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NIH Recovery Act Funds for Supplements: Administrative Supplements - NOT-OD-09-056

• Program Summary
• Eligibility
• Area of Interest
• Preparing an Administrative Supplement Request
• Selection Factors
• Budget and Funding Information
• How to Apply
• Inquiries
• Additional Information
• Deadlines/Submission Process
• UIC Technical Assistance

Program Summary

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) announces the opportunity for investigators and United States institutions/organizations with active NIH Research Grants to request administrative supplements for the purpose accelerating the tempo of scientific research on active grants. This administrative supplement solicitation requests submissions in all scientific and programmatic areas funded by NIH. Support may be requested for up to 2 years for qualified grants.

IMPORTANT: The funding method being used to support this program, administrative supplements, can be used to cover cost increases that are associated with increasing the tempo of scientific research funded under the parent grant and/or achieving certain new research objectives as long as they are within the scope of the parent project.

Individual NIH Institutes and Centers (ICs) have more detailed eligibility information on their own Web sites. See http://grants.nih.gov/recovery/ic_supp.html. Potential applicants should review the instructions for Revision Applications issued by their funding IC (See http://grants.nih.gov/recovery/ic_supp.html) before responding to this Notice. Some ICs will consider administrative supplements only in target areas identified on their Web sites.

Eligibility

This announcement is for administrative supplements to active NIH Research Grants and Research Program and Center Grants (Ps), as well as Career Development Awards (Ks), Institutional Training Grants (Ts), Cooperative Agreements (Us) and Educational Development Awards. 

To be eligible:

• Parent grant must be active and the research/scientific activities proposed in the supplement must be accomplished within the current competitive segment
• IMPORTANT: The funds requested by the NIH grantee in the supplement application must be within the general scope of the peer-reviewed activities and aims approved within the parent grant, including projects on a no-cost extension; while supplemental funds may be awarded to grants during a no-cost extension, the period of support cannot extend beyond the award period for the additional time that was granted
• There are no limits to the number of administrative supplement requests that may be submitted by an institution or Project Director/Principal Investigator although individual ICs may limit eligibility in accordance with the policies listed on their Web site
• Examples of the types of supplements that could be appropriate include, but are not limited to, hiring additional personnel or funding investments in equipment and technology to leverage the goals of the project or to enhance energy efficiency of the conduct of the project
• Any cost increases need to result from making modifications to the parent project in order to take advantage of opportunities that would increase the value of the project consistent with its originally approved objectives and purposes or to accelerate the tempo of scientific research/scientific activities
• NIH will not consider requests which are solely to restore previously applied budget adjustments to a project nor to supplant institutional commitments supporting individuals and other costs previously committed to projects
• Note that while NIH recommends that a no-cost extension already be in place before an administrative supplement request is submitted, this is not a requirement for all administrative supplement requests
• A request to support new research objectives and aims that are outside of the scope of the approved parent grant (e.g., inclusion of new human subjects or animal studies that were not part of the parent grant) are not appropriate under an administrative supplement and should be submitted as a competitive revision application (formerly called competitive supplements NOT-OD-09-058)

Area of Interest

In general, NIH intends to accept applications for supplements under this notice in all scientific areas, and is particularly interested in awarding administrative supplements with Recovery Act funds in the areas listed below.  However, please note that ICs may not have interest in issuing administrative supplements to research project grants in all scientific areas and may have their own specific areas of emphasis.  Please consult individual IC Web sites available at http://grants.nih.gov/recovery/ic_supp.html

• Equipment purchases (costing under $100,000)
• Enhancing the activities of clinical trials including increasing enrollment and increasing the capacity for data analysis
• Providing additional funded time under K99/R00 and other awards
• Research employment opportunities for pre-doctoral students, including medical students in “off years” (e.g., medical, dental, veterinary, clinical psychology, nursing students) seeking extended time off for research experience) or on shorter term breaks 
• Research employment opportunities for postdoctoral students, including extending support for senior postdocs
• Research employment opportunities for recent college and master’s degree graduates
• Comparative effectiveness research

Preparing an Administrative Supplement Request

Requests under this notice should use the PHS 398 forms (rev. 11/2007; available at: http://grants1.nih.gov/grants/funding/phs398/phs398.html) and include the following elements in the request packet. Font size restrictions apply as designated within the PHS398 instructions.

