and Human Services (HHS)
EXPIRED
Participating Organization(s) |
National Institutes of Health (NIH) |
National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) |
|
Funding Opportunity Title |
Open Educational Resources for Biomedical Big Data (R25) |
Activity Code |
R25 Education Projects |
Announcement Type |
New |
Related Notices |
|
Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) Number |
RFA-HG-14-009 |
Companion Funding Opportunity |
|
Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number(s) |
93.989; 93.350; 93.213; 93.213; 93.394; 93.395; 93.396; 93.397; 93.398; 93.399; 93.867; 93.172; 93.233; 93.837; 93.838; 93.839; 93.866; 93.273; 93.855; 93.856; 93.846; 93.286; 93.865; 93.279; 93.173; 93.121; 93.847; 93.113; 93.859; 93.242; 93.307; 93.853; 93.361; 93.879; 93.351; 93.313; 93.310 |
Funding Opportunity Purpose |
The NIH Research Education Program (R25) supports research education activities in the mission areas of the NIH. The goal of this funding opportunity announcement (FOA) is to complement and/or enhance the training of a workforce to meet the nation's biomedical, behavioral, and clinical research needs in utilizing'Big Data.' To this end, this funding opportunity announcement encourages the development of creative educational activities with a primary focus on Curriculum or Methods Development. In particular, this Big Data to Knowledge (BD2K) FOA encourages R25 applications proposing the development of open educational resources (OER) for use by large numbers of learners at all career levels that enhance the ability of the workforce to use and analyze biomedical Big Data. |
Posted Date |
January 16, 2014 |
Open Date (Earliest Submission Date) |
March 1, 2014 |
Letter of Intent Due Date(s) |
30 days before the application due date |
Application Due Date(s) |
April 1, 2014; April 1, 2015; and September 18, 2015, by 5:00 PM local time of applicant organization. Applicants are encouraged to apply early to allow adequate time to make any corrections to errors found in the application during the submission process by the due date. |
AIDS Application Due Date(s) |
Not Applicable |
Scientific Merit Review |
New Dates July 2014; July 2015; February 2016 per issuance of NOT-HG-15-023. (Original Dates: July 2014; July 2015; July 2016) |
Advisory Council Review |
New Dates October 2014; October 2015; May 2016 per issuance of NOT-HG-15-023. (Original Dates: October 2014, October 2015, October 2016) |
Earliest Start Date |
New Dates December 2014; December 2015; July 2016 per issuance of NOT-HG-15-023. (Original Dates: December 2014, December 2015, December 2016) |
Expiration Date |
New Date September 19, 2015 per issuance of NOT-HG-15-023. (Original Expiration Date: April 2, 2016) |
Due Dates for E.O. 12372 |
Not Applicable |
Required Application Instructions
It is critical that applicants follow the instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide except where instructed to do otherwise (in this FOA or in a Notice from the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts). Conformance to all requirements (both in the Application Guide and the FOA) is required and strictly enforced. Applicants must read and follow all application instructions in the Application Guide as well as any program-specific instructions noted in Section IV. When the program-specific instructions deviate from those in the Application Guide, follow the program-specific instructions.
Applications that do not comply with these instructions will not be reviewed
Part 1. Overview Information
Part 2. Full Text of the Announcement
Section I. Funding Opportunity Description
Section II. Award Information
Section III. Eligibility Information
Section IV. Application and Submission
Information
Section V. Application Review Information
Section VI. Award Administration Information
Section VII. Agency Contacts
Section VIII. Other Information
The NIH Research Education Program (R25) supports research educational activities that complement other formal training programs in the mission areas of the NIH Institutes and Centers. The over-arching goals of the NIH R25 program are to: (1) complement and/or enhance the training of a workforce to meet the nation’s biomedical, behavioral and clinical research needs; (2) enhance the diversity of the biomedical, behavioral and clinical research workforce; (3) help recruit individuals with specific specialty or disciplinary backgrounds to research careers in biomedical, behavioral and clinical sciences; and (4) foster a better understanding of biomedical, behavioral and clinical research and its implications.
This goal of this funding opportunity announcement (FOA) is to complement and/or enhance the training of a workforce to meet the nation's biomedical, behavioral, and clinical research needs. In particular, this FOA will enhance the training for biomedical researchers who want to acquire the skills necessary to utilize biomedical Big Data.'
This Big Data to Knowledge (BD2K) R25 FOA will support
The innovative open educational resources developed will enable an increase in biomedical Big Data Science knowledge and skills among students and scientists of all educational levels.
