News


	NEWS

	NIH Releases Summary of Application Changes posted: November 10, 2009 Many submission requirements are changing for NIH applications due January 25, 2010 or later. This PDF lists the changes being made to enhance peer review. You can find the full document here: http://enhancing-peer-review.nih.gov/docs/application_changes.pdf
	NIH Replaces CRISP with RePORT posted: November 2, 2009 As of October 31, the NIH retired the CRISP database and replaced it with the Research Portfolio Online Reporting Tool (RePORT). This new site offers all the features of CRISP plus additions. You can find RePORT here: http://report.nih.gov/index.aspx
	NSF's Division of Mathematical and Physical Sciences Sponsors Lecture Series posted: November 2, 2009 The National Science Foundation invites media and members of the public to a series of lectures sponsored by the Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences. Upcoming talks will help promote a national discussion of issues that scientists expect to shape their research in the coming years. The next one will be on Tuesday, Nov. 3, and will feature Nobel Laureate Mario Molina who will address climate change. All lectures will be held at NSF, 4201 Wilson Blvd in Ballston, Va. (easily accessible from the Ballston Metro station). Visitors are welcome but must have a pass to gain access. Please contact Lisa-Joy Zgorski, lisajoy@nsf.gov or 703-292-8311, to register to attend. For the full list of lecturers: NSF Media Advisory 09-029
	NIH Enhances their Notice of Award Emails posted: July 28, 2009 The NIH has realized that a number of notice of award emails have gone only to the sponsored Programs offices or Authorized Representatives and not to the PIs themselves. In their attempts to correct this, and improve their notification system, they may be resending a number of award notices directly to the PIs. If you receive a notice of award, please make sure that it is not just a copy of a previous award for your records. To read the full notice: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-09-127.html
	New NIH Guidelines for Human Stem Cell Research posted: July 15, 2009 Effective July 7, 2009, the NIH has adopted new guidelines regarding the use of stem cells in research. These may be useful to our researchers involved with medical centers and hospitals. To read the full guidelines: http://stemcells.nih.gov/index.asp
	DHHS/NIH Provides info on their Implementation of Executive Order 13505 to Remove Barriers to Stem Cell Use posted: April 21, 2009 On March 9, 2009, President Barack Obama issued an Executive Order authorizing the Secretary of Health and Human Services to support and conduct responsible, scientifically worthy human stem cell research, including human embryonic stem cell research, to the extent permitted by law. This Notice informs the community of the status of ongoing research, and of applications pending review or to be submitted, prior to the issuance of final Guidelines. To read the full notice: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-09-085.html
	Recovery Act Notice: NIH ARRA Funding Considerations for Applications with Meritorious Scores that Fall Beyond the Pay-line posted: April 7, 2009 Don't give up hope yet! One of the ways NIH will implement the ARRA is to select existing peer-reviewed, meritorious grant applications, that can be accomplished in two years or less, meet the goals of the ARRA, and meet the mission priorities of an NIH institute. In general, existing applications eligible for consideration of 2-year funding under the ARRA are defined as applications submitted for funding with FY 2008 or FY 2009 funds that: (a) received meritorious priority scores from the initial peer review process; (b) received approval from an Advisory Council or Board prior to September 30, 2009; and (c) received priority scores that could not otherwise be paid in FY 2008 or 2009. For more information: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-09-078.html
	NIH Grantholders - New eRA Commons Financial Conflict of Interest Module will be Mandatory as of July 1, 2009 posted: April 2, 2009 The NIH is required by Federal regulation to establish standards to ensure there is no reasonable expectation that the design, conduct or reporting of research funded under grants or cooperative agreements will be biased by any conflicting financial interest of an investigator. To make it easier for investigators to comply with these standards, as of July 1 the financial conflict of interest (FCoI) reports may be (and must be) filed through the eRA Commons system. Someone from OSP will need to assign an FCoI role to your profile before you can initiate a report, so please contact us if you need this module activated. For more information: http://era.nih.gov/services_for_applicants/other/fcoi.cfm
	Grants.gov System Downtime This Weekend posted: March 27, 2009 Grants.gov will be down Saturday, March 28 and Sunday, March 29, for system upgrades. It is scheduled to be back up by 11:59pm on Sunday.
