Notices and Announcements

NIH Fiscal Policy for Grant Awards – FY 2012

• This Notice provides guidance about the NIH Fiscal Operations Plan for FY 2012 and implements the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2012 (P.L. 112-74), signed by President Obama on December 23, 2011. The Act provides NIH with $30.7 billion, an increase of less than one percent over FY 2011 (after transfers). The NIH will continue to manage its portfolio in biomedical research investments in a manner that includes addressing the need for a highly productive pool of researchers by providing support for new investigators. Click here for more information.

  
  
  

NIH Issues 'Revised' Grants Policy Statement for 2011

• NIH Issues 'Revised' Grants Policy Statement , NOT-OD-12-003, effective 10/1/2011. Click here for more information.
  
  Have you been paying attention to ALL of the new NIH changes? Here is a quick link that summarizes them for you.
  
  Mandating Use of the Commons to Submit No-Cost Extension Notifications (NOT-OD-11-098) National Institutes of Health. The statement for the RO website is: Modification of Eligibility Criteria for Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Awards (NRSA) for Individual Postdoctoral Fellows (Parent F32) (NOT-OD-11-097) National Institutes of Health.
  
  Restructured Application Forms : Applicants submitting for Ks (Individual Research Career Development Awards Programs), Fs (Individual National Research Service Awards), Ts and Ds (Institutional Training and Career Development Programs and Other Training Grants) will be required to use ADOBE-FORMS-B1 for due dates of January 25, 2011 and beyond. Applicants submitting for all other NIH grant programs will be required to use ADOBE-FORMS-B1 beginning May 8, 2011.
  
  NIH must periodically implement updated versions of SF424 (R&R) application forms to stay current. NIH will be adding a new form package, referred to as ADOBE-FORMS-B1, to all funding opportunity announcements (FOAs). Applicants submitting for Ks (Individual Research Career Development Awards Programs), Fs (Individual National Research Service Awards), Ts and Ds (Institutional Training and Career Development Programs and Other Training Grants) will be required to use ADOBE-FORMS-B1 for due dates of January 25, 2011 and beyond. Applicants submitting for all other NIH grant programs will be required to use ADOBE-FORMS-B1 beginning May 8, 2011. As always, we encourage applicants to return to the FOA to pick up the most recent form version before applying. To learn more about the transition and the changes resulting from the forms update (they are minor, for the most part), please read NOT-OD-11-007 and NOT-OD-11-008. To learn about choosing the correct forms package, view the recently updated online resource.
  

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  ERROR CORRECTION WINDOW ELMINATED: Beginning with due dates on or after January 25, 2011, NIH, AHRQ and NIOSH will eliminate the error correction window from the application submission process.
  
  The NIH error correction window is going away as of January 25, 2011. Submitting your application early is the best way to ensure success. For deadlines on or after January 25, 2011, all applications must be error free by the deadline. You will still have the two-business-day application viewing window to view your assembled application image before the deadline. The viewing window is your one chance to view your grant application just as the NIH reviewers will see it. NIH encourages applicants to submit early in order to view their application (and correct any errors/warnings) prior to the deadline. Applications submitted after the deadline, or applications with errors and/or warnings corrected after the deadline, will be subject to the NIH late policy and may not be reviewed.
  
  Check out NIH’s Ten Checks to Help Avoid Common Errors.
  
  See NIH Guide Notice NOT-OD-10-123.
  

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  NEW TIME LIMIT FOR NIH RESUBMISSION APPLICATIONS: NIH announces the implementation of a new time limit between the submission of a New, Renewal, or Revision application and a Resubmission (A1 version) of that application to the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
  
  NIH Guide Notice NOT-ND-10-140 announces the implementation of a new time limit between the submission of a New, Renewal, or Revision application and a Resubmission (A1 version) of that application to the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The time limit is intended to stimulate new research directions for projects that were not successful initially and may have become outdated over the course of several years.
  

