FY 2009 Funding and Operating Guidelines NATIONAL RESEARCH SERVICE AWARDS AND CAREER DEVELOPMENT AWARDS National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute National Institutes of Health ISSUED: April 2009

GOALS

The NHLBI will continue to apply National Institutes of Health (NIH) cost management guidelines in making National Research Service Awards and Research Career Awards.

National Research Service Awards -Training Grants & Fellowships:

NRSA Stipend Levels

FY 2009, NRSA awards will be issued using the stipend levels published in the NIH Guide Notice (NOT-OD-09-075) dated March 27, 2009.

These levels are as follows:
 

Competing and Non-Competing Institutional NRSA - Training Grants:

NHLBI Receipt Dates, Award Date, Limits on full-time training positions for Kirschstein - NRSA T32 Grants

Receipt dates for competing applications:

• January 25 - The NHLBI will accept all types of competing T32 applications (new, renewal/competing continuation, resubmission/amended) on this date.
  
• September 25 - Only resubmission/amended T32 applications will be accepted on this date.

Award Date:

New competing awards for T32 grants will be issued as early as February. Competing Renewals will usually follow the dates of the last non-competing end date.

Limits on Full-Time Training Positions (FTTPs):

The following strategies to manage the number of FTTPs will enable the Institute to support a greater number of meritorious training programs.

New and Renewal/competing continuation T32s -

• FTTP allocations will be held to the following limits. (Short-Term/Summer positions will not be affected.)

  New programs (Type 1) may request no more than 8 FTTPs.

  Renewal/Competing continuations (Type 2) that had 12 or fewer FTTPs during the previous award period will be capped at 12.

  Renewal/Competing continuations that had more than 12 FTTPs during the prior award period will be capped at the previous number.

  Renewal/Competing continuations that entail a change of program director since the prior award period will be capped at 8 FTTPs.

Training Related Expenses for Kirschstein - NRSA Recipients

Training related expenses for predoctoral and postdoctoral trainees will be paid at the amounts shown below for all competing awards made with FY 2009 funds. These amounts also apply to non-competing awards issued in FY 2009 for programs that received competing awards in FY 2008.

Training Related Expenses on Institutional Training Grants (including health insurance)

• Predoctoral Trainees: $4,200
• Postdoctoral Trainees: $7,850

  Non-competing continuations of institutional training awards that started in FY 2005 or earlier will continue to receive tuition, fees, health insurance, and training related expenses at the rates set in the initial Notice of Award and calculated in accordance with the policies in place at that time. Further information about the implementation of Kirschstein-NRSA policies for tuition, fees, and health insurance announced in the NIH NOT-OD-06-093 can be found in the NIH Questions and Answers Related to NOT-OD-06-093 and summarized in the table at the end of this notice.
  
  NHLBI allows renewal (competing) T32 applications to request up to $1,400 a year per predoctoral or postdoctoral trainee for travel to scientific meetings. Up to $500 a year can be requested for short-term trainees.
  

Exchanging Pre and Postdoctoral Slots:

A T32 program may exchange pre- and postdoctoral slots, pursuant to the availability of funds.  The T32 program must have been peer reviewed for pre- and postdoctoral training and must receive prior approval from the NHLBI because of the potential budgetary differences in the slots and the programmatic determination that is appropriate for each individual situation.

Applications with budgets greater than $500,000 in any year:

Applications for NRSA Institutional Grants requesting $500,000 or more in direct costs for any year must obtain, prior to submission, NHLBI agreement to accept their applications for consideration. This policy applies to new competing, renewal/competing continuation, and resubmission/amended applications. Requests must be received by the NHLBI no later than 6 weeks prior to the application receipt dates. Without this advance acceptance, applications will be returned by the Center for Scientific Review.

Amended Applications: NHLBI agreement to accept an application includes a statement that the Institute will automatically accept a single resubmission (amended) application (i.e., an "A1" application) provided that the proposed aims and total direct costs per year remain unchanged (excluding adjustments for changes in stipend levels or other allowable costs mandated by NRSA, or reductions in response to peer review.)

Individual NRSA - Fellowships:

Stipends will be awarded at the levels reflected in the March 27, 2009 Notice (NOT-OD-09-075) in the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts. 

The NHLBI will apply the following increases for awards issued in FY 2009 and beyond:

Stipends will be awarded at FY 2009 levels. Institutional allowances for predoctoral and postdoctoral fellows will be paid at the amounts shown below for all competing awards made with FY 2009 funds. Institutional allowances for non-competing awards will remain at previously committed levels.

Institutional allowance for individual Fellows sponsored by non-Federal Public, Private, and Non-Profit Institutions (Domestic & Foreign, including health insurance)

• Predoctoral Fellows: $4,200
• Postdoctoral Fellows: $7,850

Institutional allowance for individual Fellows sponsored by Federal and For-Profit Institutions (including health insurance)

• Predoctoral Fellows: $3,100
• Postdoctoral Fellows: $6,750

Career Development Awards - K Series

The maximum salary for recipients of K01, K02, K08, K23, K25 and the initial mentored K99 phase (effective with applications submitted under the NIH PA-09-036) of the K99/R00 Research Career Awards is $75,000 per year plus commensurate fringe benefits for full-time professional effort (i.e., 75% to 100%). The the total cost for the extramural phase of the K22 may not exceed $249,000 per year. This amount includes salary, fringe benefits, research support allowance and applicable indirect costs. The salaries for these K awards must be consistent with both the established salary structure at the institution and with salaries actually provided by the institution from its own funds to other staff members of equivalent qualifications, rank, and responsibilities in the department concerned.

Current and former recipients of K12 support may apply for the K01, K08, K22, K23, and K25 provided that they have no more than three years of K12 support by the time the K01, K08, K22, K23, or K25 award is issued. The combined total of K12 plus K01, K08, K22, K23, or K25 support must not exceed 6 years. A candidate for the K01, K08, K22, K23, and K25 may not concurrently apply for or have an award pending for any other NIH career development award.

The NHLBI Research Career Development Award Programs (with the exception of the K18 that requires a minimum of 50% effort and the K24 that requires a minimum of 25% and a maximum of 50% effort) require recipients to devote at least 75% effort per year of their full time professional effort to research-related activities. It is possible for a recipient to devote 100% effort to research-related activities. However, because the NHLBI believes it is important for the clinically prepared to keep abreast of clinical practice, the recipient may be able to devote the remaining 25% effort to patient care or other clinical activities.

The actual salary provided by the K18 and the K24 award is based on the candidate's full-time, 12-month institutional salary and the level of effort requested up to the maximum legislated salary rate in effect at the time of award. For awards in 2009, the maximum allowable annual salary on an NIH award is $196,700 for a full-time position. Therefore, the maximum annual base salary that will be provided for a K24 recipient with 50% effort will be $98,350.

The K07 grant mechanism is not listed above since those awards are issued in response to a specific RFA, in which allowable costs are specifically identified in the RFA.

MENTORED CAREER DEVELOPMENT AWARDS: REVISION OF NIH POLICY CONCERNING CONCURRENT SUPPORT FROM MENTORED CAREER DEVELOPMENT (K) AWARD AND A RESEARCH GRANT (NOT-OD-08-065).

NIH Policy Concerning Career Development (K) Awards: Leave, Temporary Adjustments to Percent Effort, and Part-Time Institutional Appointments, (NOT-OD-09-036)

Competing: New and Renewals

The NHLBI will award the Council recommended level except for specific programmatic and administrative adjustments.

Non-Competing Renewal:

The NHLBI will award the recommended level for FY 2009 as shown on the last Notice of Grant Award.