	Director of the NSF Gives Info on Their Plans to Use Stimulus Funding posted: March 27, 2009 Dr. Arden Bement, Director of the National Science Foundation, made a speech to employees on plans to use the stimulus package money, of which NSF received $3B. Items of importance to the Fordham community include: the decision to increase the number of CAREER awards and IGERT (graduate student training) grants; the plan to reconsider proposals that were declined on or after October 1, 2008; and the fact that the NSF does not intend to provide supplements to current grants. For more information: http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=114483
	The NIH Public Access Policy is Made Permanent for 2009 and Beyond posted: March 26, 2009 The law states: "SEC. 217. The Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) shall require in the current fiscal year and thereafter that all investigators funded by the NIH submit or have submitted for them to the National Library of Medicine's PubMed Central an electronic version of their final, peer-reviewed manuscripts upon acceptance for publication, to be made publicly available no later than 12 months after the official date of publication: Provided, That the NIH shall implement the public access policy in a manner consistent with copyright law." Make sure, if you are an NIH grantee, that any manuscripts you get accepted for publication, that came about because of your NIH project, are submitted to PubMed. It's the law! For more information: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-09-071.html
	Announcing the FY 2009 NIH Director's Bridge Awards (NDBA) posted: March 26, 2009 The NIH is taking specific steps to continue the support available to investigators whose R01 applications receive review scores near the Institute or Center nominal payline and who have limited additional support. The NDBA provides continued but limited bridge funding for meritorious investigators who just miss the funding cutoff and have minimal support from other sources. The continued funding will permit the Principal Investigator additional time to strengthen a resubmission application. An NDBA recipient will receive an R56 award for a single year. Total costs approved by the Institute or Center for the first year of the project up to $500,000 will be provided using a one year R56 grant. Awarding the NDBA (R56) does not affect the status of a pending R01 application. For more information: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-09-068.html
	NIH Releases More Announcements of Available Funding as Part of the Recovery Act posted: March 18, 2009 NIH released three notices today regarding further funding available as part of the ARRA: • Availability of Funds for Administrative Supplements: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-09-056.html • Availability of Funds for Competitive Revision Applications: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-09-058.html • Availability of Funds for Administrative Supplements Providing Summer Research Experiences for Students and Science Educators: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-09-060.html
	NIH Announces Challenge Grants as Part of the Recovery Act posted: March 6, 2009 NIH has received new funds for Fiscal Years 2009 and 2010 as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act). NIH has designated at least $200 million for a new initiative called the NIH Challenge Grants in Health and Science Research (see http://grants.nih.gov/grants/funding/challenge_award/). This new program will support research on topic areas which address specific scientific and health research challenges in biomedical and behavioral research that would benefit from significant 2-year jumpstart funds. NIH Institute and Centers have selected specific Challenge Topics within each of the Challenge Areas. The research in these Challenge Areas should have a high impact in biomedical or behavioral science and/or public health. Applications are due on April 27, 2009. (Cross-posted on the Funding Opportunities page.) For more information: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-OD-09-003.html
	Current NIMH awardees urged to request administrative supplements posted: February 20, 2009 You may have heard that the NIH will be the recipient of about $10 billion from the economic stimulus package. But today, an email was sent out by Dr. Emeline Otey of the NIMH stating that the institute will receive $368 million, some of which they plan to use for administrative supplements for current NIMH grants. If you could use a one or two (at max) year extension to your current grant, which will further, not change, the original aims, you are asked to submit a short (2-3) page letter by February 27th. The letter must: • briefly outline the aims of the current project • describe the additional work you are proposing and why it is important to do • justify the supplemental funds requested to do this additional work • be countersigned by either Kris Wolff or Laura Ebert Dr. Otey notes that normally an administrative supplement should not be more than 25% of your direct cost budget for the current year, but feels that in this case a larger supplement might be honored with adequate justification.
