CIENCIASMEDICASNEWS: Grant Coming to an End? Avoid and Survive a Funding Gap | NIH: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

jueves, 31 de enero de 2019

Grant Coming to an End? Avoid and Survive a Funding Gap | NIH: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

Grant Coming to an End? Avoid and Survive a Funding Gap

Fauci, Gates, Collins

Consider other options if NIH is your sole source of funding; though few organizations can match NIH in scope, duration, and amount of support, avenues like foundations and endowments are great ways to get funding to generate preliminary data for new projects.

Credit: NIH

The beginning of a new year is a time for renewal, whether it’s starting an exercise regimen or renovating your home. If you’re a researcher, it might also be a propitious moment to think about renewing your grant, whether you need to do so soon or further down the road.

As you contemplate a renewal application, a word to the wise: whether you're on your first grant or you have had decades of support, renewal is never guaranteed. Many NIAID program officials are former grantees or researchers on NIH grants, so we understand how difficult it is to retain funding, especially if you've received NIH support for many years.

For the past several years, only about one-third of renewal applications have succeeded and most of those failed on the first attempt. Success rates for new applications are even lower, so it is to your advantage to build on your accomplishments from your current grant. However, we have to acknowledge the fact that your path to renewal is a tough one.

Read on for our advice and perspective on how to lessen your risk of falling into a funding gap and what to do if it happens. Also check out Apply for a Renewal, linked below, for additional information and pointers.

Plan Now To Avoid a Gap

You can take steps to keep a steady flow of funding to your lab.

Apply for Your Renewal Early

As long as you have accomplished enough to build a strong case for renewing your grant, apply early so you have time to revise and resubmit without risking an interruption in funding. That said, keep in mind that if your application falls within the current fiscal year’s payline but your grant doesn’t end until the next, we cannot end the grant early and your application will need to be within the next fiscal year’s payline to be funded.

If your renewal application succeeds, we'll time your renewal to begin when your current grant ends.

If your renewal application does not succeed, submit a renewal resubmission. If that does not get funded, submit a new application. Identify the parts of your previous proposal that are still relevant and can move the field forward, and improve your previous application as much as possible. Also make sure that when you apply, check "new" application and avoid any mention of previous attempts and changes in the proposal resulting from previous critiques. Learn more in Create a New Application, linked below.

Keep in mind that there will likely have been policy and forms changes since you applied for your current award. Allow extra time to prepare your application. Verify that NIAID still participates in the FOA and the eligibility requirements are the same.

Also check whether your research meets NIH’s Definition of a Clinical Trial (CT), linked below, and be sure you are applying to a FOA that matches (e.g., CT required or CT not allowed). For example, when proposing an investigator-initiated research project grant, you’ll have more than one Parent R01 to choose from. NIAID participates in the following:

Apply for Another R01

Keep trying for other R01s. Having multiple grants active at the same time means you can sustain your lab even if you lose one grant.

Most funded projects generate unexpected findings in the course of pursuing funded aims that can form the basis of a distinctly new project.

You may pursue as many applications as your time, preliminary data, and resources allow, but be mindful that your applications must be scientifically distinct; that is, not involve substantially similar research from your funded research or other Public Health Service grant applications you submit.

Give Yourself Multiple Streams of Funding

Consider three other ways to get NIH funding.

Spin off your research into a small grant (R03) or an exploratory/developmental grant (R21) while you're working on your current grant. These two-year awards will keep money flowing into your lab to pursue new research or gather preliminary data for an R01 application.

An R03 is ideal for pilot projects, secondary analyses of data you've generated, and/or developing new research methods or technology.

An R21 is designed for exploratory and innovative research. Many investigators find success using it to pursue one or two Specific Aims from an unsuccessful R01 application. To help you decide if this path makes sense for your situation, go to Drawbacks for Smaller Awards (R21, R03) at Comparing Popular Research Grants (R01, R03, or R21), linked below.

Contract with NIH. NIH needs a variety of technologies, research materials, and services to carry out its activities, such as running intramural labs and clinical trials and providing data, reagents, and other benefits to the public. It has to buy from somebody—and that somebody could be you.

Search for "National Institutes of Health" on FedBizOpps for a list of NIH's open solicitations. If your lab can fill any of those needs, submit a proposal in response to one of those solicitations. For an NIAID overview of the research and development contracting process and link to NIAID active solicitations, refer to NIAID Contract Solicitations.

You will probably compete with biotech companies and small businesses, but don't let that discourage you. We review all proposals according to the evaluation criteria stated in the solicitation—meaning as long as you demonstrate you can meet the requirements of the solicitation, you stand a chance of being selected.

Collaborate. You can get NIH funding through different types of collaborations.

1. Lead one component or core of a multiproject application, e.g., a program project (P01). You wouldn't be a PI, but you would be responsible for conducting meaningful research. Learn more about this option in our Multiproject Awards SOP, and read Multiproject Research (P, U) Applications, linked below. You could also consider collaborating on another investigator’s R01 grant, conducting a portion of the research.

2. Respond to a request for applications (RFAs) issued by an NIH institute or center. These RFAs often provide support for specific research areas in the form of cooperative agreements. While you would be working more closely with NIH program staff during the course of the project, as compared to an R01 grant, you will get funding for a research partnership that meets an NIH priority.

