It is critical that applicants follow the instructions in
the Research 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.
Every facet of the United States scientific research
enterprise from basic laboratory research to clinical and translational
research to policy formation requires superior intellect, creativity and a wide
range of skill sets and viewpoints. NIH’s ability to help ensure that the
nation remains a global leader in scientific discovery and innovation is
dependent upon a pool of highly talented scientists from diverse backgrounds
who will help to further NIH's mission.
Research shows that diverse teams working together and
capitalizing on innovative ideas and distinct perspectives outperform
homogenous teams. Scientists and trainees from diverse backgrounds and life
experiences bring different perspectives, creativity, and individual enterprise
to address complex scientific problems. There are many benefits that flow from
a diverse NIH-supported scientific workforce, including: fostering scientific
innovation, enhancing global competitiveness, contributing to robust learning
environments, improving the quality of the researchers, advancing the
likelihood that underserved or health disparity populations participate in, and
benefit from health research, and enhancing public trust.
In spite of tremendous advancements in scientific research,
information, educational and research opportunities are not equally available
to all. Reports from the National Science Foundation provide strong evidence
that low representation of underrepresented groups in biomedical research remains
an important problem. (http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/sed/). NIH
encourages institutions to diversify their student and faculty populations to
enhance the participation of individuals from groups identified as
underrepresented in the biomedical, clinical, behavioral and social sciences.
Recent studies provide evidence that trainees from
underrepresented backgrounds are more likely than their non-minority colleagues
to practice in underserved areas where health disparities predominate.
(Lichtenstein, R. (2013). 25 years of promoting diversity in public health
leadership: The University of Michigan’s Summer Enrichment Program in health
management and policy. Public Health Reports, 128, 410-416; Ko, M., Heslin, K.
C., Edelstein, R. A., & Grumbach, K. (2007). The role of medical education
in reducing health care disparities: The first ten years of the UCLA/Drew
Medical Education Program Journal of General Internal Medicine, 22, 625-631).
To promote the health of an aging and increasingly diverse US population, it is
important to diversify the pool of doctoral-level candidates engaged in
research and practice on aging and aging-related health conditions to ensure
such diversity later in the pipeline.
This Funding Opportunity Announcement announces the
availability of dissertation awards (R36) to support individuals whose
advancement in research will help ensure that a diverse pool of highly trained
scientists is available in the scientific disciplines supporting the NIA
mission. That mission includes research on the basic biology of aging, on
chronic, disabling, and degenerative diseases of aging, with a particular focus
on Alzheimer’s disease, on multiple morbidities, on individual behavioral and
social changes with aging, on caregiving, on longevity, and on the consequences
for society of an aging population.
This FOA provides support for underrepresented scientists at
a particularly critical juncture in their doctoral training, a period during
which institutional support often declines or terminates altogether.
Importantly, this program provides funds for individuals from underrepresented backgrounds
to conduct dissertation research on aging, with funds or support not readily or
sufficiently available in NRSA predoctoral (F31) programs, which limit support
to stipends, tuition and fees, and institutional allowance. These awards are
available to predoctoral students from backgrounds underrepresented in research
who are enrolled in good standing in accredited research doctoral programs in
the United States (including Puerto Rico and other U.S. territories or possessions).
Section II. Award
Information
Funding Instrument
Grant: A support mechanism providing money, property, or
both to an eligible entity to carry out an approved project or activity.
Application Types Allowed
New
Resubmission
The OER
Glossary and the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide provide details on
these application types.
Funds Available and Anticipated Number of Awards
The number of awards is contingent upon NIH appropriations
and the submission of a sufficient number of meritorious applications.
Award Budget
Total allowable costs per year are the current Fiscal Year
National Research Service Award (NRSA) predoctoral stipend level (http://grants.nih.gov/training/nrsa.htm#policy)
and up to $20,000 for additional expenses. No funds may be used to pay
tuition or other fees associated with completion of doctoral studies.
