EXPIRED
National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Division of Program Coordination, Planning and Strategic Initiatives, Office of Research Infrastructure Programs (ORIP)
Shared Instrumentation for Animal Research (SIFAR) Grant Program (S10)
S10 Biomedical Research Support Shared Instrumentation Grants
New
PAR-17-075
None
93.351
The Shared Instrumentation for Animal Research (SIFAR) Grant Program encourages applications from groups of NIH-funded investigators to purchase or upgrade scientific instruments necessary to carry out animal experiments in all areas of biomedical research supported by the NIH. Applicants may request clusters of commercially available instruments configured as specialized integrated systems or as series of instruments to support a thematic workflow in a well-defined area of research using animals or related materials. Priority will be given to specialized clusters of instruments and to uniquely configured systems to support innovative and potentially transformative investigations. Requests for a single instrument will be considered only if the instrument is to be placed in a barrier facility. This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) supports requests for state-of-the art commercially available technologies needed for NIH-funded research using any vertebrate and invertebrate animal species. It is expected that the use of the awarded instruments will enhance the scientific rigor of animal research and improve the reproducibility of experimental outcomes.
One item of the requested instrumentation must cost at least $50,000. No instrument in a cluster can cost less than $20,000. There is no maximum price requirement; however, the maximum award is $750,000.
December 12, 2016
April 30, 2017
Not Applicable
May 31, 2017, by 5:00 PM local time of applicant organization. All types of non-AIDS applications allowed for this funding opportunity announcement are due on this date.
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.
Not Applicable
August - November, 2017
January 2018
February 1, 2018
June 1, 2017
Not Applicable
It is critical that applicants follow the Research (R) Instructions in 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
NIH-funded investigators use many different vertebrate and invertebrate animal species in all areas of biomedical research; including (but not limited to) roundworms, fruit flies, African clawed frogs, zebrafish, birds, mice, rats, and rhesus macaques. This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) supports instrumentation requests related to any and all animal species needed for NIH-supported biomedical research. Similarly, NIH-funded investigators rely in their work on a broad spectrum of technologies including (but not limited to) nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and mass spectrometers, DNA and protein sequencers, biosensors, electron and confocal microscopes, cell-sorters, and biomedical imagers. This FOA supports requests for all available technologies to enhance research using animals or related materials such as tissue, cells, or germplasm, for the ultimate benefit of human health.
Applicants may request clusters of instruments configured as specialized integrated systems or as a series of instruments to support a workflow in a specific thematic area of biomedical research using animals. An integrated instrumentation system is one in which components, when used in conjunction with one other, perform a function that no single component could provide. A single instrument may be requested only if it is to be placed in a barrier facility. Any instrument, requested as a single item or a part of a cluster, must be commercially available.
For example, applicants may request integrated systems to support animal research in all fields of biomedical research, such as neurophysiology, cardiac physiology, immunology, developmental biology or neurobehavioral sciences. Similarly relevant are series of instruments for high-throughput experiments in research areas such as genomics, phenotyping, or metabolomics. Clusters of instruments may improve surgical approaches by incorporating robotics and real-time decision-making procedures based on imaging or molecular characterizations of tissue. A combination of microfluidics-related technologies with high-throughput and high-content screening may advance phenotyping procedures. Likewise, a combination of optical imaging, flow-cytometry, and mass spectrometry may improve and speed up molecular profiling. Also appropriate are integrated systems for cognitive-behavioral studies or advanced monitoring set-ups for comprehensive physiological and metabolic assessment. Of special interest are unique instrumentation systems that enhance experimental protocols by incorporating best practices, to improve reliability and reproducibility in biomedical sciences.
Applicants may also request single research instruments (such as sequencers, microscopes, or imagers) to be placed in animal barrier facilities to support research activities which cannot be taken outside of the barrier; for example, longitudinal studies or research in a specific pathogen-free environment.
For single instruments not intended to be used in a barrier facility, applicants should consider applying to the Shared Instrumentation Grant (SIG) Program or High-End Instrumentation (HEI) Grant Program. Concurrent submissions to the SIFAR, SIG, and HEI Programs can be made only under conditions described in Section III.
