EXPIRED
October 4, 2016
November 14, 2016
30 days before the application due date
New Dates December 14, 2016; December 14, 2017; and December 4, 2018 by 5:00 PM local time of applicant organization. All types of non-AIDS applications allowed for this funding opportunity announcement are due on these dates.
Applicants are encouraged to apply early to allow adequate time to make any corrections to errors found in the application during the submission process by the due date.
New Dates December 14, 2016; December 14, 2017; and December 4, 2018 by 5:00 PM local time of applicant organization. All types of AIDS and AIDS-related applications allowed for this funding opportunity announcement are due on these dates.
Applicants are encouraged to apply early to allow adequate time to make any corrections to errors found in the application during the submission process by the due date.
New Dates March 2017, March 2018, March 2019
New Dates May 2017, May 2018, May 2019
New Dates July 2017, July 2018, July 2019
New Date December 5, 2018 per issuance of PAR-19-051. (Original Expiration Date: November 29, 2018)
Not Applicable
It is critical that applicants follow the instructions in the Career Development Instructions for the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide, except where instructed to do otherwise (in this FOA or in a Notice from the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts). Conformance to all requirements (both in the Application Guide and the FOA) is required and strictly enforced. Applicants must read and follow all application instructions in the Application Guide as well as any program-specific instructions noted in Section IV. When the program-specific instructions deviate from those in the Application Guide, follow the program-specific instructions. Applications that do not comply with these instructions may be delayed or not accepted for review.
Part 1. Overview Information
Part 2. Full Text of the Announcement
Section
I. Funding Opportunity Description
Section II. Award Information
Section III. Eligibility Information
Section IV. Application and Submission
Information
Section V. Application Review Information
Section VI. Award Administration Information
Section VII. Agency Contacts
Section VIII. Other Information
The overall goal of the NIH Research Career Development program is to help ensure that a diverse pool of highly trained scientists is available in appropriate scientific disciplines to address the Nation's biomedical, behavioral, and clinical research needs. In addition to this opportunity, NIH Institutes and Centers (ICs) support a variety of other mentored career development programs designed to foster the transition of new investigators to research independence. These other programs may be more suitable for particular candidates. NIH also supports non-mentored career development programs for independent investigators. More information about Career programs may be found at the NIH Extramural Training Mechanisms website. In addition, some ICs support Emerging Global Leader Awards for international scientists.
Program Description
The purpose of the Fogarty Emerging Global Leader Award is to provide research support and "protected time" to a research scientist from a low-or middle-income country (LMIC) who holds a junior faculty position at an LMIC academic or research institution as defined in Section III.1. At many LMIC institutions there is little support for junior faculty with long-term research training to launch an independent research career due to lack of protected time for research activities, inadequate pilot research project funding opportunities, insufficient training in advanced research methodology and data analysis, lack of mentorship in manuscript and grant writing and meager institutional support for developing, submitting and administering research applications and awards. This intensive, mentored research career development experience under the guidance of experienced LMIC and U.S. mentors is expected to foster an independently-funded research career for the most promising LMIC junior research scientist faculty. Overall, it is expected that this program will increase the scientific capacity for health research at LMIC institutions and foster long term research collaborations with U.S. scientists.
The award will provide salary and research project support. Awardees are expected to increase their capabilities in advanced research methodology, analysis and data management, research administrative skills, responsible conduct of research, scientific presentation, and manuscript and grant writing. Applications should propose targeted activities and research projects that will propel awardees to become competitive principal investigators for new research project grant funding by the end of the grant period. This FOA invites applications from eligible LMIC research scientists at LMIC academic or research institutions who propose both critically needed career development activities and a research project that is highly relevant to the health priorities of their country. The research activities should take place primarily in the LMIC.
Interests of Participating NIH Institutes, Centers and Offices
The Fogarty International Center (FIC) is interested in applications from individuals at LMIC institutions seeking to become independent investigators and international research leaders in any therapeutic or scientific area of health priority and scientific importance to the LMIC. FIC is dedicated to advancing the mission of the NIH by supporting and facilitating global health research conducted by U.S. and international investigators, building partnerships between health research institutions in the U.S. and abroad, and training the next generation of scientists to address global health needs. FIC supports a diversity of research and research training grants that advance basic to implementation science with a particular focus on LMICs. The Fogarty Emerging Global Leader Award is responsive to the FIC Strategic Plan (http://www.fic.nih.gov/about/pages/strategic-plan.aspx) to build research capacity through individuals, institutions and networks by building future research leaders in the U.S. and in LMICs.
The NCI's Center for Global Health (CGH) will support intensive, mentored research career development for early stage investigators committed to a cancer research career. CGH is particularly interested in applications that include well-designed epidemiology studies on common risk factors (social, biological, occupational, environmental) for cancer, clinical and translational research, detection and diagnosis, health surveillance including cancer registry development, knowledge sharing, implementation science, informatics, mHealth, or malignancies associated with chronic infection. The research activities should be specifically focused on cancer. The career development plan should include training in advanced scientific skills, research methodology, data management and analysis, grant and manuscript writing, and research administration skills that are appropriate for the LMIC. The proposed career development and mentoring should be focused on developing independent researchers in the field of cancer in a manner that increases the research capacity at the LMIC institution. Mentors should have a track record of research in cancer.
