Key Dates

Related Announcements

• September 24, 2021 - Notice of Special Interest (NOSI): Primary Caregiver Technical Assistance Supplements (PCTAS) (Admin Supp Clinical Trial Optional). See NOSI NOT-AI-21-074.
• October 9, 2020 - Administrative Supplements to Existing NIH Grants and Cooperative Agreements (Parent Admin Supp Clinical Trial Optional).  See NOFO PA-20-272.

Issued by

National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)

Purpose

This program will help to support eligible postdoctoral scientists maintain high productivity in an NIAID-funded laboratory while engaging in primary caregiver responsibilities. NIAID recognizes that postdoctoral scientists with young children or ailing relatives are sometimes unable to focus completely on their research activities because of primary caregiver responsibilities. As a result, these circumstances may delay an individual’s transition to an independent career or reduce their scientific productivity at critical periods. Principal investigators may request additional funds to hire a mid-to-senior level technician at a full-time or part-time level of effort to fill in for the postdoctoral scientist when he/she is required to be away from the lab to fulfill their caregiver responsibilities. Administrative supplements must support work within the scope of the original project.

Budget

The administrative supplement budget is limited to a maximum of 2 years. The application budget cannot exceed a maximum direct cost of $50,000/year for the technician's salary. In addition to the direct costs, applicable F&A (indirect) costs may also be requested.

Additional Information on Eligibility

At the time of supplement application, the PD(s)/PI(s) must have at least 2 years of NIAID support remaining on the parent award to be eligible for funding.

Eligible Candidates for the Supplement Program: A parent grant may support only one technician on a supplement. Postdoctoral fellows must have completed work for at least one full year at a NIAID-funded laboratory and be primary caregivers for a child or ailing relative. Technicians must be named in the application. Technicians do not need U.S. citizenship or permanent resident status (temporary work and student visas are acceptable).

Subproject PD(s)/PI(s) on multi-component research grants (e.g., P01, P50, U54) must request supplements to their project through the overall PD(s)/PI(s) of the grant.

Application and Submission Information

Applications for this initiative must be submitted using the following opportunity or its subsequent reissued equivalent.

• PA-20-272 - Administrative Supplements to Existing NIH Grants and Cooperative Agreements (Parent Admin Supp Clinical Trial Optional)

All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide and PA-20-272 must be followed, with the following additional instructions:

• Include the following in the application:
  • Research Strategy, including a summary or abstract of the funded parent award or project.
  • Personal Statement of the postdoctoral fellow, including: research objectives, career goals, and a description of circumstances that affect scientific advancement or productivity, hence the need for technical support.
  • The plan and timeline for the proposed research in the supplemental request and their relationship to the research proposed in the parent grant.
  • Evidence the supplement will increase or preserve the likelihood for the postdoctoral fellow to maintain strong productivity in the research program.
  • Evidence that the activities of the postdoctoral fellow and technical assistant will be an integral part of the research project.
  • Adequate plans for monitoring and evaluating the research progress and productivity of the postdoctoral fellow and the technical assistant.
• Application Due Date(s) - Applications are accepted on a rolling basis and reviewed approximately four times a year (November, February, April, and May). Submit by the first of the preceding month to have application reviewed at one of the listed months. For awards before the end of a fiscal year-September 30-applications should be submitted no later than April 1. Applications received after this date are considered for funding in the next fiscal year.
• For funding consideration, applicants must include “NOT-AI-AI-075” (without quotation marks) in the Agency Routing Identifier field (box 4B) of the SF424 R&R form. Applications without this information in box 4B will not be considered for this initiative Requests may be for up to 2 years of support only. Proposed project period must be within project period of award.
• The Research Strategy section of the application is limited to 6 pages.
• Only existing recipients supported by NIAID are eligible to apply.
• Applicants are strongly encouraged to notify the program contact at NIAID (see Scientific/Research Contact below) supporting the parent award that a request has been submitted in response to this NOSI in order to facilitate efficient processing of the request.

Administrative Evaluation Process

Administrative Supplements do not receive peer review. Instead, the administrative criteria described below will be considered in the administrative evaluation process. The staff of the NIH awarding component will evaluate requests for a supplement to determine its overall merit. Support will be based on the most meritorious applications submitted for consideration and availability of funds.

Criteria

NIH staff will consider the ability of the proposed supplement activities to increase or preserve the parent award’s overall impact within the original scope of award. Only the administrative review criteria described below will be considered in the review process:

• The qualifications of the postdoctoral fellow including research objectives, career goals, prior research training, research potential, relevant research experience.
• Evidence that the circumstance may affect scientific advancement or productivity.
• The plan and timeline for the proposed research in the supplemental request and their relationship to the research proposed in the parent grant.
• Evidence that the supplement will increase or preserve the likelihood for the postdoctoral fellow to maintain strong productivity in the research program.
• Evidence that the activities of the postdoctoral fellow and technical assistant will be an integral part of the research project.
• Adequate plans for monitoring and evaluating the research progress and productivity of the postdoctoral fellow and the technical assistant.

Inquiries

Please direct all inquiries to:

Scientific/Research Contact(s)

Office of Research Training and Special Programs (ORTSP)
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)
Phone: (301) 594-5945
Email: [email protected]

Financial/Grants Management Contact(s)

Dhana Khurana
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)
Telephone: 240-669-2966
Email: [email protected]