All requests must be justified by the needs of NIH-funded projects and must be supported by how the instruments will enhance the conduct of animal research and strengthen scientific outcomes. It is expected that the use of the new instruments will reinforce the scientific rigor of animal experiments and improve the reproducibility of experimental results. Priority will be given to specialized clusters of instruments and uniquely configured systems to support innovative and potentially transformative animal research.
In summary, this FOA solicits requests to purchase state-of-the-art commercially available instruments that are to be used on a shared basis and are needed by NIH-funded investigators engaged in biomedical research using animals or related materials such as animal tissues, cells or germplasm.
The SIFAR Program will not support requests for:
Instruments must be used for research purposes only.
Foreign-made equipment is allowable.
Applicants are advised to discuss with the SIFAR Scientific/Research Contact (See Section VII) any questions regarding eligibility, Program requirements, and appropriate configurations of integrated instrument systems or series of instruments to support a particular thematic workflow.
To promote cost effectiveness, to encourage optimal sharing among individual investigators, research groups, and departments, and to foster a collaborative multidisciplinary environment, the requested instruments should be integrated in a core facility, whenever possible.
Each applicant institution must propose a Program Director/Principal Investigator (PD/PI) who can assume administrative and scientific oversight responsibility for the requested instrumentation. See Section III.1 for qualifications for the PD/PI. The PD/PI also will be responsible for:
An Advisory Committee must be named to assist the PD/PI in administering the grant and overseeing the usage of the instrument(s). For details on the composition of the Advisory Committee see Section IV.2 under "Administration." The PD/PI and the Advisory Committee are responsible for the development of guidelines for:
The PD/PI and the Advisory Committee should convene meetings and issue annual reports on the instrument status, including their recommendations for the instrument operations.
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.
The number of awards is contingent upon NIH appropriations and the submission of a sufficient number of meritorious applications.
ORIP intends to fund an estimate of 12 awards, corresponding to a total of $6 million, for fiscal year 2018.
Applications will be accepted for commercially available instruments only. If a cluster/series of instruments is requested, it must include an item that costs at least $50,000. The least expensive instrument in a cluster/series must cost at least $20,000. If a single instrument is requested, it must cost at least $50,000. There is no upper limit on the cost of each instrument, but the maximum award is $750,000. Since the cost of the various instruments will vary, it is anticipated that the amount of the award will also vary.
It is expected that applicants will employ the best economical approaches, including securing academic discounts, if applicable, to formulate a cost-effective budget while meeting the users scientific needs.
Awards are made for one year only.
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.
Higher Education Institutions
The following types of Higher Education Institutions are always encouraged to apply for NIH support as Public or Private Institutions of Higher Education:
Nonprofits Other Than Institutions of Higher Education
Under the general research support authority of Section 301(a) (3) of the Public Health Service Act, S10 Instrumentation Grant awards are made to public and non-profit domestic institutions only. These institutions include health professional schools, other academic institutions, hospitals, health departments, and research organizations. Federal institutions, foreign institutions, and for-profit institutions are not eligible to apply. A Federal institution is defined by the NIH as a Cabinet-level department or independent agency of the executive branch of the Federal Government or any component organization of such a department or agency.
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.
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.
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.
The PD/PI chosen for this application should have documented (in the biographical sketch) technical expertise directly related to the requested instrumentation or scientific expertise in biomedical research using animals, must be affiliated with the applicant organization, and must be registered on eRA Commons. The PD/PI does not need to have an NIH research grant or any other research support, and may be a Core director, tenured or non-tenured faculty member of the applicant organization.
Multiple PDs/PIs are not allowed under the S10 mechanism.
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. However, only one application per institution, as identified by DUNS, can be submitted to the SIFAR Program for any given due date.
The NIH will not accept duplicate or highly overlapping applications under review at the same time. This means that the NIH will not accept:
In general, concurrent SIFAR, SIG (PAR-17-074) and/or HEI (PAR-17-076) applications for the same instruments (or the same type of instrument with added special accessories to meet the HEI budget requirement or the same instrument which is a part of a SIFAR cluster) are not allowed. If two or more S10 (either SIFAR, SIG or HEI) applications are submitted for similar equipment from the same institution, documentation from a high level institutional official must be provided, stating that this is not an unintended duplication, but part of a campus-wide instrumentation plan. Applicants are advised to discuss with the SIFAR Scientific/Research Contact (see Section VII) potential duplicates before submitting two applications for the same type of instrument.