In response to the spectacular opportunities and immense challenges presented by the dawning era of Big Data in biomedical research, the NIH has developed the Big Data to Knowledge (BD2K) initiative. The mission of BD2K is to enable the biomedical research community to use the various types of Big Data for research. Biomedical research is rapidly becoming data-intensive as investigators are generating and using increasingly large, complex, multidimensional, and diverse datasets. However, the ability to release data, to locate, integrate, and analyze data generated by others, and to utilize the software associated with the data is often limited by the lack of tools, accessibility, and training.
The long-term goal of the BD2K initiative is to support the advances in data science, other quantitative sciences, policy, and training that are needed for the effective use of Big Data in biomedical research. (In this document, the term 'biomedical' will be used in the broadest sense to include biological, biomedical, behavioral, social, environmental, and clinical studies that relate to understanding health and disease.) While the biomedical research enterprise is producing increasingly large amounts of digital data, it has not yet fully capitalized on the transformative opportunities that these data provide. As stated by the Data and Informatics Working Group (DIWG) of the Advisory Committee to the NIH Director, "Colossal changes in biomedical research technologies and methods have shifted the bottleneck in scientific productivity from data production to data management, communication, and interpretation" (Report).
In this context, the term 'Big Data' is meant to capture the opportunities and address the challenges facing all biomedical researchers in releasing, accessing, managing, analyzing, and integrating datasets of diverse data types. Such data types may include imaging, phenotypic, molecular (including omics), clinical, behavioral, environmental, and many other types of biological and biomedical data. They may also include data generated for other purposes. The datasets are increasingly larger and more complex, and they increasingly exceed the abilities of currently used approaches to manage and analyze them. Biomedical Big Data primarily emanate from three sources: 1) a few groups that produce very large amounts of data, usually as part of projects specifically funded to produce important resources for the research community; 2) individual investigators who produce large datasets for their own projects, which might be broadly useful to the research community; and 3) an even greater number of investigators who each produce small datasets whose value can be amplified by aggregating or integrating them with other data.
The major challenges to using biomedical Big Data include the following:
Locating data and software tools: Investigators need straightforward means of knowing what datasets and software tools are available and where to obtain them, along with descriptions of each dataset or tool. Ideally, investigators should be able to easily locate all published and resource datasets and software tools, both basic and clinical, and, to the extent possible, unpublished or proprietary data and software.
Gaining access to data and software tools: Investigators need straightforward means of 1) releasing datasets and metadata in standard formats; 2) obtaining access to specific datasets or portions of datasets; 3) studying datasets with the appropriate software tools in suitable environments; and 4) obtaining analyzed datasets.
Standardizing data and metadata: Investigators need data to be in standard formats to facilitate interoperability, data sharing, and the use of tools to manage and analyze the data. The datasets need to be described by standard metadata to allow novel uses as well as reuse and integration.
Sharing data and software: While significant progress has been made in broad and rapid sharing of data and software, it is not yet the norm in all areas of biomedical research. More effective data- and software-sharing would be facilitated by changes in the research culture, recognition of the contributions made by data and software generators, and technical innovations. Validation of software to ensure quality, reproducibility, provenance, and interoperability is a notable goal.
Organizing, managing, and processing biomedical Big Data: Investigators need biomedical data to be organized and managed in a robust way that allows them to be fully used; currently, most data are not sufficiently well organized. Barriers exist to releasing, transferring, storing, and retrieving large amounts of data. Research is needed to design innovative approaches and effective software tools for organizing biomedical Big Data for data integration and sharing while protecting human subject privacy.
Developing new methods for analyzing biomedical Big Data: The size, complexity, and multidimensional nature of many datasets make data analysis extremely challenging. Substantial research is needed to develop new methods and software tools for analyzing such large, complex, and multidimensional datasets. User-friendly data workflow platforms and visualization tools are also needed to facilitate the analysis of Big Data.
Training researchers for analyzing biomedical Big Data: Advances in biomedical sciences using Big Data will require more scientists with the appropriate data science expertise and skills to develop methods and design tools, including those in many quantitative science areas such as computational biology, biomedical informatics, biostatistics, and related areas. In addition, users of Big Data software tools and resources must be trained to utilize them well.
To address the growing need and opportunities for skilled researchers to fully utilize the vast amount of heterogeneous biomedical Big Data, a series of BD2K FOAs have been designed to 1) develop a sufficient cadre of researchers skilled in the science of Big Data and 2) elevate general competencies in data usage and analysis across the biomedical research workforce. The portfolio of BD2K training and education activities will include opportunities for the full spectrum of scientists, from undergraduate students to senior faculty, from developers of methods and tools to investigators who need to use Big Data tools.
