|
Research News
RePORTER Replaced CRISP On November 1, the CRISP query tool, which provided a searchable database of biomedical reserach projects funded by NIH was retired. RePORTER will replace it. Click here to go to RePORTER.
NIH Peer Review and
Applications Changes
In December, you will need to download the new application forms
(applies to both electronic SF 424 (R&R) and paper PHS 398). To
better understand the new requirements, the
Enhancing Peer Review
website has a page dedicated to the
application changes. For Training and
Communications Resources,
Click here.
NIH Population Tracking
Requirements for ARRA Awards
NIH Policy specifies that applicants for
NIH funds must provide Targeted/Planned enrollment data for each clinical
research protocol and Cumulative Inclusion enrollment data for each ongoing
protocol.
Click here for details.
NIH Restructures Application Forms/Instructions for FY2011 Funding Submissions NIH announced it will soon implement a shortened and restructured application format for submissions for FY2011 funding (beginning with due dates on or after January 25, 2010). Shortened page limits and restructured sections are described. Click here for details.
Revised PHS 2590 (Non-Competing Continuation Progress
Report) Policy Changes Implemented
The newly
revised
instructions and forms are now available and required
for all annual progress report due on/after October 1,
2009.
Click here for details.
New Requirement for eRA Commons User IDs in Postdoctoral Role
The revised Continuation
Progress Report for a DHHS Public Health Service Grant (PHS 2590, rev.
06/09) now requires a Commons ID for all individuals with a postdoctoral
role who participate in a project for at least one person month or more.
Click here for details.
New Reporting and Assurance Rqmts. for Training Grant Institutions
NIH
established new reporting/information disclosure requirements for
institutions receiving NIH awards for the training of graduate students for
doctoral degrees.
Click here for details.
xTrain Expands
NIH invites all institutions registered with the
electronic Research Administration (eRA) Commons to use the xTrain Commons
module to prepare and submit appointment forms and other related documents
for NIH institutional career development awards (K12s and KL2s) and NLM
research training grants (T15s).
Click here for details.
Recovery Act of 2009: Info on Quarterly Reporting Rqmts for NIH Award
Recipients
NIH
developed resources to help extramural grant and cooperative agreement award
recipients fulfill reporting requirements. Section 1512 requires a quarterly
report, due no later than 10 calendar days after each calendar quarter in
which the recipient receives the award (Jan 10, April 10, July 10, and Oct
10). Cumulative quarterly reports include standard info as defined by the
Act. On June 22, 2009 OMB issued a memo providing more information on
reporting requirements for the first quarterly report due on October 10,
2009.
Click here for reporting resources.
UAMS IRB Fees to Increase as of July 1, 2009 Beginning the first day of July 2009, UAMS IRB rates will change. However, rates for funded projects submitted before July 1st will remain the same for the life of the project. Click here for details.
Recovery Act Grand Opportunities GO Submission Deadline moved to May 29,
2009
The deadline is extended
Click here for details.
Extension for
Electronic Submission
of NIH Challenge Grants and Funding Opportunities
For Grants with Submission Deadlines from April 27 through
May 1, 2009.
Click here for details.
NIH Public
Comment Period for Draft Stem Cell Guidelines through May 26, 2009
NIH has issued a
Federal Register Notice requesting public
comment on draft guidelines for Human Stem Cell Research.
Draft guidelines are available for review on the
NIH stem cell
website. Comments can be entered at
http://nihoerextra.nih.gov/stem_cells/add.htm.
All comments must be received on or before May 26, 2009.
NIH
Removes Barriers to Human Stem Cell Research
April 17,
2009, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) posted
draft guidelines
for implementation of Executive Order 13505: Removing Barriers to
Responsible Scientific Research Involving Human Stem Cells. These
draft
guidelines will be published in the Federal Register for public comment next
week. In addition,
NIH has released a Guide Notice
NOT-OD-09-085 that
explains how NIH applicants and grantees should proceed with applications
and/or awards that include the use of human embryonic stem cells.
Administrative
Supplement Requests vs. Competitive Revision Applications
For
a comparison of the specific differences,
Click here.
ARRA Supplement
Due Dates
(with
Institute links)
Prepared by the
UAMS Office of Grants and Scientific Publications,
Click here.
Overview of current NIH
ARRA options
Prepared by the UAMS Office of Grants and Scientific Publications,
Click here.
NIH
Challenge Grants in Health and Science Research
As part of the American
Recovery/Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), NIH has designated at least $200
million in FYs 2009 - 2010 for a new initiative called the
NIH Challenge Grants in
Health and Science Research,
to fund 200 or more grants, contingent upon the submission of a sufficient
number of scientifically meritorious applications. In addition, Recovery Act
funds allocated to NIH specifically for comparative effectiveness research (CER)
may be available to support additional grants.