Award Project Period
Support is provided for up to two years.
NIH grants policies as
described in the NIH
Grants Policy Statement will apply
to the applications submitted and awards made in response to this FOA.
Section III. Eligibility
Information
1. Eligible Applicants
Eligible Organizations
Higher Education Institutions
- Public/State Controlled Institutions of Higher Education
- Private Institutions of Higher Education
The following types of Higher Education Institutions
are always encouraged to apply for NIH support as Public or Private
Institutions of Higher Education:
o Hispanic-serving Institutions
o Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs)
o Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs)
o Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions
o Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving
Institutions (AANAPISIs)
Nonprofits Other Than Institutions of Higher Education
- Nonprofits with 501(c)(3) IRS Status (Other than Institutions of
Higher Education)
- Nonprofits without 501(c)(3) IRS Status (Other than Institutions
of Higher Education)
For-Profit Organizations
- Small Businesses
- For-Profit Organizations (Other than Small Businesses)
Governments
- State Governments
- County Governments
- City or Township Governments
- Special District Governments
- Indian/Native American Tribal Governments (Federally Recognized)
- Indian/Native American Tribal Governments (Other than Federally
Recognized)
- U.S. Territory or Possession
Other
- Independent School Districts
- Public Housing Authorities/Indian Housing Authorities
- Native American Tribal Organizations (other than Federally
recognized tribal governments)
- Faith-based or Community-based Organizations
- Regional Organizations
Foreign Institutions
Non-domestic (non-U.S.) Entities (Foreign Institutions) are
not eligible to apply.
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 not 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.
- Dun and Bradstreet
Universal Numbering System (DUNS) - All registrations require that
applicants be issued a DUNS number. After obtaining a DUNS number, applicants
can begin both SAM and eRA Commons registrations. The same DUNS number must be
used for all registrations, as well as on the grant application.
- System for Award Management (SAM) (formerly CCR) Applicants must complete and maintain an active registration, which requires renewal at least
annually. The renewal process may require as much time as the
initial registration. SAM registration includes the assignment of a Commercial
and Government Entity (CAGE) Code for domestic organizations which have not
already been assigned a CAGE Code.
- NATO
Commercial and Government Entity (NCAGE) Code Foreign organizations must
obtain an NCAGE code (in lieu of a CAGE code) in order to register in SAM.
- eRA Commons - Applicants
must have an active DUNS number and SAM registration in order to complete the
eRA Commons registration. Organizations can register with the eRA Commons as
they are working through their SAM or Grants.gov registration. eRA Commons
requires organizations to identify at least one Signing Official (SO) and at
least one Program Director/Principal Investigator (PD/PI) account in order to
submit an application.
- Grants.gov Applicants
must have an active DUNS number and SAM registration in order to complete the
Grants.gov registration.
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.
Eligible Individuals (Program Director/Principal
Investigator)
Any individual(s) with the skills, knowledge, and resources
necessary to carry out the proposed research as the Program Director(s)/Principal
Investigator(s) (PD(s)/PI(s)) is invited to work with his/her 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.
For the purpose of this announcement, institutions must identify
applicants who will enhance diversity on a national basis as defined below.
A. Individuals from racial and ethnic groups that have been
shown by the National Science Foundation to be underrepresented in
health-related sciences on a national basis (see data at
http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/showpub.cfm?TopID=2&SubID=27) and the report
Women, Minorities, and Persons with Disabilities in Science and Engineering).
The following racial and ethnic groups have been shown to be underrepresented
in biomedical research: Blacks or African Americans, Hispanics or Latinos,
American Indians or Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians and other Pacific
Islanders.
B. Individuals with disabilities, who are defined as those
with a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more
major life activities, as described in the Americans with Disabilities Act of
1990, as amended. See NSF data at
http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/wmpd/2013/pdf/tab7-5_updated_2014_10.pdf.
C. Individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds, defined as:
1. Individuals who come from a family with an annual income
below established low-income thresholds. These thresholds are based on family
size, published by the U.S. Bureau of the Census; adjusted annually for changes
in the Consumer Price Index; and adjusted by the Secretary for use in all
health professions programs. The Secretary periodically publishes these income
levels at http://aspe.hhs.gov/poverty/index.shtml.
2. Individuals who come from an educational environment such
as that found in certain rural or inner-city environments that has demonstrably
and directly inhibited the individual from obtaining the knowledge, skills, and
abilities necessary to develop and participate in a research career.
The disadvantaged background category (C1 and C2) is
applicable to programs focused on high school and undergraduate candidates.
Literature shows that women from the above backgrounds
(categories A, B, and C) face particular challenges at the graduate level and
beyond in scientific fields. (See, e.g., Inside the Double Bind, A Synthesis of
Empirical Research on Undergraduate and Graduate Women of Color in Science,
Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics http://her.hepg.org/content/t022245n7x4752v2/fulltext.pdf).
For the purposes of this program, the disadvantaged
background category (C1 and C2) is not applicable.
Multiple PDs/PIs are not permitted.
By the time of the award, the individual must be a citizen
or a non-citizen national of the United States or have been lawfully admitted
for permanent residence (i.e., possess a valid Permanent Resident Card USCIS
Form I-551 or other legal verification of such status).
The applicant must have a baccalaureate degree and be
enrolled in a Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral-degree program (e.g., Dr. PH.,
D.NSC. and Sc.D.), a formally combined M.D./Ph.D. program or other combined
professional/clinical and research doctoral program in the biomedical,
behavioral and social, and clinical sciences at an accredited domestic
institution.
2. Cost Sharing
This FOA does not require cost sharing as defined in the NIH
Grants Policy Statement.
3. Additional Information on Eligibility
Number of Applications
Applicant organizations may submit more than one application,
provided that each application is scientifically distinct.
The NIH will not accept duplicate or highly overlapping
applications under review at the same time. This means that the NIH will
not accept:
- A new (A0) application that is submitted before issuance of the
summary statement from the review of an overlapping new (A0) or resubmission
(A1) application.
- A resubmission (A1) application that is submitted before issuance
of the summary statement from the review of the previous new (A0) application.
- An application that has substantial overlap with another
application pending appeal of initial peer review (see NOT-OD-11-101).
Section IV. Application and Submission Information
1. Requesting an
Application Package
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.
2. Content and Form of Application Submission
It is critical that applicants follow the instructions in
the Research 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.
Page Limitations
All page limitations described in the SF424 Application
Guide and the Table of
Page Limits must be followed.
Instructions for Application Submission
The following section supplements the instructions found in
the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide and should be used for preparing an
application to this FOA.
SF424(R&R) Cover
All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide
must be followed.
SF424(R&R) Project/Performance Site Locations
All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide
must be followed.
SF424(R&R) Other Project Information
All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide
must be followed.
SF424(R&R) Senior/Key Person Profile
All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide
must be followed.
A Mentor must be identified for this application by
specifying a Project Role of Other and an Other Project Role category of
Mentor .
R&R Budget
All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide
must be followed.
Total allowable costs per year are the current Fiscal Year
National Research Service Award (NRSA) predoctoral stipend level (http://grnats.nih.gov/training/nrsa.htm#policy).
Up to an additional $20,000 is allotted for health insurance and supplies
directly related to the completion of the dissertation project. No funds may
be used to pay tuition or other fees associated with completion of doctoral
studies.
R&R Subaward Budget
All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide
must be followed.
PHS 398 Cover Page Supplement
All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide
must be followed.
PHS 398 Research Plan
All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide
must be followed, with the following additional instructions:
Letters
of Support:
All letters must be combined into a single pdf file.
