Notice Number: NOT-GM-19-014
Key Dates
Release Date : February 11, 2019
PAR-17-339
Issued by
National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS)
Purpose
The purpose of this Notice is to clarify the institutional eligibility for applications submitted to PAR-17-339 "NIH Science Education Partnership Award (SEPA)(R25)" and the application instructions for the "Plan for Instruction in the Responsible Conduct of Research" section of the Research Education Program Plan.
Part 1. Overview
Number of Applications
The FOA currently reads:
Only one application per institution is allowed. Institutions are also limited to a single SEPA award. Therefore, an institution with an active SEPA project is not eligible to submit an application to this FOA. An institution is normally identified by having a unique DUNS number or NIH IPF number. See Section III. 3. Additional Information on Eligibility.
This section of the FOA is modified to read:
Only one application per institution is allowed on each due date. See Section III. 3. Additional Information on Eligibility.
Part 2. Section III.3 Additional Information on Eligibility
Number of Applications
The FOA currently reads:
Only one application per institution, normally identified by having a unique DUNS number or NIH IPF number, is allowed. Organizations are also limited to a single SEPA award. An organization with an active SEPA award is not eligible to submit a SEPA application. However, an organization with an active SEPA award may partner with another organization planning on submitting a new SEPA application as long as its subcontract does not exceed 20% of the Direct Costs requested.
This section of the FOA is modified to read:
An eligible institution, defined as a university, an independent college/institute, a museum, a hospital, or a professional society, may submit one application per due date. An institution with an active SEPA award is ineligible to submit another SEPA application. However, an organization with an active SEPA award may partner with another organization planning on submitting a new SEPA application as long as its subcontract does not exceed 20% of the Direct Costs requested. Potential applicants are strongly encouraged to contact program staff to discuss eligibility prior to committing significant effort to preparing SEPA applications.
Part 2. Section IV.2 Content and Form of Application Submission
Research Education Program Plan
The FOA currently reads:
Plan for Instruction in the Responsible Conduct of Research. All applications must include a plan to fulfill NIH requirements for instruction in the Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR). The plan must address the five, required instructional components outlined in the NIH policy: 1) Format - the required format of instruction, i.e., face-to-face lectures, coursework, and/or real-time discussion groups (a plan with only on-line instruction is not acceptable); 2) Subject Matter - the breadth of subject matter, e.g., conflict of interest, authorship, data management, human subjects and animal use, laboratory safety, research misconduct, research ethics; 3) Faculty Participation - the role of the program faculty in the instruction; 4) Duration of Instruction - the number of contact hours of instruction, taking into consideration the duration of the program; and 5) Frequency of Instruction instruction must occur during each career stage and at least once every four years. See also NOT-OD-10-019. The plan should be appropriate and reasonable for the nature and duration of the proposed program. Renewal (Type 2) applications must, in addition, describe any changes in formal instruction over the past project period and plans to address any weaknesses in the current instruction plan. All participating faculty who served as course directors, speakers, lecturers, and/or discussion leaders during the past project period must be named in the application.
Applications lacking a plan for instruction in responsible conduct of research will not be reviewed.
This section of the FOA is modified to read:
Plan for Instruction in the Responsible Conduct of Research. A responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) plan should be tailored to the participants involved in the supported project. SEPA projects with a goal of stimulating interest in, and providing exposure to, STEM topics, such as curricula development, after-school science clubs, museum exhibits, mobile laboratories, and interactive digital media (IDM)-based projects should use innovative strategies to address RCR, and do not necessarily need to meet the same strict RCR standards as traditional research education programs. For all other applications, the RCR plan must address the five, required instructional components outlined in the NIH policy: 1) Format - the required format of instruction, i.e., face-to-face lectures, on-line instruction, coursework, and/or real-time discussion groups; 2) Subject Matter - the breadth of subject matter, e.g., conflict of interest, authorship, data management, human subjects and animal use, laboratory safety, research misconduct, research ethics; 3) Faculty Participation - the role of the program faculty in the instruction; 4) Duration of Instruction - the number of contact hours of instruction, taking into consideration the duration of the program; and 5) Frequency of Instruction instruction should occur during each career stage and at least once every four years. See also NOT-OD-10-019. The plan should be appropriate and reasonable for the nature and duration of the proposed program.
Applications lacking a plan for instruction in responsible conduct of research will not be reviewed.
All other aspects of this FOA remain the same.
Inquiries
Please direct all inquiries to:
Tony Beck, Ph.D.
National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS)
Email: beckl@mail.nih.gov
and Human Services (HHS)
