NOT-OD-02-004: REVISED POLICY ON THE ACCEPTANCE FOR REVIEW OF UNSOLICITED APPLICATIONS THAT REQUEST $500,000 OR MORE IN DIRECT COSTS

Department of Health
and Human Services (HHS)

NIH... Turning Discovery Into Health^®

REVISED POLICY ON THE ACCEPTANCE FOR REVIEW OF UNSOLICITED APPLICATIONS THAT
REQUEST $500,000 OR MORE IN DIRECT COSTS

Release Date: October 6, 2001

NOTICE: NOT-OD-02-004

NOT-AG-24-012 - NIA Implementation of NIH Requirements for Submitting Unsolicited Applications Requesting $500,000 or More in Direct Costs

October 6, 2016 - See Notice NOT-OD-17-005
August 10, 2011 - See Notice NOT-NS-11-023. Improving the Quality of NINDS-Supported Preclinical
and Clinical Research through Rigorous Study Design and Transparent Reporting.
March 7, 2011 - See Notice NOT-OD-11-049 Notice of Budget Update for PA-11-063.
January 4, 2011 - See Notice NOT-EB-11-002 Notice of Update for New Biomedical Frontiers at the
Interface of the Life and Physical Sciences (R01).
July 29, 2010 - See Notice NOT-DK-10-011 Change of Application Budget Limit for NIDDK PAR-08-182.

(NICHD Policy and procedures, see NOT-HD-06-003)
(Also see policy revision NOT-NS-06-004 and also NOT-OD-04-040)

National Institutes of Health

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is updating its policy on the
acceptance of applications requesting direct costs of $500,000 or more
for any one year. Effective with the January 1, 2002 receipt dates,
applicants must seek agreement to accept assignment from
Institute/Center staff at least 6 weeks prior to the anticipated
submission of any application requesting $500,000 or more in direct
costs for any year.

BACKGROUND

The NIH supports research projects with large budgets but needs to
consider such awards as early as possible in the budget and program
planning process. Regardless of the merit of the application or the
budget justification, unanticipated requests for unusually high amounts
of direct costs are difficult for NIH to manage. It is in the best
interest of all parties if applicants anticipating large direct costs
to contact the appropriate NIH program staff as early as possible to
ensure that an Institute/Center would be willing to accept the
application.

This notice clarifies and revises the policy published in the NIH Guide
for Grants and Contracts on March 20, 1998.

The current policy advises an applicant planning to submit an
investigator-initiated new, competing continuation, competing
supplement, or any amended/revised version of the original application
requesting $500,000 or more in direct costs for any year to contact
Institute or Center program staff before submitting the application.
Discussions with program staff should occur as plans for the study are
being developed. However, that notice does not specify a timeframe for
this process.

This revised policy requires applicants to seek agreement from
Institute/Center staff at least 6 weeks prior to the anticipated
submission of any application requesting $500,000 or more in direct
costs for any year. If staff is contacted less than 6 weeks before
submission, there may be insufficient time to make a determination
about assignment prior to the intended submission date. If the
requested dollars are significantly greater than $500,000, then
approval should be sought even earlier.

This policy does not apply to applications submitted in response to
RFAs or in response to other Announcements that include specific
budgetary limits. However, such applications must be responsive to any
budgetary limits specified, or they will be returned to applicants
without review.

PROCEDURES

An applicant planning to submit a grant application with $500,000 or
more in direct costs for any year is required to contact in writing or
by telephone NIH Institute or Center program staff. This contact
should be made during the development process of the application but no
later than 6 weeks before the anticipated submission date. If the
Institute or Center is willing to accept assignment of the application
for consideration of funding, the staff will notify the Center for
Scientific Review before the application is submitted.

The Principal Investigator must include a cover letter with the
application. That cover letter must identify the program staff member
and Institute or Center that has agreed to accept assignment of the
application.

An application received without indication of prior staff concurrence
and identification of program staff contacted will be returned to the
applicant without review. Therefore, NIH strongly encourages
applicants to contact Institute or Center staff at the earliest
possible time.

INQUIRIES

For additional information about this policy, the program staff at any
Institute or Center may be contacted. Applicants who are uncertain
about which Institute or Center may have the greatest interest in the
research for which support is sought should contact:

Division of Receipt and Referral
Center for Scientific Review
National institutes of Health
Telephone: (301) 435-0715
FAX: (301) 480-1987

Weekly TOC for this Announcement
NIH Funding Opportunities and Notices