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We developed this video to help you understand and navigate
the National Institutes of Health's grants process. The video will address
why you should familiarize yourself with the structure of NIH
how to find a funding opportunity and prepare yourself to apply
the roles of the various NIH staff with whom you may interact
and take you through the grants process from peer review
to award and beyond
If you are interested in grant funding, you would be well served to take the time to
understand the mission of the NIH
and that of each of the NIH Institutes and Centers. It can help as you look for
funding opportunities, and seek contacts
with whom to discuss your ideas.
The mission of NIH as a whole is to seek fundamental knowledge
about the nature and behavior of living systems and the application of that
knowledge to enhance health
lengthen life, and reduce illness and disability.
27 different Institutes and Centers make up the NIH
24 of which offer grant opportunities and fund grant awards.
While the vast majority of grants processes and policies
apply to all NIH Institutes and Centers, there is some variability
in grant policies and funding strategies from one institute to the next.
Each IC is separately funded by congress.
They have their own mission, scientific priorities, budget
and funding strategies. At NIH once size
definitely does not fit all! So do your homework, get on the web
and learn more about the institutes in your scientific area of interest.
Although it's certainly beneficial, you do not need to know
one institute from another in order to start the process
and find a funding opportunity. It is important to note
that in order to submit a grant application to NIH
you must respond to an active funding opportunity
advertises funding opportunities centrally in Grants.gov
the Federal portal for finding grant opportunities across the Federal
government
as well as the NIH's Guide for Grants and Contracts.
And each funding opportunity lists the NIH
Institute and centers that will accept applications submitted in response to
that opportunity
NIH uses various types of funding opportunities
for different purposes. Program announcements
(Pa's) highlight an area of focus of the institute
or institutes that are issuing the announcement. They are generally open for
three years
and follow a standard due date schedule with three due dates a year.
Requests for applications (also referred to as RFAs)
are a bit different. They tend to be more focused
with a more narrowly defined scope. They generally have only a single due date
instead of the recurring due dates found in program announcements.
There is money specifically set aside for requests for applications
and the text of the funding opportunity will tell you how much money is set
aside
and often how many awards NIH expects to make.
The vast majority of what NIH funds is
unsolicited research. An investigator may have a great idea
and they may not find a regular PA or RFA that fits.
No worries. We love new ideas.
You just need to find what we call a "parent announcement"
to apply to. A parent announcement is a type of program announcement that accepts
applications for virtually any topic
that spans the breadth of the NIH mission.
NIH issues parent announcements for our most common types of grant programs.
NIH offers a variety
of types of grant programs. Take your time to determine which type of program
meets your needs
whether it be research project, small business programs
, training and career development, or large research centers.
How do you know what type of program is right for you? Certainly talk to colleagues
and talk to your NIH program official. You can also do your homework
and learn about types of grant programs on the NIH website
at grants.nih.gov. As a novice
start in the "About Grants" section of the website. There, you will find a link
for "Types of Grants".
This links takes you to a page that allows you to search or browse
based on your needs
Lets make
sure we are ready to get this road trip started. You
or someone you work with has an important research idea
that has high impact. You may have already found a funding opportunity
specific to your interest,
or identified a generic parent announcement to which to apply.
Or maybe not. Either way, you should contact
NIH staff to talk about your idea and how it aligns with the mission
and priorities of the Institute.
When writing your proposal, you obviously want to make it as strong as possible.
Highlight the impact of the project, and directly address the 5
following scored review criteria:
significance investigators innovation
approach and environment
All NIH funding opportunity announcements include a section that
provides information on review.
It provides details of exactly what information
NIH needs from you and how to assemble the application.
It is crucial that you carefully read
the funding opportunity announcement as well as the application instructions in
order to develop
a responsive application. You can download the application forms and
instructions from the funding opportunity announcement.
One thing specified in the funding opportunity
is the requirement for grant applications to be submitted electronically.
To be eligible to apply, each applicant institution
must obtain a Dun and Bradstreet number, and
have a current registration in multiple Federal systems
including the System for Award Management, Grants.gov
and NIH's eRA Commons.
Principal investigators on NIH grant applications
need to have an eRA Commons account that is affiliated
with the applicant organization in order to apply. Investigators should work
with their office of sponsored research
or equivalent to ensure all required registrations are complete it could take
up to 8 weeks to complete
required registrations, so start the process as soon as you think you may be
submitting an application
to NIH
Funding opportunity announcements also include NIH staff contacts.