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  NIH Policy on Late Submissions for Grant Applications: NOT-OD-11-035
  
  

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  MY NCBI: eRA Commons has partnered with the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) to link NCBI’s personal online tool, “My NCBI,” to Commons.
  
  eRA Commons has partnered with the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) to link NCBI’s personal online tool, “My NCBI,” to Commons. My NCBI offers an online portal—“My Bibliography”—for users to maintain and manage a list of all of their authored works, such as journal articles, manuscripts accepted for publication, books, and book chapters. As of April 2010, linking a Commons account to a new or existing My NCBI account allows references saved in My Bibliography to automatically appear in users’ Commons accounts. NOT-OD-10-103
  

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  NEW PROCEDURE FOR SUBMITTING ANNUAL PROGRESS REPORT: NIH announces new procedures and instructions for submitting annual progress reports for multi-year funded awards.
  
  NOT-OD-11-010 Multi-year funded (MYF) awards are where the project period and budget period are the same and are longer than one year. These instructions must be followed for all MYF awards with an annual progress report due on or after 12/22/2010. For MYF awards with an annual progress report due prior to 12/22/2010, grantees should continue to follow the specific instructions of the NIH Institute or Center (I/C) issuing the award.
  

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  Announcing the Transition of Institutional Training and Institutional Career Development Programs to Electronic Submission for due dates on/after January 25, 2010 (NOT-OD-10-008).
  
  This notice announces the transition of applications for Institutional Training and Institutional Career Development Programs to electronic submission through Grants.gov using the SF424 (R&R) forms for due dates on or after January 25, 2010. The following programs will transition:
  — Institutional National Research Service Awards (T32, T34, T35, T36, T90)
  — Other institutional training grants (D43, D71, T01, T02, T03, T14, T15, T37, TU2, U2R)
  — Institutional career development programs (K12)
  
  
  ALL applications in response to announcements for these grant programs must be submitted electronically (paper applications will not be accepted). Applications first submitted in paper that are being resubmitted as amended applications must now use electronic submission via Grants.gov using the SF424 (R&R) forms. Funding Opportunity Announcements (FOAs) for these programs are being updated and are expected to be posted by November 25, 2009. Applicants will need to access the applicable FOA after that date to obtain the appropriate application package and instructions.
  
  See NIH Guide Notice NOT-OD-10-008
  

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  MANDATORY USE OF xTRAIN BEGINS JANUARY 1, 2011: Beginning January 1, 2011, use of the eRA Commons xTrain system will be required to electronically prepare and submit statement of appointment forms (PHS 2271) and termination notices (PHS 416-7) for NIH institutional research training grants, individual fellowships, and research education and institutional career development awards.
  
  Beginning January 1, 2011, use of the eRA Commons xTrain system will be required to electronically prepare and submit statement of appointment forms (PHS 2271) and termination notices (PHS 416-7) for NIH institutional research training grants, individual fellowships, and research education and institutional career development awards. After January 1, NIH will not accept paper appointment forms and termination notices. Paper submissions will be considered noncompliant, and grantees will be required to resubmit appointment forms and termination notices electronically using xTrain. See NIH Guide Notice NOT-OD-11-010
  
  xTrain provides program directors, university administrators, and trainees the ability to electronically process and submit appointment forms and termination notices associated with institutional research training grants and career development awards. It is also used by Agency grants management staff to review and process the appointments and termination notices submitted electronically for the following mechanisms:
  — Kirschstein-NRSA undergraduate institutional training grants (T34 – appointment forms only)
  — Kirschstein-NRSA predoctoral and postdoctoral institutional training grants (T32, T35, T90, TL1 and TU2)
  — National Library of Medicine institutional training grants (T15)
  — Kirschstein-NRSA individual fellowships (F30, F31, F32 and F33 – termination notices only)
  
  To try the xTrain system and learn about its features in a sample environment, xTrain is also available on the Commons Demo site.
  
