This is a common question asked by applicants after review and was nicely answered in a recent post on the NIGMS Feedback Loop.
Why Isn’t the Overall Impact Score the Average of the Criterion Scores?
Reply
Monthly Archives: February 2012
National Women’s Health Week May 13-19
May 13-19 will mark the 13th annual National Women’s Health Week—a national effort to raise awareness of manageable steps that women can take to improve their health. Last year, more than 100,000 people participated nationwide, including many underserved women (and men) who received access to important preventative health services.
If your organization is in a position to sponsor a health fair, fitness event, or provide preventative screenings, you can register your event at www.womenshealth.gov/whw. Any health event that occurs during the month of May is eligible to register.
Always There: The Biography of Ruth L. Kirschstein
You may know the name from the NIH’s Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service awards and now you can read about the person behind the name. Always There: The Remarkable Life of Ruth Lillian Kirschstein, M.D. tells the story of the woman who became the first female director of a major institute at the NIH, helped develop the Sabin polio vaccine, and was an advocate for basic biomedical research and research training.
The book is available for download to your Kindle, Nook, or iPad, as well as via PDF.
Time to Rev’ Up for the NIH Regional Seminar on Program Funding & Grants Administration in Indianapolis, IN
Do you want to keep up-to-date on the latest NIH policy updates and grants process information? Are you new to working with the NIH application and award process and want to learn more? If so, then join more than 30 NIH and HHS experts as they head to Indianapolis, Indiana in April for the 2012 NIH Regional Seminar on Program Funding and Grants Administration.
Held only twice each year, these seminars offer unique and valuable opportunities for administrators, investigators, students, grant writers, and anyone interested in learning tips and tricks about the application process, navigating the peer review process, and managing an award. Interaction and networking opportunities are available throughout the seminar with NIH grants, program, and review officials, as well as NIH and HHS policy officers…along with hundreds of attendees from around the world.
Indianapolis, Indiana – April 16-18 – REGISTRATION OPEN
Washington, D.C. – June 20-22 – REGISTRATION OPENS EARLY MARCH
There are 2 full days of sessions, endless networking opportunities, and valuable expertise around every corner. Optional, hands-on eRA computer workshops are available on the day prior to the seminar.
Reserved space is limited, so plan now to be a part of one of these valuable seminars. More information is available on the NIH Regional Seminars on Program Funding and Grants Administration homepage. We hope to see you there!
Writing the Vertebrate Animal Section
Wondering whether you need to complete the vertebrate animal section of an application? The NIH Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare has put together a helpful fact sheet for applicants. Here you will find an overview of the requirements for each of the 5 points of the vertebrate animal section, as well as a clear explanation of who needs to complete this section.
Additional information can be found in the vertebrate animal worksheets for grant applications and contract proposals.
What’s New on RePORT
Take a look at RePORT’s most recent news and information in the latest edition of The ReSource. There is a sneak peak at the new site design, as well as information on RePORTER, MyRePORTER, ExPORTER, and the fiscal year 2011 reports.
New Podcast: Submitting Administrative Supplement Requests Electronically
In this podcast, Dave Curren from our grants policy office explains a pilot system we released in February to submit your administrative supplement requests electronically. To view past podcasts and transcripts, visit our podcast page.
To get new podcasts as they are released, subscribe by visiting us on iTunes or catch our podcast RSS using your favorite software.
OMB Asks for Comments on Potential Reforms to Federal Grant Policies
The Office of Management and Budget just published a notice in the Federal Register asking for public comment on potential reforms to federal grant policies contained in OMB circulars such as A-21, A-133, and A-122. These include ideas that would standardize information collection across agencies, adopt a risk-based model for single audits, and provide new administrative approaches for determining and monitoring the allocation of federal funds. These ideas reflect the input of a number of groups that have been considering these issues over the past few months, including the A-21 Task Force, which I have mentioned here before.
I encourage you to read the notice in full. To give you an idea of the scope of the proposed reform, here are some of the ideas discussed:
- Exploring alternatives to time-and-effort reporting requirements for salaries and wages
- Charging directly allocable administrative support as a direct cost
- Including the cost of certain computing devices as allowable direct cost supplies
- Consolidating the cost principles into a single document, with limited variations by type of entity
- For indirect (“facilities and administrative”) costs, using flat rates instead of negotiated rates
As you can see, some of these changes, if implemented, will have a broad, long-lasting effect on how federal grants are administered. Therefore, it is important to take advantage of this opportunity to provide input to OMB as they consider the proposed reforms.
You can submit comments at http://www.regulations.gov. The comment period closes on March 29, 2012 April 30, 2012.
Obtaining an Animal Welfare Assurance
The NIH Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare has developed a new webpage to help guide awardee institutions through the process of obtaining an animal welfare assurance. Here you will find an overview of the criteria and the process for obtaining an assurance, a description of each type of assurance, plus where to go for more information.
Is There a Time Limit for Resubmission?
Yes. You must send in your resubmission no later than 37 months after the receipt date of your new, renewal, or revision application. Don’t use the day you actually submitted your original application in your calculation.
Also, your resubmission application must be submitted for the dates as listed in the appropriate funding opportunity announcement. So if you submitted a new R01 application back on February 5, 2009, you’ve still got a few days to get it in before the March 5, 2012 R01 deadline!