The National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) is interested in applications from individuals pursuing careers as researchers in the area of the ethical, legal, and social implications (ELSI) of genetics and genomics research or the use of genetics in clinical settings. Examples of topics appropriate for exploration can be found on the ELSI Research Priorities website at: http://www.genome.gov/27543732. NHGRI may also support applications from individuals who are developing methods and research resources that support, or are conducting basic and translational research in: genomic sciences, informatics, implementation of genomics in clinical care (genomic medicine), and cost-effectiveness of genomic interventions. The specific research topic proposed should apply across a broad spectrum of diseases and health conditions and should not be specific to just one disease, except to the extent that a particular disease may serve as a model with projects that capitalize on unique opportunities to use, as models, diseases and conditions that are more difficult to study in the U.S. because of prevalence or other factors will be considered. Examples of such conditions might include, but are not limited to, sickle cell disease and thalassemias, apoA associated kidney disease, and severe adverse drug reactions with higher frequency outside the U.S., such as Stevens Johnson Syndrome (SJS).
The National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR) is interested in applications with a research focus on dental, oral, or craniofacial conditions that occur more frequently in the LMIC or are of a high public health burden; research addressing health disparities in dental, oral, or craniofacial conditions; and research to achieve national or regional goals in oral and dental health such as those articulated by the World Health Organization. Examples include, but are not limited to: working with local communities to establish the best means of delivering preventive oral health care; establishing successful approaches to deliver fluoride to a local population, particularly in areas without potable water; studying oral pre-malignant lesions associated with betel nut use; and studying the interplay of genes and environment in dental, oral, or craniofacial health by leveraging environments specific to the country. The program and these topics are responsive to goals 2, 3, and 4 of the NIDCR Strategic Plan (http://www.nidcr.nih.gov/research/ResearchPriorities/StrategicPlan/).
The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) is interested in supporting mechanistic, epidemiological, prevention, translational and clinical research across the spectrum of neurological, neuromuscular and neurovascular diseases and disorders in all ages. In addition to prevalent neurological disorders and stroke, NINDS is also interested in supporting research in areas of rare and neglected neurological diseases that are relevant to the Low- or Middle-Income Countries (NINDS Disorder Index http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/disorder_index.htm).
The Office of Research on Women's Health (ORWH) mission is to improve the health of women, and has made strides in doing so by ensuring that women and diverse populations are included in all clinical studies, sex and gender influences in health and disease are explored, and that women have the opportunity to advance in biomedical careers. ORWH will assess applications for their ability to directly fulfill the goals 4.0 and 6.0 of the NIH Strategic Plan for Women's Health and Sex Differences Research, which can be found at:http://orwh.od.nih.gov/research/strategicplan/ORWH_StrategicPlan2020_Vol1.pdf.
The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) is interested in applications that address or seek to understand how exposures to toxic environmental insults alter biologic processes, are linked to disease initiation, progression or morbidity, and activities that lead to the development of prevention and intervention strategies to reduce environmentally induced diseases in LMICs. Examples of environmental exposures relevant to the mission of the NIEHS include industrial chemicals or manufacturing byproducts, e-waste, metals, pesticides, herbicides, and inhaled toxicants including indoor air pollutants from cooking and other sources (https://www.niehs.nih.gov/about/strategicplan/). Topics and disease outcomes of particular interest include airway diseases, CVD and neurological disorders, children’s environmental health and the unique vulnerability of developing children to harmful environmental exposures including outcomes such as low birth weight or premature birth, and research exploring exposures during early life stages or critical windows of susceptibility that may directly or indirectly affect the risk of developing disease. Career development applications that focus on the effects of alcohol, chemotherapeutic agents, smoking, except when considered as a secondary smoke exposure as a component in the indoor environment (particularly in children), drugs of abuse, pharmaceuticals, dietary nutrients, and infectious or parasitic agents are not of interest to NIEHS.
The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) is interested in applications that focus on mental illness and mental disorders in LMICs, specifically conditions and disorders of brain structure and function that affect cognition, social and emotional processing, and behavior and are leading causes of disease burden worldwide, estimated on the basis of disability adjusted life years (DALYs). For example, disorders of interest include, but are not limited to depression, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, autism spectrum disorders, and posttraumatic stress disorder. NIMH is particularly interested in research that addresses disparities in access to mental health care in LMICs, care for chronic, non-communicable diseases and/or implementation science in LMIC contexts. These themes are consistent with goals C, E, and F of the Grand Challenges in Global Mental Health (i.e., improve treatments and expand access to care; build human resource capacity; and transform health system and policy responses;http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v475/n7354/pdf/475027a.pdf). NIMH is also interested in applications that target HIV/AIDS related topics of interest such as the epidemiology, natural history and pathogenesis of HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders (HAND) and neuropsychiatric disorders before and after treatment initiation in adult and pediatric populations; examination of the neurobehavioral consequences, with respect to in-utero exposure to a dysregulated immune environment and/or antiretroviral medication and consequences of being born to an HIV-positive mother. NIMH encourages development of common standardized assessment instruments with appropriate norms that can provide reliable and valid measurement of the neurobehavioral consequences of HIV and its treatments throughout the age-span in low and medium resource environments; and development of interventions to improve neurobehavioral functioning compromised by HIV/AIDS and its associated conditions that can be implemented in LMICs.
