Top Policy Changes

Newest entries appear at the top of the list. For information on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), go to NIAID and the Economic Recovery Act.

For Public Access, Investigators Must Add PMCIDs Three Months After Publishing, August 12, 2009

NIH announced a new public access requirement: investigators must use the PMC ID number instead of the NIHMS ID after three months have passed since the publication of a paper they are citing in their applications, proposals, or progress reports. See our Public Access of Publications SOP and the August 12, 2009, Guide notice.

New NIH Guidelines for Human Stem Cell Research, July 15, 2009

The final NIH Guidelines for Human Stem Cell Research went into effect on July 7 establishing policies and procedures for funding human embryonic stem cell (hESC) research.

Please note that the basic eligibility criteria outlined in the April 23, 2009, draft guidelines remain the same in the final guidelines.

Applicants using hESCs should go to the July 15, 2009, Guide notice for details on the award process and the new NIH Human Embryonic Stem Cell Registry.

Extension of Continuous Submission Policy, June 25, 2009

Beginning July 15, 2009, NIH will allow continuous submission and review procedures for members of the following advisory groups in addition to study section members:

• Boards of Scientific Counselors
• Advisory Councils
• Peer Review Advisory Committee

For more information, see the June 25, 2009, Guide notice and Late Applications SOP, and read "NIH Revises Reviewer Benefits" in the July 1, 2009, Funding News article "It's Good to Be a Reviewer."

No More Paper Applications for Fellowships, June 12, 2009

In its June 12, 2009, Guide notice, NIH confirmed that fellowship applications must be submitted electronically starting with the next due date, August 8 (or August 13 for F31s). Investigators should read the notice for details, including information on reference letters and review criteria.

Also see the July 1, 2009, Funding News article "Fellows: Don't Forget to Submit Applications Electronically."

Template for Submitting Changes in Scope, May 18, 2009

When changing the scope of a research project, applicants should use the NIH Template to submit revised Abstract, Specific Aims, and Public Health Relevance sections.

For further details, read the May 5, 2009, Guide notice and the June 17, 2009, Funding News article "New RePORTER Is a Crisper CRISP."

New Policy for Collaborative Research Partnerships, April 24, 2009

Starting April 24, 2009, NIAID will support collaborative research partnerships through R01 and SBIR awards instead of cooperative agreements (U01).

Rarely, we may make exceptions after peer review, if we decide substantial NIAID involvement is necessary given the nature of the research.

For more information, read the April 24, 2009, Guide notice and the July 1, 2009, Funding News article "No More Cooperative Agreements for Collaborative Research Partnership."

NIH Makes Public Access Final, April 17, 2009

The Omnibus Appropriations Act of 2009 makes NIH's public access policy permanent and a term and condition of award. NIH announced this new policy in its March 19, 2009, Guide notice. Also see the April 17, 2009, Funding News article "Public Access Is Here to Stay."

Award Length Depends on the Score for New and Early-Stage Investigators, April 17, 2009

For new and early-stage investigators, applications with better scores can get longer awards: 12 to 16 percentile -- up to five years, 16 to 25 percentile -- up to four years. Go to NIAID Paylines and Financial Management Plan and the April 17, 2009, Funding News article "New Investigators -- Four Years or Five?"

Changes to Bridge Award Program, April 17, 2009

• If you can resubmit by the November 5 (non-AIDS) or January 7 (AIDS applications) receipt date, you will get an R56-Bridge award. In most cases, we will give you a second year of funding if your resubmission does not succeed.
• If you have no resubmissions left or choose not to resubmit, we will offer you a two-year ARRA R01.

Go to the April 17, 2009, Funding News article "NIAID to Fund More R56-Bridges."

Grantees Must Use eRA Financial Conflict of Interest Module, March 27, 2009

NIH Consolidates Review Criteria for Institutional Research Training Grants, March 27, 2009

NRSA Stipend and Other Budgetary Levels for FY 2009, March 27, 2009

NIH Makes PI Salary Cap Official, March 20, 2009

Now that we have our appropriation, NIH has set the FY 2009 PI salary cap at $196,700 for a competing or noncompeting application, contract, or proposal. This is the same level used under the continuing resolution. For more information, including questions and answers, see the March 19, 2009, Guide notice.

NIH Announces Fiscal Policies, March 19, 2009

As part of its FY 2009 fiscal guidelines, NIH is funding noncompeting awards at the most recently committed levels and allowing a 3 percent increase in the average cost of competing grants. NRSA Stipend Levels receive a slight boost as well.

