolescence affect emotional development?  Conversely, are children with 
disorders of emotional regulation more vulnerable to becoming drug dependent?

Social Aspects

The quality of interpersonal relationships can be a significant source of 
both positive and negative emotions.  Further, social relationships play a 
substantial role in the modulation of emotional responses, however generated.  
Social factors thus make a critical contribution to an understanding of the 
risks for mental disorders and alcohol/drug dependence.  In addition to the 
need for further research on these interpersonal aspects of emotion, it is 
very important to examine the macro-environmental processes (e.g., culture, 
social structure, the media) that help to shape emotional development and 
adjustment.  Sample research questions include the following:

o  How do cultural and socialization processes influence the experience and 
expression of emotion?  How do salient social factors and contexts (e.g., 
childcare settings, media, exposure to violence) in particular developmental 
stages shape affective development and expression?

o  What are the dynamics of emotional communications occurring within 
families and other intimate groups and how do they relate to the development, 
maintenance, or erosion of emotional bonds?  How do variations in social 
sharing of emotions lead to differences in psychopathology, therapeutic 
approaches, and potential health outcomes?  How are these patterns altered by 
drug dependence?  Among cancer patients and significant others, what are the 
short- and long-term consequences of patterns of emotional communication on 
social relationships and psychological adjustment?

o  How do variations in parenting style and behaviors (e.g., teaching, limit-
setting) influence the development of affect regulation in children?  How 
does child neglect (resulting from psychopathology, alcohol or drug addiction 
or other causes) influence emotional development in children?

o  How does caregiver behavior influence affect regulation in persons with 
mental disorders in late life, including Alzheimer’s Disease?

o  How do the emotions involved with social relationships affect life in the 
community for severely disordered individuals, and how do these emotions 
interact with the characteristics of the disorder to affect its course?

o  What role does the process of social comparison play in the emotional 
response to cancer and to aging, what are some potential mechanisms 
explaining the direction of the social comparison process across individuals, 
and how might these processes be influenced by other social or non-social 
mechanisms?

Biological Aspects

The study of emotion provides a valuable opportunity for examination of the 
interplay between psychological, physiological, and neural processes, and 
methods are increasingly becoming available for examining the neural 
substrates of emotion.  Sample research questions include the following: 

o  What are the bi-directional influences between emotional states or 
emotional traits (e.g., temperament) and neurobiological, endocrine and 
immune systems?  Among cancer patients, how might these influences on biology 
influence health status or treatment (side effects, ability to tolerate 
treatment)?

o  What are the neuroanatomical circuits and neurochemical processes involved 
in emotional states and emotion-based individual differences?  How do these 
systems evolve over the lifespan?  To what extent do these neural processes 
overlap with those associated with psychopathology and substance use 
disorders such as alcohol or drug addiction? 

o  How can neuroimaging and large-array electrophysiological techniques best 
be used to study brain areas that are active during different emotional 
states and in pain perception?  What is the relationship of observed CNS 
activity to other responses in emotion, including alcohol/drug-induced or 
alcohol/drug withdrawal- or craving-induced changes in emotion?

o  How does the aging process, either in association with age-associated 
neurogenerative disease processes or without disease, affect the emotion-
based networks within the brain and those that interact with the endocrine 
system?

Methodological Needs

Methods related to the study of emotion run the full range, from self-report 
and interview procedures, to behavioral observations, and to measures of ANS 
and CNS structure and function.  Improvements are needed in ways that enhance 
validity and efficiency of measurement without sacrificing richness and 
detail.  In research on physical illness such as cancer, also needed is 
methodology that takes into account the reports of others in the patient’s 
social and medical environment, and reports that are sensitive to the changes 
in emotional responsiveness over time.  Sample needs include the following:

o  Most research on emotional expression concentrates on the face.  Methods 
also are needed to assess vocal, postural, and gestural components of 
emotional expression.  Further, measures of emotion need to be developed that 
can be applied across cultures, cohorts, and species.

o  Techniques of computer science, neural networks, and image processing need 
to be applied to the task of producing valid and reliable judgments of facial 
and other behavioral expressions of emotion.

o  Expanded and improved neuroimaging techniques are needed to examine CNS 
activity in emotional responding.  Further research is needed on the 
methodological and conceptual relationships among techniques with different 
spatial and temporal resolution.

o  Animal models need to be used to their fullest potential to examine social 
and biological determinants and consequences of emotion.

o  Advanced and ethically-guided human laboratory procedures for inducing 
positive and negative emotional states are needed.