The NIH issued a Request for Information (NOT-HG-13-003; Report) to solicit input from the extramural community on what types of knowledge and skills are needed by individuals to effectively manage and utilize Big Data. In addition, the NIH organized a workshop (Report) that addressed what knowledge, skills, and resources are needed to organize, process, manage, analyze, and visualize large, complex data sets.
Due to the multifaceted challenges faced in meeting the opportunities provided by Big Data, the following principles were taken into account in designing the set of BD2K training and education FOAs:
In order to promote a diverse workforce and successfully reach scientists at all career levels, it is essential that training resources are widely disseminated, discoverable, and repurposeable. The active exchange of information is also essential and will be facilitated by an annual BD2K consortium meeting in Bethesda, MD for PDs/PIs and trainees.
Applicants are encouraged to utilize all appropriate expertise for the purpose of training and educating Big Data scientists, whether that expertise lies within one or more institutions or within the industrial or public sectors. Applicants are also encouraged to consider whether other BD2K training and research education FOAs, including RFA-HG-14-008, "Courses for Skills Development in Biomedical Big Data Science," are a good fit to the proposed project. A complete list of BD2K FOAs can be found at bd2k.nih.gov.
The BD2K initiative includes a multi-faceted approach to training and education, consisting of long- and short-term training and the development of open educational resources. This FOA, RFA-HG-14-009, focuses on the curriculum or methods development that will produce innovative open educational resources (OER), which will enhance the ability of investigators at all career levels to use biomedical Big Data. The term "open" is meant to emphasize that the resources should be widely disseminated, discoverable, and repurposeable. Open education resources may serve different audiences, including
Scientific content must be highly relevant to the principles, concepts, and broad classes of tools necessary for the utilization of biomedical Big Data. The amount of content covered by the open educational resource can vary from the amounts ordinarily seen in a one-week short course to that in a multi-year course. The organization of content into discrete units at multiple levels of detail, with multiple coherent learning paths through the content, is highly encouraged to allow personalized learning for individuals with varying backgrounds. This approach of personalized, adaptive learning should allow individuals with some existing knowledge to easily access appropriate content. Applicants are encouraged to incorporate elements from other successful open educational resources (e.g., the ability to create collections/playlists, tools to make resources easily searchable and navigable, interactive components, user personalizability, rating and review capabilities, and adaptive tutoring).
Open educational resources developed in response to this FOA should enable individuals at all career levels to acquire new skills through widely shared, open-learning materials tailored to biomedical Big Data. These resources can be stand-alone projects or could be built upon other long- and short-term BD2K training and education initiatives. Examples of responsive projects include (1) collections of online multimedia modules that combine text, video, and assessments; (2) interactive learning tools; (3) a cloud-based training environment that includes multiple examples of Big Data, exploratory/analysis tools, and computational resources; (4) technology-driven personalized adaptive learning; (5) extensive online curriculum development for a broad audience. Applications for projects that focus on curriculum development must address how the resource will benefit institutions other than that of the applicant. Innovation may be in curriculum (i.e., the development of innovative Big Data content) or methods (i.e., the innovative delivery of Big Data content).
Applications must include a needs assessment, an evaluation plan, and a dissemination plan. The needs assessment should demonstrate the demand for the project and evaluate the number and career level of learners who would benefit from the training. The evaluation plan should detail how the project will be evaluated by experts for course content, educational effectiveness, and overall effectiveness as an educational tool; where appropriate, applicants are encouraged to include plans to obtain feedback from users to help identify weaknesses and guide further development. Applicants are encouraged to include self-assessment for learners, both before learners utilize materials (in order to focus users on appropriate resources) as well as after (to measure knowledge gain). The dissemination plan should describe how the course materials and resources will be made widely available, including how they will be discoverable through OER collections (e.g., OERCommons.org, MERLOT.org, AMSER.org, CNX.org, and FREE.ed.gov) and whether they are in a form that can be modified, updated, and tailored by others. Applicants should address how the course materials and resources will be kept up-to-date during and after the grant period while ensuring accuracy.
Below are examples of projects that are not responsive:
Research education programs may complement ongoing research training and education occurring at the applicant institution, but the proposed educational experiences must be distinct from those training and education programs currently receiving Federal support. R25 programs may augment institutional research training programs (e.g., T32, T90) but cannot be used to replace or circumvent Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) programs.