For more information, see NIAID Paylines and Funding, the March 18, 2009, Guide notice, and the March 18, 2009, Funding News article, "FY 2009 Budget -- More Money for NIH ."

Extension of Receipt Dates for R34 and U01, March 16, 2009

NIAID is extending the process for investigator-initiated clinical trials until January 8, 2010. For more information, go to Extension of Receipt Dates for PAR-06-384 and PAR-05-113.

Response to the Recovery Act, March 11, 2009

NIH and NIAID are making awards from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009. These awards are separate from awards made under the FY 2009 budget, and they come with additional requirements.

For more information, go to NIAID and the Economic Recovery Act and read the March 4, 2009, Funding News article, "NIH Joins the Nation in the Path to Recovery."

F&A Thresholds for Phase II SBIR and STTR, February 5, 2009

Phase II Small Business Innovation Research or Small Business Technology Transfer applicants can now request up to 40 percent of the total direct costs for their facilities and administrative (F&A) rate without having to justify it.

See the January 21, 2009, Guide notice and the February 4, 2009, Funding News article, "Attention Phase II SBIR and STTR Applicants: New Threshold for F&A Costs."

K Awards: New Policy on Part-Time Institutional Appointments, January 23, 2009

Recipients of career development awards may now reduce their appointments to part-time. They must get NIAID approval for their requests, which should include a justification for the reduction. Reasons might include personal or family situations such as childcare and medical conditions. For more information, read the January 21, 2009, Guide notice.

P01 Review Criteria, Multiple PIs, January 22, 2009

NIAID has revised review criteria for program project applications. Read Review Criteria for Cores and Review Criteria for the Overall Application in our Instructions for Preparing a Multiproject Research Application.

You can have multiple PIs for P01s that are investigator-initiated or funded through any funding opportunity announcements that allow the approach.

Identifying and Extending ESI Status, January 14, 2009

New investigators must update their eRA Commons profile with the dates they received their degree and completed discipline-specific training. NIH uses those fields to identify early-stage investigators.

New investigators can use the Form for Requesting an Extension to ask NIH to extend the ten-year ESI period if they have a special circumstance to justify leaving research during that time.

For details and examples of factors NIH considers when evaluating requests, read the December 31, 2008, Guide notice and the January 21, 2009, Funding News article, "Can You Get More Time as an ESI?"

New Registration Process to Reimburse Reviewers for Participating in NIH Peer Review Meetings, January 5, 2009

NIH is using a new, simplified registration process to reimburse peer reviewers for their service at peer review meetings.

The new system requires reviewers to log in to eRA Commons to update their residential address and link to the Secure Payee Reimbursement System to enter their banking information.

For details, see the January 5, 2009, Guide notice and the January 21, 2009, Funding News article, "Peer Reviewers: New Payment System Is Ready to Roll."

Transition of Career Development Awards to Electronic Forms, December 12, 2008

NIH released electronic submission forms for career development awards. Applicants must use these forms to apply for any receipt date after February 12, 2009. See the December 12, 2008, Guide notice.

Applicants should follow the supplemental instructions for K awards in part 7 of the Application Guide SF424 (R&R) – Adobe Forms Version A.

Clarification of Registration in ClinicalTrials.gov, December 11, 2008

Investigators must register applicable clinical trials in ClinicalTrials.gov. NIH issued a Guide notice clarifying the criteria of when a clinical trial must be registered in ClinicalTrials.gov. See the December 11, 2008, Guide notice for clarification.

For more information, read the November 16, 2007 and December 21, 2007, Guide notices. We also wrote about this in our December 5, 2007, Funding News article, "New Law Affects ClinicalTrials.gov," and our January 16, 2008, Funding News article, "Certify That You've Registered with ClinicalTrials.gov."

Adobe-Based Grant Application Forms, December 9, 2008

Investigators must use Adobe-based grant application packages after December 5, 2008, except when applying for small business or conference awards, grants that require paper applications, and opportunities with non-standard submission dates expiring by January 31, 2009.

Applicants should look for forms labeled "ADOBE-FORMS-A" and check their funding opportunity announcement up to the last minute. See the December 5, 2008, Guide notice and read Onward to Adobe Forms.

Study section members have to use the forms even if they apply under the continuous submission process. See the December 9, 2008, Guide notice.

