| Receipt Dates and Budget Periods
Development and Review of Pilot Research Project Applications
Allowable Costs for Travel
Data Collection at Domestic and Foreign Performance Sites
Duration of Support Q. The funding support for pilot research projects is a line item in the budget for EARDA grants. What is the rationale for establishing receipt dates for pilot projects on February 1 (and April 1), while the budget years for EARDA grants range from January to December? A. The receipt date of February 1 is intended to ensure that pilot project PIs have the opportunity for their projects to be administratively reviewed and approved in time for start dates that coincide with or near the beginning of the summer sessions at their undergraduate institutions. Projects submitted by April 1 will have start dates in August. Q. If the earliest start dates for approved pilot projects begin in the mid-May/June time frame and the budget year for an EARDA grant begins in January, how can EARDA grantees reconcile the fact that the 12-month budget period for pilot projects will extend beyond the budget year for the EARDA grant? A. The grantee may carry over funds from one budget period to the next for approved pilot projects only. All unobligated balances for the budget period must be reported on the Financial Status Report (FSR); and unobligated funds for an approved pilot project may be noted in the carryover section of the FSR. Prior approval to use these funds in the next budget period is not required. Carryover of any other unobligated balance requires prior approval and the submission of the required documentation to the grants management specialist. Q. Pilot project line funds in EARDA budgets are restricted, pending written notification from the Grants Management Branch that the restriction has been lifted for all approved projects. After notification that a pilot project has been approved for support, should EARDA PIs anticipate that it will take in excess of one month for grants management to lift the restriction on funds for approved pilot projects? A. Because Grants Management Branch staff will receive notification from the EA Program once all assurances and approvals are in place, very little lag time should occur between receiving approval and sending the official pilot project approvals by e-mail from the Grants Management Branch to the grantee institution. Q. Is it necessary for EARDA PIs to wait for a new Notice of Grant Award before starting pilot projects that are approved for the upcoming budget year? A. Yes. Because type-5 awards do not have authority to spend funds outside of the designated budget period, the pilot projects PIs will have to wait to start projects until the appropriate budget period begins. Back to the top Q. An NIH panel recently made several suggestions for improving the peer-review process, including shortening the length of the research plan narrative in research project applications from 25 pages to seven pages. Will this suggestion apply to pilot project applications? A. No. Guidance on the format and recommended length of pilot research project applications is established in policy. Until such time that recommendations on reducing research project applications are vetted and approved by the trans-NIH Extramural Program Management Committee and a new policy disseminated, recommendations for reducing research project applications cannot be implemented by any component of NIH. Q. The EA Program does not assign scores to pilot research projects that are administratively reviewed for scientific merit. Why? A. For each EARDA grantee that submits pilot projects for support, the sum of the individual budgets is generally equal to or less than the pilot project budget line of $40,000. Accordingly, there is no requirement for assigning review scores because there is no competition among the pilot projects for support. Depending on scientific merit, 100% of the pilot projects submitted for administrative review may be supported. EARDA grantees that are unable to carry out their pre-selection process for meritorious pilot projects by the February 1 receipt date should consider submitting their projects for administrative review by the second receipt date, April 1. Back to the top Q. Up to $1,500 is allowed for air travel and hotel for a pilot project PI and student to attend one scientific meeting. How does the EA Program plan to address the disparate costs of air travel for EARDA pilot project PIs and students who reside outside the continental United States (i.e., Hawaii, Puerto Rico, etc.)? A. With appropriate justification, up to $2,000 may be requested for air travel and hotel for a pilot project PI and student who reside outside the continental United States to attend a scientific meeting. Back to the top Q. Please clarify the rules about using pilot project funds to support foreign studies. Can data be collected in a foreign country if the research does not involve testing in human subjects? A. Data collection at foreign performance sites is not allowable under the G11 grant mechanism. The G11 grant mechanism was specifically developed to support capacity development in research administration at domestic women’s colleges and institutions with significant racial and ethnic minority student enrollments; support of pilot projects under the EARDA grant award is intended to enhance the research infrastructure at such institutions by increasing faculty participation in the research enterprise. More generally in regard to NIH grant mechanisms that support research at foreign performance sites (i.e., R01, R03, etc.), the inclusion of a foreign performance site in a study can only be justified if the research involves a foreign population, the collection of non-domestic animal specimens, or the use of instrumentation not available domestically. Back to the top Q. What is the maximum period of support for pilot project PIs under the EARDA grant award? A. Starting in 2008, programs funded under PAR-05-053 with two or more years remaining on the five-year grant award may, at their discretion, fund new pilot projects for one-year and/or two-year project periods. - Awards for pilot project reviewed and approved for two years of support are not renewable. This means that a faculty member may compete for only two years of pilot project support during the five-year EARDA project period, without prior approval from the EA Program.
- PIs of pilot projects reviewed and approved for a one-year project period may compete for an additional year of support for the same or a different project during the five-year EARDA project period, without prior approval from the EA Program.
Q. If the EARDA PI successfully competes for a competitive renewal grant award, would a previous awardee of pilot project funds be eligible to compete at his/her institution for EARDA pilot project support? A. The revised policy on EARDA supported pilot projects reflects three considerations: - Pilot research projects differ in terms of the time required to collect and analyze data;
- Pilot projects are currently reviewed for scientific merit as well as compliance with regulatory guidance on human subjects and the care and use of animals in research, if applicable; and
- Pilot project support is intended to enable PIs to use the preliminary data to garner research support for an expanded research project using the NIH small grant (R03), Academic Research Enhancement Award (AREA) grant (R15), or related mechanisms from other funding agencies.
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