New Process for Reimbursement of NIH Peer Reviewers

Notice Number: NOT-OD-05-062 (Security and privacy and issues for reviewer registration with CCR, see NOT-OD-05-065)

Key Dates
Release Date: August 5, 2005

Issued by
National Institutes of Health (NIH), (http://www.nih.gov/)

A new system will be implemented to reimburse reviewers who participate in NIH peer review meetings that take place after September 30, 2005. This new system will ensure that expenses incurred while serving as a peer reviewer will be reimbursed at a comparable level to what is now reimbursed. Reviewers will no longer be required to submit vouchers and receipts for standard expenses.

Under the new system that NIH is required to use, all peer reviewers must register with the U.S. Treasury Central Contractor Registration (CCR). This is a secure, federally controlled database for all non-federal persons, companies, or other entities doing business with the Federal government. The CCR will be used to reimburse review meeting related expenses and to pay consultant fees through Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) payments directly to reviewer bank accounts. Reviewers who do not have a U.S. bank account still need to register with the CCR, but will receive a check via mail rather than via direct deposit. Without CCR registration NIH will be unable to pay reimbursable expenses and honoria. Therefore, all current and potential reviewers are strongly encouraged to register with CCR by September 1, 2005.

The CCR database is designed primarily for companies and not individuals. However, reviewers will be registering as an individual. Reviewers are required to register in CCR only once (i.e., registration is not required for every study section meeting), and they will be automatically notified by the system to update their information in the CCR annually. Reviewers who have previously registered in CCR do not need to register again. There are two essential steps in completing a CCR registration:

STEP 1 Obtain an individual Data Universal Number System (DUNS) number, which is required for CCR registration. This can be done either by telephone or via the web.

STEP 2 Register as an individual with the CCR. This process is done via the web.

It is important to note that this particular DUNS number and CCR registration are for the individual reviewer. These are different than any DUNS number and CCR registration used by an applicant organization. Individual DUNS and CCR registration should be used only for the purposes of personal reimbursement and should not be used on any grant applications submitted to the Federal Government.

Instructions that provide specific guidance in the CCR registration process are now available in the News & Reports section of the web site of the Center for Scientific Review (http://cms.csr.nih.gov).


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