Grants Bulletin

April 27, 2011

Limited Submissions

• CDC - Public Health Surveillance for the Prevention of Complications of Bleeding and Clotting Disorders (CDC-RFA-DD11-1103) - May 4
• Clinical Hematology and Transfusion Medicine Research Career Development Program (K12) (RFA-HL-12-005) - May 9

 

"Critical Issues for the Department Administrator" Teleconference - May 19

The Office of Sponsored Projects Administration is sponsoring a teleconference presented by the National Council of University Research Administrators entitled “Critical Issues for the Department Administrator”. The presentation will be shown on Thursday May 19, 2011 in room 102 Mining and Minerals Building from 8:30 am to noon. Please email Sean Scott at sescot0@email.uky.edu if you would like to register. You must register if you want to receive the presentation materials.

Presentation Description:

Successful administration of sponsored projects starts with the Department Administrator. With all of the rules, regulations, and audit scrutiny, effective day-to-day management is critical. This program will discuss strategies for proposal budgeting, and managing and monitoring expenditures, PI effort, procurement card use to avoid cost transfers. This program will also address the different strategies necessary for managing different types of sponsored awards e.g., contracts vs. grants. The program is designed to share best practices and tools required by departmental administrators who support sponsored projects, including those involved with proposal preparation, those who originate or approve transactions on sponsored accounts, and those who review or monitor expenditures on sponsored projects.

Learning Objectives:

• Participants will learn how departmental administration of sponsored projects fits into overall institutional compliance.
• Participants will learn how the OMB circular requirements translate into effective day-to-day account management.
• Participants will gain an overview of how different types of sponsored agreements can require different management strategies.
• Participants will gain access to policies, tools, and resources to guide them in their daily work.

To view these and other limited submission competitions, visit the Proposal Development Office site.

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April 20, 2011

Limited Submissions

• U.S. Dept. of State - Democracy, Human Rights and Rule of Law for countries in South Asia - April 26
• Robert Wood Johnson/Pew Charitable Trusts - Health Impact Project - April 27
• National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD) - Resource-Related Minority Health and Health Disparities Research ( RFA-MD-11-005) - April 28
• U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) - Healthy Homes Production Program - April 29
• Illinois Clean Coal Institute - May 2

To view these and other limited submission competitions, visit the Proposal Development Office site.

Notice of Revisions to NIH Initial Peer Review Process

Notice Number: NOT-OD-11-064

Issued by: National Institutes of Health (NIH)

Purpose:

The purpose of this Notice is to inform the extramural research community of recent revisions to the NIH policy concerning appeals of the initial peer review process.  These revisions will become effective for all competing applications (“applications” below) received for the January 25, 2011 due date (October 2011 Council round) and thereafter.

Policy:

Applicability

The revised policy applies to appeal letters received with respect to the initial peer review of all competing applications submitted to the NIH for support, for the January 25, 2011 due date and thereafter, including: 1) reviews conducted by the NIH Center for Scientific Review (CSR) and reviews conducted by NIH Institutes and other NIH Centers; and 2) applications such as fellowship applications that typically do not require Council review.  This policy does not apply to appeals of the technical evaluation of Research and Development contract projects through the NIH peer review process, appeals of NIH funding decisions, or appeals of decisions concerning extensions of MERIT awards. 

Appeal Letters

An applicant who is concerned about procedural aspects related to the completed initial peer review of his or her application first should consider the comments in the summary statement, and then should contact the appropriate NIH Program Official (PO) (see contact information in the upper left-hand corner of the first page of the summary statement).  The PO can answer questions about the summary statement and review outcome, and provide advice to the applicant.  For example, the PO may recommend modifying the application according to NIH policies for resubmission applications (NOT-OD-10-080) and the issues that were raised in the review and communicated in the summary statement, or may recommend reconsidering the basic intent of the project and submitting a new application that has substantial differences in aims and approach (NOT-OD-10-080).  At no time should the PD/PI or an official of the applicant organization attempt to contact individual members of the SRG to discuss the review of an application, as doing so could jeopardize the confidentiality of the review process. 

