Opportunities and Resources
- Loan Repayment Programs: Application Deadline Extended
- Small Business Awardees: NIH Program to Kick-Start Getting Your Product to Market
In The News
- NIAID Rescheduled October Peer Reviews in Time for January Council
- New SBIR and STTR Award Certification Requirements
- News Briefs
Advice Corner
New Funding Opportunities
Loan Repayment Programs: Application Deadline Extended
Investigators will get about two extra weeks to submit applications for NIH's Loan Repayment Programs (LRP). Due to the recent lapse in appropriations, NIH extended the due date from November 15, 2013, to December 2.
That should provide additional breathing room for those of you who were shooting for the original deadline. It should also be enough time to start an application if, for example, you hadn't considered preparing one because you're unfamiliar with LRP.
In that case, here are a few key points you should know:
- Debt relief—LRP may repay up to $35,000 of your educational debt each year if you're an eligible doctoral-level clinician or researcher who's committed to conducting qualified research for at least two years.
- Career benefits—LRP participants have been shown to stay in research careers longer, apply for and receive more grants, and become independent investigators more frequently than their peers who go without LRP funding.
- Various opportunities—NIH offers several repayment programs, but NIAID supports only the Clinical Research LRP and Pediatric Research LRP.
For help with writing your application, see NIH's Tips for Writing a Competitive LRP Applicationand LRP Overview Webinar.
If you have questions and can't find answers on NIH's LRP site or ours at Loan Repayment Programs, contact NIAID's LRP liaison Katrin Eichelberg.
Small Business Awardees: NIH Program to Kick-Start Getting Your Product to Market
Get a jump on leading your product to market with NIH’s Niche Assessment Program.
The Program is back and ready to welcome Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) phase I awardees (grants and contracts) funded in fiscal years 2013 and 2014.
The rundown. An NIH contractor, Foresight Science and Technology, will provide market insight and data that you can use to strategically position your technology in the marketplace. The contractor will create an in-depth report that addresses a number of items, including: identifying your competitive advantages, your market size and potential market share, and recommendations on a market entry strategy.
Foresight will also identify and qualify companies or funding agencies that might serve as potential commercialization partners for your business.
This Program can also:
- Assess all types of technologies, such as devices, drugs, biologics, and therapeutics.
- Help you find strategic alliances, investors, or immediate customers.
- Help in developing a commercialization plan for your Phase II application.
Lastly, you don’t pay a dime for any of this.
Sign up now—slots fill quickly on a first-come, first-served basis. To sign up, fill out the Setup form.
For complete details on the Program, see the August 28, 2013, Guide notice.
NIAID Rescheduled October Peer Reviews in Time for January Council
October's government shutdown raised the possibility that NIH would need to move Council assignments for some applications from January to May. The Center for Scientific Review is currently expecting that few, if any, applications will need revised Council dates.
Similarly, no Council assignment changes are anticipated for applications reviewed by NIAID. If we’re reviewing your application and it was assigned to January Council when you submitted it, your application will still go to January Council.
Many thanks to our scientific review officers for their hard work and diligence in rescheduling reviews in time for January Council. For more information about NIH's decisions regarding Council assignments affected by the shutdown, see theOctober 22, 2013, Guide notice.
New SBIR and STTR Award Certification Requirements
Whether you’re a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) or Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) applicant or grantee, pay attention to two new forms you’ll need to complete:
- Applicants—If you’re applying for an SBIR or STTR award (new or renewal), you must submit a Funding Agreement Certification form before an award. This certification is a revised and renamed version of the Verification Statement that you formerly used that determines your eligibility for an award. Submit it using NIH’s Just-in-Time procedures for SBIR/STTR grants.
- Grantees—If you’re an awardee (new or continuing), complete and maintain the new Life Cycle Certification form once you reach certain milestones during your project period:
- If you’re an SBIR/STTR Phase I awardee, that milestone is when you receive final payment or disbursement from the Payment Management System (PMS).
- SBIR/STTR Phase II awardees, complete it before you receive more than 50 percent of the total award amount and before your final payment or disbursement from PMS.
This new form ensures you’re complying with the assurances provided in your Funding Agreement Certification. You don’t have to submit the Life Cycle Certification directly to NIH, but you must complete it and keep it on file.
These requirements are a result of the SBIR/STTR Reauthorization Act of 2011. You can find the forms under the “SBIR and STTR Grants” section on NIH Forms and Applications.
For more details, read the September 17, 2013, Guide notice.
News Briefs
Join NIH's Rescheduled Webinar for the RPPR Phase II Pilot. Federal Demonstration Partnership members responsible for submitting progress reports to NIH through the eRA Commons should consider being a part of the Research Performance Progress Report (RPPR) Phase II Pilot to implement the RPPR module for non-SNAP awards. NIH will present a training Webinar on November 14, 2013, from 1:30 to 3:00 p.m. EDT. For more information on the pilot and to register for the Webinar, see the November 13, 2013, Guide notice.
Give Your Input on Sharing Genomic Data. NIH is looking for feedback from the public on the draft Genomic Data Sharing (GDS) Policy. Comments are due by November 20, 2013. For details on how to submit comments and to read the draft policy, see the September 27, 2013, Guide notice.
Be Aware of Financial Conflicts of Interest
Remember to tell your institution's business office about potential financial conflicts of interest related to your grant.
As a condition of your award, your institution is responsible for managing, reducing, or eliminating all conflicts for you and your collaborators, and also ensuring your subawardees comply with NIH's policy on financial conflict of interest.
Be sure to mention all financial interests, including interests in any entity that might be affected by your institutional responsibilities, even if you don't think they affect the conduct of your research.
Check with your institutional official to see what else you need to report or do.
As much as we want to avoid holding up your funding for any reason, we have done so for institutions that do not comply with NIH's financial conflict of interest policy.
Read our Financial Conflicts of Interest for Awardees SOP and visit NIH's Financial Conflict of Interest page for more information.
Feel free to send us a question at deaweb@niaid.nih.gov. After responding to you, we may include your question in the newsletter, incorporate it into the NIAID Research Funding site, or both.
"Do I need a cover letter for a corrected application?"—anonymous reader
If the due date has not passed, your corrections won't require a cover letter.
If the due date has passed, your application is late. Describe the problems you fixed in the Optional Documents section of the PHS 398 Cover Letter File form. Include all relevant information from your previous cover letter since NIH doesn't keep the old version.
For more information on late applications, see Rules for Late Applications in the Strategy for NIH Funding.
"Can I copyright publications developed under a grant?"—anonymous reader
Unless your Notice of Award explicitly says otherwise, you don't need NIH approval to copyright publications developed under an NIH grant—including training and fellowship awards.
Copyright ownership is an arrangement between you and your institution, or between you and your publisher. Moreover, your institution may exercise its right of ownership over any work created during your official duties.
- RFA-AI-13-055, Pilot Clinical Trials to Eliminate the Latent HIV Reservoir
See other announcements at NIAID Funding Opportunities List.