Notice Number: NOT-CA-06-038

Key Dates
Release Date: September 14, 2006

Issued by
National Cancer Institute (NCI) (http://www.nci.nih.gov)

The purpose of this notice is to clarify application instructions for the submission of R21/R33 Phased Innovation Applications in response to the following Requests for Applications (RFAs):

• RFA-CA-07-019, Application of Emerging Technologies for Cancer Research (R21/R33);
• RFA-CA-07-024, Innovations in Cancer Sample Preparation (R21/R33).

What applications are affected?

This Notice pertains only to the Phased Innovation R21/R33 type of application (i.e., including only those applications which combine plans for Phase I and Phase II developmental efforts).

The submission of regular (single phase) R21 applications or regular (single phase) R33 applications in response to respective partner RFAs (RFA-CA-07-017 and RFA-CA-07-018 for R21 mechanism and RFA-CA-07-022 and RFA-CA-07-023 for R33 mechanism) is not affected.

What is the issue?

The RFA-CA-07-019 and RFA-CA-07-024 funding opportunity announcements (FOAs) include supplementary instructions for the research plan that are not allowed by the business rule checks built into the electronic application processing system. Specifically, Section IV, Application and Submission Information, subsection 6. Other Submission Requirements, includes the following:

Excerpt from RFA-CA-07-019
To accomplish a clear distinction between the two phases, applicants are directed to complete items 2-5 of the Research Plan twice: one write-up of items 2-5 and milestones for the R21 phase and items a-d again for the R33 phase.

Excerpt from RFA-CA-07-024
To accomplish a clear distinction between the two phases, applicants are directed to complete items a-d of the Research Plan twice: one write-up of items a-d and milestones for the R21 phase and items a-d again for the R33 phase. The Table of Contents form page in the PHS 398 instructions should be modified to show items a-d for each phase as well as the milestones.

For electronic application submissions, only one attachment is allowed for each of the Research Plan sections. Furthermore, the Table of Contents is system-generated and cannot be altered by the applicant.

What to do?

Follow all instructions contained in the respective FOAs, but with the following exceptions:

• Your application should include a single research plan section. Within the individual items, describe both the R21 and R33 phases as appropriate. Item 2 (Specific Aims) must provide separate sets of aims for the R21 and R33 phases. Item 5 (Research Design and Methods) must provide separate descriptions for the R21 and R33 phases. It is not necessary, however, to repeat for the R33 segment any background information or methodological details that are provided in the description of the R21 subproject.
• Milestones for the R21 phase MUST be included, and should be placed at the end of the R21 Research Design and Methods section.

All other aspects of the two FOAs remain unchanged.

Inquiry

Direct questions about diabetic complication issues on the program announcement to:

Gregory J. Downing, D.O., Ph.D.
Office of Technology and Industrial Relations
National Cancer Institute
Building 31, Room 10A52, MSC 2580
Bethesda, MD 20892-2580
Telephone: (301) 496-1550
Fax: (301) 496-7807
Email: downingg@mail.nih.gov