	Grants.gov website down for maintenance & updates February 7 & 8, 2009 posted: February 6, 2009 Grants.gov will be down to make system enhancements between Saturday, February 7 and Sunday, February 8, 11:59 pm EST. (If the deployment is ahead of schedule, it will be brought back on-line sooner.) During this time, you will not be able to do any of the following: • Search for Funding Opportunity Announcements • Download grant application packages • Submit applications • Track Grants.gov application status
	NIH/AHRQ/CDC/FDA extend the error-correction window for all submissions through end of February, 2009 posted: February 3, 2009 NIH/AHRQ/CDC (NIOSH)/ and FDA will extend the electronic application error correction window to five days for those opportunities with submission dates through February 2009. This change is being made in response to applicant concerns about Grants.gov system performance. This extension should allow applicants sufficient time to correct system identified errors or warnings following on-time submission. For more information: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-09-045.html
	Adobe-Based Grant Application Forms Now Available for All NIH Funding Opportunity Announcements Requiring Electronic Submission posted: February 3, 2009 The purpose of this notice is to alert users to the availability of Adobe-based grant application forms for all NIH funding opportunity announcements requiring electronic submission. Applicants should return to the Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) for which they are applying and download the new forms, if they have not already downloaded the Adobe forms for that FOA. For more information: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-09-043.html
	NIH updates information regarding salary limitations for FY09 posted: January 28, 2009 NIH continues to operate on a continuing resolution (CR) through March 6, 2009. The CR applies the terms of the FY 2008 appropriations into the period covered by the CR. The Executive Level I annual salary rate was $191,300 for the period January 1 through December 31, 2008. Effective January 1, 2009, the Executive Level I salary level increased to $196,700. When the final FY 2009 Appropriation is enacted, we will publish our annual NIH Guide Notice on the legislative mandates included therein with additional information on the salary cap. For more information: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-09-037.html
	NIH urges eligible PIs to establish Early Stage Investigator status posted: January 14, 2009 If you attained your terminal research degree or completed your medical residency within the past ten years, and you have not previously received a substantial NIH research grant, you may be eligible to qualify as an Early Stage Investigator for the purposes of your NIH R01 research grant application. How exactly does that benefit you, you may ask? Well, for one, your R01 grant application will be flagged as an Early Stage Investigator application beginning with the February 2009 R01 submissions. In reviewing this application, reviewers will be instructed to focus more on the research portion of your application and less on your track record. Beginning in May 2009, Early Stage Investigator applications will be clustered for review. To ensure that NIH recognizes your eligibility as an Early Stage Investigator, PIs are urged to log into eRA Commons (https://commons.era.nih.gov/commons/) and update their Personal Profile immediately. Note that PIs need to update their degree/residency data before they submit their R01 application. After Jan. 17, 2009, the eRA Commons will be ready to accept completion dates for medical residency; please do not try before that date. Once the PI enters the information, the system will calculate ESI eligibility and display the eligibility end date to the user if s/he is eligible.

	NIH Announces Revised "New and Early Stage Investigator" Policies posted: November 7, 2008 This notice describes changes in New Investigator policies stemming from the NIH Enhancing Peer Review Initiative. Under this new policy, the NIH intends to support New Investigators at success rates comparable to those for established investigators submitting new applications. Early Stage Investigators (ESIs), as previously described on September 26, 2008, should comprise a majority of the New Investigators supported. Where possible, New Investigator applications will be clustered during review. This notice also advises New Investigators and ESIs thatthese NIH New Investigator Policies are limited to applications for traditional research project grant (R01) support. Accordingly, the NIH strongly encourages New Investigators, particularly ESIs, to apply for R01 grants when seeking first-time NIH funding. Link to notice: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-09-013.html
	NIH Institutes "Two Strikes" Policy posted: October 8, 2008 NIH announces a change in the existing policy on resubmission (amended) applications. 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. It is expected that this policy will lead to funding high quality applications earlier, with fewer resubmissions. Link to notice: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-09-003.html
