January 30, 2015

NIH Notices: Grants.gov Outage Feb 13-17 | Application Submission Reminders | FY 2015 Legislative Mandates

MU Grants Community,

Please take note of the following NIH and AHRQ Notices:

  • Adjustments to NIH and AHRQ Grant Application Due Dates Between February 13 and February 18, 2015, for Grants.gov Planned System Outage (NOT-OD-15-057)
Grants.gov will be unavailable from February 14, 2015 at 12:01 AM ET to Tuesday, February 17, 2015 at 6:00 AM ET. Due dates that fall on or between February 13 and February 18, 2015 will move to February 19, 2015.

  • Reminders Related to the NIH/AHRQ Policy for Application Submission (NOT-OD-15-059)
The basic requirements for allowable applications have not changed with the updated NIH/AHRQ policy on application submission (see NOT-OD-14-074 and NOT-OD-14-082). Investigators now may submit a New Application, following an unsuccessful application, without concern for scientific overlap with previously reviewed applications.

  • Notice of Legislative Mandates in Effect for FY 2015 (NOT-OD-15-054)
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.

January 16, 2015

Updates Coming to FastLane and Research.gov

MU Research Community,

Please see the following communication from the National Science Foundation regarding important updates to the proposal preparation and submission process. Should you have questions, please contact Jill Ferguson (fergusonjs@missouri.edu) or your OSPA pre-award staff.

On January 26, 2015, the National Science Foundation (NSF) will release updates to FastLane and Research.gov that may impact the way you work. This update will implement revised policy and incorporate feedback received from NSF staff and the research community.

Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guide (PAPPG) (NSF 15-1)

January 12, 2015

Grant Connections - January 2015

Wednesday, January 28, 2015
11:00 a.m. – noon
Room 572 (Collaboratory) of the Bond Life Sciences Center


Please join us for our first meeting of 2015.


Agenda
  • Hot Topics
  • FDP Meeting Updates – Jill Ferguson will share information on federal agency updates, DATA Act, SciENcv, and new biosketch formats.
  • Uniform Guidance – a closer look at Subaward Program Reports – A diverse panel (department/college administrator, PI, OSPA) will answer questions about the changes to subaward reporting requirements.
  • Electronic EVRs – Jamie Szabo will give an update on Electronic EVRs followed by Q&A.

January 5, 2015

NIH Notices: FY2015 Funding

MU Grants Community,

Please take note of the following NIH Notices applicable to FY2015 funding:

  • NIH Fiscal Policy for Grant Awards - FY2015 (NOT-OD-15-050)
    Non-competing continuation awards that have already been made in FY 2015 were generally funded at levels below that indicated on the most recent Notice of Award (generally up to 90% of the previously committed level). Such reductions may be fully or partially restored, depending on the Institute or Center. Non-competing continuation grants (research and non-research) including those that remain to be issued in FY 2015 likely will be made within the range between the commitment level indicated on the Notice of Award and 3 percent below that level. 
  • Notice of Salary Limitation on Grants, Cooperative Agreements, and Contracts (NOT-OD-15-049)
    For FY 2015, direct salary is restricted to Executive Level II of the Federal Executive pay scale. The Executive Level II salary is currently set at $181,500, increasing to $183,300 effective January 11, 2015. Questions & Answers and examples of adjustments are provided in the Notice. 
  • Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) Stipends, Tuition/Fees and Other Budgetary Levels Effective for Fiscal Year 2015 (NOT-OD-15-048)
    Current stipend levels are to be used in the preparation of future competing and non-competing NRSA institutional training grant and individual fellowship applications. They will be administratively applied to all applications currently in the review process. 
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.

December 30, 2014

NIH Notices: Biosketches | Genomic Data Sharing | Late Submissions | Resubmissions

Please take note of the following NIH Notices:
  • Update: New Biographical Sketch Format Required for NIH and AHRQ Grant Applications Submitted for Due Dates on or After May 25, 2015 (NOT-OD-15-032)
NIH and AHRQ will require use of the new biosketch format for all applications submitted for due dates on or after May 25, 2015. Between now and that time, applicants will have the choice of using the old or new biosketch format. This Notice supersedes a prior notice specifying that the new format would be required for applications submitted for due dates on or after January 25, 2015.
  • Reminder for the Extramural Scientific Community: Implementation of the Genomic Data Sharing Policy Begins January 25, 2015 (NOT-OD-15-027)
The NIH Genomic Data Sharing (GDS) Policy becomes effective with NIH grant applications submitted for the January 25, 2015, due date and thereafter. The policy sets forth expectations that ensure the broad and responsible sharing of genomic research data. The GDS Policy applies to all NIH-funded research that generates large-scale human or non-human genomic data, regardless of the funding level, as well as the use of these data for subsequent research. 
  • Simplifying the NIH Policy for Late Application Submission (NOT-OD-15-039)
Effective for applications submitted for due dates on or after January 25, 2015, there is a two week window of consideration after the application due date, during which time NIH might consider accepting a late application. This is a significant change from previous policy, which tied different late windows of consideration to different types of applications and provided no late window of consideration for applications submitted to any funding opportunity with special application due dates.
  • NIH Modification to Guidance on Marking Changes in Resubmission Applications (NOT-OD-15-030)
NIH has removed the requirement to identify “substantial scientific changes” in the text of a Resubmission application by “bracketing, indenting, or change of typography.” Effective immediately, it is sufficient to outline the changes made to the Resubmission application in the Introduction attachment.