Three Major Users who have substantial need for the entire instrumentation request, must be identified. Each Major User must be a PD/PI on a distinct active NIH research award in an area of biomedical research using animals or animal tissue. (The requirement is one award per investigator, with more awards per investigator allowed. An award given to multi-PDs/PIs is counted only once towards the fulfillment of this requirement.) PDs/PIs on NIH training or fellowship grants (i.e., T and F mechanisms) and other non-research grants are not eligible to be Major Users. Once this eligibility requirement of three Major Users with NIH-funded research projects has been met, additional users with active research awards from NIH or other sources, may be added as Major or Minor Users.
Investigators with funding from sources such as other Federal agencies (e.g., NSF, DoE, DoD), private foundations or academic institutions can be added as Major Users or Minor Users, provided they are engaged in biomedical research using animals and can demonstrate substantial need for the instruments. All Major Users must be engaged in biomedical research using animals and must demonstrate a substantial need for the entire instrumentation request. Major Users can be researchers from the same department or from several departments, divisions, or schools at the applicant institution, or from nearby or regional institutions. In certain circumstances, as technology dictates, Major Users may come from distant institutions, but they must demonstrate the need for the instrument and describe plans for regular access to the instrument.
To demonstrate the clear need for the entire instrumentation request, Major Users supported by NIH grants should collectively require at least 35 percent of the Accessible User Time (AUT) of the entire configuration - see Section IV.2 Other Project Information for the definition of AUT and details on how to calculate the relevant percentages. Project supported by NIH research grants should together require at least 75 percent of AUT.
The Major User group must meet the eligibility requirement at the time of submission. In addition, if/when the application is considered for funding, the SIFAR Program Staff will check that the Major User group eligibility requirement is also met at the time of award.
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 Research (R) Instructions in 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.
All page limitations described in the SF424 Application Guide and the Table of Page Limits must be followed, with the following exceptions or additional requirements:
For this FOA, there is no overall page limit for the entire Instrumentation Plan. However, there are specified page limits for each section of the Instrumentation Plan, as described below. All tables, graphs, figures, diagrams, and charts must be included within the page limits for these sections. The applicants should make every effort to be succinct. It is expected that the length of the Plan's narrative will depend on the type of the requested instrument(s) and the number of users. To be successful, an application does not have to reach the page limits described here.
Note: Letters of Support and Bibliography & References Cited Section are not included in the page limitations.
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.
All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed.
Descriptive Title: In the title enter the generic name of the instruments requested (for example, 600MHz NMR Spectrometer or DNA Sequencer).
Proposed Project: Enter start date of 02/01/2018 and end date of 01/31/2019.
Estimated Project Funding:
Total Federal Funds Requested: Enter the total Federal funds for the requested instrument(s).
This entry cannot exceed $750,000 which is the maximum award under the SIFAR Program. If the cost of the instrument is more than $750,000 enter $750,000 (or any lower amount of the requested Federal Funds).
Total Non-Federal Funds: If Total Federal Funds Requested (described immediately above) and Total Federal & Non-Federal Funds (described immediately below) are not the same, enter the difference in this line. Explain how the difference will be paid in the Equipment section on the SF424 (R&R) Other Project Information form (described below).
Total Federal & Non-Federal Funds: Enter the total cost of the instrument from the quote.
Program Income: Enter zero Program Income as does not apply to the SIFAR Program.
Note: A warning will be generated during submission for any S10 with a budget in excess of $500,000. This warning can be ignored.
All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed.
All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed.
Project Summary/Abstract: The Project Summary/Abstract is meant to serve as a succinct and accurate description of the requested instrumentation. State the application's broad, long-term thematic scientific objectives, concisely describing how a cluster/series of instruments or a uniquely configured system will strengthen animal research and enhance the health-related goals of the research projects. If a single instrument is requested, state how it will benefit behind-the-barrier animal research which could not have been accomplished otherwise. This section should be informative to other persons working in the same or related fields and understandable to a scientifically or technically literate reader.
Note: The Project Summary/Abstract must be no longer than 30 lines of text.
Project Narrative: Using no more than two or three sentences, describe the relevance of this research to public health. In this section, be succinct and use plain language that can be understood by a general, lay audience.
