Background
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5) was signed on February 17, 2009, with the primary purposes of job preservation and creation, infrastructure investment, energy efficiency and science. The act provides NIH with up to $10.4 billion over the next two years for a variety of biomedical research and infrastructure support activities. This administrative supplement opportunity is one part of the overall NIH Recovery Act investment strategy, as described at www.hhs.gov/recovery.
NIH has published a Notice (NOT-OD-09-060) explaining the framework for this opportunity. This website provides further information for NIDDK grantees about NIDDK’s FY2009 program for ARRA Administrative Supplements.
Purpose
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) announces the opportunity for investigators and United States institutions/organizations with active NIH Research Grants to request administrative supplements for the purpose of promoting job creation, economic development, and accelerating the pace and achievement of scientific research. These supplements will also encourage students to seriously pursue research careers in the health related sciences, as well as provide elementary, middle school, and high school teachers, community college faculty, and faculty from non-research intensive institutions with short term research experiences in NIH-funded laboratories.
This administrative supplement solicitation encourages submissions in all scientific and programmatic areas funded by NIDDK. Support may be requested for up to 2 years for qualified grants (see eligibility section below). NIDDK encourages applicants to consider offering summer research experiences to faculty from non-research intensive institutions such as Academic Research Enhancement Award (AREA)-eligible colleges (see NIH AREA program FAQs).
Eligibility
To be eligible, the parent grant must be active and the research proposed in the supplement must be accomplished within the current competitive segment. The proposed supplement MUST be within the general scope of the peer-reviewed activities and aims approved for the parent grant. While in rare cases supplemental funds may be awarded during a no cost extension, the proposed activities must be within the scope of the approved project and the period of support cannot extend beyond the award period for the additional time that was granted.
Applications from foreign institutions are not permitted. Consistent with the goals of the Recovery Act, which are to preserve and create jobs and promote economic recovery in the United States, applicants must be domestic (United States) institutions/organizations (i.e., located in the 50 states, territories and possessions of the United States, Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, or District of Columbia).
IMPORTANT: The funds requested by the NIH grantee in the supplement application must be within the general scope of the peer-reviewed activities and aims approved within the parent grant. These supplements should be used to cover cost increases that are associated with enhancing summer employment opportunities in the conduct of NIH supported research, as long as they are within the original scope of the project and are used to expand employment opportunities in the conduct of NIH-supported research. NIH will not consider requests that are solely to restore previously applied budget adjustments to a project nor to replace previously dedicated institutional commitments to that project.
NIDDK intends to accept application for supplements in all scientific areas included in our mission. NIDDK will accept supplement applications to the following types of active awards:
1) Research Project Grants/SBIR & STTR (P01, R00, R01, R15, R21, R25, R33, R34, R37, R41, R42, R43, R44, R56, U01). Applications for supplements may request salary support for summer employment, as long as the request is reasonable, consistent with institutional salary policies and within the limits described in Section 4c. Supplement requests may request support for up to two consecutive summers, but no appointments will be supported with these funds beyond September 2010.
2) Research Center Grants (P30, P50, P60, U54). Applications for supplements may request salary support for multiple summer appointments, not to exceed 3 per center. The requests may include salary support, as long as the request is reasonable, consistent with institutional policies and adheres to the limits described in Section 4c. Supplement support may be requested for up to two consecutive summers, but no appointments will be supported with these funds beyond September 2010.
Submitting an Administrative Supplement Request
Applications for NIDDK Administrative Supplements should be submitted to niddkarraadminsupplement@mail.nih.gov, not to the Center for Scientific Review, NIH.
The request must be signed by the authorized institutional official and describe the need for additional funding and the categorical costs. Requests under this program should use the PHS 398 forms (rev. 11/2007; available at: http://grants1.nih.gov/grants/funding/phs398/phs398.html) and include the elements listed below in the request packet. Font size restrictions apply as described in the PHS398 (rev. 4/2006) instructions.
Please note that requests for ARRA-funded supplements through existing administrative supplement programs (such as PA-08-190 Research Supplements to Promote Diversity in Health-Related Research and PA-08-091 Research Supplements to Promote Re-Entry into Biomedical and Behavioral Research Careers) should apply using the submission deadlines described below while following the specific application procedures described in those FOAs.
