Certificate Series: Registration Open

The following Certificate Series announcement was issued January 7, 2015.

MU Research Community,

As you welcome a new year, please consider attending one, a few, or all of the OSPA Certificate Series for Specialized Grants Training sessions planned for 2015. A new registration page provides the details for scheduled sessions—including proposal development, budget development, ePSRS, F&A, and more!—and the full range of offerings to be scheduled for the year: https://apps.orcs.missouri.edu/ospa_training/

Or from the OSPA homepage, look for Training Registration in the quick-links sidebar.

Certificate Series: More Courses Now Open for Registration!

The following Certificate Series announcement was issued March 10, 2015.

OSPA Certificate Series sessions through August are now open for registration! Topics include the following:

• Budget Development *Tomorrow, Wednesday, March 11, 8:30am. Seats remain! Please join us!
• Notice of Grant Award (NGA), Acceptance, and Establishment of an Award
• PeopleSoft Grants Module Financial Reports and Queries
• Allowability 
• Management of Award
• Federal Contracts
• Subawards and Consulting Agreements
• Cost Sharing 

View full details (including course descriptions, day/time, and location) and register here: https://apps.orcs.missouri.edu/ospa_training/

Grant Fact Sheet Update: Human Subject Research and Animal Use Assurances

MU Grants Community

A new version of the Grant Fact Sheet, dated 4/21/215, is available on the OSPA website. Please access the current version here, noting the following changes.

Page 3: Human Subject Research and Animal Use Assurances

NIH Notices: Reporting Publications in the RPPR | Application Compliance Reminder

MU Grants Community,

Please review the following NIH Notices:

• Reporting Publications in the Research Performance Progress Report (RPPR) (NOT-OD-15-090)
  Awardees are encouraged to electronically report any publications found in Table 1 of the RPPR which were previously reported using the paper 2590 process or as part of a competing renewal application. This transitional, one-time measure to report each publication electronically in the RPPR ensures that NIH systems can store all appropriate award-publication associations. 

• Reminder: NIH Policy on Application Compliance (NOT-OD-15-095)
  Application non-compliance can have serious consequences. NIH may withdraw any application identified during the receipt, referral and review process that is not compliant with the instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide, the Funding Opportunity Announcement, and relevant NIH Guide Notices. 

Should you have questions about the applicability of these policies to current or anticipated projects, please contact your OSPA Pre-Award or Post-Award staff.

Notice to NSF Applicants: Important Information Regarding Automated Compliance Checking of NSF Proposals

MU Grants Community,

Please see the notice below from the National Science Foundation regarding new automated compliance checks at proposal submission, effective April 24, 2015.

As a reminder, the memo linked here from OSPA Director Craig David, dated February 27, 2015, provides MU submission guidelines to ensure adequate time for proposal review and successful submission. Under this policy, a complete and final proposal, accompanied by the necessary internal approvals, must be received by the Office of Sponsored Programs Administration (OSPA) at least five (5) business days prior to the sponsor’s due date and time.

Please contact your OSPA pre-award staff with questions.

Dear Colleagues:

On April, 24, 2015, the National Science Foundation (NSF) will release updates to FastLane that may impact the way you work. Proposals submitted in response to Program Solicitations in FastLane will undergo a series of automated proposal compliance validation checks to ensure they comply with requirements outlined in the PAPPG (Chapter II.C.2 of the Grants Proposal Guide (GPG)). These checks will automatically validate a proposal for compliance against proposal sections per type of funding mechanism. For example, an error message will appear if a project description or budget are not provided in proposals submitted in response to a Program Solicitation.

Grant Connections - April 2015

Wednesday, April 29, 2015 (next week, not this week!)
11:00 a.m. – noon
Room 572 of the Bond Life Sciences Center

Agenda

• Hot Topics including, but not limited to, the new NIH biosketch format effective for application deadlines on or after May 26, 2015. As always, bring your own hot topics! 
• FY14 A-133 Single Audit Report. Jeremy Cox (OSPA) will provide an overview and context for the University’s fiscal year 2014 Single Audit. The audit report was issued on March 16, 2015.
• “At Award” Panel Discussion. Hannah Clampitt and Megan White (OSPA) and Brandi Clements (College of Education) will lead a discussion and Q&A about what goes on behind the scenes from the time the University receives a Notice of Award to when OSPA issues the Grant Award Summary (MoCode), indicating that work on the sponsored project can begin. 