Bibliography & References Cited: List only publications that demonstrate the researchers' expertise in operation and usage of the requested instrumentation or publications that are relevant to the research projects which will be supported by the instrumentation. References of the Research Projects Section may appear in this section or may be listed at the end of individual research subsections.
Facilities & Other Resources: Not Applicable. Do not include an attachment here.
Equipment: Describe the requested instruments by stating their manufacturers, model numbers, specific features, and accessories. Provide a detailed budget breakdown of each instrument and requested accessories, including tax and import duties, if applicable. Itemized quotes, with any appropriate discounts, from a vendor or vendors are required. The quotes must be scanned and combined in a single attachment with the equipment description as part of this upload. As described above in SF424 Cover form, include an explanation of Total Non-Federal Funds in this section (if applicable).
If any (animal, human or infectious) materials which could create a potential biohazard, are to be analyzed, funds for accessory containment equipment for the instruments may be requested in the budget.
Do not describe the need for the instrumentation in this section; such narrative should be a part of the Justification of Need section of the Instrumentation Plan.
Instrumentation Plan (in lieu of Research Plan section). The entire Instrumentation Plan (with the sections described below) must be saved as a single PDF file - named Instrumentation Plan - and attached via Other Attachments. Organize the Instrumentation Plan in the specified order (described below), starting each section with the appropriate section heading (i.e., Justification of Need, Technical Expertise, Research Projects, etc.). Do not include links to websites for further information. Do not include animations/videos.
All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed.
Include the profile of the PD/PI only.
Current and Pending Support: Since Just-in-Time does not apply to the S10 mechanism, this FOA requires current and pending support for the PD/PI at the time of application submission.
All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed.
All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed
All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed.
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). 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.
Under the S10 mechanism, funding requests are limited to the purchase cost of the instruments only. Support for technical personnel, service contracts, extended warranties, and supplies are not allowable. Cost sharing towards purchase of the instrument(s) is not required and any institutional funds contributed to the costs of the purchase of the instrument are voluntary. If the amount of funds requested does not cover the total cost of the instrument(s), the application should describe the proposed source(s) of funding for the balance of the cost of the instrument(s) and document their availability in a letter signed by an appropriate institutional official.
The program does not provide facilities and administrative (F&A) costs or support for construction or alterations or renovations. Matching funds are not required. However, commitment of an appropriate level of institutional support, to ensure the associated sustaining infrastructure, is expected and should be described. Grants will be awarded for a period of one year and are not renewable.
Applicants proposing purchase of an instrument that the institution is planning to lease prior to award, are urged to consult with their institutional sponsored projects office and the NIH Grant Management Office regarding applicable NIH policy prior to executing the leasing agreement. If the leasing agreement was executed more than one year prior to submission of the SIFAR application, the applicant must provide a strong justification for the requested Federal funds. This justification must demonstrate that the leased instrument is considered state-of-the-art at the time of submission and appropriate award adjustments may be necessary. Execution of a purchase order or agreement, making a down payment or other formal commitment to purchase the equipment prior to award will automatically eliminate an applicant from eligibility for an award.
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.
Applicants are required to follow the instructions for post-submission materials, as described in the policy. Do not submit animations/videos.
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 will provide an overall benefit score to reflect their assessment of the likelihood that the requested instrument will exert a sustained, powerful influence on the conduct of research projects and their scientific outcomes, in consideration of the following 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/benefit.
Justification of Need
Is the need for the instrument(s) clearly and adequately justified? Is the equipment essential and appropriate? Is the thematic area of animal research well-defined and well-served by the requested series of the instruments? Are all specific features and special accessories of the requested instrument(s) well justified; in particular, by their need of Major Users? Does the requested set-up offer innovative experimental solutions and does it advance animal research? In a case of a request of a single instrument, is the placement of the instrument well-justified? Is Accessible User Time (AUT) well defined and explained? Is AUT reasonable? Justification of selection of proposed instrument may include but is not limited to comparison with other commercially available instruments of similar function.
Technical Expertise
Does the institution have the technical expertise to make effective use of the requested equipment? How well-qualified are the participating investigators or other assigned personnel to operate and maintain the instrument(s), conduct the projects, and evaluate the research results, including analysis and interpretation of data? How will new users be trained? How will biosafety procedures be implemented?
