In FY 2008, NIGMS expects to exercise financial management consistent with the following aims for research project grants (RPGs):
- to maintain a success rate of approximately 22 percent for RPGs,
- to maintain the average size of a competing RPG in FY 2008 at approximately a 1 percent increase over the average competing award made in FY 2007,
- to reach these goals by making reductions from requested levels in both new (Type 1) and renewal (Type 2) R01 awards, and
- to consider all reductions to competing awards on a case-by-case basis.
RPGs represent approximately 70 percent of the NIGMS research budget, and R01 grants represent approximately 85 percent of RPG awards. Therefore, financial management of R01s is an essential component of the overall NIGMS financial management strategy. NIGMS plans to restrict the average cost of new and renewal R01 awards through reductions from the total amount of funds requested. (NIGMS considers all such reductions on a case-by-case basis.)
In addition, NIGMS, along with the rest of NIH, maintains the average length of a grant at approximately 4 years. Exceptions to this 4-year limit include support for new investigators, MERIT awards, program project grants, and other awards specifically designated by the National Advisory General Medical Sciences Council. Without limitations on the length of grant awards, too large a proportion of any single year's budget would be devoted to paying noncompeting grants, leaving little available for new awards. This limitation on the length of awards, established at the direction of Congressional appropriations committees, ensures that sufficient funds are available each year to fund new grants or renewal awards that have undergone peer review.
Noncompeting Awards in FY 2008
The FY 2008 appropriation level provides an overall 1 percent inflation allowance to the noncompeting research grant awards budget, as announced in NIH Guide notice NOT-OD-08-036. The NIGMS goal in allocating these funds is to provide support to modular commitments which will require a reduction in non-modular grant commitments of 2.9 percent. Noncompeting awards already issued in FY 2008 at reduced levels up to 80 percent of the amount previously committed (see NOT-OD-08-001) will be revised to provide a restoration of funds in accordance with the NIGMS policy. Amounts recommended for future budget periods will be adjusted as well. These adjustments also apply to noncompeting and administrative supplements to research grants affected by these reductions. All SBIR/STTR and research career (K) awards will be awarded at previously committed levels.
By following this financial management strategy, NIGMS plans to make approximately 825 competing RPG awards in FY 2008, and the overall success rate at the end of the fiscal year is projected to be approximately 22 percent. NIGMS will continue to emphasize support of new investigators.
Funding for NIGMS National Research Service Award (NRSA) Grants in FY 2008. Funding policies for NRSA awards are the same as in FY 2007 and can be found in the NIH Guide notice, Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award Stipend and Other Budgetary Levels Effective for FY 2007 (see NOT-OD-07-057).
Endnotes:
Information about NIGMS, its programs, and its staff can be found at http://www.nigms.nih.gov. Of particular interest may be the guidelines used by staff in making funding recommendations. These are part of the National Advisory General Medical Sciences Council operating procedures.
Success rate is defined as the percentage of reviewed applications that receive funding in a fiscal year. It is determined by dividing the number of competing applications funded by the sum of the total number of competing applications reviewed in the same fiscal year and the number of funded carryovers (funded applications that were reviewed the previous year). Note that applications that have one or more resubmissions in the same fiscal year are only counted once. Success rate should not be confused with percentile, which is a measure of how well an application scored in relation to others in a defined pool. A chart showing the success rate of NIGMS RPGs over the past 5 years appears below.
Research project grants include awards made under the following mechanisms: R01, R37 (MERIT), R55, R15, R21, P01, and U01
Figure legend: The FY 2008 success rate for RPGs is expected to be about 22 percent. Success rate is an indicator of the percent of applications funded. Success rate should not be confused with percentile, which is a measure of how well an application scored in relation to others in a defined pool.
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Figure legend: In FY 2008, the average cost of competing RPG award is expected to increase 1 percent over the FY 2007 average cost.