Following discussion of concerns with the PO, if the PD/PI and/or an official of the applicant organization wishes to appeal the outcome of the initial peer review process, an appeal letter must be submitted, either in hard copy or electronically, to the PO.  The appeal letter must display concurrence from the AOR of the applicant organization for the application. Although the content of the appeal letter may originate from the PD/PI, Contact PD/PI for multiple PD/PI applications, or an organizational official(s) (not necessarily the AOR), the AOR must send the letter directly to the PO, or must send his/her concurrence to the PD/PI who will forward the materials and AOR concurrence to the PO.  A communication from the PD/PI or official of the applicant organization (other than the AOR) only or with a “cc” to the AOR will not be accepted.  The PO will send the PD/PI and/or institutional official, and AOR, an acknowledgement letter within 10 days of receipt of the appeal letter.  

The ICs may establish deadlines by which appeal letters must be received in order to be made available at the Council meeting.  However, in no circumstance will an appeal letter be accepted before the summary statement has been transmitted to the PD/PI or later than 30 calendar days after the relevant Council meeting. 

An appeal letter will be accepted only if the letter 1) describes the flaws in the review process for the application in question, 2) explains the reasons for the appeal, and 3) is based on one or more of the following issues related to the process of the initial peer review:

• Evidence of bias on the part of one or more peer reviewers.
• Conflict of interest, as specified in regulation at 42 CFR 52h.5.“Scientific Peer Review of Research Grant Applications and Research and Development Contract Projects”, on the part of one or more peer reviewers.
• Lack of appropriate expertise within the SRG.
• Factual error(s) made by one or more reviewers that could have altered the outcome of review substantially.

Appeal letters based solely on differences of scientific opinion will not be accepted.  A letter that does not meet these criteria and/or does not include the concurrence of the AOR will not be considered an appeal letter, but rather a grievance.  The IC will handle grievances according to IC- specific procedures.  Appeals involving potential COI or violation of ethical conduct rules on the part of an NIH staff member or other federal employee will be referred to the appropriate Deputy Ethics Counselor for consideration and resolution before any further review of, or action on, the appeal is taken.

NIH Staff

NIH staff will consider the basis for the appeal letter, and evaluate the merit of the appeal.  If both review staff and program staff support an appeal, then the original application, without additional materials or modifications, will be re-reviewed by the same or a different SRG.  In this case, only the results of the re-review, and not the first review, are made available to Council, and information about the appeal is not made available to Council.

If review staff and program staff do not support the appeal, or do not agree on its merit, the PD/PI and/or an institutional official (not necessarily the AOR) may elect to withdraw the appeal letter.  The request to withdraw an appeal letter must be submitted either in hard copy or electronically to the PO, and must display concurrence from the AOR of the applicant organization for the application. Although the content of the request may originate from the PD/PI, Contact PD/PI for multiple PD/PI applications, or an organizational official(s) (not necessarily the AOR), the AOR must send the request directly to the PO, or must send his/her concurrence to the PD/PI who will forward the materials and his/her concurrence to the PO.  A communication from the PD/PI or institutional official (other than the AOR) only or with a “cc” to the AOR will not be accepted. 

If review staff and program staff do not support the appeal, or do not agree on its merit, and the appeal letter is not withdrawn, the appeal letter will be made available to Council. The IC may not deny the PD/PI or applicant organization the opportunity to have an appeal letter made available to Council. 

Consideration by Council

Only two outcomes are possible following consideration of an appeal letter by Council:

• The Council may concur with the appeal, and recommend that the application be re-reviewed. 
• The Council may concur with the SRG's recommendation and deny the appeal.  Although factual errors or other issues may be evident, the Council may determine that these factors were unlikely to alter the final outcome of the SRG and deny the appeal.  No action by the Council is equivalent to concurrence with the SRG’s recommendation and denial of the appeal.

The recommendation of Council concerning resolution of an appeal is final and will not be considered again by the NIH through this or another process.  At no time should the PD/PI or an official of the applicant organization attempt to contact individual members of the Council to discuss their consideration of an application or appeal, as doing so could jeopardize the confidentiality of the review process. 

Resolution

The Executive Secretary for the Council will communicate the Council recommendation concerning an appeal to the PD/PI, AOR, and NIH staff with a need to know.  If the appeal letter was received by the IC deadline, the PD/PI and AOR will receive a written explanation of the resolution no later than 30 calendar days after the Council meeting.  If the appeal letter was received after the IC deadline, the Executive Secretary will provide, no more than 30 calendar days after the date when the appeal letter was received, a written explanation of the IC’s plan for making the appeal available to Council. 

