| Research Advocate PDF Version February 2006 |
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Contents...
Funding Program Announcements |
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| UC Requirement to Submit All Proposals and to Receive All Awards for Grants and Contracts
The Vice Chancellor for Research issued the following memorandum to the campus on proposal submission and award acceptance. The memo is available in CALmessages. |
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NIH Delays R01 Transition to Grants.gov The National Institutes of Health has adjusted the timeline for electronic application submission, moving the date for R01 Research Project Grant submissions to the February 1, 2007 deadline. The transition date for U01 Research Cooperative Agreements has also shifted to allow this mechanism to transition with the other complex research mechanisms in October 2007. The notice is posted in the February 10 NIH Guide at: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-06-035.html. The revised timeline, updates on the status of the transition to electronic submission, and the new form set are posted on the NIH Electronic Submission of Grant Applications web site (http://era.nih.gov/ElectronicReceipt/index.htm). The new timeline will provide additional time to address business process and internal infrastructure changes needed to support this large endeavor. It also will provide NIH with the opportunity to bring together two major initiatives: electronic submission and allowing multiple principal investigators on research grant applications. NIH plans to pilot the multiple principal investigator initiative using the electronic SF424 (R&R) on select Requests for Applications (RFAs) for submission dates in the October 2006 timeframe. |
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| ProposalCENTRAL: Electronic Submission for Many Nonprofits
The American Cancer Society, the Burroughs Wellcome Fund, and the Universitywide AIDS Research Program are among the twenty nonprofit organizations that use ProposalCENTRAL for electronic proposal submission. ProposalCENTRAL is a web-based system that also provides online review of applications. Applicants first must register to start the process. The Sponsored Projects Office has already registered UC Berkeley as an institution in the system. The ProposalCENTRAL User ID for "Administrator" is Jyl Baldwin in SPO, who is registered as the signing official or authorized institutional representative. Applicants must, as with any electronic submission, first submit a printed copy of the proposal to SPO for review before submission. For ProposalCENTRAL applications, the printed copy will include a printout of web pages with application and budget information, along with the ProposalCENTRAL Signature Form. The printed Signature Form is signed by SPO, then sent to the agency, The ProposalCENTRAL web site is https://v2.ramscompany.com/. The site provides answers to frequently asked questions and tutorials on registering, creating an application, and using the system. |
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UC Riverside Hosting NIH Regional Seminar in May
The University of California, Riverside campus is hosting a National Institutes of Health Regional Seminar on Program Funding and Grants Administration beginning May 31, 2006. NIH seminars are intended to help demystify the application and review process, clarify Federal regulations and policies, and highlight current areas of special interest or concern. The UCR event includes several sessions on electronic research administration. The seminar will be held on May 31 and June 1, 2006; research administration computer labs are offered on June 2. Registration is $275 for the seminar and $70 for a computer lab. For more information and registration, see http://or.ucr.edu/event/about.aspx?ec=nih2006. | |
| NIH Launches Extramural Financial Operations Web Site
The National Institutes of Health has established a new web page on the agency's funding plans for the year. The NIH Financial Operations page, at http://grants.nih.gov/grants/financial/index.htm, provides the most recent information about NIH's financial operations plans, including the recent announcement that NIH will be reducing all 2006 noncompeting research grant awards by 2.35 percent. |
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| NIH Extramural Nexus
The NIH Office of Extramural Research (OER) has a new bimonthly publication for the external scientific community, the NIH Extramural Nexus. Through the Nexus, OER will provide the external scientific community with updates on NIH policies and activities as well as an opportunity to gain a better understanding of program operation. The Nexus web site is http://grants.nih.gov/grants/nexus.htm. There is also a listserv for email distribution of the publication. |
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| Research at Berkeley and Annual Report
The latest editions of SPO's annual publications, Research at Berkeley and Sponsored Projects Annual Report, are now available on the SPO web site. The brochure and the annual report provide information on campus awards and on faculty honors during the past fiscal year. Research at Berkeley is available at http://www.spo.berkeley.edu/Annual/research/research.html and the Annual Report is at http://www.spo.berkeley.edu/Annual/05annual.pdf. |
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| NIH Implementing Multiple-PI Policy
The National Institutes of Health is planning to begin implementing the new federal policy to allow more than one principal investigator (PI) on individual research awards. NIH plans to make a multiple-PI option available for applications submitted in response to a selected group of Requests for Applications (RFAs) and Program Announcements (PAs) with May/June 2006 receipt dates and in the October time frame. Based on these pilots, NIH expects that multiple-PI options will become available for most investigator-initiated research grant applications beginning in January 2007. NIH has created a Multiple Principal Investigator web site to provide general information on the new policy: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/multi_pi/. The NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts will include any notices on the new policy, RFAs, and program announcements. Many procedures for the NIH implementation of the policy to recognize formally multiple PIs on individual research awards are still in the planning stages. NIH looks forward to continued input from the scientific community. |
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| New NIH Program for Postdocs: "Pathways to Independence"
The National Institutes of Health is offering a new opportunity for postdoctoral scientists to receive both mentored and independent research support from the same award, the NIH Pathways to Independence Award. The program features a new opportunity for promising postdoctoral scientists to receive both mentored and independent research support from the same award. The program will provide up to five years of support consisting of two phases. The initial phase will provide one to two years of mentored support for highly promising, postdoctoral research scientists. This phase will be followed by up to three years of independent support contingent on securing an independent research position. Award recipients will be expected to compete successfully for independent R01 support from the NIH during the career transition award period. The first application deadline (receipt date) is April 7, 2006, then standard deadline dates will apply. Information about the program is on the NIH New Investigator Web site, http://grants.nih.gov/grants/new_investigators/index.htm. |
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| NCURA Workshop on Grants.gov
The next NCURA satellite workshop, "Grants.gov: Working Towards a Common Vision," will take place on Tuesday, March 7, 2006, from 8:30 a.m. until 12:30 p.m. in Sibley Auditorium in the Bechtel Engineering Center. There is no charge for the event, but due to limited seating, attendees must register at http://www.spo.berkeley.edu/workshop/ncuraworkshop.html. For those who cannot attend, the DVD recording of the workshop will be available near the end of March for departments to borrow. This workshop will provide an overview of Grants.gov, the current status of its FIND and APPLY functions, and plans for future initiatives. In addition, senior federal agency leaders will present on the development of the Standard Form (SF) 424 R&R and federal agency implementations of the 424 R&R and grant submission through Grants.gov. University participants will discuss challenges and implementation strategies for Grants.gov and electronic research administration. Participants include Jean Feldman, Head, Policy Office, National Science Foundation; Marcia L. Hahn, Director, Division of Grants Policy Office of Policy for Extramural Research Administration, OER, National Institutes of Health; and Rebecca Spitzgo, Program Manager, Grants.gov. |
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| Campus Training Resources
SPO and the Vice Chancellor for Research Office will be offering the following NCURA live satellite workshops during the coming year. DVDs will also be available for departments to borrow.
SPO has DVDs of the following past workshops available. To borrow a DVD, contact Betty Roberts (2-8112, bkrobert@berkeley.edu).
Other suggested training:
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