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. 

December 23, 2014

Grant Fact Sheet Update: New Mileage Rates

MU Grants Community, 

A new version of the Grant Fact Sheet, dated 12/23/2014, is available on the OSPA website. Please access the current version here, noting new mileage rates on page 3.

December 5, 2014

OSPA Update

MU Grants Community,

Greetings from OSPA! It is a busy time of year and – as we all well know – research doesn’t take a holiday. The following update covers several key developments and items of note. Should you have any questions, please contact your OSPA Pre-Award or Post-Award staff.

Sponsored Programs Procedure Guide (SPPG) and Forms
The OSPA website is updated with revisions to the SPPG and the OSPA Forms page. The image below describes revisions and additions in detail. Please note in particular that a new F&A Waiver form replaces the Request for University Contribution (RUC) form, effective immediately. RUC forms currently in process can proceed; we will not refuse the old forms but will ask that you use the new form for your next request.


OMB Uniform Guidance
On December 1, the UM System Controller’s Office and MU OSPA provided a campus training session on the new Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Uniform Guidance for Federal Awards that will become effective December 26, 2014. Presentation slides are available on the MU OSPA OMB Uniform Guidance page.

NSF Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG) (NSF 15-1)
NSF has released its implementation of the OMB Uniform Guidance by way of a revised PAPPG (NSF 15-1), effective for (1) proposals with submission deadlines on or after December 26, 2014, and (2) awards issued on or after December 26, 2014. Until the effective date, the guidelines contained in the current PAPPG (NSF 14-1) continue to apply. A brief summary of the significant changes is included below for reference.

October 30, 2014

NIH Grantees: Disregard Reference to Form 2590 in Reminders for Non-SNAP Reports

The following notice was issued by the eRA Division of Communication and Outreach on Wednesday, October 29, 2014.

All Non-SNAP progress reports submitted on or after October 17, 2014 are required to be submitted using the Research Performance Progress Report (RPPR) format, per Guide Notices NOT-OD-14-092 and NOT-OD-15-014,

Please disregard the language in the Progress Report Reminder email notifications that references using form PHS 2590 - Grant Progress Report.  We will be updating the language in the reminder notifications, in a future release, to correctly reflect the requirement to use RPPR for all Non-SNAP progress reports.

We are sorry for any inconvenience it may cause.

eRA Communications
Division of Communications and Outreach

NIH Office of Extramural Research

Should you have questions, please contact your OSPA Pre-Award or Post-Award staff.

October 28, 2014

Grant Connections - October 2014

Wednesday, October 29, 2014
11:00 a.m. – noon
Room 572 (Collaboratory) of the Bond Life Sciences Center


Agenda
  • Open Floor and Hot Topics 
  • Grants and the Graduate School – Karen Gruen and Ruth Erwin
    The focus of the discussion will be the areas of the Graduate School’s processes and policies that impact sponsored projects, such as budgeting and best practices for paying student tuition and effort on sponsored projects.
  • Uniform Guidance 101– Julia Rodriguez
    Curious about the “why” before the “what” of the Uniform Guidance? Julia will provide a brief history of Federal Grant Reform that led to the Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards, effective December 26, 2014. 

October 23, 2014

eRA Information: Quick Queries are Moving in November

The following alert was issued by the Division of Communication and Outreach on Thursday, October 23, 2014.

Quick Queries are a series of search tools designed to help find important information concerning your NIH awarded grant(s) without the need for having an eRA Commons account. There are currently four query options available on the eRA Commons Quick Queries page:

In late November, these queries will all be moving to the eRA Commons system. You will be able to access all the queries from the eRA Commons home page (no log in required) using Commons Quick Queries link under Additional Links along the right side of the page. This move will result in a change in the URLs for each tool. If you have any of the tools bookmarked, please note that after the update the URL will no longer function and you will need to bookmark the new URLs.