Background
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5) was signed on February 17, 2009, with the purpose of job preservation and creation, infrastructure investment, energy efficiency and science, and other purposes. The act provides NIH with up to $10.4 billion over the two years for a variety of biomedical research and infrastructure support activities. This administrative supplement opportunity is one part of the overall NIH Recovery Act investment strategy, as described at www.hhs.gov/recovery.
NIH has published a Notice (NOT-OD-09-056) explaining the framework for this opportunity. This website provides further information for NIDDK grantees about NIDDK’s FY2009 program for ARRA Administrative Supplements.
Purpose
The purpose of this program is to provide researchers supplementary funds that can be used to accelerate the tempo of scientific research on active grants, with the ultimate goal of promoting job creation and economic development along with accelerating the pace and achievement of scientific research. The program allows investigators and institutions with active NIH funding to request administrative supplements to increase the tempo of approved and funded projects. Support for these supplements will come from funds available through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA).
Eligibility
To be eligible, the parent grant must be active and the research proposed in the supplement must be accomplished within the current competitive segment. The proposed supplement MUST be within the general scope of the peer-reviewed activities and aims approved for the parent grant. The same applies for projects on a no-cost extension; while in rare cases supplemental funds may be awarded during a no cost extension, the period of support cannot extend beyond the award period for the additional time that was granted.
Applications from foreign institutions are not permitted. Consistent with the goals of the Recovery Act to preserve and create jobs and promote economic recovery in the United States, applicant must be domestic (United States) institutions/organizations (i.e., located in the 50 states, territories and possessions of the United States, Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, or District of Columbia).
IMPORTANT: The funds requested by the NIH grantee in the supplement application must be within the general scope of the peer-reviewed activities and aims approved within the parent grant. The funding method being used to support this program, administrative supplements, can be used to cover costs associated with increasing the tempo of scientific research funded under the initial grant and/or achieving certain new research objectives as long as they are within the original scope of the project. Examples include additional personnel, and investments in equipment and technology to achieve more quickly the goals of the project or to enhance energy efficiency during the conduct of the project. Any cost increases must result from modifications to the project that will leverage opportunities to increase the value of the project in a manner that is consistent with its originally approved objectives and purposes or to accelerate the tempo of scientific research. Additionally, NIH anticipates that funds will be used to enhance employment opportunities in the conduct of NIH supported research. NIH will not consider requests which are solely to restore previously applied budget adjustments to a project or to supplant institutional commitments supporting individuals and other cost previously committed to projects. To apply for a revision application under the Recovery Act, please see NOT-OD-09-058.
NIDDK intends to accept application for supplements in all scientific areas included in our mission. NIDDK will accept supplement applications to the following types of active awards:
1) Research Project Grants/SBIR & STTR (DP2, P01, R00, R01, R15, R21, R33, R34, R37, R41, R42, R43, R44, R56, U01). Applications for supplements may include no single piece of equipment greater than $100,000, and in general, equipment requests should not total more than $100,000 for an individual parent grant or grant subcomponent. While applications for supplements have no overall specific dollar limit, the requested budget must be in line with the scope of the project and must be thoroughly justified. Further, it is expected that the funds requested in the supplement application will amount to only a fraction of the yearly cost of the parent grant. For example, for R01s, in general, NIDDK expects to award supplements of up to $100,000 (total cost) or 50 percent of the amount of the parent grant, whichever is lower.
2) Research Center Grants (P30, P50, P60, U54). Applications for supplements may include no single piece of equipment greater than $100,000. Multiple supplements for equipment will be considered. While applications for supplements have no overall specific dollar limit, the requested budget must be in line with the scope of the project, must be for work that can be realistically be accomplished within the period of the award and before September 30, 2010, and must be thoroughly justified. Further, it is expected that the funds requested in the supplement application will amount to only a fraction of the yearly cost of the parent grant. Centers that wish to enlarge or extend their existing Pilot & Feasibility programs may request up to $250,000, direct cost, per year for this purpose. All existing Center policies and procedures governing the Pilot and Feasibility program must remain in effect.
3) Other Research (K01, K08, K23, K24, K25, K99, R18, R24, R25, U19 U24, U34). Applications up to $50,000, direct costs, will be considered for Research Development Support supplements for career development awards. Funds requested for R18, R24, U19, U24 and U34 grants should be commensurate with the scope of the funded project, must be for work that can realistically be accomplished within the period of the award, and must be thoroughly justified.
