May 1, 2013

Feature Articles

Opportunities and Resources

In The News

Advice Corner

Get the Word Out on Your Research
Reader Questions
- A PI submitted an application that was scored but not funded and has since moved to a new institution. Can the PI resubmit or does he or she have to submit a new application?
- Can I submit the same application to both an R01 and an R21 funding opportunity announcement?

New Funding Opportunities

See the list

New R01 Paylines

We just announced our non-interim FY 2013 R01 paylines:

Non-new PIs: 8 percentile
New PIs: 12 percentile

All other paylines remain interim. We still do not have a payline for institutional training grants (T32).
See the full list at NIAID Paylines. To sign up for payline alerts, go to NIAID Email Alerts Subscription Center.
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Step One to a Winning Application: Conduct a Self-Evaluation

As we wrote in our last issue, we're updating our Ten Steps to a Winning R01 Grant Application. We kick off the series with a look at conducting a self-evaluation.
When applying for an independent research grant, you'll need demonstrable expertise in a scientific field, an area of science like AIDS or TB vaccines or a technology, such as imaging or bioinformatics.
Your qualifications lay the foundation for your grant-seeking efforts: whatever you write in your application is immaterial unless your reviewers deem you able to complete the work you propose.
They will scrutinize your application for your credentials, publications, and presentations at scientific meetings, to determine whether you are a new investigator or an experienced one breaking into a new field as well as to gauge your technical expertise and grasp of the research area.
You may need outside collaborators to round out the technical expertise that your research demands, but you will still need to convince reviewers that you understand all aspects of your project.

Take Aim

When picking an area to study, most investigators stay in the field where they are already working or extend their interests to a highly-related field.
A proven track record in a specific field builds the confidence of your peer reviewers in your ability to conduct the research. For a more experienced investigator, reviewers consider past successes to be indicators of whether he or she can successfully compete in a new area of research.
To assess your qualifications to work in a certain area of research, we suggest following these steps.

Evaluate your training, publications, and presentations at scientific meetings in the field.
Be critical: look at yourself through the eyes of your future reviewers.
Ask colleagues or advisors to make the same assessment of you.

To help you determine where your research might best fit at NIH, review mission statements of its institutes and centers (ICs) and be mindful that different NIH ICs can have overlapping research priorities. Find this information at NIH’s Institutes, Centers, and Offices.

Got the Creds?

To get nods from reviewers, you'll need significant experience and a publication record (first or last author) in respected peer-reviewed journals. Though a history of overseeing projects in your field can be helpful, keep in mind that nothing, including review articles, can substitute for high quality peer-reviewed research papers.
If you are trying for your first independent grant, your reviewers will also ask whether you will be able to lead a major research project in the proposed area.
Experienced investigators wishing to enter a new field may want to start with a small grant type such as an exploratory/developmental research grant (R21) or a small grant (R03) before trying for an R01. These smaller awards could permit you to generate key preliminary data (especially “proof of principle” data) for a later R01.
Anyone needing more experience or wanting to change fields should also consider getting more training in the new area before preparing a grant application, unless the grant program is specifically designed to attract investigators new to a particular field of research. Such training can come from formal courses offered by (or through) professional societies or hands-on training gained in the laboratory of an experienced colleague.
Also, if you're working in an area that's different from your previous one, it's worth taking the time to publish in this new area, possibly through a collaboration, before applying for a grant.
You may also want to look into our career development awards, which are especially helpful for postdocs.
For example, the NIAID Career Transition Award (K22) lets you gain experience with support. For other institutes, look into the NIH Pathway to Independence Award (K99/R00). NIAID makes very few of these awards, but some other institutes fund a good number of them.
We also support the mentored K awards below. Mentored awards allow new investigators to develop necessary credentials under the guidance of a more experienced scientist.

For more information, read our Advice on Mentored Career Development Awards.