Additional Information
For applications proposing HIV/AIDS research projects, applicants are encouraged to review the NIH HIV/AIDS Research Priorities, and the NIH Plan for HIV-Related Research for the year they are applying.
Applicants are encouraged to review answers to frequently asked questions about the Fogarty Emerging Global Leader Award program at http://www.fic.nih.gov/Programs/Pages/emerging-global-leader.aspx which will be updated on a regular basis.
Citizens, non-citizen nationals and permanent residents of the United States are not eligible for this K43 award but may apply for the International Research Scientist Development Awards (IRSDA (K01) PAR-17-002 or other similar awards (see https://researchtraining.nih.gov/programs/career-development).
See Section VIII. Other Information for award authorities and regulations.
Grant: A support mechanism providing money, property, or both to an eligible entity to carry out an approved project or activity.
New
Resubmission
The OER Glossary and the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide provide details on these application types.
Clinical Trials Not Allowed for due dates on or after January 25, 2018: Only accepting applications that do not propose independent clinical trials
Note: Applicants may propose to gain experience in a clinical trial led by a mentor/co-mentor as part of their research career development.
Need help determining whether you are doing a clinical trial?
The number of awards is contingent upon NIH appropriations and the submission of a sufficient number of meritorious applications.
Award budgets are composed of salary and other program-related expenses, as described below.
The total project period should be a minimum of 3 years and may not exceed 5 years.
NIH will contribute up to $ 75,000 (for a minimum of 75% effort or 9 person months) per year toward the salary of the career award recipient. Further guidance on budgeting for career development salaries is provided in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide.
The total salary, however, may not exceed the legislatively mandated salary cap. See: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/policy/salcap_summary.htm.
NIH will contribute up to $ 30,000 per year toward the research development costs of the award recipient, which must be justified and consistent with the stage of development of the candidate and the proportion of time to be spent in research or career development activities.
Research development costs include, but are not limited to, supplies, equipment, technical personnel, non-degree related tuition or registration fees for activities related to the proposed career development plan, fees for statistical and computational services, and travel to research sites, research meetings, or training, as detailed in Section IV.
Salary for mentors, secretarial and administrative assistants, etc. is not allowed.
Indirect Costs (also known as Facilities & Administrative [F&A] Costs) are reimbursed at 8% of modified total direct costs.
NIH grant policies as described in the NIH Grants Policy Statement will apply to the applications submitted and awards made in response to this FOA.
Non-domestic (non-U.S.) Entities (Foreign Institutions)
Only non-domestic (non-U.S.) Entities (Foreign Institutions) in Low- or Middle-Income Countries are eligible to apply.
LMICs are defined by the World Bank classification system (according to Gross National Income (GNI) per capita as low-income, lower-middle-income, and upper-middle-income (http://data.worldbank.org/about/country-classifications/country-and-lending-groups).
Non-domestic (non-U.S.) components of U.S. Organizations are not eligible
to apply.
Foreign components, as defined in
the NIH Grants Policy Statement, are allowed.
Applicant Organizations
Applicant organizations must complete and maintain the following registrations as described in the SF 424 (R&R) Application Guide to be eligible to apply for or receive an award. All registrations must be completed prior to the application being submitted. Registration can take 6 weeks or more, so applicants should begin the registration process as soon as possible. The NIH Policy on Late Submission of Grant Applications states that failure to complete registrations in advance of a due date is not a valid reason for a late submission.
International applicants may obtain more information on the
registrations required for grants.gov and eRA Commons at: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/ElectronicReceipt/files/Tips_for_International_Applicants.pdf.
http://grants.nih.gov/grants/ElectronicReceipt/files/international_support.pdf
http://grants.nih.gov/grants/ElectronicReceipt/files/international_qa.pdf
http://grants.nih.gov/grants/ElectronicReceipt/preparing_grantsgov_reg.htm
Guidance for International Applicants Blocked from Registration Websites: NOT-OD-11-090.
An NIH supported webinar on Electronic Submission of Grant Applications for Foreign Institutions can be found at http://grants.nih.gov/grants/webinar_docs/webinar_20120927.htm
Program Directors/Principal Investigators (PD(s)/PI(s))
All PD(s)/PI(s) must have an eRA Commons account. PD(s)/PI(s) should work with their organizational officials to either create a new account or to affiliate their existing account with the applicant organization in eRA Commons. If the PD/PI is also the organizational Signing Official, they must have two distinct eRA Commons accounts, one for each role. Obtaining an eRA Commons account can take up to 2 weeks.
Mentors
The primary mentor at the applicant LMIC institution and the primary U.S. mentor must have eRA Commons accounts. Obtaining an eRA Commons account can take up to 2 weeks.
Any candidate with the skills, knowledge, and resources necessary to carry out the proposed research as the Program Director/Principal Investigator (PD/PI) is invited to work with his/her primary mentors (one U.S.-based and and one LMIC-based) and organization to develop an application for support. Individuals from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups as well as individuals with disabilities are always encouraged to apply for NIH support. Multiple PDs/PIs are not allowed.
An applicant must be an LMIC citizen and, at the time of award, may not be a citizen or a non-citizen national of the United States or have been lawfully admitted for permanent residence (i.e., possess a currently valid Permanent Resident Card USCIS Form I-551, or other legal verification of such status).