1) Cover Letter - Citing the NIH Notice (NOT-OD-09-060), a request for a Recovery Act Administrative Supplement, and the following information:
- Project Director/Principal Investigator (PD/PI) name
- Parent grant number and title
- Nature of the supplement request
- Amount of the requested supplement
- Name and title of the authorized institutional official, and
- Phone, email, and address information for both the PD/PI and the institutional official.
The cover letter must be signed by the authorized organizational representative.
2) PHS 398 Form Page 1 (Face page) MS Word PDF
- The title of the project (Box 1) should be the title of the parent award.
- The NIH Notice (NOT-OD-09-060 and title, “Administrative Supplement Notice for Students and Science Educators under the Recovery Act”) should be cited in Box 2, and the “yes” box should be checked.
- The Project Director/Principal Investigator (PD/PI) must be the same as the PD/PI on the parent award. For Multiple PD/PI parent awards, the Contact PD/PI must be the PD/PI listed on the supplement request, and the supplement cannot change the Multiple PD/PI team.
- The remaining items on the face page should be filled out in accordance with the PHS 398 application instructions.
3) PHS 398 Form Page 2 MS Word PDF
Note: The project “summary” is that of the administrative supplement, not the parent grant. All other requested information should be provided.
4) A brief proposal describing the project, including:
Note: The project “summary” is that of the administrative supplement, not the parent grant. All other information requested on Form Page 2 should be provided.
a) Scope of the overall project and the anticipated contribution of the requested supplement (not to exceed three pages). Summarize the activities that were included in the parent grant that encompass those proposed in the supplemental request. This section should include a description of the supplement's purpose, including research design and methods and data analysis. Describe the relationship of the supplement request to the parent grant; describe the level (i.e., high school, undergraduate, etc.) of individual(s) to be recruited for research experience(s); and discuss how the supplement will contribute to expediting the accomplishment of the goals of the research project. Describe how the individual(s) were identified or plans to identify such individuals. Describe how the supplement will encourage students to pursue research careers in health-related sciences, and how the short-term research experience will benefit science educators. It is not necessary to provide the identity(ies) of the participating student(s)/educator(s) or other information about them in the supplement request.
b) Budget for the supplement with a justification that details the items requested, including Facilities and Administrative costs and a justification for all personnel and their role in this project. Note the budget and the number of positions being created should be appropriate for the work proposed in the supplement request. Applicants are encouraged to discuss budgets with their NIH Program Officer. To meet the various transparency, accountability, and reporting requirements of the Recovery Act, all applications under this notice must include detailed budgets on the PHS 398 Form Pages 4 (MS Word PDF) and 5 (MS Word PDF). Modular budget pages will not be accepted even when the parent grant was funded as a modular grant. See Budget and Funding Information below for additional information.
c) Biographical Sketch for all new Senior/Key Personnel There is no need to repeat information previously provided for other Senior/Key Personnel on the Biographical Sketch Format Page. MS Word PDF
d) Human Subjects/Vertebrate Animal documentation (if applicable). Include a current Human Subjects/IRB or Vertebrate Animals/IACUC approval letter, if applicable. Otherwise, this letter will be required at time of funding. All appropriate IRB and IACUC approvals must be in place prior to a supplement award being made.
No significant changes in the approved use of human subjects or vertebrate animals will be considered for administrative supplements. Instead, applicants proposing significant changes to the approved use of human subjects or vertebrate animals should consider applying for a competitive revision as described in NIH Guide Notice NOT-OD-09-058.
e) PHS 398 Checklist Form MS Word PDF
Selection Factors
Administrative supplement requests will be reviewed administratively by NIDDK Program and Grants Management Staff with expertise relevant to the proposal but who have no conflict of interest with the proposal. Awards will be determined on the basis of the merit of the proposal, its applicability to the goals of the ARRA, and the availability of funds. Applicants will be notified regarding the review outcome.
Selection factors will include the following:
- Relevance of the proposed activities to the parent grant and determination that the proposed activities are within the existing peer-reviewed and approved scope of the project.
- Adequate progress of the parent grant appropriate to the current stage of the project.
- Appropriate and well-described plan to accomplish the goals within the timeframe proposed.
- How the experience would foster the goals of students and/or educators in health-related science.
- Appropriateness of the request to achieve Recovery Act goals in promoting job creation, economic development, and accelerating the pace and achievement of scientific research.