Letter of Certification: The faculty advisor, dissertation
committee chair, or university official directly responsible for supervising
the dissertation research must submit a letter certifying that the PD/PI meets
the eligibility criteria for this award noted in Section III. The letter should
also include evidence that the applicant is in good standing as a student in a
doctoral research program and is committed to aging health-related research.
Address her/his prospect of becoming an independent investigator in this area. The
letter of certification must be on institutional letterhead and scanned so that
the signature of the signing institutional official is visible. Entitle the
Certification letter "Diversity Eligibility_Ltr" and submit as a
separate attachment.
Advisor and Reference Letters: The faculty advisor and at
least one other member of the dissertation committee must submit letters, each
no longer than 2 pages, that assess (a) the doctoral candidate’s progress to
date; and (b) the candidate’s commitment to aging health-related research and
her/his prospect of becoming an independent investigator in this area.
Resource
Sharing Plan: Individuals are required to comply with the
instructions for the Resource Sharing Plans as provided in the SF424 (R&)
Application Guide
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.
PHS Inclusion Enrollment Report
Form only available in FORMS-D application packages for use with due dates on or before January 24, 2018.
When conducting clinical research, follow all instructions
for completing PHS Inclusion Enrollment Report as described in the SF424
(R&R) Application Guide.
PHS Human Subjects and Clinical Trials Information
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 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.
Delayed Onset Study: All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed.
PHS Assignment Request Form
All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide
must be followed.
3. Unique Entity Identifier
and System for Award Management (SAM)
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
4. Submission Dates and
Times
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). 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.
5. Intergovernmental Review
(E.O. 12372)
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.
7. Other Submission
Requirements and Information
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. See Section III of this FOA for information on
registration requirements.
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.
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.
In order to expedite review, applicants are requested to
notify the NIA Referral Office by email at VemuriR@mail.nih.gov when the application has been submitted. Please include the FOA number and
title, PD/PI name, and title of the application.
Post Submission Materials
Applicants are required to follow our Post Submission Application Materials policy.
Section V. Application Review Information
Important Update: See NOT-OD-18-228 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.
Overall Impact
Reviewers will provide an overall impact score to reflect
their assessment of the likelihood for the project to exert a sustained,
powerful influence on the research field(s) involved, in consideration of the
following review criteria and additional review criteria (as applicable for the
project proposed).
Scored Review Criteria
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. For example, a project that by its nature is not
innovative may be essential to advance a field.
Significance
Does the project address an
important problem or a critical barrier to progress in the field? Is there a
strong scientific premise for the project? If the aims of the project are
achieved, how will scientific knowledge, technical capability, and/or clinical
practice be improved? How will successful completion of the aims change the
concepts, methods, technologies, treatments, services, or preventative
interventions that drive this field?
Investigator(s)
Are the PD(s)/PI(s), collaborators,
and other researchers well suited to the project? If Early Stage Investigators
or
those in the early stages
of independent careers, do they
have appropriate experience and training? If established, have they
demonstrated an ongoing record of accomplishments that have advanced their
field(s)? If the project is collaborative or multi-PD/PI, do the investigators
have complementary and integrated expertise; are their leadership approach,
governance and organizational structure appropriate for the project?
Innovation
Does the application challenge and
seek to shift current research or clinical practice paradigms by utilizing
novel theoretical concepts, approaches or methodologies, instrumentation, or
interventions? Are the concepts, approaches or methodologies, instrumentation,
or interventions novel to one field of research or novel in a broad sense? Is a
refinement, improvement, or new application of theoretical concepts, approaches
or methodologies, instrumentation, or interventions proposed?
Approach
Are the overall strategy,
methodology, and analyses well-reasoned and appropriate to accomplish the
specific aims of the project? Have the investigators presented strategies to
ensure a robust and unbiased approach, as appropriate for the work proposed? Are
potential problems, alternative strategies, and benchmarks for success
presented? If the project is in the early stages of development, will the
strategy establish feasibility and will particularly risky aspects be managed? Have
the investigators presented adequate plans to address relevant biological
variables, such as sex, for studies in vertebrate animals or human subjects? If
the project involves human subjects and/or NIH-defined clinical research, are
the plans to address 1) the protection of human subjects from research risks,
and 2) inclusion (or exclusion) of individuals on the basis of sex/gender,
race, and ethnicity, as well as the inclusion or exclusion of children,
justified in terms of the scientific goals and research strategy proposed?