Funding Instrument |
Grant: A support mechanism providing money, property, or both to an eligible entity to carry out an approved project or activity. |
Application Types Allowed |
New |
Funds Available and Anticipated Number of Awards |
NIH intends to fund an estimate of 4-5 awards, corresponding to a total of $1,000,000, for fiscal year 2015. Future year amounts will depend on annual appropriations. |
Award Budget |
Application budgets may not exceed $200,000 in direct costs annually and need to reflect the actual needs of the proposed project. |
Award Project Period |
The scope of the proposed project should determine the project period. The maximum project period is 3 years. |
Personnel Costs |
Individuals designing, directing, and implementing the research education program may request salary and fringe benefits appropriate for the person months devoted to the program. Salaries requested may not exceed the levels commensurate with the institution's policy for similar positions and may not exceed the congressionally mandated cap. (If mentoring interactions and other activities with participants are considered a regular part of an individual's academic duties, then any costs associated with the mentoring and other interactions with participants are not allowable costs from grant funds). |
Participant Costs |
Not Applicable |
Other Program-Related Expenses |
Consultant costs, equipment, supplies, travel for key persons, and other program-related expenses may be included in the proposed budget. These expenses must be justified as specifically required by the proposed program and must not duplicate items generally available at the applicant institution. Reasonable costs associated with the evaluation of the project, including fees and expenses for beta-testers, focus group participants, or a limited number of learners are allowed but must be justified based on the project. Costs for the PDs/PIs to attend an annual BD2K consortium meeting in Bethesda, MD should be included, not to exceed $1500 per trip. |
Indirect Costs |
Indirect Costs (also known as Facilities & Administrative [F&A] Costs) are reimbursed at 8% of modified total direct costs (exclusive of tuition and fees and expenditures for equipment), rather than on the basis of a negotiated rate agreement. |
NIH grants policies as described in the NIH Grants Policy Statement will apply to the applications submitted and awards made in response to this FOA.
Higher Education Institutions
The following types of Higher Education Institutions are always encouraged to apply for NIH support as Public or Private Institutions of Higher Education:
Nonprofits Other Than Institutions of Higher Education
The
sponsoring institution must assure support for the proposed program.
Appropriate institutional commitment to the program includes the provision of
adequate staff, facilities, and educational resources that can contribute to
the planned program.
Institutions with existing Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service
Award (NRSA) institutional training grants (e.g., T32) or other Federally
funded training programs may apply for a research education grant provided that
the proposed educational experiences are distinct from those training programs
receiving federal support. In many cases, it is anticipated that the proposed
research education program will complement ongoing research training occurring
at the applicant institution.
Non-domestic (non-U.S.) Entities (Foreign Institutions) are
not eligible to apply.
Non-domestic (non-U.S.) components of U.S. Organizations are not eligible
to apply.
Foreign components, as defined in
the NIH Grants Policy Statement, are not allowed.
Applicant Organizations
Applicant organizations must complete and maintain the following registrations as described in the SF 424 (R&R) Application Guide to be eligible to apply for or receive an award. All registrations must be completed prior to the application being submitted. Registration can take 6 weeks or more, so applicants should begin the registration process as soon as possible. The NIH Policy on Late Submission of Grant Applications states that failure to complete registrations in advance of a due date is not a valid reason for a late submission.
Program Directors/Principal Investigators (PD(s)/PI(s))
All PD(s)/PI(s) must have an eRA Commons account and should work with their organizational officials to either create a new account or to affiliate an existing account with the applicant organization’s eRA Commons account. If the PD/PI is also the organizational Signing Official, they must have two distinct eRA Commons accounts, one for each role. Obtaining an eRA Commons account can take up to 2 weeks.
Any individual(s) with the skills, knowledge, and resources
necessary to carry out the proposed research as the Program Director(s)/Principal
Investigator(s) (PD(s)/PI(s)) is invited to work with his/her organization to
develop an application for support. Individuals from diverse backgrounds,
including underrepresented racial and ethnic groups, individuals with
disabilities, and women are always encouraged to apply for NIH support.
For institutions/organizations proposing multiple PDs/PIs, visit the Multiple
Program Director/Principal Investigator Policy and submission details in the Senior/Key
Person Profile (Expanded) Component of the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide.
The PD/PI should be an established investigator in the scientific area in which
the application is targeted and capable of providing both administrative and
scientific leadership to the development and implementation of the proposed
program. The PD/PI will be expected to monitor and assess the program and
submit all documents and reports as required.
