GRANT WRITERS’ WORKSHOPWEDNESDAY, APRIL 7, 2010

BETHESDA NORTH MARRIOTT HOTEL AND CONFERENCE CENTER

11:00 AM – 4:00 PM

2010 AACOM Annual Meeting

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Workshop Leader

Sharon Stewart-Cole, PhDGrants Management Services, LLC

Gaithersburg, MD 20877

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NIH APPLICATION AND SCORING PROCESS

PROPOSAL ANNOUNCEMENT

GRANT WRITING

ADMINISTRATION OF GRANTS

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Goals of Workshop

NIH Mission Statement

The National Institutes of Health (NIH), a part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is the primary Federal agency for conducting and supporting medical research.

NIH’s mission is to help lead the way toward important medical discoveries that improve people’s health and save lives, NIH scientists investigate ways to prevent disease as well as the causes, treatments, and even cures for common and rare diseases.

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NIH Budget Allocations

$30.6 Billion Allocated (FY 2009 Budget)

84% of the total NIH budget supports over 325,000 extramural scientists and research personnel at more than 3,000 institutions nationwide.

NIH is composed of 27 Institutes and Centers (IC) with distinct missions and objectives. It is important to fit your research goals with the mission of the IC.

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OVERVIEW OF CHANGES TO NIH SCORING

OVERVIEW OF CHANGES TO NIH APPLICATIONS

Changes to NIH Grants Process6

Major Changes to NIH Applicant Scoring

A new scoring system for applications submitted to NIH started in fiscal year 2009. All applications are scored on a 9-point scale.

The new scale has sufficient range to allow reviewers to make reliable distinctions among applications. A score of 1 indicates an exceptionally strong application

with essentially no weaknesses. A score of 9 indicates an application with serious and substantive weaknesses with very few strengths; 5 is considered an average score.

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Major Changes to Applications

Shorter page limits and new instructions

Align the structure and content of the forms with review criteria

For ALL competing applications: New, Renewal, Revisions, and Resubmission with due dates on or after Jan. 25, 2010

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Overview of Shorter Page Limits

Current Page Limit (Section 2-5 of the Research

Plan)

New Page Limit (Research Strategy)

<25 6 (R03)

25 12 (R01)

>25 Follow FOA Instructions

Note: Follow Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) page limit Note: Follow Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) page limit requirements, if different requirements, if different

Full table of page limits available at:Full table of page limits available at: http://enhancing-peer-review.nih.gov/page_limits.htmlhttp://enhancing-peer-review.nih.gov/page_limits.html

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ASSESS FOR SUITABILITY TO YOUR PROGRAM

DETERMINE YOUR ELIGIBILITY

ADDRESS THE TIMELINE FOR THE APPLICATION

DETERMINE THE PERSONNEL AND FINANCIAL IMPACT

ASSESS THE LIKELIHOOD OF RECEIVING AN AWARD

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Dissect NIH Request for Application (RFA)

EXERCISE 1:

USING THE SAMPLE RFP COMPLETE PROPOSAL REVIEW QUESTIONNAIRE

45 MINUTES

Analyze Request for Proposal11

Discussion of Exercise 1

Followed by a 10 Minute Break

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RESEARCH PLAN

DESCRIBES THE PROJECT OR THE BENEFITS TO BE DERIVED.

IT COMMUNICATES THE CAPABILITIES OF THE ORGANIZATION AND QUALIFICATIONS OF KEY PROJECT STAFF

JUSTIFIES THE FUNDS AND OTHER RESOURCES REQUIRED TO CARRY OUT THE PROJECT

Preparing the Application13

Research Plan Components

IntroductionSpecific Aims (include impact of proposed research)Background and SignificancePreliminary Studies/Progress Report Research Design and MethodsInclusion Enrollment ReportBibliography and References CitedHuman Subjects Sections….

protections, women/minorities, enrollment, childrenOther Research Plan Sections….

animals, select agents, multi PD/PI, consortium, support, resource sharing

Appendix

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New Biographical Sketch

Personal statement added: “Briefly describe why your experience and qualifications make

you particularly well-suited for your role in the project”

Publications revised: Limit the list of publications or manuscripts to no more than 15 Applicant is encouraged to make selections based on recently

issued, importance to the field, and/or relevance to the application

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Changes to Resources and Facilities