How do you find cooperative agreement opportunities? Look for RFAs that carry activity codes containing a "U" (e.g., U01, U19, UH2) on our Funding Opportunity Announcements page and in the NIH Guide, linked below.

3. Seek supplemental funding to join another researcher's project. If you have a pilot study or a small project that dovetails with another PI's research, talk to that PI about requesting supplemental funding to incorporate your work into his or her grant.

For projects that fit within the scope of your collaborator's grant aims, have your collaborator request an administrative supplement. He or she can do this any time of year, though NIAID has some requirements your collaborator will have to meet. For example, your collaborator's grant cannot be in its first or last year of award. Refer to our Administrative Supplements to Grants and Cooperative Agreements SOP to learn more.

For projects that expand the scope of your collaborator's grant, wait for an opportunity for your collaborator to submit a Type 3 (competing revision) application to expand his or her aims through a funding opportunity announcement that targets your area of research.

4. Consult for other scientists, especially NIH-funded PIs.

NIH-funded PIs frequently include consultants in their grant applications, who are paid to contribute a certain amount of effort to the project in exchange for the specialized expertise they provide. Consider lending your time and expertise to somebody else's research.

Seek out other researchers within your institution, at conferences, and through publications, and formalize these consulting relationships with letters of collaboration.

Check with your institution's business office about whether it has rules or restrictions about consulting for other PIs. NIH will pay for consultants if they're budgeted in the application and do not have a substantive role (e.g., performing experiments).

For more on finding people who would likely need your talent, read See Funded Projects Using RePORT, linked below.

Publish

Publishing isn't just a measure of productivity. It improves your renewal application and also opens new opportunities to collaborate.

Reviewers look at the quantity and quality of your publications as a reflection on your research accomplishments, and factor that into your renewal's overall impact score.

Also, publishing gives other researchers an opportunity to learn more about your work, which may lead them to ask you to collaborate with them on an NIH grant.

If You Lose Funding, You Have Options

If NIH is your sole source of funding, losing your grant is devastating. This may mean laying off staff, taking a pay cut, or shutting down your lab. Before having to take those painful steps, consider some other options.

Find institutional support. Talk to your department chair and business office about whether your institution has options to help you through a lapse in funding.

Support eligible doctoral students and postdocs using NIH training (T), career development (K), and fellowship (F) grants. If you can get support for these junior researchers using training and career development grants, do it. You may also want to consider diversity supplements. Find more information about T, K, and F grants as well as research supplements at Training and Career Development Grant Programs, linked below.

Find non-government funding sources. Look for nonprofits, endowments, and foundations that support scientific research. Though only a few organizations can match NIH in scope, duration, and amount of support, you may be able to get some money to continue your research while you try for another NIH grant. Those avenues are also a way to get funding to generate preliminary data for new projects. Read Find a Foundation or Other Funding Source, linked below, and establish contacts and connections to get more advice and direction from people who have a good perspective on what these organizations are looking for.

You may also want to consider registering with Online Partnership to Accelerate Research (OnPAR), which offers meritorious applications a second chance at funding. To learn more, including details on requirements and applying, go to OnPAR and read our April 6, 2016 article “Give Your Application a Second Chance With OnPAR” and our November 1, 2017 article “Get On Board With OnPAR.”

Understand Consequences

A few of our suggestions come with qualifiers.

Remember the cap. When requesting a budget for your renewal, ask for enough money (i.e., the amount you need to conduct your proposed research), but also keep in mind the budget cap. For several years, NIAID has capped—and expects to continue capping—R01 renewal budgets at 20 percent over the direct costs of the last noncompeting award, not including equipment or alterations and renovations costs. For the latest cap, check our Financial Management Plan, linked below.

Take heed before leading a component or core of a multiproject application. When you apply for a multiproject grant, your goals, methods, and aims must sync well with other projects, remain synced for the duration of your grant, and demonstrate synergy.

Too often, PIs submit separate projects on a high-level shared theme (e.g., inflammation, host defense).

Reviewers will look for synergy among the projects and score your application poorly if they don't see how your combined projects would make a bigger impact than each project alone.

Be mindful of effort commitments. Remember as you balance multiple avenues for funding that your effort level cannot exceed 100 percent. However, you can apply for multiple awards with total effort levels that exceed 100 percent.

We allow this because you are not likely to get every grant you apply for. If multiple applications are funded, we will work with you during award negotiation to adjust your effort to be no more than 100 percent.

Cooperative agreements: shared responsibility between you and NIAID. Expect NIAID staff to play a substantive role in the design of your research. To get a sense of how NIAID's level of involvement on a cooperative agreement differs from that of a grant, read Determining When to Use a Cooperative Agreement, linked below. We developed that resource as a reference for our staff but hope you find it useful, too.

Contracts are a commitment. When you contract with NIAID, you enter a legally binding contractual agreement to deliver a product or service at a certain time at a certain cost.

In return, we pay you according to the terms and conditions of the contract.

Grants are a commitment, too—but you're committing to research aims within the scope of your award. On a contract, you're committing to produce a defined deliverable at a specific time.