Volume 12, number 7: January 5, 2006
FEDERAL NEWS
Mandatory Electronic Application Submission at NIH and AHRQ
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) will soon require all competing research grant applications to be submitted electronically via Grants.gov on the new SF 424 Research and Related (R&R) application forms.
Applicants are encouraged to prepare themselves in advance to participate in electronic submission and to use the new form set. Updates on the status of the transition will be posted in the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts and on the NIH eRA Electronic Receipt of Applications website .
Speedier NIH Review of Research Applications Planned
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced a pilot effort to significantly shorten peer reviews of research grant applications. NIH's Center for Scientific Review (CSR) will initiate the pilot in February in forty of its scientific review panels, offering quicker reviews to new investigators who need to resubmit revised applications for their first R01 grant. This shortened process and delayed resubmission deadlines will allow researchers able to readily address reviewer concerns to revise and resubmit their applications for the very next review cycle, more than four months earlier than before.
Details of the proposed pilot study have been posted in the NIH Guide to Grants and Contracts. READ MORE
NSF Programs Requiring or Supporting Grants.gov
The National Science Foundation (NSF) has published a list of NSF programs that will authorize or require the use of Grants.gov in FY 2006. The agencies are listed as either requiring submission or supporting submission of proposals through the Grants.gov portal. READ MORE (pdf)
CDC Health Protection Research Guide
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has announced that the CDC Health Protection Research Guide, 2006-2015 is now open for public comment. This guide will provide a comprehensive, long-range vision of national and global public health needs that can be evaluated and addressed through research. Public comment on the current draft is encouraged through January 15. READ MORE
Input into NSF Strategic Plan
The National Science Foundation (NSF) is soliciting input on the next NSF Strategic Plan. The current plan is meant to guide NSF and stakeholders in a way that is responsive to the science and engineering community. The Strategic Plan for FY 2006-2011 will continue to do this through communicating NSF's strategic goals, objectives, priorities, and strategies. Comments are requested by January 20. READ MORE
Federal Support for R&D
A National Science Foundation survey of federal agencies shows federal obligations for R&D and R&D plant at an estimated $110.2 billion in FY 2005, an increase of 3.5 percent (1.4 percent in inflation-adjusted 2000 dollars) over FY 2004. Obligations for research are expected to account for nearly half of that amount. READ MORE
NIH Update of Laboratory Animal Welfare Standards
National Institutes of Health (NIH) is soliciting feedback concerning a potential update of the laboratory animal welfare standards in the NIH Gui de for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals. The guide's purpose is to ensure that institutions treat laboratory animals in a way that is scientifically and humanely appropriate. NIH is interested in new scientific information concerning institutional policies and responsibilities, animal environments, housing, and management, veterinary medical care, and physical plants. Those interested in contributing should submit:
- peer-reviewed articles or citations published since the development of the 1996 Guide;
- science-based information or scientific principles concerning human laboratory animal care not addressed in the 1996 Guide; or
- newly published science-based standards for animal housing, environment, management and structural design not cited in the 1996 Guide. READ MORE