This new program will support research on
Challenge Topics which address specific scientific and health research
challenges in biomedical and behavioral research that will benefit from
significant 2-year jumpstart funds. NIH
Challenge Areas focus on specific knowledge gaps, scientific opportunities,
new technologies, data generation, or research methods that would benefit
from an influx of funds to quickly advance the area in significant ways. The
research in these areas should have a high impact in biomedical or
behavioral science and/or public health.
Click here for details...
NCRR
Funding Opportunities from ARRA Funds
Intended to stimulate the economy, NCRR will administer up to $1.3 billion
in federal grants through the following funding opportunities:
Core Facility
Renovation, Repair and Improvement (G20), RFA-RR-09-007.
Designed to upgrade extramural core facilities to support biomedical
and/or behavioral research.
See Full Announcement >>
Recovery Act
Limited Competition: Extramural Research Facilities Improvement
Program (C06), RFA-RR-09-008.
Designed to construct, renovate, or repair biomedical or behavioral
research facilities.
See Full Announcement >>
Addition of
Recovery Funds to the Shared Instrumentation Grants Program (S10),
NOT-RR-09-008.
Seeks applications from groups of NIH-supported investigators to buy
or upgrade instruments costing $100,000 or more. The maximum award
is $500,000.
See Full Announcement >>
Recovery Act
Limited Competition: High-end Instrumentation Grant Program (S10),
PAR-RR-09-118.
Seeks applications from groups of NIH-supported investigators to
purchase a single major item of equipment to be used for biomedical
research costing $600,000 or more. The maximum award is $8 million.
See Full Announcement >>
Check for
future updates and funding opportunities at
www.ncrr.nih.gov/recovery.
NIAID Strategy for Funding After the
Stimulus
NIAID's % increase after FY09 is
not likely to increase enough to make up for the end of stimulus funds.
Therefore, FY2011 is expected to be a very difficult year to get funding
(whether funded from the stimulus funds or regular appropriations).
NIAID suggests investigators: 1)
Start writing your next grant now for FY 2010 funding on a different, but
related topic; and 2) Get research done so you can strongly justify your
grant's recompetition. Keep timing options open, recognizing FY 2011, and
the year or two following will be very difficult for applicants.
[Note:
If you receive an FY09 stimulus two-year grant, NIAID cannot fund a
resubmission to that award, but will be able to terminate it if you submit a
renewal early and get a fundable score.]
Click here for details...
Centers of Biomedical Research
Excellence (COBRE)
National Center for Research Resources (NCRR) seeks
applications from investigators at biomedical research institutions (PhD
awarding) in the health sciences/sciences related to health/independent
biomedical research institutes within Institutional Development Award (IDeA)
eligible states. The COBRE objective is to strengthen an institution's
biomedical research infrastructure through a thematic multi-disciplinary
center and enhance the ability of investigators to compete independently for
complementary NIH individual research grants/other external peer-reviewed
support.
Click
here for details...
NIH sets
Salary Limits on Grants/Cooperative Agreements/ Contracts Under the Current
Continuing Resolution
The Consolidated
Appropriations Act, 2008, Public Law 110-161, restricts an individual's
direct salary amount under an NIH grant to Executive Level I of the Federal
Executive Pay scale. Click
here for details...
NIH urges Eligible PIs to establish
Early Stage Investigator Status
PIs who have received
PhDs/MDs in the past 10 years and who have not received a big NIH research
grant, may be eligible to qualify as an Early Stage Investigator (ESI; a
subset of the New Investigator category). As such, your R01 grant
applications will be flagged as ESI and reviewers will be instructed to
focus more on the research than on the track record, beginning May 2009.
Click here for details...
NIH Announces Updated Implementation Timeline
In response to NIH peer review system policy changes,
NIH has established a timeline for changes to the; 1) number of reviews
allowed, 2) grant scoring system changes, and 3) shorter NIH grant application page
limits.
Click here for details...
NSF
Announces Revised Salary Policy Effective January 5, 2009
The agency will no longer limit NSF salary
support to summer effort. NSF explains, “this change moves away
from the concept of summer salary and allows for reimbursement of two months
of salary per year whenever appropriate during the year.” NSF’s salary
policy change aligns the agency with other federal agencies, most of which
allow nine-month faculty to work on their grants at any time during the
academic year as well as during the summer.
Click here for details...
NIH
Announces Policy Changes on Resubmissions
Beginning with original new applications (i.e., never
submitted) and competing renewal applications submitted for the January 25,
2009 due dates and beyond, the NIH will accept only a single amendment to
the original application. Failure to receive funding after two submissions
(i.e., the original and the single amendment) will mean that the applicant
should substantially re-design the project rather than simply change the
application in response to previous reviews.
Click here for details...