If the Council recommended that the application be re-reviewed, the original application will be re-reviewed without additional materials or modifications.  The application may be re-reviewed by the same or a different SRG, depending on the flaws in the original review process that led to the appeal.  In most cases, the re-review will entail re-assignment to a subsequent review round and delay in the final funding decision.  The outcome of the re-review is final and cannot be appealed again.

Temporary Suspension

On occasion, and for specific circumstances, the NIH may suspend temporarily the policy and process for handling appeals of NIH initial peer review.  Such decisions will be announced in NIH Guide Notices and/or the relevant Funding Opportunity Announcements when they are issued in the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts.

Please direct all inquiries to:

NIH Review Policy Officer
ReviewPolicyOfficer@mail.nih.gov

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April 13, 2011

Limited Submissions

• U.S. Dept. of State - Rapid Response Fund for Religious Freedom - April 20
• U.S. Dept. of Education - Educational Opportunity Centers (EOC) - April 27
• Partnerships for Complementary Alternative Medicine (CAM) Clinical Translational Research (PCCTR) (U19) - May 16

 

“Managing Financial Requirements of Awards” Teleconference - April 21

The Office of Sponsored Projects Administration is sponsoring a teleconference presented by the National Council of University Research Administrators entitled “Managing Financial Requirements of Awards”. The presentation will be shown on Thursday April 21, 2011 in room 102 Mining and Minerals Building from 8:30 am to noon. Please email Sean Scott at sescot0@email.uky.edu if you would like to register. You must register if you want to receive the presentation materials.

Presentation description:

Awards for extramural funding carry a variety of requirements and restrictions. Appropriately administering awards will require policies and procedures and, potentially, electronic systems to meet a myriad of financial and administrative responsibilities. This program will focus on the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circulars related to financial and administrative issues for universities and non-profit organizations. The session will also address issues related to financial management of grants and contracts from various sources while sharing recent developments and best practices.

Learning Objectives

• Participants will review the regulatory framework for financial and administrative compliance requirements that is provided through OMB circulars and will learn various approaches used to implement the requirements.
• Participants will learn about systems designed to handle additional contract-related requirements – e.g., complex financial and programmatic invoicing; reporting and collections; and insight into sponsor- required approvals and systems.
• Participants will learn how institutions are approaching many of the newest financial issues: data collection and reporting including subrecipient reporting, required in relation to American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) funding and by the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act (FFATA).

 

Re-issuance of Parent Research Career Development (K) Award Funding Opportunity Announcements

Notice Number: NOT-OD-11-063

Issued by National Institutes of Health (NIH)

Purpose: The NIH has re-issued the following Career Development (K) Award Funding Opportunity Announcements (FOAs):

• PA-11-190:  Mentored Research Scientist Development Award (Parent K01)
• PA-11-191:  Independent Scientist Award (Parent K02)
• PA-11-192:  Academic Career Award (Parent K07)
• PA-11-193:  Mentored Clinical Scientist Research Career Development Award (Parent K08)
• PA-11-194:  Mentored Patient-Oriented Research Career Development Award (Parent K23)
• PA-11-195:  Midcareer Investigator Award in Patient-Oriented Research (Parent K24)
• PA-11-196:  Mentored Quantitative Research Development Award (Parent K25)
• PA-11-197:  NIH Pathway to Independence Award (Parent K99/R00)

The re-issued FOAs do not change the overall objectives of these programs but incorporate recent changes in K policies (see NIH Grants Policy Statement).  Applicants should follow instructions in Section 7: Supplemental Instructions to the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide for preparing an Individual Research Career Development Award (CDA) Application (“K” Series).

AIDS and AIDS-related applications intended for the May 7, 2011 due date should continue to use the current K FOAs (see: Parent Announcements). Applications intended for June 12, 2011 and subsequent due dates must use the re-issued FOAs. For a listing of all NIH K award FOAs, see the K Kiosk.

