About Us

Funding Adjustments in FY 2002 and FY 2003

February 2002 (historical)

As the research community is aware, NIAMS fiscal management for a number of years has included administrative reductions from the full costs requested in amounts ranging from 3 to 20 percent. These adjustments are made based on the scientific merit of the grant applications, as reflected in the percentile ranking, as well as the judgment of NIAMS program staff concerning program relevance and appropriate levels of support.

Until now, the administrative reduction was applied equally to each year of the award. Beginning in fiscal year 2002, however, NIAMS is implementing an accelerated funding strategy for 4- and 5-year awards, whereby levels of adjustment to grants will be made in a gradual fashion with less adjustment made in the first three years of funding, and a larger adjustment made to the fourth and fifth years. This means a larger portion of the total dollars will be awarded in the first, second, and third years than in the fourth and fifth years, as illustrated in the table below. The purpose of this redistribution is to reduce the NIAMS noncompeting commitment in future years, when budget growth is expected to slow. THE TOTAL SUPPORT PROVIDED FOR THE PROJECT PERIOD OF THE GRANT WILL NOT CHANGE -- ONLY THE TIMING OF THE FUNDS.

 
Competing
Non
competing
Non
competing
Non
competing
Non
competing
Total Costs
IRG Recommended
$200,000
$200,000
$200,000
$200,000
$200,000
$1,000,000
9% Reduction
$182,000
$182,000
$182,000
$182,000
$182,000
$910,000
9% Reduction Redistributed
$188,000
$188,000
$188,000
$173,000
$173,000
$910,000

Applying this strategy to the NIAMS portfolio will aid the Institute in stabilizing the noncompeting commitments in future fiscal years at a lower level. There will be a modest decrease in the number of competing awards made during the current year; however, in future years NIAMS anticipates a corresponding increase in the number of competing awards. This will help to maintain the institute payline and minimize the impact of reduced budgets in future appropriations.

We realize this new policy may present challenges to grantees to ensure that adequate funds are available throughout the duration of the project. Please keep in mind, unobligated funds remaining at the end of a budget period are automatically carried over and are available for expenditure during the entire project period. Alternatively, investigators may plan to carry out more of the work in the early years, reducing efforts in the later years to levels appropriate to the reduced awards in those years. Any questions about this new funding strategy may be directed to Melinda Nelson, NIAMS Grants Management Officer, (301) 594-3535.