Degree and Research Experience Requirements: The candidate should be the PD/PI of the proposed activities. Candidates must hold at least a masters degree that required a research thesis. Candidates with doctoral research training are preferred. This award cannot support advanced degree training. Individuals who are or have been the PD/PI (direct recipient/grantee) of a multi-year independent research grant from an external research funding organization and awarded by the application due date are not eligible.
Faculty Position Requirement: Applicants must currently hold an academic junior faculty position or research scientist appointment supported by the applicant LMIC academic or research institution and have been in this position for at least one year at the time the application is submitted. For this FOA, junior faculty are defined as those who hold entry to mid-level academic or research scientist positions, including but not limited to instructors, lecturers and assistant professors.
Applicants from Medical Education Partnership Initiative (MEPI): Junior faculty at institutions awarded under RFA-TW-14-003 "Research Training for Career Development of Junior Faculty in Medical Education Partnership Initiative (MEPI) Institutions (D43)" may not submit applications focused on HIV/AIDS or the scientific research areas supported by this FOA.
This FOA does not require cost sharing as defined in the NIH Grants Policy Statement.
Applicant organizations may submit more than one application, provided that each application is scientifically distinct, and each is from a different candidate.
The NIH will not accept duplicate or highly overlapping applications under review at the same time. An individual may not have two or more competing NIH career development applications pending review concurrently. In addition, NIH will not accept:
Candidates may submit research project grant (RPG) applications concurrently with the K application. However, any concurrent RPG application may not have substantial scientific and/or budgetary overlap with the career award application. K award recipients are encouraged to obtain funding from NIH or other U.S. government sources either as a PD/PI on a competing research grant award or cooperative agreement, or as project leader on a competing multi-project award as described in NOT-OD-08-065.
At the time of award, the candidate must have a full-time appointment at the applicant LMIC academic or research institution. Candidates are required to commit a minimum of 75% of full-time professional effort (i.e., a minimum of 9 person months) to their career development and research training. Candidates may engage in other duties as part of the remaining full-time professional effort not covered by this award, as long as such duties do not interfere with or detract from the proposed career development program.
Before submitting the application, the candidate must identify a primary mentor at the applicant LMIC institution and a primary mentor at a collaborating U.S. institution who, together, will supervise the proposed career development and research experience. The LMIC primary mentor must hold a primary appointment at the LMIC applicant institution and should not be a U.S. citizen who holds a joint appointment at the LMIC institution. The institutional affiliation of the mentors should be clear from the biosketch, mentor support letters, and institutional letters. These primary mentors should be active researchers in the area of the proposed research and be committed both to the career development of the candidate and to the direct supervision of the candidate’s research. Candidates are encouraged to identify additional co-mentors to form a mentoring team if this is deemed advantageous for providing expert advice in all aspects of the research career development program. Additional mentors can be from other LMIC or high income countries. The candidate must work with all mentors (primary and co-mentors) in preparing the application.
Institutional Environment
The LMIC institution where the proposed research will be conducted, and the collaborating U.S. institution, if activities at the U.S. institution are proposed, must have strong, well-established records of research and career development activities and faculty qualified in biomedical, behavioral, or clinical research to serve as mentors. The research career development program should maximize the use of U.S. and LMIC research institutional environments, including available facilities and resources.
Buttons to access the online ASSIST system or to download application forms are available in Part 1 of this FOA. See your administrative office for instructions if you plan to use an institutional system-to-system solution.
It is critical that applicants follow the instructions in the Career Development Instructions for the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide, including Supplemental Grant Application Instructions except where instructed in this funding opportunity announcement to do otherwise. Conformance to the requirements in the Application Guide is required and strictly enforced. Applications that are out of compliance with these instructions may be delayed or not accepted for review.
For information on Application Submission and Receipt, visit Frequently Asked Questions Application Guide, Electronic Submission of Grant Applications.
Although a letter of intent is not required, is not binding, and does not enter into the review of a subsequent application, the information that it contains allows IC staff to estimate the potential review workload and plan the review.
By the date listed in Part 1. Overview Information, prospective applicants are asked to submit a letter of intent that includes the following information:
The letter of intent should be sent to:
Christine Jessup, Ph.D
Telephone: 301-496-1653
Fax: 301-402-0779
Email: [email protected]
All page limitations described in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide and the Table of Page Limits must be followed.
The following section supplements the instructions found in the SF 424 (R&R) Application Guide and should be used for preparing an application to this FOA.
All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed , with the following additional instructions:
Under PD/PI Contact Information, Position Title is required.
All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed.
Include the applicant institution and all of the collaborating institutions, both U.S. and LMIC, as performance sites.
All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed.
All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed, with the following additional instructions:
All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed, with the following additional instructions:
Applicants should identify specific expenses such as: (a) non-degree related tuition or registration fees for specific PD/PI career development activities; (b) research expenses such as supplies, equipment and technical personnel; (c) statistical and computational services, including technical personnel and computer time; (d) travel for mentors to collaborating institutions; (e) mentor and grantee communication costs; and (f) PD/PI travel and per diem expenses to field research sites, collaborating institutions, research or networking meetings, or research skills workshops or courses in the appropriate budget form category.