This FOA does not require cost sharing as defined in the NIH Grants Policy Statement.
Applicant organizations may submit more than one application, provided that each application is scientifically distinct.
NIH will not accept any application that is essentially the same as one already reviewed within the past thirty-seven months (as described in the NIH Grants Policy Statement), except for submission:
Unless strongly justified on the basis of exceptional relevance to NIH, research education programs should be used primarily for the education of U.S. citizens and permanent residents.
Applicants must download the SF424 (R&R) application package associated with this funding opportunity using the Apply for Grant Electronically button in this FOA or following the directions provided at Grants.gov.
It is critical that applicants follow the instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide, except where instructed in this funding opportunity announcement to do otherwise. Conformance to the requirements in the Application Guide is required and strictly enforced. Applications that are out of compliance with these instructions will not be reviewed.
For information on Application Submission and Receipt, visit Frequently Asked Questions Application Guide, Electronic Submission of Grant Applications.
Although a letter of intent is not required, is not binding, and does not enter into the review of a subsequent application, the information that it contains allows IC staff to estimate the potential review workload and plan the review.
By the date listed in Part 1. Overview Information, prospective applicants are asked to submit a letter of intent that includes the following information:
The letter of intent should be sent to:
Michelle Dunn, Ph.D.
Telephone: 240-276-6881
Email: [email protected]
All page limitations described in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide and the Table of Page Limits must be followed.
The forms package associated with this FOA includes all applicable components, required and optional. Please note that some components marked optional in the application package are required for submission of applications for this FOA. Follow the instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide to ensure you complete all appropriate optional components.
Instructions for Application Submission
The following section supplements the instructions found in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide and should be used for preparing an application to this FOA.
Follow all instructions provided in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide.
Follow all instructions provided in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide.
Follow all instructions provided in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide with the following additional modifications:
Facilities & Other Resources. Describe the educational environment, including the facilities, laboratories, participating departments, computer services, and any other resources to be used in the development and implementation of the proposed program. List all thematically related sources of support for research training and education following the format for Current and Pending Support.
Follow all instructions provided in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide.
Follow all instructions provided in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide with the following additional modifications:
Follow all instructions provided in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide.
All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed, with the following additional instructions:
Research Strategy
The Research Strategy section must be used to upload the Research Education Program Plan, which must include the following components described below:
Research Education Program Plan
Proposed Research Education Program. While the proposed research education program may complement ongoing research training and education occurring at the applicant institution, the proposed educational experiences must be distinct from those research training and research education programs currently receiving federal support. When research training programs are on-going in the same department, the applicant organization should clearly distinguish between the activities in the proposed research education program and the research training supported by the training program. The description should include the educational and/or career level(s) of the planned participants.
Needs Assessment. Applications must demonstrate the demand for the curriculum or project and evaluate the number of learners who would benefit from the training
Program Director/Principal Investigator. Describe arrangements for administration of the program. Provide evidence that the Program Director/Principal Investigator is actively engaged in research and/or teaching in an area related to the mission of NIH, and can organize, administer, monitor, and evaluate the research education program. For programs proposing multiple PDs/PIs, describe the complementary and integrated expertise of the PDs/PIs; their leadership approach, and governance appropriate for the planned project.
Institutional Environment and Commitment. Describe the institutional environment, reiterating the availability of facilities and educational resources (described separately under Facilities & Other Resources ), that can contribute to the planned Research Education Program. Evidence of institutional commitment to the research educational program is required. A letter of institutional commitment must be attached as part of Letters of Support (see below). Appropriate institutional commitment should include the provision of adequate staff, facilities, and educational resources that can contribute to the planned research education program.
Evaluation Plan. Applications must include a plan for evaluating the activities supported by the award. The evaluation plan should detail how the project will be evaluated by experts for course content, educational effectiveness, and overall effectiveness as an educational tool; where appropriate, applicants are encouraged to include plans to obtain feedback from users to help identify weaknesses and guide further development. Applicants are encouraged to include self-assessment for learners, both before learners utilize materials (in order to focus users on appropriate resources) as well as after (to measure knowledge gain).
Dissemination Plan. A specific plan must be provided to disseminate nationally any findings resulting from or materials developed under the auspices of the research education program (e.g., sharing course curricula and related materials via web postings, presentations at scientific meetings, and workshops). Applications are expected to address open access for course materials and designs in the dissemination plan. A goal for this R25 is to release training and education materials into the public domain. Use of a public domain license such as Creative Commons http://creativecommons.org/ is strongly encouraged.