- Availability of funds and program balance and priorities
Budget and Funding Information
Funding for administrative supplements to existing grants will be available from Recovery Act funds in FY 2009 and FY 2010. Due to the limited nature of Recovery Act funds, applicants requesting multiple year funding in FY 2009 may only request funding for FY 2009 and FY 2010, and it is anticipated that supplement funding will be awarded within a short period after receipt of the supplement request. Requests selected for funding in FY2010 will be limited to a one year project period.
For Research Grants, supplements may request salary support for summer employment, as long as it reflects a direct contribution to accelerating the tempo of scientific research, is reasonable, consistent with institutional salary policies, and complies with the following dollar limits:
- High school students – Should comply with hourly minimum wage limitations, unless justification is provided
- Undergraduate students – No more than $10 per hour, unless justification is provided.
- Science teachers and faculty – Up to $18,000, plus fringe benefit costs of up to $2,500
Supplements for summer research experiences may request an additional $1,000 per person for the costs of laboratory supplies and other related allowable costs, such as relevant travel.
In addition, domestic U.S. institutions planning to submit supplement requests that include foreign components should be aware that requested funding for any foreign components should not exceed 10% of the total requested direct costs or $25,000 per year (per subcontract/subaward or in aggregate for multiple subcontracts/subawards), whichever is less.
How to Apply
To be considered for funding in FY2009, applications must be received by 5PM, EST, April 17, 2009. Applications received after that time and before 5PM, EST, April 16, 2010 will be considered for funding in FY2010.
Do not send applications to the NIH Center for Scientific Review. Applications must be signed by the authorized institutional official and should be submitted to niddkarraadminsupplement@mail.nih.gov. Applicants should submit applications electronically as an e-mail attachment in PDF format; however the signature of the institutional official must be clearly visible.
Terms of Award
A formal notification in the form of a Notice of Award (NoA) will be provided to the grantee organization. The NoA signed by the grants management officer is the authorizing document. Once all administrative and programmatic issues have been resolved, the NoA will be generated via email notification from the awarding component to the grantee business official.
The terms of the NoA will reference the requirements of the Recovery Act.
In addition to the standard NIH terms of award, all funding provided under the Recovery Act will be subject to the HHS Standard Terms and Conditions for American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA). The full text of these terms approved for NIH awards can be found in the following document: Standard Terms and Conditions for ARRA Awards.
Selection of an application for award is not an authorization to begin performance. Any costs incurred before receipt of the NoA are at the recipient's risk. These costs may be reimbursed only to the extent considered allowable pre-award costs.
Administrative and National Policy Requirements
A NIDDK Program Director will be assigned to each funded application and will assume responsibility for normal stewardship of the awards.
All NIH grant and cooperative agreement awards include the NIH Grants Policy Statement as part of the NoA. For these terms of award, see the NIH Grants Policy Statement Part II: Terms and Conditions of NIH Grant Awards, Subpart A: General and Part II: Terms and Conditions of NIH Grant Awards, Subpart B: Terms and Conditions for Specific Types of Grants, Grantees, and Activities.
In addition, recipients of ARRA funds are reminded that such funds must be separately tracked and monitored independently of any non-ARRA funding.
Reporting
Awarded administrative supplements that include a commitment for funding in FY2010 will be required to submit a separate Non-Competing Continuation Grant Progress Report (PHS 2590) and financial statement as required in the NIH Grants Policy Statement. This will be in addition to any annual progress report required for the parent grant. The funded ARRA administrative supplement will also require separate closeout reports.
In addition, grantees must comply with the requirements set forth in the Recovery Act, including, but not limited to, the quarterly reporting requirements of Section 1512 of the Recovery Act as specified in HHS Standard Terms and Conditions for American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The full text of these terms approved for NIH awards can be found at the following document: Standard Terms and Conditions for AARA Awards.
Recovery Act-related reporting requirements will be incorporated as a special term of award.
Inquiries
Inquiries and discussion of plans for responding to this Notice are strongly encouraged.
For scientific or technical questions relating to research that would be supported by this solicitation, contact the NIDDK Program Director currently administering the funded grant that you would like to supplement.
For administrative questions related to this solicitation, contact the NIDDK grants management specialist currently administering the funded grant that you would like to supplement.
