Staying Current with NIH

Reading NOFOs, Forms and Formats (i.e. FORMS-H/I, Biosketches, Just in Time)

Agenda

• Understanding and decoding NOFOs

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• Finding funding

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• What’s in an application?

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• Just in Time (JIT) submission

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• Staying up to date

What’s a NOFO?

• Provides detailed information about the grant type, eligibility criteria, application deadlines, and funding levels

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• Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA): A generic term for any type of NOFO
• Program Announcement (PA): Outlines a broad area of interest
• Request for Applications (RFA): Details a particular research topic or area of interest
• Request for Proposals (RFP): Similar to an RFA, but are often broader in scope

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Structure of a NOFO

• FOA number and title
• Participating Institutes and Centers
• Key Dates:
• Release Date
• Letter of Intent (LOI) Due Date
• Application Due Date
• Expiration Date
• Funding Opportunity Purpose

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Reading a NOFO: Key Sections

• Section I: Research Scope
• Research goals and sponsor priorities

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• Section II: Award Size and Project Period
• Type of award, budget limits, & duration

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• Section III: Eligibility
• PI, institution types

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• Section IV: Submission Instructions
• Application instructions and formatting, required documents & page limits

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Application Instructions

• Use along with NOFO
• Application instructions for different activity codes
• G (General)
• R (Research)
• Research (R) and equivalent Cooperative Agreements (U)
• K (Career Development)
• Individual Career Development (K) excluding K12, KL2, KM1
• T (Training)
• Training (T) including Institutional Career Development (K12, KL2, KM1)
• F (Fellowship)
• M (Multi-project)
• Program Project and Center Grants (P) and equivalent Cooperative Agreements (U)
• B (SBIR/STTR)

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https://grants.nih.gov/grants-process/write-application/how-to-apply-application-guide

Pitfalls to Avoid

• Skipping critical sections

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• Misinterpreting eligibility or budget caps

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• Not aligning with FOA goals

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• Overlooking required format or submission platform

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NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts

https://grants.nih.gov/funding/searchguide/index.html#/

Funding Search Tools & Tips

• NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/
• View funded projects by topic, investigator, or institute

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• Grants.gov: https://www.grants.gov/
• Broader search tool for all federal funding

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• Use NIH Matchmaker: Paste your abstract and find matching institutes
• Subscribe to the NIH Weekly TOC Email
• Partner with your RD or Pre-Award Office early in the process

Common Proposal Elements

• Project Summary/Abstract (limited to 30 lines of text)
• Project Narrative (limited to 3 sentences)
• Biosketches
• Facilities and Resources
• Equipment
• Specific Aims (limited to 1 page)
• Research Strategy (page limits vary)
• References

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• Vertebrate Animals (if applicable)
• Human Subjects/Study Record (if applicable)
• Multiple PI (MPI) Plan (if applicable)
• Consortium/Contractual Arrangements (if applicable)
• Budget & Budget Justification (modular or R&R)
• Data Management & Sharing Plan
• Resource Sharing Plan (if applicable)

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Biosketches

• Must be included for all senior/key personnel
• Limited to 5 pages per person
• Key components:
• Personal Statement: Describes what experience and qualifications make you well-suited for the project role (technical expertise, past performance, etc.)
• Positions, Scientific Appointments, & Honors: Reverse Chronological listing of positions from oldest to current, honors, and present membership on federal public advisory committees
• Contributions to Science: Describe up to 5 of your most significant contributions (no longer than ½ page each with citations). You may cite up to 4 relevant publications or research products per contribution

TIPS:

• Use SciENcv (reduces errors)
• No hyperlinks (only My Bibliography link)
• Use plain language in Contributions to Science

Just in Time (JIT) Requests

• Certain elements of an application are submitted after review when the application is under review for funding
• Notified (primarily by email) when JIT information is needed
• Standard notice is sent to applicants who receive an impact score of 30 or less regardless of the IC’s payline
• NOT a notice of award
• Common JIT elements:
• Updated Other Support (for senior/key personnel)
• IRB/IACUC approvals
• Certification of training in human subjects protections
• Information submitted through eRA Commons

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Other Support

• Required for all senior/key personnel.

• Includes all resources available to an investigator in support of and/or related their research, funded & unfunded.

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• Includes information on pending and other active support (appointments, affiliations, foreign components, etc).

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• Shows commitment expressed as person-months for the year that each period ends.

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• Describes any overlap.

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Other Support: Overlap

• Scientific Overlap occurs when:
• When the same research is proposed in more than one application
• A proposal is submitted to two or more different funding sources for review
• A specific research objective and the experimental design for accomplishing that objective are the same or are closely related in two or more applications or awards
• Budgetary Overlap occurs when:
• Duplicate or equivalent budgetary items are requested but are already funded by another source
• Commitment Overlap occurs when:
• Effort for any project-supported personnel exceeds 100% regardless of how it is funded

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Staying Current with NIH

• Subscribe to NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts

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• Monitor NIH Implementation of New Initiatives and Policies page

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• Monitor NIH Extramural Nexus newsletter

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• Use resources like:
• grants.nih.gov
• NIH Regional Seminar materials
• Open Mike blog

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• Regularly check with institutional research offices for updates

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QUESTIONS?

Erin Butler, MBA, CRA

Director of Research Training

eb129@mailbox.sc.edu