INCLUSION OF WOMEN AND MINORITIES IN RESEARCH INVOLVING HUMAN SUBJECTS

It is the policy of the NIH that women and members of minority groups and 
their subpopulations must be included in all NIH supported biomedical and 
behavioral research projects involving human subjects, unless a clear and 
compelling rationale and justification is provided that inclusion is 
inappropriate with respect to the health of the subjects or the purpose of 
the research.  This policy results from the NIH Revitalization Act of 1993 
(Section 492B of Public Law 103-43).

All investigators proposing research involving human subjects should read the 
"NIH Guidelines For Inclusion of Women and Minorities as Subjects in Clinical 
Research," which have been published in the Federal Register of March 28, 
1994 (FR 59 14508-14513) and in the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts, Vol. 
23, No. 11, March 18, 1994 available on the web at the following URL address: 
http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/not94-100.html

INCLUSION OF CHILDREN AS PARTICIPANTS IN RESEARCH INVOLVING HUMAN SUBJECTS

It is the policy of NIH that children (i.e., individuals under the age of 21) 
must be included in all human subjects research, conducted or supported by 
the NIH, unless there are scientific and ethical reasons not to include them.  
This policy applies to all initial (Type 1) applications submitted for 
receipt dates after October 1, 1998.

All investigators proposing research involving human subjects should read the 
"NIH Policy and Guidelines on the Inclusion of Children as Participants in 
Research Involving Human Subjects" that was published in the NIH Guide for 
Grants and Contracts, March 6, 1998, and is available at the following URL 
address: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/not98-024.html

Investigators also may obtain copies of these policies from the program staff 
listed under INQUIRIES.  Program staff may also provide additional relevant 
information concerning the policy.

NOTE FOR APPLICATIONS FOCUSED ON AGING RESEARCH

Applications received in response to this PA may focus on scientific issues 
related to aging.  In describing the plan to recruit human subjects 
investigators may cite a focus on aging as the justification for why children 
will be excluded.  In this regard, applicants may use Justification 1 from 
the policy announcement, the research topic to be studied is irrelevant to 
children.

SPECIAL NOTES:

Describe any requirements for the inclusion in the application of plans to 
share data and indicate that reviewers will assess the adequacy of the 
proposed plan.  Include this in review criteria section

There is a limit of 10 pages in the preparation of Sections A-D of the 
research Plan for this announcement.

URLS IN NIH GRANT APPLICATIONS OR APPENDICES

All applications and proposals for NIH funding must be self-contained within 
specified page limitations.  Unless otherwise specified in an NIH 
solicitation, internet addresses (URLs) should not be used to provide 
information necessary to the review because reviewers are under no obligation 
to view the Internet sites.  Reviewers are cautioned that their anonymity may 
be compromised when they directly access an Internet site.

APPLICATION PROCEDURES

Applicants are strongly encouraged to contact the program contacts listed 
under INQUIRIES with any questions regarding their proposed project and the 
goals of this PA.

Applications are to be submitted on the grant application form PHS 398 (rev.
4/98) and will be accepted at the standard application deadlines as indicated
in the application kit.  Application kits are available at most institutional 
offices of sponsored research and from the Division of Extramural Outreach 
and Information Resources, National Institutes of Health, 6701 Rockledge 
Drive, MSC 7910, Bethesda, MD 20892-7910, telephone (301) 435-0714, Email: 
GrantsInfo@nih.gov.  Applications are also available on the World Wide Web 
at: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/forms.htm.

