Key Dates

Related Announcements

• October 18, 2010 - NIA implementation of NIH Policy on Acceptance for Review of Applications Requesting $500,000 or More in Direct Costs in a Single Year. See Notice NOT-AG-11-001.
• October 6, 2001 - Revised Policy on the Acceptance for Review of Unsolicited Applications that Request $500,000 or More in Direct Costs. See Notice NOT-OD-02-004.

Issued by

National Institute on Aging (NIA)

Purpose

NIH policy requires any applicant requesting research support of $500,000 or more in direct costs in a single budget period to obtain approval to submit the application from an Institute or Center at least six weeks before the intended submission date.  This policy applies to an unsolicited application, whether it is a new (type 1), a competing renewal (type 2), a competing revision (type 3), or a resubmission (A1).

As part of new budget control measures, NIA's implementation of this policy has been revised in the following ways (changes in bold italics; see NIA guidance for ARAs):

NIA will make competing large awards based on NIA Funding Line Policy for a given fiscal year. To enable NIA program divisions to consider research project applications with large budgets as early as possible in the budget and program planning process, investigators must seek approval to submit their applications in the form of an Awaiting Receipt of Application (ARA). Investigators are strongly encouraged to contact an NIA Program Officer (PO) at least 10 weeks prior to the ARA submission due date to obtain assistance in submitting an ARA request. A PO can be identified by reaching out to the NIA Scientific/Research Contact listed at the end of Section VII of the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO). The PO will discuss the project, provide access to the ARA Request Form, and offer further guidance. Please note that submitting an ARA request does not ensure its approval; it only ensures the request will be reviewed internally at NIA.

Failure to seek ARA approval for a large budget grant application prior to submission will result in the application not being accepted for review and a delay in consideration until the next ARA due date.

The following table provides ARA request due dates.

NIA’s Commitment to Inclusion in Research Involving Human Subjects  
NIA is committed to supporting and conducting research on aging that improves the health and well-being of all people. Therefore, NIA will prioritize the advancement of science that represents, in terms of race, ethnicity, sex, age, and comorbidity, the population affected by the condition being studied. Applicants should ensure as applicable that they 1) include proposed planned enrollment tables identifying the population(s) affected by the disease/condition, and 2) address the NIH Inclusion Policies for Research Involving Human Subjects and NIH-designated Populations with Health Disparities, as appropriate; as well as other populations that experience health disparities. 

Further information on NIA's ARA request process can be found on the NIA website.

Inquiries

Please direct all inquiries to:

Sanoj K. Suneja
Division of Extramural Activities
National Institute on Aging (NIA)
Telephone: 301-402-7710 
Email: [email protected]