NIH
Policy Designates Early Stage Investigators
Under the policy,
new investigators
within ten years of completing their terminal research degree or within ten
years of completing their medical residency will be designated Early Stage
Investigators (ESIs). NIH research grant (R01) applications from
ESIs will be identified and the applicant's career stage will be considered
at the time of review and award. It is hoped that by providing an advantage
for ESIs, NIH will directly encourage earlier application for NIH research
grants. Implementation will begin with R01 applications of February 2009
receipt.
Click here for details...
NIH Changes to Improve the NIH Peer Review System
The changes focus on 4 themes: 1) engage the
best reviewers; 2) improve the quality and transparency of reviews; 3)
ensure balanced and fair reviews across scientific fields/career stages
and reduce the burden on applicants; and 4) develop a permanent review process for the peer review process. Also recommended was
the creation of new
funds for new or "early stage" investigators. Changes will come in
stages with the first including:
-
Shortening of grant applications and
other related changes
(e.g., R01s will be
shortened to 12 pgs, instead of 21).
-
New review criteria
(5 specific review criteria:
impact,
investigator(s),
innovation/originality,
project plan/feasibility,
and environment).
A summary statement template with separate field/allowable space for
criterion will also be added along with a reviewers' field (if they
choose) to advise on grant updating/resubmission.
-
New scoring system
will allow reviewers to give individual scores for each of five review
criteria (1-7) and a prelim. global score. After initial scoring, all
proposals in related groups will be discussed and ranked.
-
New grant pools
will be designed to expand the Pioneer, EUREKA, and new innovator awards to
encourage applicant risk-taking. There may be new scoring for grants
with "transformative potential." NIH plans to set aside $250 million for
this type of grant.
Future
changes will include: 2-stage review
(editorial board model) and the use of "prebutals" to allow applicants to
fix factual errors found during the review process; and the
creation of a peer review oversight board
within the Div. of Program Coordination, Planning and Strategic Initiatives
for ongoing review process improvements.
Click here for more
details...
Office of Human Research
Protections (OHRP) Policy
OHRP seeking info/comments about whether
to: 1) issue additional guidance to institutions engaged in human subject
research conducted or supported by the Dept. of Health and Human Services,
and/or 2) require mandatory implementation of training and education
programs concerning research with human subjects.
Click here
for details...
Updated NIH Public
Access Policy
Beginning May 25, 2008, anyone submitting an application, proposal or
progress report to the NIH must include the PMC or NIH Manuscript Submission
reference number when citing applicable articles that arise from their NIH
funded research. This policy includes applications submitted to the NIH for
the May 25, 2008 due date and subsequent due dates.
Click here for details...
General Services
Administration (GSA) Announcement - Change in
Payment Process for NIH Study Section
Members
As of May 16th, 2008, NIH study section
members need no longer register with CCR/DUNS. (The CCR system will no
longer be used to pay study section members.) NOTE: Current study section members that are registered with CCR
should not renew their CCR/DUNS registration (when prompted) and
any study section member not yet registered with CCR/DUNS,
should not register.
Since
NIH has yet to decide how study section members will be paid, it is
important that study section members contact their study section SRO for
further instructions. For details,
Email Galen
Wenger.
NIH - Authentication
of Cultured Cell Lines
An important issue associated with cultured cell research has
come to light. Research based on misidentified or contaminated cultures may
alter experimental outcome significantly. It has been recommended that
granting agencies restrict funding to institutions not using available
authentication procedures...Grant applications that fail to employ such
practices would not be considered of the highest quality and such
manuscripts would not fare well in the journal review process.
Click here for details...
NIH and Grants.gov Software
Potential Problem
Your NIH grant application package
must be opened with software that is
compatible with Grants.gov. The
compatible version of Adobe Reader
is required for viewing, editing and submitting a complete
grant application package to Grants.gov.
Any and all edits made to the Adobe
Reader application package must be made with the compatible version of
Adobe Reader.
Click
here for details...
American Academy of Arts and
Sciences - ARISE
In 2008, the AAAS
published a white paper entitled ARISE (Advancing Research in Science
and Engineering). The goal of the document is to provide recommendations
to Federal Agencies, Universities, and private Foundations for investing
in/supporting Early-Career Scientists and High-Risk, High Reward
Research.
Click here for details...
Science Café
Obesity: Young
& Old
November
24, 2009, 7-9 p.m.
Vieux
Carre/Afterthought,
2721 Kavanaugh Blvd (Hillcrest), Little Rock, AR. See the Science Cafe
website Location page for a map/menus.
______________________________________
______________________________________
Radio Sneak Peak
Each month one of the SC panel of scientists/experts will
provide a sneak peek just before the 7:00 p.m. event,
(6:05-6:30 p.m.) as a guest on a new
KUAR-FM89 science talk show
hosted by our own Dorothy Miles.
Moderator
-
Dorothy Miles, Ph.D., Research associate with
UAMS/Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Research Institute;
news anchor/reporter for
KUAR FM89 |
For more information, check the
Science Café website or
Email Linda Williams. |