The modular grant concept establishes specific modules in which direct costs 
may be requested as well as a maximum level for requested budgets.  Only 
limited budgetary information is required under this approach.  The 
just-in-time concept allows applicants to submit certain information only 
when there is a possibility for an award.  It is anticipated that these 
changes will reduce the administrative burden for the applicants, reviewers 
and Institute staff.  The research grant application form PHS 398 (rev. 4/98) 
is to be used in applying for these grants, with the modifications noted 
below.

BUDGET INSTRUCTIONS

Modular Grant applications will request direct costs in $25,000 modules, up 
to a total direct cost request of $50,000 per year.  The total direct costs 
must be requested in accordance with the program guidelines and the 
modifications made to the standard PHS 398 application instructions described 
below:

PHS 398

o FACE PAGE: Items 7a and 7b should be completed, indicating Direct Costs (in 
$25,000 increments up to a maximum of $50,000) and Total Costs [Modular Total 
Direct plus Facilities and Administrative (F&A) costs] for the initial budget 
period Items 8a and 8b should be completed indicating the Direct and Total 
Costs for the entire proposed period of support.

o DETAILED BUDGET FOR THE INITIAL BUDGET PERIOD - Do not complete Form Page 4 
of the PHS 398.  It is not required and will not be accepted with the 
application.

o BUDGET FOR THE ENTIRE PROPOSED PERIOD OF SUPPORT - Do not complete the 
categorical budget table on Form Page 5 of the PHS 398.  It is not required 
and will not be accepted with the application.

o NARRATIVE BUDGET JUSTIFICATION - Prepare a Modular Grant Budget Narrative 
page.  (See http://grants.nih.gov/grants/funding/modular/modular.htm for 
sample pages.)  At the top of the page, enter the total direct costs 
requested for each year.  This is not a Form page.

o Under Personnel, List key project personnel, including their names, percent 
of effort, and roles on the project.  No individual salary information should 
be provided.  However, the applicant should use the NIH appropriation 
language salary cap and the NIH policy for graduate student compensation in 
developing the budget request.

o For Consortium/Contractual costs, provide an estimate of total costs 
(direct plus facilities and administrative) for each year, each rounded to 
the nearest $1,000.  List the individuals/organizations with whom consortium 
or contractual arrangements have been made, the percent effort of key 
personnel, and the role on the project.  Indicate whether the collaborating 
institution is foreign or domestic.  The total cost for a 
consortium/contractual arrangement is included in the overall requested 
modular direct cost amount.  Include the Letter of Intent to establish a 
consortium.

o Provide an additional narrative budget justification for any variation in 
the number of modules requested.

o BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH - The Biographical Sketch provides information used by 
reviewers in the assessment of each individual's qualifications for a 
specific role in the proposed project, as well as to evaluate the overall 
qualifications of the research team.  A biographical sketch is required for 
all key personnel, following the instructions below.  No more than three 
pages may be used for each person.  A sample biographical sketch may be 
viewed at: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/funding/modular/modular.htm

- Complete the educational block at the top of the form page;
- List position(s) and any honors;
- Provide information, including overall goals and responsibilities, on 
research projects ongoing or completed during the last three years.
- List selected peer-reviewed publications, with full citations;

o CHECKLIST - This page should be completed and submitted with the 
application.  If the F&A rate agreement has been established, indicate the 
type of agreement and the date.  All appropriate exclusions must be applied  
in the calculation of the F&A costs for the initial budget period and all 
future budget years.

o The applicant should provide the name and phone number of the individual to 
contact concerning fiscal and administrative issues if additional information 
is necessary following the initial review.

Applications not conforming to these guidelines will be considered 
unresponsive to this PA and will be returned without further review.

The title and number of the program announcement must be typed on line 2 of 
the face page of the application form and the YES box must be marked.