	NSF Announces new Proposal Guidelines effective January 5, 2009 posted: October 6, 2008 The National Science Foundation has issued their new Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guide (PAPP) which goes into effect on January 5, 2009. The biggest change is on senior personnel salary guidelines: "As a general policy, NSF limits salary compensation for senior project personnel to no more than two months of their regular salary in any one year. This limit includes salary compensation received from all NSF-funded grants. This effort must be documented in accordance with the applicable cost principles. If anticipated, any compensation for such personnel in excess of two months must be disclosed in the proposal budget, justified in the budget justification, and must be specifically approved by NSF in the award notice." While the previous guidelines allow for senior personnel to be compensated as per their effort on the grant project, this change limits PIs to 2 months on all their NSF grants, should they have more than one, combined. Link to notice: http://nsf.gov/bfa/dias/policy/papp/papp09_1/notice.jsp Link to new guidelines: http://www.nsf.gov/publications/pub_summ.jsp?ods_key=nsf091
	Director of the Center for Scientific Review, NIH, speaks in New York City posted: September 12, 2008 On October 21, 2008, Antonio Scarpa, MD, PhD, will speak at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center on "Challenges and Opportunities in Peer Review: A Vision for Ensuring Its Strategic National Value." Entrance to the lecture is free, but seats are limited, so MSKCC requests that interested parties fill out and return the registration form. Link to flyer/registration form: /images/academics/Office_of_Research/OSP/Scarpa_flyer.pdf
	NSF releases "Dear Colleague" letter with tips regarding the broader impacts review criteria posted: July 31, 2008 The letter intends to "clarify what is meant by broader impacts and how it is applied by Program Directors in making their final decisions." Examples are provided to illustrate what is expected from PIs. Link to Dear Colleague letter: http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2008/nsf08062/nsf08062.pdf From National Science Foundation
	Grants.gov webcast provides news regarding Adobe application packages posted: July 16, 2008 As of June 30th, agencies are no longer posting opportunity packages in PureEdge and instead will be switching over to using Adobe. Many agencies are already using Adobe and many more will be transitioning between September and December of this year. On June 30, 2009, the PureEdge system will officially be retired. Versions of Adobe currently compatible with the Grants.gov packages are Adobe Reader 8.1.1, 8.1.2 and Adobe Acrobat 9.0. Link to Grants.gov webcast: http://grants.gov/help/stakeholder_communications.jsp From Federal Grants News
	The NIMH announces its Leadership Training Institute posted: July 7, 2008 The Leadership Training Institute (LTI) is a 4-day free NIMH-funded intensive institute for early to mid-level social and behavioral researchers who are women and/or persons of color. The goals of the LTI are specifically designed to: (1) help researchers establish career goals that match with personal and professional priorities; (2) address specific challenges and opportunities for diverse researchers; (3) navigate the funding world at various careerstages; (4) build networks to support research and career advancement; and (5) expand research team management and leadership skills. Applications are due by August 1, 2008. Link for more information: http://lti.4researchers.org/ Link to application: https://www.4researchers.org/lti/surveys/take/2872/1 From The National Institute of MentalHealth
	New (Federal) interagency standard terms and conditions go into effect July 1, 2008 posted: June 20, 2008 The National Science and Technology Council has been working since January on universal research terms and conditions for Federal awards. Some Federal sponsors, such as the NSF, are putting these new terms into place as of July 1. Link to the notice: http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/policydocs/rtc/rtcnotice0608.pdf?govDel=USNSF_109 Link to further information including agency-specific terms and conditions: http://www.nsf.gov/bfa/dias/policy/rtc/index.jsp From The National Science Foundation
	Amended Executive Order 12989 requires use of E-Verify website posted: June 9, 2008 All colleges and universities entering into federal-government contracts will be required to use the Department of Homeland Security's E-Verify system to establish the immigration status of newly hired employees and all employees working on such contracts, under an executive order signed this week by President Bush. Link to E.O. 12989: http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2008/06/20080609-2.html Link to E-Verify site, part of the DHS: Department of Homeland Security

	The NIH provides tips on complying with their Public Access Policy posted: May 25, 2008 From the NIH: "As of May 25, 2008, NIH applications, proposals, and progress reports must include the PubMed Central reference number when citing a paper that falls under the policy and is authored or co-authored by the investigator, or arose from the investigator’s NIH award. This policy includes applications submitted to the NIH for the May 25, 2008 due date and subsequent due dates." Link to further guidance: http://publicaccess.nih.gov/ From The National Institutes of Health

	The NSF reminds the research community of its merit review criteria posted: April 7, 2008 The NSF provides advice regarding required information to be included in your applicationwhich will increase the possibility of a favorable review. The letter specifically addresses three sections: the project summary, the project description, and the results of prior support. Link to "Dear Colleague" letter: http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2008/nsf08044/nsf08044.jsp From The National Science Foundation

	NIH announces salary cap increase to $191,300 posted: January 15, 2008 Link to Notice NOT-OD-08-035: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-08-035.html From The National Institutes of Health