Letters of Support
A letter of institutional commitment must be attached as part of Letters of Support (see section above: Institutional Environment and Commitment.
Resource Sharing Plans
Individuals are required to comply with the
instructions for the Resource Sharing Plans (Data Sharing Plan, Sharing Model
Organisms, and Genome Wide Association Studies(GWAS)) as provided in the SF424
(R&R) Application Guide, with the following modifications:
When relevant, applications are expected to include a software
dissemination plan if support for development, maintenance, or enhancement of
software is requested in the application. There is no prescribed single license
for software produced. However, the software dissemination plan should address,
as appropriate, the following goals:
Appendix
Do not use the Appendix to circumvent page limits. Follow all instructions for the Appendix as described in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide.
Not Applicable
Not Applicable
Part I. Overview Information contains information about Key Dates. Applicants are encouraged to submit applications
before the due date to ensure they have time to make any application
corrections that might be necessary for successful submission.
Organizations must submit applications to Grants.gov (the online portal to find and apply for grants
across all Federal agencies). Applicants must then complete the submission
process by tracking the status of the application in the eRA Commons, NIH’s electronic system for grants
administration.
Applicants are
responsible for viewing their application before the due date in the eRA
Commons to ensure accurate and successful submission.
Information on the submission process and a definition of on-time
submission are provided in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide.
This initiative is not subject to intergovernmental review.
All NIH awards are subject to the terms and conditions, cost
principles, and other considerations described in the NIH Grants Policy
Statement.
Pre-award costs are allowable only as described in the NIH Grants
Policy Statement.
Applications must be submitted electronically following the instructions described in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide. Paper applications will not be accepted.
Applicants must complete all required registrations before the application due date. Section III. Eligibility Information contains information about registration.
For assistance with your electronic application or for more information on the electronic submission process, visit Applying Electronically.
Important
reminders:
All PD(s)/PI(s) must include their eRA Commons ID in the
Credential field of the Senior/Key Person Profile Component of the
SF424(R&R) Application Package. Failure to register in the Commons
and to include a valid PD/PI Commons ID in the credential field will prevent
the successful submission of an electronic application to NIH.
The applicant organization must ensure that the DUNS number it provides on the
application is the same number used in the organization’s profile in the eRA
Commons and for the System for Award Management (SAM). Additional information
may be found in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide.
See more
tips for avoiding common errors.
Upon receipt, applications will be evaluated for completeness by the Center for Scientific Review and responsiveness by The NIH BD2K training subcommittee. Aplications that are incomplete and/or nonresponsive will not be reviewed.
Applicants are required to follow the instructions for post-submission materials, as described in NOT-OD-13-030. The page limit for post-submission materials will be the same as that which is allowed for institutional training and training-related grant applications (T32, T34, etc.), as described in NOT-OD-10-115.
Only the review criteria described below will be considered
in the review process. As part of the NIH mission,
all applications submitted to the NIH in support of biomedical, behavioral, and
clinical research are evaluated for scientific and technical merit through the
NIH peer review system.
For this particular announcement, note the following: The
goal of this R25 program is to support educational activities that complement
and/or enhance the training of biomedical researchers who want to acquire the
skills necessary to utilize biomedical Big Data through open educational
resources. Open educational resources that have the ability to reach a large
fraction of the intended audience, biomedical researchers who need to utilize
biomedical Big Data. The educational resources must be widely disseminated and
made openly available, so that access is not restricted by either lack of funds
or lack of time flexibility. Ideally, open educational resources should be
useful to a individuals at all career levels, from students to established
investigators.
Reviewers will provide an overall impact score to reflect their assessment of the likelihood for the project to strongly advance research education by fulfilling the goal of this R25 Education Program, in consideration of the following review criteria and additional review criteria, as applicable for the project proposed.
Reviewers will consider each of the review criteria below in the determination of scientific merit, and give a separate score for each. An application does not need to be strong in all categories to be judged likely to have major scientific impact.
Significance
Does the proposed program address a key audience and an important aspect or important need in research education? Is there convincing evidence in the application that the proposed program will significantly advance the stated goal of the program?
Investigator(s)
Is the PD/PI capable of providing both administrative and scientific leadership to the development and implementation of the proposed program? Is there evidence that an appropriate level of effort will be devoted by the program leadership to ensure the program's intended goal is accomplished? If applicable, is there evidence that the participating faculty have experience in mentoring students and teaching science? If applicable, are the faculty good role models for the participants by nature of their scientific accomplishments? If the project is collaborative or multi-PD/PI, do the investigators have complementary and integrated expertise; are their leadership approach, governance and organizational structure appropriate for the project?
