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Grant Policy and Guidance

Funding Strategies

Interim Guidance for Fiscal Year 2024

NINR is committed to funding the largest number of meritorious projects possible, while allowing flexibility to support strategic program priorities and emerging scientific areas. The Institute allocates its resources among investigator-initiated applications, applications submitted in response to NINR and NIH Notices of Funding Opportunity (NOFOs), and research training and career development applications.

In general, NINR will consider the scientific and technical merit of an application as determined by scientific peer review, alignment with the NINR mission and strategic plan, advancement of diverse perspectives, and availability of funds in making funding decisions. For R01 and R01-equivalent applications, NINR will give additional consideration to applications from early stage investigators as defined by the NIH.

To maximize our available resources, competing research project grant awards may be subjected to programmatic adjustments in budget and number of years awarded.

Funding During a Continuing Resolution 
While NIH is operating under a Continuing Resolution (CR) (see NOT-OD-24-007), NINR will support non-competing continuation awards (Type 5) at 90 percent of the commitment level. Upward adjustments to awarded levels will be considered after the fiscal year 2024 appropriations are enacted, but NIH expects institutions to monitor their expenditures carefully during this period.

 

Data Policy

Data and Safety Monitoring of Clinical Trials

This policy is incorporated as part of the terms and conditions for all awards involving clinical trials. Funding for clinical trial research activities is contingent upon compliance with this DSM policy.

Click to download: NINR Policy for Data and Safety Monitoring (DSM) of Clinical Trials -- updated 2019

For more information, see Clinical Trial Requirements for Grants and Contracts.

 

Transfer Policy

What is required for a proposed change of Principal Investigator?

The following is required when a grant recipient is proposing a replacement Principal Investigator (P.I.) on an active grant:

Letter signed by the current P.I. and the proposed P.I. and an authorized institutional business official documenting the following:

  1. Change in the P.I. from Dr. _______ to Dr. ________.
  2. Reason for the change.
  3. Proposed effective date of the change.
  4. Level of effort the proposed replacement P.I. will devote to the project.
  5. The proposed P.I.'s involvement, if any, in the project to date.
  6. Any budget changes that will result from the change in P.I.

Email must also include the proposed PI's Biosketch and the proposed PI's current research support (use format found in the  PHS 398 or  SF424 application kit).

The countersigned letter should be submitted to the appropriate Grants Management Specialist, with a copy to the NINR Program Director, at least two weeks prior to the proposed effective date.

What is required if a Principal Investigator transfers to another institution and wants to request transfer of a grant?

Follow the guidance in PA-14-078

How do I submit a prior approval request?

Requests requiring NINR prior approval (second no-cost extensions of the project, change of Principal Investigator; change(s) in key personnel; change of project scope, etc.) must

  1. be submitted via email from an authorized institutional business official (i.e., Office of Sponsored Programs)
  2. be signed by both the Principal Investigator/Fellow and the authorized institutional official (or forwarded via email from the PI to the business official), and
  3. reference the complete grant number (e.g., 1 R01 NR 01234-01).

Please note that NINR rarely approves a second no cost extension and does not encourage submission of these requests.

Requests must be sent via email to the Grants Management Specialist named on the Notice of Award.  To enhance the decision-making responsibility shared by Grants Management and Scientific Program Staff, please cc the Program Director. 

What is required for a second no-cost extension request?

For second no-cost extension requests, a letter, signed by the Principal Investigator and an authorized institutional official, must be received by the appropriate Grants Management Specialist, Grants Management Branch, no later than 30 days prior to the grants Project Period End Date. The correspondence must explain the need for an additional no-cost extension, document the activities to be completed, specify the amount of remaining grant funds, and include a detailed description of the proposed use of unexpended funds (either a detailed budget or narrative description). If the FCOI policy applies to the current award, an Annual Report must be submitted via the eRA Commons according to the regulations. The request for the second no-cost extension will be evaluated by the Division of Extramural Science Programs.   The prior approval request should be submitted via email from an authorized institutional business official. Please note that a second no-cost extension for soley the completion of manuscripts will not be approved. Furthermore, additional no-cost extensions beyond the second one will not be considered.