NIH FY 2007 Fiscal Policy for Noncompeting Grant Awards

From: Berg, Jeremy (NIH/NIGMS) [E]
Sent: Tuesday, March 1, 2007 12:45 PM
To: NIGMS Principal Investigators
Subject: NIH FY 2007 Fiscal Policy for Noncompeting Grant Awards

Dear NIGMS Principal Investigator:

Now that it has an appropriation for the remainder of Fiscal Year 2007, NIH has issued a notice (http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-07-049.html) fully implementing the fiscal policy it announced on December 15, 2006 (http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-07-030.html).

I am writing to let you know that in line with the terms of this policy, we will pay noncompeting research grant awards (except career awards and SBIR/STTR awards, as noted below) at 97.1% of the FY 2007 committed level and will adjust future-year commitments accordingly. We will revise noncompeting awards issued earlier in FY 2007 at reduced levels (typically 80%) to restore funds to the 97.1% level.

We will fund noncompeting career awards and noncompeting SBIR/STTR awards at the full commitment level. We will pay noncompeting Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) individual fellowships and institutional training grants in accordance with the funding policy described in the notice, Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) Stipend and Other Budgetary Levels Effective for Fiscal Year 2007 (http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-07-052.html).

We recognize the difficulties that scientists and institutions affected by the NIH fiscal policy face, but as stated in the December 2006 notice (http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-07-030.html), NIH believes that these steps are necessary to manage its portfolio of investments in biomedical research. That notice identifies a number of goals, including maintaining the stability of the NIH investigator pool by funding a similar number of competing research project grants each year and maintaining opportunities for new investigators to compete successfully for funding.

NIH has also issued these notices related to FY 2007 funding:
--Notice of Legislative Mandates in Effect for FY 2007, http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-07-050.html
--Salary Limitation on Grants, Cooperative Agreements, and Contracts, http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-07-051.html

Additional information on NIH FY 2007 extramural financial operations, including links to the funding strategies of individual institutes and centers, is at http://grants.nih.gov/grants/financial/index.htm. A direct link to the NIGMS Fiscal Year 2007 Financial Management Plan is /About/Budget/pages/FY2007Plan.aspx.

In closing, I would like to remind you of the opportunity through March 20 to provide input for the NIGMS strategic planning process, which will guide our decision-making over the next 5 years. Please go to (link disabled) to respond to any or all of the questions we’ve posed and/or to give us your thoughts on other relevant topics. Your input is anonymous...and is greatly appreciated.

Best,

Jeremy M. Berg
Director
National Institute of General Medical Sciences
bergj@mail.nih.gov