1. The Life Cycle of an NIH Grant Application
Alicia Dombroski, Ph.D.
Deputy Director
Division of Extramural Activities
NIDCR
2. A Grant Application Starts with a Great Idea
- Who?
Scientists at Colleges, Universities, Research Institutes, Small Businesses, and Others
- What?
Research relevant to human health
Basic, applied, behavioral, translational, clinical
3. Types of NIH Applications
- Research Projects
- Unsolicited (R01 most common)
- Responding to specific Funding Opportunity Announcement
- Individual or consortium
- Small Business Grants
- Small business innovation research (SBIR)
- Small business technology transfer (STTR)
- Training and Career Development
- Predoctoral, postdoctoral, dual degree, mentored career development, etc.
- Individual or institutional
4. Preparation of an Application
- Interaction with NIDCR Program Staff
- Does the proposed research support the mission of the institute?
- Is the topic a high priority for the institute?
- Forms and Instructions online
- Face page
- Budget and budget justification
- Personnel
- Research plan
5. Electronic Submission
Applicant organization must register in Grants.Gov and NIH eRA
Application must be signed and submitted by a business official at the applicant organization
6. Receipt and Referral
Center for Scientific Review (CSR) at NIH receives all NIH applications (about 80,000 per year)
- Determines locus of peer review (CSR or Institute)
- Assigns Integrated Review Group (study section)
- Assigns Institute based on scientific area
7. NIH Peer Review
- Panel of experts in appropriate scientific areas
- Applications assigned for critique and discussion
- Evaluation of scientific and technical merit
- Meets in person, teleconference, or internet
- Specific review criteria: Significance, Approach, Innovation, Investigator, Environment
- Applications are scored (1.0 - 5.0, with 1.0 best)
- Investigators receive score and summary statement
8. Funding Decisions
- Factors
- Scientific Merit -- score, reviewer comments
- Contribution to the mission of NIDCR
- Program priorities and portfolio balance
- Availability of funds
- Variables
- Award period
- Total amount of award
- Specific budget items
9. Secondary Review
- National Advisory Dental and Craniofacial Research Council (NADCRC)
- Advises, consults, makes recommendations
- Membership:
- 2 non-voting ex officio (DOD, VA)
- 13 scientists/clinicians/public
- 4-year term
- Applications can only be funded after review by NADCRC and concurrence with initial review outcome
10. Other Post-Review Activities
- Awards administered by NIDCR Grants Management Officer
- Annual progress reports and financial status reports
- End of award/competing renewal
- If not funded:
- Discussions between Applicant and NIDCR Scientific Program Staff
- Review issues
- Programmatic issues
- Resubmission of revised application (up to 2 revisions)
- Three cycles per year for unsolicited applications
- Receipt date, review date, council date each cycle
11. Diagram of Grant Application Process
- Principal Investigator submits a grant application to NIH
- The application undergoes peer review and receives a score
- The principal investigator finds out his/her score and interacts with NIDCR Scientific Program Staff
- The application undergoes secondary review
- If the application is to be funded, then NIDCR Grants Management staff administer the award