Submitting an Administrative Supplement Request
Applications for NIDDK Administrative Supplements should be submitted to niddkarraadminsupplement@mail.nih.gov, not to the Center for Scientific Review, NIH.
The request must be signed by the authorized institutional official and describe the need for additional funding and the categorical costs. Requests under this program should use the PHS 398 forms (rev. 11/2007; available at: http://grants1.nih.gov/grants/funding/phs398/phs398.html) and include the elements listed below in the request packet. Font size restrictions apply as designated within the PHS398 (rev. 4/2006) instructions.
Please note that requests for ARRA-funded supplements through existing administrative supplement programs (such as PA-08-190 Research Supplements to Promote Diversity in Health-Related Research and PA-08-091 Research Supplements to Promote Re-Entry into Biomedical and Behavioral Research Careers) should apply using the submission deadlines described below while following the specific application procedures described in those FOAs.
1) Cover Letter - Citing the NIH Notice (NOT-OD-09-056), a request for a Recovery Act Administrative Supplement, and the following information:
- Project Director/Principal Investigator (PD/PI) name
- Parent grant number and title
- Cumulative amount of unobligated funds for the current project period
- Amount of the requested supplement
- Name and title of the authorized institutional official, and
- Phone, email, and address information for both the PD/PI and the institutional official.
The cover letter must be signed by the authorized organizational representative. Important Note: Information in the bullets above must be included in the body of the email for processing purposes and must also be included as an attachment that is signed by the authorized organizational representative. Also, the grant number for the award associated with the supplement request should be the first item in the subject line of the email.
Example: Subject: 2R01DK000000-00 Request for Recovery Act Administrative Supplement.2) PHS 398 Form Page 1 (Face page) MS Word | PDF
- The title of the project (Box 1) should be the title of the parent award.
- The NIH Notice (NOT-OD-09-056 and title, “Notice of Availability of Recovery Act Funds for Administrative Supplements”) should be cited in Box 2, and the “yes” box should be checked.
- The Project Director/Principal Investigator (PD/PI) must be the same as the PD/PI on the parent award. For Multiple PD/PI parent awards, the Contact PD/PI must be the PD/PI listed on the supplement request, and the supplement cannot change the Multiple PD/PI team.
- The remaining items on the face page should be filled out in accordance with the PHS 398 application instructions.
3) PHS 398 Form Page 2 MS Word | PDF Note: The project “summary” is that of the administrative supplement, not the parent grant. All other requested information should be provided.4) A brief proposal describing the project, including:
- Scope of the overall project and the anticipated contribution of the requested supplement (parts “a” and “b” combined may not exceed five pages). Summarize the activities that were included in the parent grant that encompass those proposed in the supplemental request. This section should include a description of the supplement's specific aims, including research design and methods and data analysis. Describe the relationship of the supplement request to the parent grant, and include any recent progress not previously reported that is relevant to the requested supplement.
- The research project plan should discuss how the supplement will accelerate the tempo of scientific research and/or allow for job creation and retention. In order to ensure that all expenditures in support of an administrative supplement advance the objectives of the Recovery Act, all applications must address ARRA justifications, including how the supplement is expected to stimulate the economy by:
- enabling hiring of additional staff;
- enabling increased hours of current part-time staff;
- procuring additional needed equipment (costing under $100,000); and/or
- Recruiting for additional needed skills. Note: Parts “a” and “b” (above) combined may not exceed five pages.
- Budget for the supplement with a justification that details the items requested, including Facilities and Administrative costs and a justification for all personnel and their role(s) in this project. Note the budget should be appropriate for the work proposed in the supplement request. Applicants are encouraged to discuss budgets with their NIDDK Program Director To meet the various transparency, accountability, and reporting requirements of ARRA, all applications must include detailed budgets on the PHS 398 Form Pages 4 (MS Word | PDF) and 5 (MS Word | PDF). Modular budget pages will not be accepted even when the parent grant was funded as a modular grant.
- Biographical Sketch for all new Senior/Key Personnel. There is no need to repeat information previously provided for other Senior/Key Personnel. MS Word | PDF
- Human Subjects/ Vertebrate Animal documentation (if applicable). Include a current Human Subjects/IRB or Vertebrate Animals/IACUC approval letter, if available. Otherwise, this will be required at the time of funding. All appropriate IRB and IACUC approvals must be in place prior to a supplement award being made.Any differences in the involvement or use of human subjects or specimens, or use of vertebrate animals, between the administrative supplement activity and the parent grant should be noted. When appropriate, details should be provided on the protection of human subjects and inclusion of women, children, and minorities. Additional guidance on Human Subjects Research and Vertebrate Animals is provided under Part II of the PHS 398 instructions ( http://grants1.nih.gov/grants/funding/phs398/phs398.html ).
