Issued by
National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR)
National Eye Institute (NEI)
National Institute on Aging (NIA)
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)
Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)
National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD)
National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)
National Cancer Institute (NCI)

Purpose

The purpose of this Notice is to provide potential applicants clarifications regarding eligibility information for PAR-19-135, Research Enhancement Award Program (REAP) for Health Professional Schools and Graduate Schools (R15 Clinical Trial Required). Specifically, the changes pertain to determinations of institutional eligibility for submitting R15 REAP applications and for receiving R15 REAP awards.

Accordingly, the text in several specified sections of the funding opportunity announcement is modified as follows:

Part 1. Funding Opportunity Purpose, second paragraph.

Currently reads:

Eligible institutions (e.g., the university or college) must award NIH-relevant baccalaureate or advanced degrees in health professions or advanced degrees in biomedical or behavioral sciences and have received less than $6 million per year of NIH support (total costs) in 4 of the last 7 fiscal years. In this FOA a college is a stand-alone entity and not a component of a university system.

Now reads:

Eligible institutions (e.g., the university or college with a unique Employer Identification Number [EIN]) must award NIH-relevant baccalaureate or advanced degrees in health professions and have received no more than $6 million per year of NIH support (in both direct and F&A/indirect costs) in 4 of the last 7 fiscal years. For institutions composed of multiple schools and colleges, the $6 million funding limit is based on the amount of NIH funding received by the institution as a whole (meaning all schools and colleges within an institution). In other words, the funding for all the institution’s health professional schools, graduate schools, and colleges and all the institution’s non-health professional schools and colleges that are part of the institution are considered together and summed as total NIH funding when determining institutional eligibility.

For institutions with multiple campuses, eligibility can be considered for each individual campus (e.g. main, satellite, etc.) only if a separate EIN is established for each campus. For institutions that use one EIN for all campuses, eligibility is determined for all campuses (e.g. main, satellite, etc.) together.

Section I, Funding Opportunity Description, first paragraph, last two sentences

Currently reads:

In this FOA a college is a stand-alone entity and not a component of a university system. This new program is called the Research Enhancement Award Program (REAP) for Health Professional Schools and Graduate Schools.

Now reads:

This new program is called the Research Enhancement Award Program (REAP) for Health Professional Schools and Graduate Schools.

Section III. Eligibility Information, 1. Eligible Applicants

The subsection under Eligible Organizations that currently reads:

In addition, all organizations must meet the following two criteria at the time of submission:

• The applicant organization must be an accredited public or non-profit private school that grants baccalaureate or advanced degrees in health professions (see section below for more details) or advanced degrees in biomedical and behavioral sciences.
• The applicant institution may not have received research support from the NIH totaling more than $6 million per year (in both direct and F&A/indirect costs) in 4 of the last 7 years (see Section I. Funding Opportunity Description for definition of "institution"). A year is defined as a federal fiscal year: from October 1 through September 30.

• Note that all activity codes are included in this calculation except the following: C06, S10, and all activity codes starting with a G.

Is now changed to read:

In addition, all organizations must meet the following two criteria at the time of submission:

• The applicant organization must be an accredited public or non-profit private school that grants baccalaureate or advanced degrees in health professions (see section below for more details) or advanced degrees in biomedical and behavioral sciences.
• The applicant institution may not have received research support from the NIH totaling more than $6 million per year (in both direct and F&A/indirect costs) in 4 of the last 7 years. A year is defined as a federal fiscal year: from October 1 through September 30. NOTE:

For institutions composed of multiple schools and colleges, the $6 million funding limit is based on the amount of NIH funding received by the institution as a whole (meaning all schools and colleges within an institution). In other words, the funding for all the institution’s health professional schools, graduate schools, and colleges and all the institution’s non-health professional schools and colleges that are part of the institution are considered together and summed as total NIH funding when determining institutional eligibility.

Note that all activity codes are included in this calculation except the following: C06, S10, and all activity codes starting with a G.

These changes are effective October 25, 2019.

All other aspects of PAR-19-135 remain unchanged.

Inquiries

Please direct all inquiries to:

Michelle R.J. Hamlet, Ph.D.
National Institute of Nursing Research
Telephone: (301) 594-5962
Email: michelle.hamlet@nih.gov

Christopher L. Hatch, Ph.D.
National Cancer Institute (NCI)
Telephone: 240-276-6454
Email: ch29v@nih.gov

Li Lin, Ph.D.
National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)
Telephone: 301-827-7749
Email: linli@mail.nih.gov

Rene Etcheberrigaray
National Institute on Aging (NIA)
Telephone: 301-451-9798
Email: rene.etcheberrigaray@nih.gov

Or the Scientific/Research Contact person and/or the Financial/Grants Management Contact person for another participating NIH institute or center (as listed in Section VII of PAR-19-134) that you want to consider your application.