Submit a signed, typewritten original of the application, including the 
Checklist, and five signed photocopies in one package to:

CENTER FOR SCIENTIFIC REVIEW
NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH
6701 ROCKLEDGE DRIVE, ROOM 1040, MSC 7710
BETHESDA, MD  20892-7710
BETHESDA, MD  20817 (for express/courier service)

REVIEW CONSIDERATIONS

Applications will be assigned on the basis of established PHS referral 
guidelines.  Applications will be evaluated for scientific and technical 
merit by an appropriate scientific review group convened in accordance with 
the standard NIH peer review procedures.  As part of the initial merit 
review, all applications will receive a written critique and undergo a 
process in which only those applications deemed to have the highest 
scientific merit, generally the top half of applications under review, will 
be discussed and assigned a priority score.

The goals of NIH-supported research are to advance our understanding of 
biological systems, improve the control of disease, and enhance health.  In 
the written comments reviewers will be asked to discuss the following aspects 
of the application in order to judge the likelihood that the proposed 
research will have a substantial impact on the pursuit of these goals.  Each 
of these criteria will be addressed and considered in assigning the overall 
score, weighting them as appropriate for each application.  Note that the 
application does not need to be strong in all categories to be judged likely 
to have major scientific impact and thus deserve a high priority score.  For 
example, an investigator may propose to carry out important work that by its 
nature is not innovative but is essential to move a field forward.

(1) Significance:  Does this study address an important problem?  If the aims 
of the application are achieved, how will scientific knowledge be advanced?  
What will be the effect of these studies on the concepts or methods that 
drive this field?

(2) Approach:  Are the conceptual framework, design, methods, and analyses 
adequately developed, well-integrated, and appropriate to the aims of the 
project?  Does the applicant acknowledge potential problem areas and consider 
alternative tactics?

(3) Innovation:  Does the project employ novel concepts, approaches or 
methods?  Are the aims original and innovative?  Does the project challenge 
existing paradigms or develop new methodologies or technologies?

(4) Investigator:  Is the investigator appropriately trained and well suited 
to carry out this work?  Is the work proposed appropriate to the experience 
level of the principal investigator and other researchers (if any)?

(5) Environment:  Does the scientific environment in which the work will be 
done contribute to the probability of success?  Do the proposed experiments 
take advantage of unique features of the scientific environment or employ 
useful collaborative arrangements?  Is there evidence of institutional 
support?

In addition to the above criteria, in accordance with NIH policy, all 
applications will also be reviewed with respect to the following:

o  The adequacy of plans to include both genders, minorities and their 
subgroups, and children as appropriate for the scientific goals of the 
research.  Plans for the recruitment and retention of subjects will also be 
evaluated.

o  The reasonableness of the proposed budget and duration in relation to the 
proposed research

o  The adequacy of the proposed protection for humans, animals or the 
environment, to the extent they may be adversely affected by the project  
proposed in the application.

o  The adequacy of the proposed plan to share data, if appropriate.

AWARD CRITERIA

Applications will compete for available funds with all other recommended 
applications assigned to the Institute. The following will be considered in 
making funding decisions:  Quality of the proposed project as determined by 
peer review, availability of funds, and program priority.

INQUIRIES

Inquiries are encouraged.  The opportunity to clarify any issues or questions 
from potential applicants is welcome.

Direct inquiries regarding programmatic issues to:

Mary Ellen Oliveri, Ph.D.
Behavioral Science Research Branch
Division of Neuroscience and Basic Behavioral Science
National Institute of Mental Health
6001 Executive Blvd., Room 7220, MSC 9651
Bethesda, MD  20892-9651 (20852 for courier/express service)
Telephone:  (301) 443-3942
FAX:  (301) 443-9876 
Email:  moliveri@nih.gov 

Jared B. Jobe, Ph.D.
Behavioral and Social Research Program
National Institute on Aging
Gateway Building, Room 533
7201 Wisconsin Avenue
Bethesda, MD  20892
Telephone:  (301) 496-3137
FAX:  (301) 402-0051
Email:  Jared_Jobe@nih.gov

Ellen D. Witt, Ph.D.
Neuroscience and Behavioral Research Branch
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism
6000 Executive Blvd., Suite 402, MSC 7003
Bethesda, MD  20892-7003
Telephone:  (301) 443-6545
FAX:  (301) 594-0673
Email:  ewitt@willco.niaaa.nih.gov 