NIH plans to put more information into the forms and publish a new batch in April for receipt dates in May 2009 and after. Applicants will have to download revised forms at that time. See the November 21, 2008, Guide notice, and read the December 17, 2008, and read the October 1, 2008, Funding News article, "New Adobe-Based Forms . . . With an Asterisk".

Revised List of Grant Types Affecting New Investigator Status, December 4, 2008

Now all types of career development awards (K) allow PIs to keep their new status. However, phase II of small business awards (SBIR and STTR) or the R33 phase of a R21/R33 causes PIs to lose their new status.

See Are You "New"?, and read our December 17, 2008, Funding News article, "New Investigators: Line Redrawn Again, New Interim Payline."

NIH Recasts Peer Review, December 2, 2008

NIH issued three Guide notices on December 2, 2008:

• New Scoring Procedures.
  • Reviewers will use a 9-point rating scale.
  • This starts with applications for FY 2010 funding; the first standard due date affected is January 25, 2009. Some RFA and PAR applications for FY 2010 funding are due earlier.
• Enhanced Review Criteria.
  • NIH will continue to use the same core review criteria: significance, investigator, innovation, approach and environment. But some of the descriptions have changed.
• Enhancing Peer Review: Updated Implementation Timeline
  • In January 2010, R01 and other applications will require a shorter Research Plan. NIH will restructure the application to align with the review criteria.

Early-Stage Investigator Status, November 24, 2008

NIH created ESI as a subset of its new investigator status. See the definitions at Are You "New"? and read more in the November 21, 2008, Funding News article, "NIH Sets New Targets for New Investigators" for a summary. Also, see the November 21, 2008, Guide notice for details.

NIAID Sets Financial Management Plan, November 24, 2008

NIAID set its new FY 2008 Financial Management Plan for competing awards, noncompeting awards, and set-aside fund pools for selective pay and R56-Bridge awards; go to Financial Management Plan.

Clarification on Resubmission Application Limit, November 7, 2008

NIH allows investigators who have not succeeded in getting funded to resubmit an unsolicited application. Applicants may resubmit applications submitted on January 25, 2009, and later only once with no time limit. Applicants may resubmit applications sent before that date twice and must do so by January 7, 2011.

See the October 8, 2008, Guide notice for the new policy and the November 7, 2008, Guide notice for clarification. Also, see our November 5, 2008, Funding News article, "Just One Resubmission, Please."

Changes to Fellowship Forms, October 14, 2008

NIH released a series of revised fellowship forms. Applicants, grantees, and institutions must use the revised forms posted in the Training Forms section of NIH Forms and Applications for activation, termination, and payback activities.

They may use either the new PHS 416-1 (Rev. 9/08) and PHS 416-9 (Rev. 9/08) or the old PHS 416-1 (Rev. 10/05) and PHS 416-9 (Rev. 10/05) for applications and progress reports submitted by November 30, 2008. After that date, they must use new forms.

Signatures are no longer required on fellowship applications, progress reports, and prior approval requests. Institutions have to keep a signature assurance on file for all fellows and their sponsors.

See the following October 14, 2008, Guide notices for details on the changes:

• Changes to Fellowship Applications, Progress Reports, and Prior Approval Requests
• Revised PHS 416-1 Grant Application
• Revised PHS 416-9 Progress Report
• Revised PHS 416-5 Activation Notice, PHS 416-7 Termination Notice, PHS 6031 and 6031-1 Payback Agreement Forms

A&R Costs for Foreign Grant Budgets, October 9, 2008

NIH now allows alterations and renovations (A&R) costs under $500,000 for grants made to foreign organizations or to domestic institutions with foreign components. Read more in the October 8, 2008, Guide notice.

Noncompeting Grants During the Continuing Resolution, October 9, 2008

NIH will issue noncompeting research grant awards at a lower level than that shown on the most recent Notice of Award, typically up to 90 percent of the previously committed level. Read more in the October 2, 2008, Guide notice. We previously posted this information at Financial Management Plan in our Paylines and Funding portal.

Compliance With Public Access Policy, September 23, 2008

NIAID program officers are monitoring grantee compliance with public access policy. See the September 23, 2008, Guide notice.

Grantees, contractors, and NIH staff must submit final peer-reviewed manuscripts to a public archive of research publications and cite papers from NIH-funded research in applications, proposals, progress reports, and contracts. Go to our Public Access of Publications SOP.

For more information, read the January 11, 2008, Guide notice and the October 1, 2008, NIAID Funding News article, "We're Monitoring Applications for Public Access."