1. Cover Letter
   • Citing this Notice (NOT-OD-09-056), specify a request for a Recovery Act Administrative Supplement, including the following information:
   • Project Director/Principal Investigator (PD/PI) name
   • Parent grant number and title
   • Amount of the requested supplement
   • Name and title of the authorized institutional official, and
   • Phone, email, and address information for both the PD/PI and the institutional official
   • The cover letter must be signed by the authorized organizational representative
2. PHS 398 Form Page 1 (Face page) MS Word PDF
   • The title of the project (Box 1) should be the title of the parent award.
   • This Notice (number and title, “Notice of Availability of Recovery Act Funds for Administrative Supplements”) should be cited in Box 2, and the “yes” box should be checked.
   • The Project Director/Principal Investigator (PD/PI) must be the same as the PD/PI on the parent award. For Multiple PD/PI parent awards, the Contact PD/PI must be the PD/PI listed on the supplement request. Administrative supplements cannot change the Multiple PD/PI team or convert a grant from a single PD/PI to a multiple PD/PI grant.
   • The remaining items on the face page should be filled out in accordance with the PHS 398 application instructions.
3. PHS 398 Form page 2 MS Word PDF Note: The project “summary” is that of the administrative supplement, not the parent grant. All other information requested on Form Page 2 should be provided.
4. A brief proposal describing the project, including:
   1. Scope of the overall project and the anticipated contribution of the requested supplement (not to exceed five pages). Summarize the activities that were included in the parent grant that encompass those proposed in the supplemental request. This section should include a description of the supplement's purpose, including research design/proposed scientific activities and methods and data analysis. Describe the relationship of the supplement request to the parent grant.
   2. The research project plan should discuss how the supplement will accelerate the tempo of scientific research and/or allow for job creation and retention. In order to ensure that all expenditures in support of an administrative supplement advance the objectives of the Recovery Act, all applications must address Recovery Act justifications, including how the supplement is expected to stimulate the economy by:
      1. Enabling hiring of additional staff;
      2. Enabling increased hours of current part-time staff;
      3. Procuring additional needed equipment (costing under $100,000); and/or
      4. Recruiting for additional needed skills.
   3. Budget for the supplement with a justification that details the items requested, including Facilities and Administrative costs and a justification for all personnel and their role(s) in this project. Note the budget should be appropriate for the work proposed in the supplement request. Applicants are encouraged to discuss budgets with their NIH Program Officer. To meet the various transparency, accountability, and reporting requirements of Recovery Act, all applications under this notice must include detailed budgets on the PHS 398 Form Pages 4 (MS Word PDF) and 5 (MS Word PDF). Modular budget pages will not be accepted even when the parent grant was funded as a modular grant. See Budget and Funding Information below for additional information.
   4. Biographical Sketch for all new Senior/Key Personnel. There is no need to repeat information previously provided for other Senior/Key Personnel. MS Word PDF
   5. Human Subjects/Vertebrate Animal documentation (if applicable). Include a current Human Subjects/IRB or Vertebrate Animals/IACUC approval letter, if applicable. Otherwise, this letter will be required at time of funding. All appropriate IRB and IACUC approvals must be in place prior to a supplement award being made. No significant changes in the approved use of human subjects or vertebrate animals will be considered for administrative supplements. Instead, applicants proposing significant changes to the approved use of human subjects or vertebrate animals should consider applying for a competitive revision as described in NIH Guide Notice NOT-OD-09-058.
   6. PHS 398 Checklist Form MS Word PDF

Selection Factors

Administrative supplement requests will be reviewed administratively by NIH Program and Grants Management staff with expertise relevant to the supplement request. Awards will be determined on the basis of the merit of the supplement request, its applicability to the goals of the Recovery Act, and the availability of funds. Awards will be determined by each IC according to the priorities listed on their Recovery Act supplements websites. Applicants will be notified regarding the review outcome.

Selection factors will include the following:

• Relevance of the proposed activities to the parent grant and determination that the proposed activities are within the existing peer-reviewed and approved scope of the project.
• Adequate progress of the parent grant appropriate to the current stage of the project.
• Appropriate and well-described plan to accomplish the goals within the timeframe proposed.
• Expertise of the research/scientific team proposed to conduct and achieve the goals of the supplemental study or accelerate the tempo of scientific research.
• Appropriateness of the request to achieve Recovery Act goals in promoting job creation, economic development, and accelerating the pace and achievement of scientific research.
• Relevance to target areas/priorities by the funding IC.
• While geographic variation will be considered in awarding Recovery Act funding, a proposal’s scientific merit will always be the prevailing criterion.

Budget and Funding Information

• Due to the limited nature of Recovery Act funds, applicants requesting multiple year funding in FY2009 may only request funding for FY 2009 and FY 2010, and it is anticipated that supplement funding will be awarded within a short period after receipt of the supplement request.
• Requests selected for funding in FY2010 will be limited to one year for the budget and project period.
• For supplements to Research Grants there is no maximum dollar limit on what may be requested in the budget; however, the requested budget must be in line with the work being proposed.
• Please note that in general NIH expects to award supplements of not more than 50 percent of the amount of the parent grant.
• For supplements to Research Career Development Awards, requests will generally be limited to $50,000 for Research Development Support costs (individual IC policies may vary, see http://grants.nih.gov/recovery/ic_supp.html for more information).
• Requests for an additional year of support for Career Development Awards (K99 and K22) may also be submitted.
• For supplements to Institutional Training awards, requests for support for additional trainees within the current Council-approved level will be considered.
• In addition, domestic U.S. institutions planning to submit supplement requests that include foreign components should be aware that requested funding for any foreign components should not exceed 10% of the total requested direct costs or $25,000 per year (per subcontract/subaward or in aggregate for multiple subcontracts/subawards), whichever is less.
  

How to Apply

• To be considered for an administrative supplement, submit a request in writing to the Institute/Center, not to the Division of Receipt and Referral, NIH Center for Scientific Review.
• Applications must be signed by the authorized institutional official and submitted to the appropriate IC Grants Management Specialist (referenced in the “Inquiries” section below).
• Applicants are strongly encouraged to submit applications electronically as an e-mail attachment in PDF format; however the signature of the institutional official must be clearly visible.
• Applicants may also submit applications in paper format to the appropriate IC Grants Management contact.
• Submit one original, hard copy of the request packet (with original signatures of the authorized business official) to the addresses listed on the Web site of the funding IC: http://grants.nih.gov/recovery/ic_supp.html.
• Applications may be submitted throughout FY2009 and FY2010. However, note that some NIH ICs may have specific deadlines for submission of administrative supplements as listed on their own Web sites: http://grants.nih.gov/recovery/ic_supp.html.

Inquiries

Inquiries and discussion of plans for responding to this Notice are strongly encouraged. For scientific or technical questions relating to research that would be supported by this solicitation, contact the Program Administrator assigned to the parent grant. For administrative questions related to this solicitation, contact the Grants Management Specialist noted on the Notice of Award for the parent grant.

Additioanl Information

http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-09-056.html

Deadlines/Submission Process

UIC Technical Assistance

For proposal development assistance with these and any other funding opportunities, please complete the online technical assistance request form:  

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