Instructions added to Resources:

Provide a description of how the scientific environment will contribute to the probability of success of the project

For Early Stage Investigators (ESIs), describe the institutional investment in the success of the investigator

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Application Alignment with Review Criteria:

Scoring CriteriaScoring Criteria ApplicationApplication

Significance Research Strategy a. Significance

Investigator(s) Biosketch

Innovation Research Strategy b. Innovation

Approach Research Strategy c. Approach

Environment Resources and Facilities

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THE PURPOSE OF THE APPLICATION

THE PROJECT BUDGET

SUBMISSION OF APPLICATION

Preparing and Submitting Application

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The Purpose of the Application

Identify the problem to be addressed by the project;

Convey the significance of the proposed project to the problem being addressed;

Explain the relevance of the project to the awarding agency’s overall mission and goals;

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The Purpose of the Application (Cont’d)

Describe the project’s anticipated impact on the field of endeavor and provide a rationale for that assessment;

Establish the investigator’s familiarity and expertise with the topic and ability to accomplish the goals

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The Project Budget

The budget should show the direct correlation between the cost and the work to be done.

The budget should recover the full cost, direct and indirect, of carrying out the project.

The budget should consider costs that are restricted or prohibited by the program announcement or regulation.

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Ensuring Successful Submission

Remember, submission to Grants.gov is only the first step. Upon successful submission to Grants.gov, you MUST check

your application for errors and/or warnings in the eRA Commons. (Also, sent by e-mail)

Any eRA-identified issues must be promptly addressed in order for your application to be considered for review.

Applicants who inadvertently use the wrong forms, or otherwise fail to incorporate the new changes, will have a brief window during which they may be able to correct their application.

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EXERCISE 2:

SCORE SUCCESSFUL PROPOSALS USING THE REVISED NIH RATING SCALE

45 MINUTES

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Review of Successful Proposals

Discussion of Exercise 2

Followed by a 10 minute break

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COST PRINCIPLES

A-21

A-122

UNIFORM ADMINISTRATIVE

REQUIREMENTS 2 CFR PART 215

Administration of Grant25

Cost Principles

Overview: Allowable costs—if the goods or services can be directly

associated to a cost objective or benefits the project and is determined by regulations to be allowable.

Allocable costs—a cost that is incurred specifically for the grant and is reasonable to the benefit received.

Reasonable costs—if the costs does not exceed that which would be incurred by a prudent person under the circumstances prevailing at the time.

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Classifying Costs

Direct Costs—a cost that can be specifically identified with a particular objective of the project.

Indirect Costs—a cost that has been incurred for a common or joint objective of an organization and cannot be identified with a particular cost objective.

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Treatment of Costs

Consistent treatment—a cost may not be assigned as a direct costs if the costs is incurred for the same purpose in like circumstances as an indirect costs.

Consistent application—apply policies and procedures uniformly to both federal financed and other activities of the organization.

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Exercise 3:

Allowability and Treatment of Costs

45 Minutes

Determine Allowable Cost29

Discussion of Exercise 3

Followed by a 10 Minute Break

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Uniform Administrative Requirements

In 1971, OMB issued Circular A-110 to set forth standards to achieve consistency and uniformity among the federal agencies in the administration of grants and agreements.

This move towards consistency has continued with the enactment of the current 2 CFR Part 215 which replaces OMB Circular A-110 in an attempt to standardize language (May 2004).

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2 CFR Part 215

Subpart B—Pre-Award Requirements Forms Debarment and suspension Special Award Conditions Certifications and representations

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2 CFR Part 215

Subpart C—Post Award Requirements Standards for financial management systems Cost sharing or matching Program income Revisions of budget and program plans Non-federal audits (Single Audit Act OMB Cir. A-133)

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2 CFR Part 215 (Continued)

Subpart C—Post Award Requirements (cont’d) Period of availability of funds Equipment ($5,000 and 1 year useful life) Supplies Monitoring and reporting performance Retention and access requirements for records

Subpart D—After-the-Award Requirements Closeout procedures (90 days after completion)

Copy can be found in Tab 4 of your binder

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Questions and Answers35

Grants Management Services, LLC

Presented by:

Dr. Sharon Stewart-Cole, PhD

Cell: 702-238-2844

www.grants-admin.com

End of Workshop

Thank you for your time and attention!

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