Mark your calendars! Meetings are scheduled for the following dates.

• May 27, 2015 
• June 24, 2015 
• July 29, 2015 
• August 26, 2015 
• September 23, 2015 
• October 28, 2015

Grant Connections Organizational Crew (send your suggestions)

• Liz Bent, Grants & Contracts Administrator, CAFNR 
• Marty Carter, Senior Business Operations Associate, School of Medicine 
• Brandi Clements, Grants & Contracts Administrator, College of Education 
• Craig David, Director, OSPA 
• Jill Ferguson, Pre-award Compliance Manager, OSPA 
• Sheryl Koenig, Grant Proposal Coordinator, Bond Life Sciences Center 
• Julia Rodriguez, Grants & Contracts Administrator, Bond Life Sciences Center 
• Jamie Szabo, Post-award Compliance Manager, OSPA 

Please share this post with anyone else associated with research who you think might be interested in attending.

Grant Fact Sheet Update: Graduate Student Support Program (GSSP) Rates

MU Grants Community,

A new version of the Grant Fact Sheet, dated 4/14/2015, is available on the OSPA website. Please access the current version here, noting the following changes:

Page 4: Graduate Student Support Program (GSSP) Rates: Tuition and Fee Costs

Institutional Minimum Graduate Research and Teaching Assistant Stipends and Graduate Student Medical Insurance sections will be updated with 2015-2016 rates as soon as they are available.

InFocus F&A Quarterly Newsletter

The latest issue of the InFocue F&A Quarterly Newsletter was distributed on Thursday, April 16, 2015.  Key topics include the PeopleSoft Finance/Supply Chain Upgrade, Space Survey details, and A-133 Audit updates.  Read the full newsletter here.

Update on NIH and NSF Implementations of the OMB Uniform Guidance | Revised NIH Grants Policy Statement | NSF FAQs

Grants Community,

Please take note of the following federal agency announcements:

National Institutes of Health (NIH) issued NOT-OD-15-087 regarding publication of a revised NIH Grants Policy Statement (GPS), dated 3/31/2015. The revised NIH GPS is effective for all NIH grants and cooperative agreements with a budget period beginning on or after December 26, 2014, and awards receiving supplemental funds on or after that date. The 3/31/2015 revision supersedes, in its entirety, the NIH Grants Policy Statement (10/01/2013) and the NIH Interim General Grant Conditions (2/5/2015) as a standard term and condition of the award. A “Significant Changes” document summarizes the revision: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/policy/nihgps/Significant_Changes_NIHGPS.pdf

National Science Foundation (NSF) issued a set of frequently asked questions (FAQs) on its implementation the OMB Uniform Guidance. The FAQs will be updated periodically as additional questions arise. http://www.nsf.gov/bfa/dias/policy/faqs/faqs_2cfr200.pdf

The OMB Uniform Guidance page on the OSPA website is revised to reflect these updates. Should you have questions about the applicability of the policies to current or anticipated projects, please contact your OSPA Pre-Award or Post-Award staff.

NIH and AHRQ Reminder: Biosketch Requirements for Due Dates on or After May 25, 2015

Important reminder to NIH and AHRQ applicants!

The new biosketch format is required for applications submitted to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Agency for Health Research and Quality (AHRQ) for due dates on or after May 25, 2015. Biosketch format pages, instructions, samples and FAQs are available on the Biosketches section of the SF424 (R&R) Forms and Applications page. NIH encourages applicants to use SciENcv (the Science Experts Network Curriculum Vitae system) to generate their biosketches in the new format.  

For more information, listen to the NIH “ALL About Grants” podcasts:

• Understanding NIH’s Biosketch Requirements (mp3 and transcript)
• Using SciENcv to Create an NIH Biosketch (mp3 and transcript)

and watch the SciENcv You Tube video.

Please contact Jill Ferguson (fergusonjs@missouri.edu) or your OSPA Pre-Award staff with questions.