Innovation
Taking into consideration the nature of the proposed research education program, does the applicant make a strong case for this program effectively reaching an audience in need of the program’s offerings? Where appropriate, is the proposed program developing or utilizing innovative approaches and latest best practices to improve the knowledge and/or skills of the intended audience?
Approach
Does the proposed program clearly state its goals and objectives, including the educational level of the audience to be reached, the content to be conveyed, and the intended outcome? Is there evidence that the program is based on a sound rationale, as well as sound educational concepts and principles? Is the plan for evaluation sound and likely to provide information on the effectiveness of the program? If the proposed program will develop new open educational resources, are the plans to make these resources widely and openly available adequate? Where applicable, are the training materials in a form that can be modified, updated, and tailored by others? Does the program utilize appropriate technology to enhance, facilitate, and personalize the learning process?
Evaluation Plan: Are the proposed plan and timeline for evaluation of the education program sound and likely to provide data on the effectiveness of the education program? Is the program evaluation linked to an adequately developed model?
Dissemination Plan: Is the proposed plan for dissemination of the education program strong and of high quality? Are the developed resources openly accessible in the public domain? Does the dissemination plan address communication of the availability of the developed resources?
Environment
Will the scientific and educational environment of the proposed program contribute to its intended goals? Is there a plan to take advantage of this environment to enhance the educational value of the program? Is there tangible evidence of institutional commitment? Is there evidence that the faculty have sufficient institutional support to create a sound educational environment for the participants? Where appropriate, is there evidence of collaboration and buy-in among participating programs, departments, and institutions?
As applicable for the project proposed, reviewers will evaluate the following additional items while determining scientific and technical merit, and in providing an overall impact score, but will not give separate scores for these items.
Protections for Human Subjects
Generally not applicable. Reviewers should bring any concerns to the attention of the Scientific Review Officer.
Inclusion of Women, Minorities, and Children
Generally not applicable. Reviewers should bring any concerns to the attention of the Scientific Review Officer.
Vertebrate Animals
Generally not applicable. Reviewers should bring any concerns to the attention of the Scientific Review Officer.
Biohazards
Generally not applicable. Reviewers should bring any concerns to the attention of the Scientific Review Officer.
Resubmissions
For Resubmissions, the committee will evaluate the application as now presented, taking into consideration the responses to comments from the previous scientific review group and changes made to the project.
Renewals
Not Applicable
Revisions
Not Applicable
As applicable for the project proposed, reviewers will consider each of the following items, but will not give scores for these items, and should not consider them in providing an overall impact score.
Recruitment & Retention Plan to Enhance Diversity
Not Applicable
Training in the Responsible Conduct of Research
Not Applicable
Applications from Foreign Organizations
Not Applicable
Select Agent Research
Generally not applicable. Reviewers should bring any concerns to the attention of the Scientific Review Officer.
Resource Sharing Plans
Reviewers will comment on whether the following Resource Sharing Plans, or the rationale for not sharing the following types of resources, are reasonable: 1) Data Sharing Plan; 2) Sharing Model Organisms; and 3) Genome Wide Association Studies (GWAS). If support for development, maintenance, or enhancement of software is requested in the application, the reviewers will comment on the proposed software dissemination plan.
Budget and Period of Support
Reviewers will consider whether the budget and the requested period of support are fully justified and reasonable in relation to the proposed research.
Applications will be evaluated for scientific and technical merit by (an) appropriate Scientific Review Group(s), convened by the Center for Scientific Review, in accordance with NIH peer review policy and procedures, using the stated review criteria. Assignment to a Scientific Review Group will be shown in the eRA Commons.
As part of the scientific peer review, all applications:
Appeals of initial peer review will not be accepted for applications submitted in response to this FOA.
Applications will be assigned to the appropriate NIH Institute or Center. Applications will compete for available funds with all other recommended applications submitted in response to this FOA. Following initial peer review, recommended applications will receive a second level of review by the National Advisory Council for Human Genome Research. The following will be considered in making funding decisions:
After the peer review of the application is completed, the
PD/PI will be able to access his or her Summary Statement (written critique)
via the eRA
Commons.
Information regarding the disposition of applications is available in the NIH Grants
Policy Statement.
If the application is under consideration for funding, NIH
will request "just-in-time" information from the applicant as
described in the NIH Grants
Policy Statement.