Please direct all inquiries to:
NIH Research Training Officer, nihtrain@mail.nih.gov

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April 5, 2011

Limited Submissions

• NIMHD Science Education Initiative (R25) - April 11
• Hearst Foundations – Program Grants - May 3
• William T. Grant Foundation - Scholars Program - May 4
• Cystic Fibrosis Research and Translation Core Centers (P30) - May 11

To view these and other limited submission competitions, visit the Proposal Development Office site.

Notice of Change in Policy on the Submission of Plans for Instruction in the Responsible Conduct of Research for Individual and Institutional Career Development Award (K) applications

Notice Number: NOT-OD-11-059

Issued by:

• National Institutes of Health (NIH)
• Agency for Health Care Research and Quality (AHRQ)
• National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)

Purpose:

The following change in policy is effective for Individual and Institutional Career Development Award (K) applications intended for June 12, 2011 and subsequent due dates.

This Notice informs prospective applicants for the Individual and Institutional Research Career Development Awards (K-series) that the required plans for instruction in the Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) will have page limits separate from the page limits for other combined components that are limited to 12 pages (Individual K) or 25 pages (Institutional K). Specifically:

Individual Career Development Awards:

• SF 424 (R&R), Section 7.5 – PHS398 Career Development Award Supplemental Form (Section 2. Career Development Award Attachments): combined items 2. Candidate’s Background, 3. Career Goals and Objectives, 4. Career Development/Training Activities During Award Period, and 11. Research Strategy will be limited to 12 pages.
• Item 5. Training in the Responsible Conduct of Research will no longer be included in the 12 page limit. Rather, this section will now have its own separate page limit, and will be limited to 1 page.
• NOTE: AHRQ page limits for the sections detailed above (2.2, 2.3, 2.4 and 2.11) are given within each specific Funding Opportunity Announcement. At the current time, AHRQ has a 25-page limit for those sections. AHRQ will adhere to the new one-page limit for Training in the Responsible Conduct of Research and this will not be included in the 25 page limit.

Institutional Career Development Awards:

• SF 424 (R&R), Section 8.7 – PHS398 Research Training Program Plan Component (Section 2. Research Training Program Attachments): combined items 2. Background, 3. Program Plan, and 4. Recruitment and Retention Plan to Enhance Diversity will be limited to 25 pages.
• Item 5. Plan for Instruction in the Responsible Conduct of Research will no longer be included in the 25 page limit. Rather, this section will now have its own separate page limit, and will be limited to 3 pages.
• NOTE: NIOSH does not utilize Institutional K mechanisms.

For a list of Career Development Award FOAs, see the K-Kiosk

APPALACHIAN HEALTH SUMMIT: FOCUS ON OBESITY - April 21

Presented by the Center for Clinical and Translational Science

Thursday, April 21, 2011
Lexington Convention Center, 3rd floor

The 2011 CCTS Spring Conference has three components:

• Appalachian Health Summit: Focus on Obesity
• College of Dentistry Research Day
• Halcomb Fellowship Competition

If you haven’t registered for the conference but plan to attend, please do so by APRIL 8, 2011.

For more information and conference registration: http://www.ccts.uky.edu/Events/CCTSConference_ahs.aspx

Center for Clinical and Translational Science Pilot Research Program - April 29

Attention Investigators: The Center for Clinical and Translational Science Pilot Research Program is calling for applications. The next round of applications will be due Friday 5 pm, June 3, 2011

PRIORITIES FOR FUNDING: The main objective for these funds is to enhance opportunities to develop quality clinical and health-services research for new investigators and faculty members changing their research direction. Specifically, priority will be given to:

• New investigators
• Investigators with a clearly described plan for introducing clinical and translational research in their careers
• Pilot studies with clear plans for moving forward to external funding
• Studies involving interdisciplinary investigative teams
• Proposals focused on health promotion and preventative medicine
• Proposals involving translation of knowledge into community based healthcare

FUNDING: Pilot grants can be funded up to $25,000 in direct costs over a 1 year period. A one year, no cost extension may be approved upon a written request and evidence of adequate progress.

In order to qualify for this round of funding the CCTS must receive a Letter of Intent (LOI). Please forward the LOI and biosketch to Elodie Elayi via email (Elodie.elayi@uky.edu) no later than Friday, 5 pm, April 29, 2011. Questions please call 323-7939.

For more information, please see attachment or visit the CCTS website: http://www.ccts.uky.edu/Investigators/pilotstudy.aspx