In the Budget Justification, provide detailed information about the total current salary amount that serves as the basis for calculating the salary support requested. Confirmation of LMIC institutional salary may be required prior to the issuance of an award.
All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed
The PHS 398 Career Development Award Supplemental Form is comprised of the following sections:
All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed, with the following additional instructions:
All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed, with the following additional instructions:
Candidate Information and Goals for Career Development
Candidate s Background
Candidate s Plan for Career Development/Training Activities During Award Period
Research Plan Section
All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed, with the following additional instructions:
Research Strategy
Training in the Responsible Conduct of Research
Mentor, Co-Mentor, Consultant, Collaborators Section
All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed, with the following additional instructions:
Plans and Statements of Mentor and Co-mentor(s)
Letters of Support from Collaborators, Contributors and Consultants
Signed statements must be provided by all additional collaborators and/or consultants confirming their participation in the project and describing their specific roles. Collaborators and consultants generally do not need to provide biographical sketches. However, information should be provided clearly documenting the appropriate expertise in the proposed areas of consulting/collaboration. Collaborators/consultants are generally not directly involved in the development of the career of the candidate as an independent researcher.
The U.S. Institutional Commitment letter should also be included in this section, following page limit requirements for this section. It should provide a statement of commitment to the candidate's development into a productive, independent researcher and provide assurances that appropriate time and support for the proposed mentor(s) and/or other staff consistent with the career development plan will be provided.
All letters should be combined and submitted as a single PDF.
Environmental and Institutional Commitment to the Candidate
All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed, with the following additional instructions:
Description of Institutional Environment
Institutional Commitment to the Candidate’s Research Career Development
Appendix
Do not use the Appendix to circumvent page limits. Follow all instructions for the Appendix as described in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide.
When conducting clinical research, follow all instructions for completing PHS Inclusion Enrollment Report as described in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide.
Form only available in FORMS-E application packages for use with due dates on or after January 25, 2018.
When involving NIH-defined human subjects research, clinical research, and/or clinical trials (and when applicable, clinical trials research experience) follow all instructions for the PHS Human Subjects and Clinical Trials Information form in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide, with the following additional instructions:
If you answered "Yes" to the question "Are Human Subjects Involved?" on the R&R Other Project Information form, you must include at least one human subjects study record using the Study Record: PHS Human Subjects and Clinical Trials Information form or a Delayed Onset Study record.
Study Record: PHS Human Subjects and Clinical Trials Information
All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed with the following additional instructions:
Delayed Onset Study
All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed.
All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed.
Candidates must carefully follow the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide, including the time period for when letters of reference will be accepted. Applications lacking the appropriate required reference letters will not be reviewed. This is a separate process from submitting an application electronically. Reference letters are submitted directly through the eRA Commons Submit Referee Information link and not through Grants.gov.
See Part 1. Section III.1 for information regarding the requirement for obtaining a unique entity identifier and for completing and maintaining active registrations in System for Award Management (SAM), NATO Commercial and Government Entity (NCAGE) Code (if applicable), eRA Commons, and Grants.gov.
Part I. Overview Information contains information about Key Dates and Times. Applicants are encouraged to submit applications before the due date to ensure they have time to make any application corrections that might be necessary for successful submission. When a submission date falls on a weekend or Federal holiday, the application deadline is automatically extended to the next business day.
Organizations must submit applications to Grants.gov (the online portal to find and apply for grants across all Federal agencies) using ASSIST or other electronic submission systems. Applicants must then complete the submission process by tracking the status of the application in the eRA Commons, NIH’s electronic system for grants administration. NIH and Grants.gov systems check the application against many of the application instructions upon submission. Errors must be corrected and a changed/corrected application must be submitted to Grants.gov on or before the application due date. and time. If a Changed/Corrected application is submitted after the deadline, the application will be considered late. Applications that miss the due date and time are subjected to the NIH Policy on Late Application Submission.
Applicants are responsible for viewing their application before the due date in the eRA Commons to ensure accurate and successful submission.
Information on the submission process and a definition of on-time submission are provided in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide.
This initiative is not subject to intergovernmental review.
All NIH awards are subject to the terms and conditions, cost principles, and other considerations described in the NIH Grants Policy Statement.
Pre-award costs are allowable only as described in the NIH Grants Policy Statement.
Applications must be submitted electronically following the instructions described in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide. Paper applications will not be accepted.
Applicants must complete all required registrations before the application due date. Section III. Eligibility Information contains information about registration.
For assistance with your electronic application or for more information on the electronic submission process, visit Applying Electronically. If you encounter a system issue beyond your control that threatens your ability to complete the submission process on-time, you must follow the Guidelines for Applicants Experiencing System Issues. For assistance with application submission contact the Application Submission Contacts in Section VII.
Important reminders:
All PD(s)/PI(s) must include their eRA Commons ID in the Credential field of the Senior/Key Person Profile Component of the SF424(R&R) Application Package. Failure to register in the Commons and to include a valid PD/PI Commons ID in the credential field will prevent the successful submission of an electronic application to NIH.
The applicant organization must ensure that the DUNS number it provides on the application is the same number used in the organization’s profile in the eRA Commons and for the System for Award Management (SAM). Additional information may be found in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide.
See more tips for avoiding common errors.