A formal notification in the form of a Notice of Award (NoA) will be provided
to the applicant organization for successful applications. The NoA signed by
the grants management officer is the authorizing document and will be sent via
email to the grantee’s business official.
Awardees must comply with any funding restrictions described in Section IV.5. Funding Restrictions. Selection
of an application for award is not an authorization to begin performance. Any
costs incurred before receipt of the NoA are at the recipient's risk. These
costs may be reimbursed only to the extent considered allowable pre-award costs.
Any application awarded in response to this FOA will be subject to the DUNS, SAM
Registration, and Transparency Act requirements as noted on the Award
Conditions and Information for NIH Grants website.
All NIH grant and cooperative agreement awards include the NIH Grants Policy Statement as part of the NoA. For these terms of award, see the NIH Grants Policy Statement Part II: Terms and Conditions of NIH Grant Awards, Subpart A: General and Part II: Terms and Conditions of NIH Grant Awards, Subpart B: Terms and Conditions for Specific Types of Grants, Grantees, and Activities. More information is provided at Award Conditions and Information for NIH Grants.
The Non-Competing Continuation Grant Progress Report (PHS 2590 or RPPR) and financial statements as described in the NIH Grants Policy Statement are required annually. Continuation support will not be provided until the required forms are submitted and accepted.
The Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 (Transparency Act), includes a requirement for awardees of Federal grants to report information about first-tier subawards and executive compensation under Federal assistance awards issued in FY2011 or later. All awardees of applicable NIH grants and cooperative agreements are required to report to the Federal Subaward Reporting System (FSRS) available at www.fsrs.gov on all subawards over $25,000. See the NIH Grants Policy Statement for additional information on this reporting requirement.
Failure by the grantee institution to submit required forms in a timely, complete, and accurate manner may result in an expenditure disallowance or a delay in any continuation funding for the award.
A final progress reportand the expenditure data portion of the Federal Financial Report are required for closeout of an award as described in the NIH Grants Policy Statement.
In carrying out its stewardship of human resource-related programs, the NIH or its Institutes and Centers will periodically evaluate their R25 research education programs, employing the measures identified below. In assessing the effectiveness of its research education investments, NIH may request information from databases, PD/PIs, and from participants themselves. Where necessary, PD/PIs and participants may be contacted after the completion of a research education experience for periodic updates on participants subsequent educational or employment history and professional activities.
Upon the completion of a program evaluation, NIH and its ICs will determine whether to (a) continue a program as currently configured, (b) continue a program with modifications, or (c) discontinue a program.
Evaluation Measures for Programs Focusing on Curriculum or Methods Development:
We encourage inquiries concerning this funding opportunity and welcome the opportunity to answer questions from potential applicants.
eRA Service Desk (Questions regarding ASSIST, eRA Commons registration, submitting and tracking an application, documenting system problems that threaten submission by the due date, post submission issues)Telephone: 301-402-7469 or 866-504-9552 (Toll Free)
Web ticketing system: https://public.era.nih.gov/commonshelp
TTY: 301-451-5939
Email: [email protected]
Grants.gov Customer Support (Questions
regarding Grants.gov registration and submission, downloading forms and
application packages)
Contact Center Telephone: 800-518-4726
Web ticketing system: https://grants-portal.psc.gov/ContactUs.aspx
Email: [email protected]
GrantsInfo (Questions regarding application instructions and
process, finding NIH grant resources)
Telephone: 301-710-0267
TTY: 301-451-5936
Email: [email protected]
Michelle Dunn, Ph.D.
National Cancer Institute (NCI)
Telephone: 240-276-6881
Email: [email protected]
Veerasamy Ravichandran, Ph.D.
National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS)
Telephone: 301-451-9822
Email: [email protected]
Raymond Jacobson, Ph.D.
Center for Scientific Review (CSR)
Telphone: 301-996-7701
Email: [email protected]
Lori Burge
National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS)
Telephone: 301-451-3781
Email: [email protected]
Recently issued trans-NIH policy notices may affect your application submission. A full list of policy notices published by NIH is provided in the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts. All awards are subject to the terms and conditions, cost principles, and other considerations described in the NIH Grants Policy Statement.
Awards are made under the authorization of Sections 301 and 405 of the Public Health Service Act as amended (42 USC 241 and 284) and under Federal Regulations 42 CFR Part 52 and 45 CFR Parts 74 and 92.
Weekly TOC for this Announcement
NIH Funding Opportunities and Notices
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