Environment
Will the scientific environment in
which the work will be done contribute to the probability of success? Are the institutional
support, equipment and other physical resources available to the investigators
adequate for the project proposed? Will the project benefit from unique
features of the scientific environment, subject populations, or collaborative
arrangements?
Additional Review Criteria
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.
Protections for Human Subjects
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.
Inclusion of Women, Minorities,
and Children
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.
Vertebrate Animals
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.
Biohazards
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.
Resubmissions
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.
Renewals
Not Applicable
Revisions
Not Applicable
Additional Review Considerations
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
Not Applicable
Select Agent Research
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).
Resource Sharing Plans
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.
Budget and Period of Support
Reviewers will consider whether the
budget and the requested period of support are fully justified and reasonable
in relation to the proposed research.
2. Review and Selection
Process
Applications will be evaluated for scientific and technical
merit by (an) appropriate Scientific Review Group(s) convened by the National
Institute on Aging, 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:
- May undergo a selection process in which only those applications
deemed to have the highest scientific and technical merit (generally the top
half of applications under review) will be discussed and assigned an overall impact
score.
- Will receive a written critique.
Applications will be assigned on the basis of established
PHS referral guidelines to the appropriate NIH Institute or Center. Applications
will compete for available funds with all other recommended applications. Following
initial peer review, recommended applications will receive a second level of
review by the National Advisory Council on Aging. The following will be
considered in making funding decisions:
- Scientific and technical merit of the proposed project as
determined by scientific peer review.
- Availability of funds.
Relevance of the proposed project to program priorities.
3. Anticipated Announcement and Award Dates
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.
Section VI. Award
Administration Information
1. Award Notices
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.
2. Administrative and
National Policy Requirements
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.
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.
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.
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.
Cooperative Agreement Terms and Conditions of Award
Not Applicable.
3. Reporting
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.
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.
Within ten years of making awards under this program, NIH
will assess the program’s overall outcomes, gauge its effectiveness in
enhancing diversity, and consider whether there is a continuing need for the
program. Upon the completion of this evaluation, NIH will determine
whether to (a) continue the program as currently configured, (b) continue the
program with modifications, or (c) discontinue the program.
The overall evaluation of the program will be based on
metrics that will include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Successful completion of a graduate program
- Subsequent participation in a formal research training or career
development program in a research area within the mission areas of the NIA
- Subsequent participation in research in the field of aging and
geriatrics
- Authorship of scientific publications in of the field of aging
and geriatrics
- Subsequent independent research grant support from NIH or another
source.
Section VII. Agency Contacts
We encourage inquiries concerning this funding opportunity
and welcome the opportunity to answer questions from potential applicants.
Application Submission Contacts
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: support@grants.gov
Scientific/Research Contact(s)
Chyren Hunter, Ph.D.
National Institute on Aging (NIA)
Telephone: 301-402-4158
Email: hunterc@nia.nih.gov
Peer Review Contact(s)
Ramesh Vemuri, Ph.D.
National Institute on Aging (NIA)
Telephone: 301-496-9666
Email: vemurir@mail.nih.gov
Financial/Grants Management Contact(s)
Lesa McQueen
National Institute on Aging (NIA)
Telephone: 301-402-7738
Email: McQueenL@mail.nih.gov
Section VIII. Other
Information
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.
Authority and Regulations
Awards are made under the authorization of Sections 301 and
405 of the Public Health Service Act as amended (42 USC 241 and 284) and under
Federal Regulations 42 CFR Part 52 and 45 CFR Parts 74 and 92.
Department of Health
and Human Services (HHS)
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