Let's take a look at the NIH extramural team
so you can understand who you should contact and when. Each institute
and center at NIH that issues grants has grants management
program, and review staff. Let's look a bit more closely at the roles of these
people
in the grants process
Program officials are responsible for the scientific, programmatic
and technical aspects of a grant. Program officials
officials identify areas of science in which more research is needed
and communicate this information through funding opportunity announcements,
workshops, and conferences. Program staff
discusses research concepts with applicants, they try to listen to the
review of grant applications
that fall within their portfolio, they make funding recommendations,
and they monitor progress once the grant is awarded. Program officials serve as
point of contact for guidance to investigators
pre and post award
The scientific review officer is responsible for the scientific and
technical review
of the grant application. Scientific review officers
assures applications conform with application requirements,
they convene panels of scientists from all over the world with expertise
required for evaluation of scientific and technical merit.
An essential part of the job of a scientific review officer
is to manage potential conflicts of interest and ensure the fair and unbiased
evaluation of the grant application.
After the review, they compile the summary of the evaluation.
The scientific review officer is the point of contact for applicants
post submission, pre-review.
The grants management officer is responsible for the business management
of the grant award.
They ensure the application complies with administrative requirements
and they negotiate the actual grant award. The grants management officer is
a point of contact for grants administration policies
both pre and post-award.
Now that we have gone over staff contacts, let's look at the grants
process
The investigator initiates the research idea.
NIH makes grant awards to institutions. It is the university,
or small business, or other type of institution who actually submits
the application to NIH
Once submitted, the application routes to NIH's Center for Scientific Review,
where the Division of Receipt and Referral assigns the application to the Institute
or Center as well as to the scientific review group
(also known as the study section). NIH
has a dual level of peer review. The study section is the first level.
. Peer scientists come together to review the application for scientific
merit, score the application,
and provide written critique. Once NIH receives the impact score
from the peer review, the institute or center
to which the application was assigned evaluates that application against its
programmatic priorities
Institute and Center advisory council
, sometimes called advisory boards, review the application
and recommend funding action to the NIH. Ultimately,
the funding decision rests with the director of each NIH institute and
center
The institute makes the grant award to the applicant organization,
which allocates the funds to the principal investigator
who ultimately performs the research.
it's been a long road
. Its about 9 months since you submitted the application,
and you are ready to receive your award. Before that can happen,
all preaward issues must be resolved. Budgets need to be negotiated,
certification on education on human subjects need to be completed,
animal and human subject protection issues need to be resolved,
and other support needs to be documented
How can you track your application throughout the submission and review
process
and later from award through closeout?
NIH uses an electronic system called the eRA Commons
to provide applicant organizations and principal investigators
with information throughout the grants process.
Once submitted, your application image will appear here,
as will status of your application, which includes
institute and review assignments, NIH staff contacts,
scores and summary statements (for the PI),
the Notice of Award, links to tools for reporting and more.
The eRA Commons will quickly become an important part
your interactions with NIH
So NIH grants the award.
Read the notice of
award. It is a legally binding document that provides you with essential
information
including the amount of award, information on grant payment,
and the terms and conditions of the grant award. The organization
accepts the terms and conditions of award when they first draw down funds.
The NIH Grants Policy Statement defines the terms and conditions of all grant
awards
If you are new to NIH and have received funding,
it will be very important that you familiarize yourself with this
document
as it explicitly defines roles and responsibilities.
The NIH Grants Policy Statement also details reporting requirements for the
award.
Annual progress reports, federal financial reporting,
invention reporting, audits, and closeout reporting are all addressed in this
document
What happens if your not funded?
Its time to step back and regroup. Take a few deep breaths.
Read the summary statement. Read the summary statement again.
Talk to your program official. They try to attend the review meetings
and can often tell you more about the sentiments of the reviewers.
Discuss with your program official whether you were scored well enough
that you should revise your application and resubmit it, or
whether you should look at submitting a different research idea.
In this video we have only given you a high level overview
of the NIH grants process.
We have lots of information available to help you through the process.
Where can you find it?
Bookmark
www.grants.nih
.Gov
And remember, there are lots of people at NIH
who can provide you help along the way. Funding opportunities have program
review and grants management contacts listed. You can find specific NIH
staff
by searching institute websites for organizational charts or
contact lists. You could even search
http://projectreporter.nih.gov,
NIH's database for funded research projects
for grants in your scientific area. The tool will provide the name for the
program official for that grant. And lastly,
if you already have a name of an NIH staff member,
you can always use the staff directory at ned.nih.gov.
ned.nih.gov.
need help during the grants process we welcome you to call
one of the help desk if you need assistance any point in the process
contact information can be found by going to
Grants.NIH.Gov/support
support or by clicking on the Contact Us link
at the bottom of the office of Extramural Research's website
at grants.nih.gov
best of luck to you in your travels with NIH