  To facilitate appointment making through xTrain, NIH recommends that institutions consider routinely establishing eRA Commons accounts for training grant-eligible students and postdoctorates. For training materials and instructions for submitting forms electronically, visit eRA web page for Institutional Research Training and Career Development Awards or contact your Contract & Grant Specialist.
  

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  NEW Page Limits for NIH Individual Career Development (K) Award Applications Due Dates After January 7, 2011: NIH will be enforcing the following new PHS Career Development Supplemental form attachment page limits immediately after the January 7 AIDS deadline:
  —The Mentoring Plan attachment will be limited to 6 pages.
  —The Statements by Mentor, Co-Mentors, Contributors attachment will be limited to 6 pages.
  —The Description of Institutional Environment attachment will be limited to 1 page.
  —The Commitment to Candidate's Research Career Development attachment is limited to 1 page.
  
  
  To provide consistency between AIDS and non-AIDS K applications that could potentially be reviewed together, applicants to the January 7, 2011 AIDS deadline will get warnings if the above page limits are exceeded, but no corrective action will be needed. The warning message text will be adjusted next week to reflect this exception. The validations will be upgraded from warnings to errors and the message text readjusted for deadlines after January 7. Note that the new application guide posted November 24, 2010 already reflects the page limit changes. See NIH Guide Notice NOT-OD-11-027.

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NSF CBET Proposal Window Change

• Click here for more information regarding the new proposal window schedule for NSF CBET.

  
  
  

NSF Division of Ocean Sciences

• NSF Division of Ocean Sciences Releases Sample and Data Policy. Click here.

  
  
  

IT Research Computing

• IT Research Computing: Task Force Report 2011
  
  UD IT Research Computing Homepage

  
  
  

NSF, Effective January 18, 2011

• Effective January 18, 2011: NSF Proposal and Award Policies & Procedures Guide.
  
  NSF Policy Office has developed a set of Frequently Ask Questions (FAQs) on cost sharing.
  
  The new NSF PAPPG will be effective for proposals submitted, or due, on or after January 18, 2011.
  To view the complete summary of significant changes to the grant proposal guide (GPG) click here.
  
  Chapter II.C.2.j, Special Information and Supplementary Documentation: All Proposals must describe plans for data mangement and sharing of the products of research, or asset the absence of the need for such plans. Fastlane will not permit submission of a proposal that is missing the Data Management Plan.
  
  Chapter II.C.2.g(xi), Cost Sharing, has been revised to implement the National Science Board’s recommendations regarding cost sharing. Inclusion of voluntary committed cost sharing is prohibited. The NSF Policy Office developed a set of Frequently Ask Questions (FAQs) on cost sharing and has since added responses to additional question that have been raised about the new policy. The document discusses, among other things, when the new policy takes effect, donation of time to a project by senior personnel and how to handle doctoral dissertation awards and fellowships.
  
  To view the summary of significant changes to the award and administration guide click here. The new project outcome report will be submitted electronically through research.gov.
  
  If you have any questions please contact your Contract and Grant Specialist.

  
  

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NSF Project Outcomes Reports: January 4, 2011

• Effective on or after January 4, 2011: The Project Outcomes Report is a new NSF reporting requirement effective for all awards made or existing awards that receive funding amendments on or after January 4, 2010. The report is prepared and submitted through Research.gov.
  
  More Information on how to prepare and submit your report. Please view the Frequently Ask Questions.

  
  
  
  

NSF/GRANTS.GOV Package, January 18, 2011

• The National Science Foundation has issued a new, revised version of the NSF Grants.gov Application Guide, and it has been posted to the NSF website.
  
  The National Science Foundation has issued a new, revised version of the NSF Grants.gov Application Guide, and it has been posted to the NSF website.
  
  SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT CHANGES
  Chapter V – Section 2, SF 424 (R&R) (Cover Sheet), 2.15 Enter Estimated Project Funding (Field 15 on the Form), includes information related to NSF’s implementation of the National Science Board’s recommendations regarding cost sharing (see GPG, Chapter II.C.2.g(xi), Cost Sharing). Applicants are advised that the amount entered in the Total Non-Federal Funds (Field 15.b) will be entered on Line M of the NSF budget for those programs where cost sharing is required, when entered into the NSF FastLane System. Review of the solicitation’s guidance on cost sharing is vital since inclusion of voluntary committed cost sharing is prohibited for most solicitations. NSF-required, mandatory cost sharing will only be required when explicitly authorized by the NSF Director.
  
  Chapter V – Section 4, R&R Other Project Information, 4.12 Add Other Attachments contains a clarification of NSF’s long standing data policy. All proposals must describe plans for data management and sharing of the products of research, or assert the absence of the need for such plans. The attachment name must include the words “Data Management Plan”. NSF will not permit submission of a proposal that is missing a Data Management Plan. The Data Management Plan will be reviewed as part of the intellectual merit or broader impacts of the application, or both.
  
  

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  CLARIFICATIONS AND OTHER CHANGES
  Chapter III --Section 6, Proposal File Update – Post Submission, has been revised to explain that the Proposal File Update Module can no longer be used to submit revised budgets. They must now be submitted via the FastLane Revised Proposal Budget Module.
  
  Chapter III.­Section 6, Warning Messages has been supplemented to make it clear that failure to submit all required sections of the application may result in the application being returned without review Chapter V – Section 4, R&R Other Project Information, 4.12 Add Other Attachments, has been clarified to show that a mentoring plan is not required for postdoctoral researchers who are listed as Senior Personnel in Section A of the Budget.
  
  

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Adobe GRANTS.GOV

• Adobe Reader versions and compatible with Grants.gov
  
  For more information on Adobe Reader, please visit the updated Adobe Reader FAQ section.
  
  To verify if you have a compatible version of Adobe Reader installed, click on the test application package link Adobe version test application.
  
  If an error message displays, the test application package was opened with an incompatible version of Adobe Reader. To download the compatible version required to complete and submit a grant application package please visit the download software page. If you can see the application package you have a compatible version of Adobe Reader to apply for grant applications on Grants.gov. Please be aware that any applicant who is applying for a grant application with Adobe Reader must use the compatible version to save and submit the application or submission errors will occur.
  
  The Research Office suggests that unless the solicitation or application instructions indicate otherwise, you should always make your attachments a pdf file.

  
  
  

UD Travel and Compliance

• — UD Dept of Homeland SECURITY response required. To comply with new regulations from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, all UD principal investigators who work with chemicals of any type are required to complete the inventory of chemicals of interest by February 1, 2008.
  Download the Excel document and instructions here.
  
  — UD Travel with or Transportation of Research Related Data
  MEMO FROM - Dr. Mark Barteau, Senior Vice Provost for Research and Strategic Initiatives: The purpose of this memo is to remind and inform all University of Delaware employees of the laws, policies and procedures that may impact the transportation of University of Delaware property, including research-related materials, software, data, biological materials and equipment.
  These laws, policies and procedures apply whether the materials, software or data are hand-carried during travel or shipped commercially. The laws, policies and procedures apply to our international visitors as well.
  Click here to read the memo.
  
  — Feb 12, 2010 Online Webforms for Materials Transfer Agreement To use the new Webform, simply log on to http://www.udel.edu/webforms and find “Materials Transfer Agreement Request” in the 'Blank' forms tab.
  
  

  
  
  

NSF Certification Requirement

• The University of Delaware is committed to ensuring the highest ethical and professional standards of conduct in research. Important to this commitment is the provision of ongoing training opportunities appropriate to the endeavors of the University Community. Numerous opportunities to explore the responsible conduct of research are embedded within existing curricula, most especially in undergraduate and graduate research methods courses, campus‐wide workshops, undergraduate summer scholars’ ethics training, and seminars. More information on these offerings may be obtained by contacting the Director of Research Compliance.
  