Career Development Award Supports Cross-Training and Mentorship

NIH’s Basic Behavioral and Social Science Opportunity Network (OppNet) has issued a unique funding opportunity announcement (FOA) emphasizing both cross-training and mentorship.
This opportunity is designed to encourage collaborations between researchers with expertise in animal models of basic behavior and social processes and those studying similar or related processes in human subjects. If you are interested in applying, you should be conducting research in one area (either animals or humans) and interested in studying the other.
The mentor-mentee relationship is a critical part of the award. If you work with animals, you need to choose one or more mentors who work with human subjects and vice versa. Your mentor(s) must document the availability of sufficient research support and facilities for high-quality research and have a successful track record of mentoring.
You will be expected to devote three to six person-months of full-time professional effort to the program that will be from three months to one year in duration, and your institution will have to provide assurance of your ability to do so.
Applications are due December 11, 2013. For more information, see the March 1, 2013, Guide notice.
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Program Encourages International Collaboration on Vaccine Research

Vaccine researchers, take a look at the recent Indo-U.S. Vaccine Action Program (VAP) Small Research Grant Program (R03) funding opportunity announcement (FOA).
Founded in 1987, VAP supports collaborative vaccine-related research projects designed to reduce the burden of infectious diseases in India, the U.S., and globally.
Consider submitting an application to conduct research through U.S.-Indo collaborations on vaccines for dengue, influenza (including avian influenza), malaria, enteric diseases, HIV/AIDS, or tuberculosis. Note that clinical trials will not be supported by this FOA.
Unlike previous VAP-supported research projects, this initiative does not require a joint application process. Standard NIH application and review procedures will be followed.
Read the April 2, 2013, Guide notice for complete details.
Header: Other News.

Phasing Out Old Inclusion Reporting Forms: No Worries

If you're confused by anything in the April 16, 2013, Guide notice telling you that NIH will stop accepting inclusion reporting forms using the old Office of Management and Budget (OMB) standards of 1977, we can put you at ease.
Unless you’ve heard from us directly, there's no action for you to take.
Only a few awardees are affected and we've contacted all of them.
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SBIR/STTR Size Rule Expands FOA Eligibility Requirements

Businesses: be aware of important new changes announced in the NIH small business funding opportunities announcements (FOAs) that are now hitting the streets.
The FOAs contain revised eligibility requirements, which means if your business is majority-owned by venture capital operating companies (VCOCs), hedge funds, or private equity firms, you are now eligible to apply. These FOAs are for funding in fiscal year 2014 and beyond.
The new eligibility requirements are part of provisions in the SBIR/STTR Reauthorization Act of 2011 that NIH is in the process of implementing.
Be advised: if you submit an application that includes a VCOC, you must attach a VCOC application certification form. Read the FOA carefully for form instructions.
Also, all small businesses are now required to register at the SBA Company Registry before submitting applications and must attach proof of registry. If you previously registered, still attach proof. Read your FOA for details.
Lastly, check out one new NIAID FOA that includes the VCOC eligibility: the Development of Highly Innovative Tools and Technology Analysis of Single Cells (SBIR R43/44). If your small business is developing next-generation tools that can distinguish heterogeneous states among cells, you may want to apply.
We will keep providing updates about provisions that NIH is implementing as new information becomes available.
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Hot Off the Press: Info Packet on Program Project Applications

We’ve added an informational document on program project (P01) grants to our site.
This resource includes descriptions of the P01 application package components, instructions for describing the projects and cores, a description of allowable Appendix and post-submission materials, and a list of common application pitfalls.
Check out P01 Program Project Grants on NIAID Program Project (P01) Applications questions and answers.
Note that the P01 is only one of the multiproject applications moving to the electronic ASSIST submission system for due dates on or after September 25, 2013. Different multiproject mechanisms (e.g., P01, U19, UM1) are transitioning at different times. See the Transition Timeline for more details.
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Get the Scoop on Electronic Multiprojects, In a Nutshell

