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Recovery Act: What You Need to Know

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Introduction

On February 17, President Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), with the goals of preserving and creating jobs, promoting economic recovery, and providing investments to increase economic efficiency by spurring technological advances in science and health.

This unprecedented opportunity to expand scientific endeavors within the mission of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) will require a new level of transparency and accountability from both NINDS staff and from our investigators. It is extremely important that we all rise to the challenge and demonstrate to the American taxpayers that NIH was a worthy investment of stimulus funds.

What you need to know if you are awarded stimulus funds

Stimulus funds come with special rules that are described in the NIH Standard Terms and Conditions for ARRA Awards. Please read this information carefully as there are new reporting requirements specifically for the use of stimulus money. In addition, standard business policies and practices still apply (e.g., expanded authorities, salary caps, and use of the streamlined noncompeting award process). Drawdown of award funds constitutes acceptance of the NIH/NINDS Standard Terms and Conditions and of the Standard Terms and Conditions for ARRA Awards.

You will need to provide a detailed budget so that your outlays and our award funds can be tracked appropriately.

  • You will not need a budget justification unless the budget has changed.
  • Make sure the people and other items listed in the detailed budget are consistent with your original budget to avoid creating discrepancies will need to be resolved.

You may need to negotiate your budget and/or Specific Aims with your Program Officer. If your Specific Aims must be deleted or significantly renegotiated, have the authorized signing official send a MS Word file to the Program Officer and fax the information to (301) 451-5537 with these exact headers for each of the following sections documenting the change. These headers must include the word "Section." Use all headers even if there is no text.

  • Revised Abstract Section
  • Revised Specific Aims Section
  • Revised Public Health Relevance Section

How to Conduct a Two-Year Research Project

If your original request was for more than two years, the NINDS will renegotiate your budget and Specific Aims. Make sure you update any affected parts of the application to reflect deleted or revised aims. Speak to your program officer for advice.

Special Reporting Requirements

The Obama administration is committed to transparency, and we will all do our part. Each agency must report its spending online, and data from recipients will be part of those reports. Please be responsive to quarterly scientific progress and financial reporting requests.

Initial details of the reporting requirements have been provided in the NIH Standard Terms and Conditions for ARRA Awards. The NINDS website will have updated requirements as they become available.

Where to Find Additional Information and Funding Opportunities:

Last updated April 14, 2009