- PHS 398 Checklist Form MS Word | PDF
Selection Factors
Administrative supplement requests will be reviewed administratively by NIDDK Program and Grants Management Staff with expertise relevant to the proposal but who have no conflict of interest with the proposal. Awards will be determined on the basis of the merit of the proposal, its applicability to the goals of the ARRA, and the availability of funds. Applicants will be notified regarding the review outcome.Selection factors will include the following:
- Relevance of the proposed activities to the parent grant and determination that the proposed activities are within the existing peer-reviewed and approved scope of the project.
- Progress of the parent grant appropriate to the current stage of the project.
- Appropriate and well-described plan to accomplish the goals within the timeframe proposed.
- Expertise of the research team proposed to conduct and achieve the goals of the supplemental study or accelerate the tempo of scientific research.
- Appropriateness of the request to achieve ARRA goals in promoting job creation, economic development, and accelerating the pace and achievement of scientific research.
- Availability of funds and program balance and priorities
How to Apply
To be considered for funding in FY2009, applications must be received by 5PM, EST, April 17, 2009. Applications received after that time and before 5PM, EST, July 17, 2009 will be considered for funding either in FY2009 or FY2010. It is anticipated that additional receipt dates may be added in the future for applications to be considered for funding in FY2010.
Do not send applications to the NIH Center for Scientific Review. Applications must be signed by the authorized institutional official and should be submitted to niddkarraadminsupplement@mail.nih.gov. Applicants should submit applications electronically as an e-mail attachment in PDF format; however the signature of the institutional official must be clearly visible.
Terms of Award
A formal notification in the form of a Notice of Award (NoA) will be provided to the grantee organization. The NoA signed by the grants management officer is the authorizing document. Once all administrative and programmatic issues have been resolved, the NoA will be generated via email notification from the awarding component to the grantee business official.
The terms of the NoA will reference the requirements of the Recovery Act.
In addition to the standard NIH terms of award, all funding provided under the Recovery Act will be subject to the HHS Standard Terms and Conditions for American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA). The full text of these terms approved for NIH awards can be found in the following document: Standard Terms and Conditions for ARRA Awards.
Selection of an application for award is not an authorization to begin performance. Any costs incurred before receipt of the NoA are at the recipient's risk. These costs may be reimbursed only to the extent considered allowable pre-award costs.
Administrative and National Policy Requirements
A NIDDK Program Director will be assigned to each funded application and will assume responsibility for normal stewardship of the awards.
All NIH grant and cooperative agreement awards include the NIH Grants Policy Statement as part of the NoA. For these terms of award, see the NIH Grants Policy Statement Part II: Terms and Conditions of NIH Grant Awards, Subpart A: General and Part II: Terms and Conditions of NIH Grant Awards, Subpart B: Terms and Conditions for Specific Types of Grants, Grantees, and Activities.
In addition, recipients of ARRA funds are reminded that such funds must be separately tracked and monitored independently of any non-ARRA funding.
Reporting
Awarded administrative supplements that include a commitment for funding in FY2010 will be required to submit a separate Non-Competing Continuation Grant Progress Report (PHS 2590) and financial statement as required in the NIH Grants Policy Statement. This will be in addition to any annual progress report required for the parent grant. The funded ARRA administrative supplement will also require separate closeout reports.
In addition, grantees must comply with the requirements set forth in the Recovery Act, including, but not limited to, the quarterly reporting requirements of Section 1512 of the Recovery Act as specified in HHS Standard Terms and Conditions for American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The full text of these terms approved for NIH awards can be found at the following document: Standard Terms and Conditions for AARA Awards.
Recovery Act-related reporting requirements will be incorporated as a special term of award.
Inquiries
Inquiries and discussion of plans for responding to this Notice are strongly encouraged.
For scientific or technical questions relating to research that would be supported by this solicitation, contact the NIDDK Program Director currently administering the funded grant that you would like to supplement.
For administrative questions related to this solicitation, contact the NIDDK grants management specialist currently administering the funded grant that you would like to supplement.
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