While we're on the topic of P01s, we'd be remiss if we didn't mention an update to our guidance on multiproject applications.
We added information about ASSIST, NIH's new electronic submission portal, along with some tips to help you prepare for the upcoming transition to all-electronic multiproject applications.
For NIAID, you don't have to submit multiproject applications electronically until September 25, 2013, or later.
But we suggest looking ahead now because these applications are more complex than those of other grant types and you'll be using a new system to submit them.
Read Prepare for Electronic Submission in our Guidance for Preparing a Multiproject Research Application.
For useful resources from NIH, see Multiproject Applications.
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There's Still Time: Apply to Be a DAIDS Program Director

In case you missed the posting on Careers at NIAID, our Division of AIDS is looking for a director to head the Basic Sciences Program. Time is of the essence if you're interested since the deadline is this Friday, May 3.
As director, you'll plan, implement, and supervise an extramural program of basic and applied preclinical research supported by grants and contracts to advance research on HIV pathogenesis, immunology, and the epidemiology of HIV disease.
You'll also oversee three scientific branches and a research portfolio of almost $200 million.
For further details, including qualifications and how to apply, go to the Director, Basic Sciences Program job announcement.
Should you have questions, contact Robert Gulakowski at rgulakow@niaid.nih.gov or 301-496-0545. You may also email your application package to him.
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News Briefs

Cost Principles for NIH-Funded Core Facilities (NIAID P30, U54, and UC6 Awardees). NIH released FAQs about charges to NIH-supported users, general operating principles, user fees, depreciation, and other topics related to costing of NIH-funded core facilities. Read the April 8, 2013, Guide notice for details.
Reminder: NIH Policy on Systems Issues. Experiencing a technical problem with a Federal electronic system? Contact the system's help desk immediately. If the issue threatens the on-time submission of your grant application, you must report it to NIH's eRA Help Desk on or before the application deadline. See the April 9, 2013, Guide notice for more information.
Follow NIH SBIR/STTR on Twitter. NIH SBIR/STTR is now tweeting @NIHsbir

Get the Word Out on Your Research

When you have an important discovery to publish and publicize, our Office of Communications and Government Relations (OCGR) can help spread the word.
Let your program officer and your institution’s press office know when you’ve submitted a significant finding to a journal and when it has been accepted. The more notice you can give about an upcoming publication, the more time there will be to work on publicity.
OCGR staff will assess your findings and determine how newsworthy they are. Read more in our Requesting NIAID's Help on Publicizing Research Advances SOP.
If your institution decides to issue a news release about your work, we’ll help spread the word by posting a link to it on our News from NIAID-Supported Institutions page.
For a weekly rundown of news releases issued by NIAID-supported institutions and businesses, go to NIAID Email Updates and select that option from your profile page.
Header: Reader Questions.

Feel free to send us a question at deaweb@niaid.nih.gov. After responding to you, we may include your question in the newsletter, incorporate it into the NIAID Research Funding site, or both.
"A PI submitted an application that was scored but not funded and has since moved to a new institution. Can the PI resubmit or does he or she have to submit a new application? "—Anniette Keyes, East Carolina University
Send a resubmission application from your new institution, with a cover letter describing the circumstances that led you to a different institution.
One exception to this rule: if your research plan is substantially different in content and scope, regardless of whether you moved, submit a new application.
"Can I submit the same application to both an R01 and an R21 funding opportunity announcement?"—anonymous reader
No. An R01 is substantially different than an R21, with different characteristics, research strategy length, project period, budget limits, and review criteria.
For further details on the R21, see our Small and Exploratory/Developmental Research Grants SOP and Should You Apply for an R21? in our Strategy for NIH Funding.
As for reusing an unfunded application, see Which types of unfunded applications may I reuse, and how do I proceed? in our General Application Information questions and answers.
Also read Option 3: Repurpose the Application in the Strategy for NIH Funding.
Header: New Funding Opportunities.