  The University of Delaware is required to certify a plan to provide training and oversight in the responsible conduct of research (RCR) at the time of proposal submission to the National Science Foundation. It is the responsibility of the NSF awarded PI to ensure that all personnel working on NSF funded projects receive the required training. Documentation of this training must be provided to the Research Office. The training requirement extends to all undergraduate students, graduate students, and post‐doctoral trainees working on NSF funded projects. While research methods classes and seminars may serve to partially fulfill this requirement, two additional offerings should be noted:
  
  Annual Winter Session Workshop on the Responsible Conduct of Research for Graduate Students and Post‐doctoral Trainees. This 2 day workshop is divided into half‐day modules that explore specific issues related to the Responsible Conduct of Research. Each half‐day session carries a separate non‐credit course number and completion is noted on student transcripts. Post‐doctoral fellows receive written certification of completion.
  
  CITI Responsible Conduct of Research Training. CITI has designed and implemented an RCR course that is partially funded by the Office of Research Integrity and DHHS. Completion of CITI training is reported to the Research Office for documentation, and those who complete the training may also print a completion certificate. CITI training is discipline specific, and participants should choose the program that most closely fits their programs of study. For additional information about this training visit the CITI home page.
  
  

UD Compliance Hotline

• Please visit the UD Compliance site for Hotline and Compliance related information.

  
  
  

UD IT offers easier and improved access to NSF's grant management services (02/12)

• Information Technologies now offers University researchers a streamlined way to log in to NSF's Research.gov site for grant management services including FastLane.
  
  For more information please click here.

AFOSR No-Cost Extension Guidelines (01/12)

• According to AFOSR, there has been a new development for the administrative guidelines dealing with no-cost extension of continuing grants. As mentioned quite a while ago, all unspent funds sitting at the university accounts are becoming a potential target for congressional budget scrutiny and an excuse for reshuffling of the budget within the same agency. On top of this situation, the reduction of supporting personnel in the Government agencies creates major delay in the procurement process. As a consequence, all requests for no-cost extension of the grants beyond the designated expiration date will go through the Office of AFOSR Director. Please be conscious of this new rule making no-cost extension virtually impossible and try to find a way of spending the allocated budget on schedule. If the funds are not spent within the original timeframe, there is the potential to lose the funds.

NIH Salary Cap – Reduced to Executive Level II (01/12)

• Notice of Salary Limitation on Grants, Cooperative Agreements, and Contracts -
  
  Notice Number NOT-OD-12-035 provides information regarding the salary limitation for NIH grant and cooperative agreement awards and extramural research and development contract awards (referred to as grants).

NSF Issues Grant, Funding Documents (01/12)

• The National Science Foundation has posted 18 new documents that address various changes in grant and contract agreements. These changes will go into effective February 1, 2012 and apply to existing awards through modifications and new awards when they are issued. The changes to terms and conditions for funding include new requirements related to costs for travel and to expenditure reports. NSF awards to international organizations are also included in the new requirements. All of the posted documents may be found here.

Accelerating Spending of Remaining Funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act for Discretionary Grant Programs (01/12)

• The Office of Management and Budget has issued a memorandum to the heads of executive departments and agencies directing Federal agencies to accelerate the spending of remaining Recovery Act funds in discretionary grant programs (including formula grant programs that received discretionary funding in the Recovery Act), consistent with existing laws and regulations and programmatic objectives. If those funds have not been spent by September 30, 2013, agencies shall reclaim them to the extent permitted by law. You may view the entire memorandum here.
  
  To date two federal agencies have responded to this memorandum with directives regarding the accelerated expenditure of ARRA funds. The National Science Foundation’s notice may be found here. The National Institutes of Health posted their response to the memorandum and can be viewed here.
  
  As other federal agencies post their response to this memorandum, we will update the Research Office Notices & Announcements section with information.

Research Development Office

• View activities at the University of Delaware Research Development Office here.