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Implications of 2-year ARRA Funding

March 16, 2009

The ARRA is designed as a short-term stimulus for the American economy, as well as an investment in certain priority areas, including health research. As such, all funds for ARRA grants must be obligated by NIAMS in FY2009 and FY2010. In keeping with the intent of ARRA, awarded funds should also be expended expeditiously by recipients. As a rule-of-thumb, ARRA funds awarded in FY2009 should be expended within two years of receipt.

The ARRA funds are provided to NIH in addition to the annual appropriations for FY2009 and FY2010. There is no expectation that funds similar to ARRA will be made available to NIH, in addition to the usual appropriation, beyond FY2010.

The most important short-term consequence is that projects to be funded through ARRA must be feasible within the 2-year time frame of ARRA. For example, it is unlikely that a clinical trial could pass regulatory hurdles, recruit subjects, and complete the interventional and observational phases within 2 years. Thus, clinical trials are unlikely to be appropriate for ARRA funding.

The longer-term consequence is that the funding environment in FY2011 is likely to be similar to that pre-ARRA, except that many investigators who received 2-year ARRA grants will be re-entering the competition for longer term grants. Investigators are advised that supplemental funds are unlikely to be available to extend any project that was initially undertaken with ARRA funding except through normal competitive mechanisms.