Research Projects
Will research with the requested instrument(s) advance the knowledge and understanding of the proposed projects? Will scientific rigor of animal research be strengthened? How will the research projects of individual Users be enhanced? Do Users adequately justify the requested instrument(s) for the needs of their specific projects? If a cluster/series of instruments is requested, do at least three Major Users require the entire configuration for their research projects?
Administration
Is the plan for the management and maintenance of the requested instrument(s) appropriate? Is the membership of the Advisory Committee broadly based to oversee the use of the instrument(s) for the appropriate range of biomedical investigators, to balance interests of different users, and to resolve disputes, if they arise? How will research time be allocated among the projects? Are the sharing arrangements equitable? If needed, are the policies to manage projects which have human subjects, animals or biohazards adequate? Is the financial plan for the instrument(s) for five years or the expected lifetime of the instrument(s) reasonable and secured, balancing anticipated expenditures and anticipated income? Is the expected usable lifetime of the instrument(s) reasonable?
Institutional Commitment
Did the Institution provide the required letter of commitment to back-up the submitted financial plan in the event of a shortfall of income? Is the institutional commitment to back-up the financial plan provided for a time period consistent with the expected effective lifetime of the requested instrument(s)? Has the institution provided the required "Letter of Support" table listing previous S10 instruments awarded and installed within the past five years? Is the management of the awarded S10 instruments adequate? Does the Institution provide adequate infrastructure support for the requested instrument(s) including space to house the instrument and site for sample preparation, if needed?
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.
Generally Not Applicable. Reviewers should bring any concerns to the attention of the Scientific Review Officer.
Generally Not Applicable. Reviewers should bring any concerns to the attention of the Scientific Review Officer.
Generally Not Applicable. Reviewers should bring any concerns to the attention of the Scientific Review Officer.
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.
Not Applicable
Not Applicable
Not Applicable
Not Applicable
Reviewers will consider whether the budget and the requested period of support are fully justified and reasonable in relation to the proposed research. Reviewers will comment whether applicants employed the best economical approaches, including securing academic discounts, to formulate the cost-effective budget, while meeting users' their scientific needs.
Applications will be evaluated for scientific and technical merit by (an) appropriate Scientific Review Group(s) convened by the Center for Scientific Review, 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 appropriate national Advisory Council or 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.
Applicants should ignore eRA/Commons system-generated just-in-time (JIT) requests which are typically sent soon after peer review. If an application is considered for funding, ORIP SIFAR Program staff will send PD/PI special instructions on how to submit a JIT update, from the e-mail address [email protected].
Once an application is selected for funding, the Grants management Office may request additional information.
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.
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 http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/civilrights/resources/laws/revisedlep.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 http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/civilrights/understanding/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 http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/office/about/rgn-hqaddresses.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
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 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.
At the expiration of the grant, a Final Progress Report (FPR) is required that describes the purchased instrument, and a list of all users and description of the value of the instrument to the investigators and to the institution as a whole. This report is needed by the NIH for informing the public, administrative and Congressional officials about the research resources it supports. The following information about the award and the instrument must be included in the SIFAR FPR:
The SIFAR FPR must be submitted electronically through the Closeout module in eRA Commons. For facilitation of FPR preparation, the SIFAR Scientific Research/Contact staff will contact grantees prior to the due date for report and provide specific instructions.
Annual Instrument Usage Report
In addition, for the period of four years after the FPR, on the anniversaries of the expiration of the award, Annual Instrument Usage Reports (AURs) must be provided to the NIH. These reports will include analogous information requested in S10 FPR (as listed above in Final Progress Report section) about the usage and operation of the instrument with an attached report from the Advisory Committee, description of research which benefited from the instrument, and a summary of research outcomes as documented by publications.
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.
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
Email: [email protected]
GrantsInfo
(Questions regarding application instructions and process, finding NIH grant
resources)
Email: [email protected] (preferred method of contact)
Telephone: 301-710-0267
Willie McCullough, PhD
Office of Research Infrastructure Programs (ORIP)
Telephone: 301-435-0772
Email: [email protected]
Nuria Assa-Munt, PhD
Center for Scientific Review (CSR)
Telephone: 301-451-1323
Email: [email protected]
Gloria Velez
National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS)
Office of Research Infrastructure Programs (ORIP)
Telephone: 301-435-0875
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 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 Part 75.