Volume 12, number 4: October 4, 2005
FEDERAL NEWS
NIH Move to Electronic Submission on Grants.gov
The National Institutes of Health has announced plans to transition to electronic application submission via Grants.gov, the federal government's central portal for funding information. As part of this move, the NIH will begin using the SF424 Research and Related (R&R) application instead of the PHS398.
These changes will permit NIH to take advantage of Grants.gov's electronic grant application submission process and government-wide standardized forms that are now available on the Grants.gov Web site. To help applicants transition to the electronic submissions process, Grants.gov has improved its online user support tools, user aides, and personalized support. READ MORE
Electronic Submission Milestones for Specific NIH Programs
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) will begin its transition to Grants.gov submission for all individual program/funding mechanisms with the Small Business Innovation Research/Small Business Technology Transfer (SBIR/STTR) programs. SBIR/STTR application packages will be available in mid-October for a December 1 submission. READ MORE
Other major milestones include:
- January 25, 2006 for Academic Research Enhancement Awards (AREA)(R15);
- June 1, 2006 for Small Grant Programs (R03) and Exploratory/Development Research Grant Awards (R21); and
- October 1, 2006 for Research Project Grant Programs (R01)
Funding opportunity announcements for these programs will be issued in the NIH Guide and posted in Grants.gov as mechanisms are transitioned. READ MORE
NIH Response to Hurricane Katrina
In an effort to address the immediate needs of those affected by Hurricane Katrina, National Institutes of Health (NIH) officials have begun plans to assess the damage and recovery efforts from the hurricane with impacted institutions. NIH promises flexible ways of enabling investigators' research to continue even if it means temporarily relocating researchers to new institutions. Additional details will be posted on the NIH website dedicated to post-Katrina information for investigators and grantees.
NIH Roadmap Announces Plan to Support Interdisciplinary Research Consortia
The Interdisciplinary Research Centers program of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Roadmap Initiative will soon begin a second phase of funding to develop new interdisciplinary approaches to solving significant and complex biomedical research problems. Awards to the P20 planning centers funded under the previous part of the program will expire in July 2007, and NIH is announcing a follow-on program to support interdisciplinary research consortia starting in fiscal 2007. This program will fund eight to ten consortia over a five-year period. Consortia are not required to have received funding from the previous planning center phase to apply. The Request for Applications (RFA) for this program will be published in the NIH Guide in January 2006. READ MORE
The Carolina Roadmap office and the Office of Research Development (ORD) are available to assist researchers with white papers for this RFA. Please contact Carolina 's Roadmap Coordinator Karen Stone at 966-9431 or ORD at 962-7503 for more information.
NIH Eliminates Paper Versions of Two Review Notifications
In compliance with a Congressional mandate to move from paper-based to electronic systems, effective October 1 the National Institutes of Health (NIH) will discontinue distribution of hard copies of summary statements to applicants. Beginning February 1, NIH will also stop producing hard copies of the review outcome letter.
Summary statements and scores will be accessible electronically to applicants through eRA Commons following the review meetings. In order to avoid delays in the e-notification process, all principal investigators and individual fellows must register in eRA Commons and periodically check e-mail addresses for accuracy. READ MORE
NIMH Policy on Clinical Research Recruitment
The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) has issued a new policy relating to the recruitment of participants in agency-supported clinical research studies that expect to enroll 150 or more human subjects. The purpose of this policy is to ensure that realistic recruitment targets are established from the onset of a clinical research project for the recruitment phase of the study, and that these targets are met throughout the course of the research. Mutually agreed-upon recruitment milestones will be included in the terms and conditions of the award. If, during the project period, the research design requires modification or the required recruitment milestones are not met, the terms and conditions may need to be modified. READ MORE
NIH Loan Repayment Program
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is currently accepting applications to its loan repayment programs in clinical research, clinical research for individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds, contraception and infertility research, health disparities, and pediatric research. All applications for 2006 awards must be submitted by December 1. READ MORE
NHLBI Implements Fast-track Process for Resubmissions by New Investigators
According to the September 19, 2005 issue of Research Policy ALERT , the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute has implemented a fast-track review procedure for resubmissions by young investigators. Young investigators whose R01 grant applications miss the funding payline by five to ten percent will be able to resubmit a three to five page text answering the reviewers' questions. READ MORE
EPA Protection for Human Test Subjects
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued a call for comment on a proposed rule, "Protections for Subjects in Human Research," that will establish stringent and enforceable safeguards governing the conduct of third-party intentional dosing human studies intended for submission to EPA under the pesticide laws. Comments from researchers concerning the proposed ruling will be accepted until December 12. READ MORE.