SPA - SPA Weekly

AROUND SPA

IACUC Office’s New Home

The Office of Sponsored Programs Administration (SPA) welcomes the addition of the Institutional Animal Care And Use Committee (IACUC) Compliance Office to our suite in Greenberg Hall SC1-81.

DHHS Rate Agreement

The new DHHS Rate Agreement date for NYU School of Medicine is June 12, 2006.

NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH

Grants.gov Application Packages

In July, NIH updated hundreds of announcements with Grants.gov’s Research & Related Version 2 application form sets. Within a short time, NIH uncovered an issue with the R&R Senior/Key Person Profile Form in which several of the attachments were missing from the form and issued a workaround in the NIH Guide (see NOT-OD-06-087). Grants.gov deployed a fix to the R&R Senior/Key Person Profile form allowing new downloads of current opportunities with Version 2 forms to be error free.

The posting of new application packages is still necessary to move from one major Grants.gov version to another (transition from Version 1 forms to Version 2) and also for some changes that affect the structure of a form. However, this is great news in that applicants can immediately take full advantage of many Grants.gov form adjustments.

So, what does that mean to you? Well, it illustrates the importance of downloading a fresh copy of the application package and instructions from Grants.gov each time you plan on submitting an application. Following this advice will ensure you have the latest and greatest forms.

SBIR, STTR and R13/U13 Opportunities Moving to Version 2 Forms

Funding Opportunity Announcements (FOAs) for the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs, Conference/Scientific Meetings, and other specific funding opportunities noted below have been updated to Version 2 application forms.

Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) (R43, R44)
Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) (R41, R42)
Support for Conferences and Scientific Meetings (R13/U13)
Opportunities postponed from first set of updates due to imminent receipt dates:
PAR-06-095 NIDCD Translational Research Grants (R21)
PAR-06-118 AHRQ Grants for Health Services Research Dissertation (R36)
PAR-06-217 Mental Health Dissertation Research Grant To Increase Diversity (R36)
PAR-06-293 Quick-Trials for Imaging and Image-Guided Interventions: Exploratory Grants (R21)
PAR-06-294 Small Grants Program for Cancer Epidemiology (R03)
PAR-06-313 Cancer Prevention Research Small Grant Program (R03)
PAR-06-420 Brain Disorders in the Developing World: Research Across the Lifespan (R21)
PAR-06-448 AHRQ Small Research Grant Program (R03)
PAR-06-451 Quick-Trials for Novel Cancer Therapies: Exploratory Grants (R21)
PAR-06-458 Small Grants for Behavioral Research in Cancer Control (R03)
PAR-06-460 NINDS Clinical Trial Planning Grant (R34)

Applicants should use the new Version 2 packages beginning September 15. Once these updates are complete, only applications that will expire naturally by the end of the calendar year will remain on the Version 1 application forms.

eRA Commons System Changes Cut Down PDF Errors

NIH recently deployed changes to the eRA System that has reduced the number of PDF errors associated with application submissions. The eRA System can now accept PDF attachments with editable fields. Our system will automatically “flatten” the files, saving applicants from receiving an error and having to alter the attachment and resubmit the entire application. For more advice on generating NIH eSubmission-friendly PDF see PDF Issues: Guidelines.

New NIH Policy for Funding of Tuition, Fees, and Health Insurance on Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Awards (NRSA)

The NIH announces a change in policy for funding of tuition, fees, and health insurance costs associated with Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Awards (see NOT-OD-06-093). The new policy applies to new and competing-continuation (renewal) NRSA institutional research training grants (T32, T34, T35, and the NRSA component of T90), competing individual fellowships (F30, F31, F32, and F33), and all other grant mechanisms that utilize NRSA authority, awarded beginning in fiscal year (FY) 2007. It also applies to the non-competing continuation years of institutional research training grants that received competing awards in FY 2006. For this cohort, the FY2007 non-competing awards will be issued recalculating budget categories to reflect this new policy.

NIH Loan Repayment Program

The application cycle for the NIH Loan Repayment Programs opens September 1, 2006, and closes December 1, 2006. The NIH awards up to $35,000 annually in student loan repayments to health professionals engaged in qualifying research. Details and the online application are available at www.lrp.nih.gov.

THE AMERICAN GERIATRICS SOCIETY

Career Development Awards

Administered by the American Geriatrics Society (http://www.americangeriatrics.org/), the Dennis W. Jahnigen Career Development Scholars Program offers two-year career development awards to support junior faculty in the specialties of anesthesiology, emergency medicine, general surgery, gynecology, ophthalmology, orthopaedic surgery, otolaryngology, physical medicine and rehabilitation, thoracic surgery, and urology. The award is intended to allow individuals to initiate and ultimately sustain a career in research and education in the geriatrics aspects of their discipline.

Each grant will provide two-year support of $150,000 ($75,000 per year) for salary and fringe benefits and/or the costs of doing research. In 2005, due to funding guidelines from the supporting foundations, the program instituted a requirement that each scholar's institution provide a minimum match of $25,000 per year. Up to eleven awards will be given in 2007.

Nominations are to be made by the individual's departmental chair. Application deadline: December 5, 2006.

Click here for more information.

THE KLINGENSTEIN THIRD GENERATION FOUNDATION

Post-doctoral Research Fellowships

The Foundation runs two fellowship programs for researchers. One is focused on childhood and adolescent depression, the other on childhood and adolescent ADHD.

The Foundation expects a total of five two-year fellowships will be awarded across the two programs. Fellowships are funded at $30,000 per year for two years. Consideration for the fellowship is by nomination only and candidates must be nominated by a department chairperson or division director.

Letter of Nomination and required documentation is due no later than January 12, 2007.

Click here for more information.

Archives - as of 08/18/06