Upon receipt, applications will be evaluated for completeness and compliance with application instructions by the Center for Scientific Review, NIH. Applications that are incomplete or non-compliant will not be reviewed.
Applicants are required to follow our Post Submission Application Materials policy.
Important Update: See NOT-OD-18-229 for updated review language for due dates on or after January 25, 2019.
Only the review criteria described below will be considered in the review process. As part of the NIH mission, all applications submitted to the NIH in support of biomedical and behavioral research are evaluated for scientific and technical merit through the NIH peer review system.
Reviewers should provide their assessment of the likelihood that the proposed career development and research plan will enhance the candidate s potential for a productive, independent scientific research career in a health-related field, taking into consideration the criteria below in determining the overall impact score.
Reviewers will consider each of the review criteria below in the determination of scientific merit, and give a separate score for each. An application does not need to be strong in all categories to be judged likely to have major scientific impact.
Mentor(s), Co-Mentor(s), Consultant(s), Collaborator(s)
Environment & Institutional Commitment to the Candidate
As applicable for the project proposed, reviewers will evaluate the following additional items while determining scientific and technical merit, and in providing an overall impact score, but will not give separate scores for these items.
For research that involves human subjects but does not involve one of the six categories of research that are exempt under 45 CFR Part 46, the committee will evaluate the justification for involvement of human subjects and the proposed protections from research risk relating to their participation according to the following five review criteria: (1) risk to subjects, (2) adequacy of protection against risks, (3) potential benefits to the subjects and others, (4) importance of the knowledge to be gained, and (5) data and safety monitoring for clinical trials.
For research that involves human subjects and meets the criteria for one or more of the six categories of research that are exempt under 45 CFR Part 46, the committee will evaluate: (1) the justification for the exemption, (2) human subjects involvement and characteristics, and (3) sources of materials. For additional information on review of the Human Subjects section, please refer to the Guidelines for the Review of Human Subjects.
When the proposed project involves human subjects and/or NIH-defined clinical research, the committee will evaluate the proposed plans for the inclusion (or exclusion) of individuals on the basis of sex/gender, race, and ethnicity, as well as the inclusion (or exclusion) of children to determine if it is justified in terms of the scientific goals and research strategy proposed. For additional information on review of the Inclusion section, please refer to the Guidelines for the Review of Inclusion in Clinical Research.
The committee will evaluate the involvement of live vertebrate animals as part of the scientific assessment according to the following criteria: (1) description of proposed procedures involving animals, including species, strains, ages, sex, and total number to be used; (2) justifications for the use of animals versus alternative models and for the appropriateness of the species proposed; (3) interventions to minimize discomfort, distress, pain and injury; and (4) justification for euthanasia method if NOT consistent with the AVMA Guidelines for the Euthanasia of Animals. Reviewers will assess the use of chimpanzees as they would any other application proposing the use of vertebrate animals. For additional information on review of the Vertebrate Animals section, please refer to the Worksheet for Review of the Vertebrate Animal Section.
Reviewers will assess whether materials or procedures proposed are potentially hazardous to research personnel and/or the environment, and if needed, determine whether adequate protection is proposed.
For Resubmissions, the committee will evaluate the application as now presented, taking into consideration the responses to comments from the previous scientific review group and changes made to the project.
Not Applicable
Not Applicable
As applicable for the project proposed, reviewers will consider each of the following items, but will not give scores for these items, and should not consider them in providing an overall impact score.
Applications from Foreign Organizations
Reviewers will assess whether the project presents special opportunities for furthering research programs through the use of unusual talent, resources, populations, or environmental conditions that exist in other countries and either are not readily available in the United States or augment existing U.S. resources.
All applications for support under this FOA must include a plan to fulfill NIH requirements for instruction in the Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR). Taking into account the level of experience of the applicant, including any prior instruction or participation in RCR as appropriate for the applicant’s career stage, the reviewers will evaluate the adequacy of the proposed RCR training in relation to the following five required components: 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 mentor(s) and other faculty involvement in the fellow’s instruction; 4) Duration of Instruction - the number of contact hours of instruction (at least eight contact hours are required); and 5) Frequency of Instruction instruction must occur during each career stage and at least once every four years. Plans and past record will be rated as ACCEPTABLE or UNACCEPTABLE, and the summary statement will provide the consensus of the review committee. See also: NOT-OD-10-019.
Reviewers will assess the information provided in this section of the application, including (1) the Select Agent(s) to be used in the proposed research, (2) the registration status of all entities where Select Agent(s) will be used, (3) the procedures that will be used to monitor possession use and transfer of Select Agent(s), and (4) plans for appropriate biosafety, biocontainment, and security of the Select Agent(s).
Reviewers will comment on whether the following Resource Sharing Plans, or the rationale for not sharing the following types of resources, are reasonable: (1) Data Sharing Plan; (2) Sharing Model Organisms; and (3) Genomic Data Sharing Plan (GDS).
Authentication of Key Biological and/or Chemical Resources
For projects involving key biological and/or chemical resources, reviewers will comment on the brief plans proposed for identifying and ensuring the validity of those resources.
Reviewers will consider whether the budget and the requested period of support are fully justified and reasonable in relation to the proposed research.
Applications will be evaluated for scientific and technical merit by (an) appropriate Scientific Review Group(s), in accordance with NIH peer review policy and procedures, using the stated review criteria. Assignment to a Scientific Review Group will be shown in the eRA Commons.
