NIGMS Recovery Act Frequently Asked Questions

General Questions

1. My grant ended three months ago. Can I submit an administrative supplement or a revision if I ask for a no-cost extension now?
2. How can I decide whether to apply for an administrative supplement or a revision?
3. What does the extra quarterly reporting requirement entail?
4. Do personnel hired with Recovery Act funds need to be U.S. citizens? I would like to hire a new postdoc who is from India and will be arriving in three months to work in my lab.
5. My grant currently ends August 31, 2009, so I cannot process a no-cost extension notification in the eRA Commons until after June 1, 2009. I want to submit an administrative supplement request now. Is the request limited to only the few remaining months, or can I include the anticipated extension time as well?
6. Is there a limit on how many supplements/revisions I can submit?

Administrative Supplements

1. What is the maximum amount I can request in an administrative supplement?
2. What are the page limits for an administrative supplement?
3. I intend to include letters of support with my administrative supplement application. Will that count against the five-page limit for sections 4a and 4b?
4. What criteria will NIGMS use to select and award administrative supplements?
5. Who decides if I get an administrative supplement?
6. When should I submit my request for an administrative supplement?
7. Should I submit a request for an administrative supplement in paper or electronic form? And where do I send it?
8. I want to submit administrative supplement requests for more than one component of a multi-component grant (e.g., a P01). Am I limited to a total of five pages?
9. Where can I find more information on NIGMS’ procedures and guidance on administrative supplements?

Revisions

1. Can I carry over my budget balance from the parent grant to support work outlined in the revision?
2. Can I carry over an unspent budget balance from the revision?
3. Although I am a faculty member at a foreign university, I want to hire an American postdoc to work on the project outlined in my revision application. Is that allowed?
4. Where can I find more information on NIGMS’ procedures and guidance on revisions?

Two-Year R01s

1. Will the budget for my R01, which has been reduced to two years through negotiations with the program director, still receive administrative cuts?

General Questions

1. My grant ended three months ago. Can I submit an administrative supplement or a revision if I ask for a no-cost extension now?

No, we cannot supplement a terminated or closed award.

2. How can I decide whether to apply for an administrative supplement or a revision?

3. What does the extra quarterly reporting requirement entail?

4. Do personnel hired with Recovery Act funds need to be U.S. citizens? I would like to hire a new postdoc who is from India and will be arriving in three months to work in my lab.

There is no Recovery Act prohibition against this. The hiring policies of the grantee institution must be followed, of course.

5. My grant currently ends August 31, 2009, so I cannot process a no-cost extension notification in the eRA Commons until after June 1, 2009. I want to submit an administrative supplement request now. Is the request limited to only the few remaining months, or can I include the anticipated extension time as well?

The NIH administrative supplement notice includes some flexibility for this very situation. It states, “Note that while NIH recommends that a no-cost extension already be in place before an administrative supplement request is submitted, this is not a requirement for all administrative supplement requests.”

In this situation, you should prepare the administrative supplement request with the expected extension in mind and include those intentions in the application, including your institution’s plans to execute the notification through the eRA Commons extension feature when appropriate.

Keep in mind that the maximum possible length of the supplement award will depend on the time remaining on the parent project, including the anticipated extension period.

6. Is there a limit on how many supplements/revisions I can submit?

While there is no limit on numbers, remember that administrative supplements and revisions must be distinct and not overlapping. If you are considering making several administrative supplement requests for the same grant, we encourage you to consider consolidating them into a single supplement request. If you have more than one grant, a supplement for each is possible. In addition, you can submit requests for both an administrative supplement and a revision for the same grant.

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Administrative Supplements

1. What is the maximum amount I can request in an administrative supplement?

While there is no absolute rule about the budget size of an administrative supplement, there are some general guidelines. Usually, a supplement would be 50 percent or less of the annual budget of the parent grant. Remember that an administrative supplement must be within the scope of the parent grant, so one with a very large budget may not conform to this requirement.

2. What are the page limits for an administrative supplement?

Five pages, which covers both the scope of the overall project (section 4a) and the research project plan (section 4b) under the heading of “Preparing an Administrative Supplement Request” in the NIH administrative supplement notice.

3. I intend to include letters of support with my administrative supplement application. Will that count against the five-page limit for sections 4a and 4b?

No.

4. What criteria will NIGMS use to select and award administrative supplements?

The request must be well justified in terms of scientific need. It must conform to the Recovery Act goals of accelerating the pace of scientific research, stimulating the economy, and creating and/or retaining jobs, so how quickly the work can begin is important. The request must be for work that can be completed within the timeframe specified (up to two years for FY2009-funded supplements, one year for those funded in FY2010). Other factors, such as geographic distribution of grantee institutions, progress on the grant to date, amount of unobligated balances and the principal investigator’s career status also may factor into our decisions.

5. Who decides if I get an administrative supplement?

This is an NIGMS staff decision based on a recommendation by the program director responsible for the grant and consultation with senior staff members.

6. When should I submit my request for an administrative supplement?

You may submit administrative supplement requests at any time. Be sure that you have written a sound and well-justified request. Although the deadline for receipt of the supplement request is July 15, 2009, if you are requesting an award in FY2009, an early submission allows staff to begin processing the request sooner, and you are likely to receive the award earlier.

7. Should I submit a request for an administrative supplement in paper or electronic form? And where do I send it?

We strongly encourage you to send your administrative supplement request to us at NIGMSARRAAdminSupplements@nigms.nih.gov. We also will accept requests faxed to 301-451-5601 or mailed to the grants management specialist for your grant. Do NOT submit administrative supplement requests through Grants.gov.

8. I want to submit administrative supplement requests for more than one component of a multi-component grant (e.g., a P01). Am I limited to a total of five pages?

No. You may submit up to five pages per component.

9. Where can I find more information on NIGMS’ procedures and guidance on administrative supplements?

See http://www.nigms.nih.gov/recovery/guidance.htm#b1.

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Revisions

1. Can I carry over my budget balance from the parent grant to support work outlined in the revision?

No, you cannot. Moreover, the balance from the parent grant will not be available to you after the revision ends (if you have time remaining on the parent grant).

2. Can I carry over an unspent budget balance from the revision?

No, the money must be spent by the end date of the revision. Any unobligated Recovery Act funds will not be available for expenditure after the end date of the Recovery Act award.

3. Although I am a faculty member at a foreign university, I want to hire an American postdoc to work on the project outlined in my revision application. Is that allowed?

Foreign grantees are not eligible to apply for Recovery Act funds, and each funding opportunity announcement includes limitations on how much a foreign component to a domestic grant may propose.

4. Where can I find more information on NIGMS’ procedures and guidance on revisions?

See http://www.nigms.nih.gov/recovery/guidance.htm#c.

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Two-Year R01s

1. Will the budget for my R01, which has been reduced to two years through negotiations with the program director, still receive administrative cuts?

Yes, to some degree. NIGMS will still apply the same principles to budget reductions for the two-year R01s as it does to standard R01s, although the reductions may be less than normal.

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