The message below is sent by NIGMS program directors to the principal investigators of funded new and competing grants.
Dear NIGMS Investigator:
Congratulations on your recent NIGMS grant award! This message offers some tips and reminders that we hope you will find useful. We encourage you to contact us if you have any questions about your grant or if you get exciting results and want to share the good news.
Keep a copy of your summary statement, which is available on the NIH Commons ( https://commons.era.nih.gov/commons). Even if it is extremely positive, the summary statement is likely to contain useful suggestions and valuable comments about the aims that you proposed. When you submit your competing renewal application a few years from now, you will have to summarize your progress on all of the aims and explain any changes that you made in the research plan. The reviewers will have copies of your previous summary statement, so they will know what you originally proposed.
Get a copy of your Notice of Grant Award (NGA) and keep that too. You can get the NGA from your university business official or the NIH Commons. Important information in your NGA includes the project start date (anniversary date), the project end date, the amount of the award, recommended amounts for future years, and contact information for your program director and your grants management specialist. Contact your program director if you have questions relating to your research (e.g., you want to change the direction of your research, add a collaborator, or write another grant application on a related topic). Contact your grants management specialist if you have questions about your budget or grants administration policies (e.g., what you need to do if you go on sabbatical leave or if you move to a different institution).
It is expected that you will be able to do the proposed research with the funding provided. If your needs change, remember that you can rebudget your award. In addition, you may wish to apply for a supplement to pursue specific types of research; engage in collaborations with quantitative scientists; or support underrepresented minorities, individuals with disabilities, or people who are re-entering research. See http://www.nigms.nih.gov/research/announcements.html#research_supplements for a list of supplements. If you think you might be eligible for a supplement, contact your program director.
Annual progress reports are due 60 days before the anniversary date stated in your NGA for paper submissions and 45 days before the anniversary date for electronic submissions. We strongly encourage you to submit progress reports electronically through the NIH Commons. Your program director and grants management specialist read these reports carefully and use them to assess whether you are on target, scientifically and fiscally. Program directors may also use the information in progress reports to prepare highlights of NIGMS-funded research for Congress and other audiences. If you are not making progress on your aims or you are not spending your funds at a reasonable rate, NIGMS staff will contact you or your sponsored programs office to find out why. Should a problem arise, let your program director or grants management specialist know about it as soon as possible, even if your next progress report is not due for several months.
Acknowledge NIH/NIGMS support of your research in journal articles (cite your NIGMS grant by number when possible), oral or poster presentations, news releases, interviews with reporters, and other communications. It is important to do this so taxpayers understand that money budgeted to NIH results in research advances made by scientists throughout the country. If you have more than one grant, only cite the grant(s) that supported the research described in the article or presentation.
When you have a manuscript describing an exceptionally significant finding accepted for publication, please contact your program director to discuss the possibility of a news release or other publicity.
Useful Web Sites
NIGMS Home Page
NIGMS Research Funding
NIH Home Page
NIH Grant Policies, Guidelines, and Funding Opportunities
Attribution of Support
Roles and Responsibilities of NIH and Staff at Your Institution
NIH "Welcome Wagon" Letter--Information for Staff at Your Institution
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