Wendy Nelson, Ph.D.
Basic Biobehavioral Research Branch
Behavioral Research Program
National Cancer Institute
6130 Executive Blvd., MSC 7326
Executive Plaza North, Room 211
Bethesda, MD 20892-7326
Telephone:  301-435-4590
FAX:  301-435-7547
Email:  wn14x@nih.gov 

Margaret M. Feerick, Ph.D.
Child Development and Behavior Branch
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
6100 Executive Blvd., Room 4B05, MSC 7510 
Bethesda, MD 20892-7510
Telephone:  (301) 435-6882
FAX:  (301) 480-7773
Email:  feerickm@mail.nih.gov 

Jaylan S. Turkkan, Ph.D.
Behavioral Sciences Research Branch
National Institute on Drug Abuse
6001 Executive Blvd., Room 4282, MSC 9555
Bethesda, MD 20892-9555
Telephone:  (301) 443-1263 
FAX:  (301) 594-6043 
Email:  jaylan@nih.gov 

Direct inquiries regarding fiscal matters to:

Diana S. Trunnell
Grants Management Branch
National Institute of Mental Health
6001 Executive Boulevard, Room 6115, MSC 9605
Bethesda, MD  20892-9605
Telephone:  (301) 443-2805
FAX:  (301) 443-6885
Email:  Diana_Trunnell@nih.gov 

Joseph Ellis
Grants Management Office
National Institute on Aging
Gateway Building, Room 2N-212
7201 Wisconsin Avenue
Bethesda, MD  20892
Telephone:  (301) 496-1472
FAX:  (301) 402-3672 
Email:  ellisJ@exmur.nia.nih.gov

Judy Simons
Grants Management Branch
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism
6000 Executive Blvd., Suite 504, MSC 7003
Bethesda, MD  20892-7003
Telephone:  (301) 443-2434
FAX:  (301) 443-3891
Email:  js182a@nih.gov 

Sara Stone
Grants Administration Branch
National Cancer Institute
6120 Executive Blvd., Room 243, MSC 7150
Bethesda, MD  20892-7150
Telephone:  (301) 496-7249
FAX:  (301) 496-8601
Email:  stones@gab.nci.nih.gov

Doug Shawver
Grants Management Branch
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
6100 Executive Boulevard, Room 8A01C, MSC 7510
Bethesda, MD  20892-7510
Telephone:  (301) 496-1303
FAX:  (301) 402-0915
Email:  ds117g@nih.gov 

Gary Fleming, J.D., M.A.
Grants Management Branch
National Institute on Drug Abuse 
6001 Executive Boulevard, Room 3131, MSC 9541
Bethesda, MD 20892-9541
Telephone:  (301) 443-6710
FAX:  (301) 594-6849
Email:  gf6s@nih.gov

AUTHORITY AND REGULATIONS 

This program is described in the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance No. 
93.242 (NIMH), 93.866 (NIA), 93.273 (NIAAA), 93.399(NCI), 93.865 (NICHD), and 
93.279 (NIDA).  Awards are made under authorization of the Public Health 
Service Act, Title IV, Part A (Public Law 78-410, as amended by Public Law 
99-158, 42 USC 241 and 285) and administered under PHS grants policies and 
Federal Regulations 42 CFR 52 and 45 CFR Part 74.  This program is not 
subject to the intergovernmental review requirements of Executive Order 12372 
or Health Systems Agency review.

The PHS strongly encourages all grant and contract recipients to provide a 
smoke-free workplace and promote the non-use of all tobacco products.  In 
addition, Public Law 103-227, the Pro-Children Act of 1994, prohibits smoking 
in certain facilities (or in some cases, and portion of a facility) in which 
regular or routine education, library, day care, health care or early 
childhood development services are provided to children.  This is consistent 
with the PHS mission to protect and advance the physical and mental health of 
the American people.

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	Office of Extramural Research (OER)			National Institutes of Health (NIH) 9000 Rockville Pike Bethesda, Maryland 20892			Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)
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