FUNDING STRATEGIES FOR FY 1995 NIH GUIDE, Volume 24, Number 20, June 2, 1995 P.T. 34 Keywords: Grants Administration/Policy+ National Institutes of Health The information indicated below will guide the Institutes and Centers in their funding decisions on Research Project Grants (RPGs), excluding SBIR/STTR awards, in 1995. These principles remain essentially the same as those for 1994 with the aforementioned exception of SBIR/STTR awards. The funding strategies detailed in Section II may be changed from year to year depending upon the appropriation level and associated Congressional directives. I. Core Principles. 1. Grants will be awarded on the basis of reasonable and allowable costs consonant with the principles of sound cost management and in consideration of Institute or Center (IC) priorities, constraints on the growth of average grant costs, and the availability of funds. 2. The award of noncompeting research project grants at committed levels continues to be the cornerstone of the NIH Financial Management Plan and is the basis of the plan's credibility with the scientific community and Congress. 3. Determination of commitments for future years must take into consideration stability of support for investigators, optimum portfolio balance, and opportunities to address emerging problems. II. Fiscal Year 1995 Funding Strategies (excluding SBIR/STTR awards) 1. The direct cost level of noncompeting awards, on the average, will not exceed the direct cost level of the previous budget period by more than four percent. NIH staff may make exceptions for specifically justified programmatic requirements and one-time, non- recurring costs such as equipment. 2. For noncompeting grants, every effort will be made to make awards at the committed levels. If fiscal conditions in an IC are such that funding at the committed levels is not possible, the IC will consult with the Deputy Director for Extramural Research, NIH, to determine an appropriate resolution. 3. The average total (direct and indirect) cost of a competing grant in the FY 1995 cohort will not be more than the Biomedical Research and Development Price Index (BRDPI) (4.1 percent) than the average total cost of a competing grant in FY 1994. Given certain appropriation levels, some ICs may not be able to provide an increase as much as the BRDPI. 4. When necessary, budgetary reductions from the requested level will be achieved through a combination of initial review and Council/Board recommendations, staff review for cost allocability, allowability, and reasonableness, and programmatic adjustments to arrive at an appropriate funding level. 5. Based on adjustments to the project, IC staff, in consultation with the principal investigator, will decide if a new statement of specific aims is required. When reductions are 25 percent or more of the IRG recommended level, staff will obtain a revised statement of specific aims, a revised budget and/or revised timetable, as appropriate, for the project, which must be approved and countersigned by the institution and approved by program and grants management staff. To ensure initial review group understanding of the modified scope of a funded project, the approved statement of revised aims should be submitted by the investigator in competing continuation grant applications. 6. For competing continuation grants, one factor in arriving at the award amount will be the level of support in prior years and the extent to which the IC can permit growth within the existing constraints on average costs. 7. The average length of research project grants will not exceed four years. 8. In making funding decisions, ICs should consider the total costs of a grant, especially at the margin of the funding plan. INQUIRIES For further information, contact the Grants Management Specialist or Health Science Administrator responsible for the grant. The names and telephone numbers are indicated on the Notice of Grant Award. .
Return to NIH Guide Main Index
Office of Extramural Research (OER) |
National Institutes of Health (NIH) 9000 Rockville Pike Bethesda, Maryland 20892 |
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) |
||||||||
Note: For help accessing PDF, RTF, MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Audio or Video files, see Help Downloading Files. |