As part of the scientific peer review, all applications:
Applications will be assigned to the appropriate NIH Institute or Center. Applications will compete for available funds with all other recommended applications submitted in response to this FOA. Following initial peer review, recommended applications will receive a second level of review by the FIC Advisory Board. The following will be considered in making funding decisions:
After the peer review of the application is completed, the PD/PI will be able to access his or her Summary Statement (written critique) via the eRA Commons. Refer to Part 1 for dates for peer review, advisory council review, and earliest start date
Information regarding the disposition of applications is available in the NIH Grants Policy Statement.
If the application is under consideration for funding, NIH will request "just-in-time" information from the applicant as described in the NIH Grants Policy Statement.
A formal notification in the form of a Notice of Award (NoA) will be provided to the applicant organization for successful applications. The NoA signed by the grants management officer is the authorizing document and will be sent via email to the grantee’s business official.
Awardees must comply with any funding restrictions described in Section IV.5. Funding Restrictions. Selection of an application for award is not an authorization to begin performance. Any costs incurred before receipt of the NoA are at the recipient's risk. These costs may be reimbursed only to the extent considered allowable pre-award costs.
Any application awarded in response to this FOA will be subject to terms and conditions found on the Award Conditions and Information for NIH Grants website. This includes any recent legislation and policy applicable to awards that is highlighted on this website.
All NIH grant and cooperative agreement awards include the NIH Grants Policy Statement as part of the NoA. For these terms of award, see the NIH Grants Policy Statement Part II: Terms and Conditions of NIH Grant Awards, Subpart A: General and Part II: Terms and Conditions of NIH Grant Awards, Subpart B: Terms and Conditions for Specific Types of Grants, Grantees, and Activities. More information is provided at Award Conditions and Information for NIH Grants. More specifically, for K Awards, visit the Research Career Development ( K ) Awardees section of the NIH Grants Policy Statement.
Recipients of federal financial assistance (FFA) from HHS must administer their programs in compliance with federal civil rights law. This means that recipients of HHS funds must ensure equal access to their programs without regard to a person’s race, color, national origin, disability, age and, in some circumstances, sex and religion. This includes ensuring your programs are accessible to persons with limited English proficiency. HHS recognizes that research projects are often limited in scope for many reasons that are nondiscriminatory, such as the principal investigator’s scientific interest, funding limitations, recruitment requirements, and other considerations. Thus, criteria in research protocols that target or exclude certain populations are warranted where nondiscriminatory justifications establish that such criteria are appropriate with respect to the health or safety of the subjects, the scientific study design, or the purpose of the research.
In accordance with the statutory provisions contained in Section 872 of the Duncan Hunter National Defense Authorization Act of Fiscal Year 2009 (Public Law 110-417), NIH awards will be subject to the Federal Awardee Performance and Integrity Information System (FAPIIS) requirements. FAPIIS requires Federal award making officials to review and consider information about an applicant in the designated integrity and performance system (currently FAPIIS) prior to making an award. An applicant, at its option, may review information in the designated integrity and performance systems accessible through FAPIIS and comment on any information about itself that a Federal agency previously entered and is currently in FAPIIS. The Federal awarding agency will consider any comments by the applicant, in addition to other information in FAPIIS, in making a judgement about the applicant’s integrity, business ethics, and record of performance under Federal awards when completing the review of risk posed by applicants as described in 45 CFR Part 75.205 Federal awarding agency review of risk posed by applicants. This provision will apply to all NIH grants and cooperative agreements except fellowships.
For additional guidance regarding how the provisions apply to NIH grant programs, please contact the Scientific/Research Contact that is identified in Section VII under Agency Contacts of this FOA. HHS provides general guidance to recipients of FFA on meeting their legal obligation to take reasonable steps to provide meaningful access to their programs by persons with limited English proficiency. Please see https://www.hhs.gov/civil-rights/for-individuals/special-topics/limited-english-proficiency/index.html. The HHS Office for Civil Rights also provides guidance on complying with civil rights laws enforced by HHS. Please see http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/civilrights/understanding/section1557/index.html; and https://www.hhs.gov/civil-rights/for-providers/laws-regulations-guidance/index.html. Recipients of FFA also have specific legal obligations for serving qualified individuals with disabilities. Please see http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/civilrights/understanding/disability/index.html. Please contact the HHS Office for Civil Rights for more information about obligations and prohibitions under federal civil rights laws at https://www.hhs.gov/ocr/about-us/contact-us/index.html or call 1-800-368-1019 or TDD 1-800-537-7697. Also note it is an HHS Departmental goal to ensure access to quality, culturally competent care, including long-term services and supports, for vulnerable populations. For further guidance on providing culturally and linguistically appropriate services, recipients should review the National Standards for Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services in Health and Health Care at http://minorityhealth.hhs.gov/omh/browse.aspx?lvl=2&lvlid=53.
When multiple years are involved, awardees will be required to submit the Research Performance Progress Report (RPPR) annually and financial statements as required in the NIH Grants Policy Statement. The Supplemental Instructions for Individual Career Development (K) RPPRs must be followed. Both primary mentors are required to provide annual evaluation statements of the candidate s progress.
A final progress report, invention statement, and the expenditure data portion of the Federal Financial Report are required for closeout of an award, as described in the NIH Grants Policy Statement.
The Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 (Transparency Act), includes a requirement for awardees of Federal grants to report information about first-tier subawards and executive compensation under Federal assistance awards issued in FY2011 or later. All awardees of applicable NIH grants and cooperative agreements are required to report to the Federal Subaward Reporting System (FSRS) available at www.fsrs.gov on all subawards over $25,000. See the NIH Grants Policy Statement for additional information on this reporting requirement.
In accordance with the regulatory requirements provided at 45 CFR 75.113 and Appendix XII to 45 CFR Part 75, recipients that have currently active Federal grants, cooperative agreements, and procurement contracts from all Federal awarding agencies with a cumulative total value greater than $10,000,000 for any period of time during the period of performance of a Federal award, must report and maintain the currency of information reported in the System for Award Management (SAM) about civil, criminal, and administrative proceedings in connection with the award or performance of a Federal award that reached final disposition within the most recent five-year period. The recipient must also make semiannual disclosures regarding such proceedings. Proceedings information will be made publicly available in the designated integrity and performance system (currently FAPIIS). This is a statutory requirement under section 872 of Public Law 110-417, as amended (41 U.S.C. 2313). As required by section 3010 of Public Law 111-212, all information posted in the designated integrity and performance system on or after April 15, 2011, except past performance reviews required for Federal procurement contracts, will be publicly available. Full reporting requirements and procedures are found in Appendix XII to 45 CFR Part 75 Award Term and Conditions for Recipient Integrity and Performance Matters.4. Evaluation
In carrying out its stewardship of human resource-related programs, the NIH may request information essential to an assessment of the effectiveness of this program from databases and from participants themselves. Participants may be contacted after the completion of this award for periodic updates on various aspects of their employment history, publications, support from research grants or contracts, honors and awards, professional activities, and other information helpful in evaluating the impact of the program.
We encourage inquiries concerning this funding opportunity and welcome the opportunity to answer questions from potential applicants.
eRA Service Desk (Questions regarding ASSIST, eRA Commons
registration, submitting and tracking an application, documenting system
problems that threaten submission by the due date, post submission issues)
Finding Help Online: http://grants.nih.gov/support/ (preferred method of contact)
Telephone: 301-402-7469 or 866-504-9552 (Toll Free)
Grants.gov
Customer Support (Questions
regarding Grants.gov registration and submission, downloading forms and
application packages)
Contact Center Telephone: 800-518-4726
Web ticketing system: https://grants-portal.psc.gov/ContactUs.aspx
Email: [email protected]
GrantsInfo (Questions regarding application instructions and
process, finding NIH grant resources)
Email: [email protected] (preferred method of contact)
Telephone: 301-945-7573
Christine Jessup, Ph.D
Fogarty International Center (FIC)
Telephone: 301-496-1653
Email: [email protected]
Jennifer L Troyer
National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI)
Telephone: 301-402-2852
Email: [email protected]
Carol Shreffler, Ph.D.
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS)
Telephone: 919-541-1445
Email: [email protected]
Ishmael Amarreh
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
Telephone:(301) 451-5132
Email: [email protected]
Lynn King, Ph.D.
National Institute on Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR)
Telephone: 301-594-5006
Email: [email protected]
Claudia S. Moy, Ph.D.
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)
Telephone: 301-496-9135
Email: [email protected]
Jennifer Plank-Blazinet, Ph.D.
Office of Research on Women's Health (ORWH)
Telephone: 301-496-8931
Email: [email protected]
For inquiries related to the career development aspects, contact:
Susan Lim, PhD
National Cancer Institute (NCI)
Telephone: 240-276-5630
Email: [email protected]
For inquiries related to the HIV and AIDS Malignancy research aspects, contact:
Geraldina Dominguez, PhD
National Cancer Institute (NCI)
Telephone: 301-496-4995
Email: [email protected]
For inquiries related to broader global health research aspects, contact:
Shannon Silkensen, PhD
Center for Global Health (CGH)
Telephone: 240276-5810
Email: [email protected]
Seetha Bhagavan, Ph.D.
Center for Scientific Review (CSR)
Telephone: 301-237-9838
Email: [email protected] .
Mollie Shea
Fogarty International Center (FIC)
Telephone: 301-496-9750
Email: [email protected]
Dianne Patterson
National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI)
Telephone: 301-435-7861
Email: [email protected]
Barbara J. Gittleman
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS)
Telephone: 919-541-0585
Email: [email protected]
Tamara A. Kees
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
Telephone: 301-443-8811
Email: [email protected]
Diana Rutberg
National Institute on Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR)
Telephone: 301-504-4798
Email: [email protected]
Tijuanna E. DeCoster, PhD
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)
Telephone: 301-496-9231
Email: [email protected]
Sean Hine
National Cancer Institute (NCI)
Telephone: 240-276-6291
Email: [email protected]
Recently issued trans-NIH policy notices may affect your application submission. A full list of policy notices published by NIH is provided in the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts. All awards are subject to the terms and conditions, cost principles, and other considerations described in the NIH Grants Policy Statement.
Awards are made under the authorization of Sections 301, 307, and 405 of the Public Health Service Act as amended (42 USC 241, 284, and 287(b)) and under Federal Regulations 42 CFR Part 52 and 45 CFR Parts 45 and 75