National Institute of
General Medical Sciences

No. Applicants are expected to propose plans for at least two of the funding areas based on the needs identified in an organizational assessment (see the Research Strategy in Section IV of PAR-24-268). Overlap across the three funding areas are allowed and encouraged, if applicable.

This page has the general format instructions for NIH applications. Follow those, unless the BRE-SPAD NOFO or a Notice (see Part I, Related Notice of the NOFO) has different instructions. From the BRE-SPAD webpage > Scroll to the 'Things to do Before Applying' section > Click the link in the last bullet of that section 'Review required and suggested application page lengths for key application components'. Segment One of the Overview of Application Video in the BRE-SPAD applicant video series explains how to locate and use instructions.

These activities could be open to non-biomedical faculty, but the activities should be designed to increase faculty competitiveness for externally funded biomedical research or research training awards.

Yes, unfunded applicants can apply again as long as they are still eligible. However, since resubmission applications are not allowed, all subsequent applications must be submitted as a new type of application.

The maximum project period is five years for one award. The award may be renewed once, for a maximum of up to 10 years of funding per organization; however, renewal applications are not guaranteed funding and are dependent upon successful outcomes and the availability of resources.

Information about the NIH grants process, resources and general FAQs can be found here.

Slides and videos from the NIGMS Grant Writing Webinar Series for Institutions Building Research and Research Training Capacity are available here. NIH's page with information and resources on the NIH grants process is here.

The application should cover all items included in Part 6c, Section IV of PAR-24-268. Note that specific research projects should not be described in the application. If the application is funded, pilot project requests should follow the instruction listed under Section VI of PAR-24-268, Part 2, Prior Approval of Pilot Projects.

No, only one application can be submitted per institution. Only one application per organization is allowed. An applicant organization can only hold one BRE-SPAD award at a time, but may simultaneously participate in BRE-SPAD programs awarded to other organizations.

See Section III of PAR-24-268 for complete eligibility information for the program. These written instructions [PDF] walk through organizational eligibility and how to determine NIH funding and biomedical Ph.D. conferment levels.

No. Programs should be designed based on the needs identified in the Organizational Assessment of the Research Strategy (see Section IV of PAR-24-268). Applications among multiple participating organizations are encouraged and may promote sharing of research administration functions, personnel, electronic systems, or forming alliances to organize central offices such as Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) or Institutional Animal Care and Use Committees (IACUCs). If multiple participating organizations are proposed, all participating organizations should benefit from the BRE-SPAD program. Partner organization(s) will collaborate with the participating organization(s) to provide expertise and services.

From Section III, Eligibility, of PAR-24-268, sponsored programs or research development associations can be applicant organizations provided other BRE-SPAD eligibility criteria are met. However, if such organizations apply, any funds requested cannot go towards development of the professional association, but must go toward building research capacity at one or more organizations of higher education that meet the NIH funding level and doctoral degree conferment, or HBCU, TCU status eligibility criteria described in the NOFO.

No, an applicant does not have to currently offer or plan to offer doctoral degrees to be eligible for BRE-SPAD funding. The eligibility criterion for levels of biomedical research doctorates conferred as an average of five or fewer does include zero biomedical doctorates conferred (see PAR-24-268 for full definition). The BRE-SPAD program aims to support the needs of organizations that are in different stages of biomedical research capacity building.

NIH may not use the race, ethnicity, or sex (including gender identity, sexual orientation, or transgender status) of a trainee or faculty candidate as an eligibility, review or selection criteria. The definition of most MSI organizations is based on student enrollment — this is a proxy for race/ethnicity which makes using this status to determine eligibility (or for funding decisions) impermissible. Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) and Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCU) are exceptions as they are defined according to federal statutes that do not incorporate undergraduate student demographics.

BRE-SPAD is for Resource Limited Institutions as defined in the NOFO PAR-24-268, according to NIH funding levels and biomedical PhD conferment levels (which includes many MSIs) or specific federal executive orders that define HBCUs and Tribal entities as resource limited.

No. Application budgets cannot exceed more than $500,000 Direct Costs/year. NIH policy excludes consortium/contractual F&A when determining if an applicant is in compliance with the direct cost limitation.

Foreign components, as defined in the NIH Grants Policy Statement, are not allowed.

Wage compensation for students involved in biomedical research is allowable as applicable in post-award Pilot Research Project funding. Awardees cannot use BRE-SPAD funds for stipends or tuition. BRE-SPAD is not an NRSA program.

No. Please refer to the NIH Science Education Partnership Award (SEPA) that supports educational activities for pre-college students.

No, what is requested in the budget has to be commensurate with the level of effort devoted to the project within the scope of the overall proposal. NIH may make line-item reductions to requested budgets for awards made depending on the justification, programmatic discretion and the availability of funds.

While it is against NIH policy to incentivize proposal submissions (NIH Grants Policy Statement Section 7.9.1), included in the BRE-SPAD NOFO Section IV, under R&R Budget, are examples of personnel time that could be included in a BRE-SPAD budget, such as "...research-teaching postdocs to help with teaching load and research, hiring of adjunct instructors or others to offset teaching load, and other personnel time needed to develop curriculum, resources, new policies and procedures and implement award activities."

Total funding requested for equipment is not limited, however, only up to $75,000 can be requested towards any single piece of equipment. Requests for general use equipment (for example, autoclaves, hoods, refrigerator) that will be broadly shared are allowed. Single-user equipment is allowable as applicable within post-award Pilot Research funding only. Single-user equipment is defined as items for which at least 75% of the total time used is from a single research team.

PRP program costs should be requested as a lump sum line item amount within the SF424 R&R Budget Form under Section F, "Other Direct Costs." As exact PRP costs are not determined at time of application, do not include a detailed budget breakdown for PRP costs in the application budget pages.

Construction and modernization as a primary purpose is not allowable outside of a construction grant and BRE-SPAD is not a construction grant. Minor Alteration and Renovation (A&R) can be proposed if well justified. Refer to the NIH Grants Policy Statement Section 10.1 for more information on such activities.

After reviewing instructions for determining this data and no or incomplete data is shown for your institution, it is possible that your institution does not offer doctorates in one or more of the areas specified. Please verify this data with your institution. All applicants should address eligibility in the required Organizational Eligibility & Commitment Letter which will be included in the application.

See here for step-by-step guidance for how to find this information in the publicly available National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS).

BRE-SPAD does not define this universally. Examples could include participation levels of undergraduates in biomedical research, biomedical related career/further educational outcomes of students, levels of engagement of faculty in biomedical research, external grant applications for biomedical research funding, etc. Applicants are encouraged to describe success measures that are specific to their organization(s).

All applications must include a Resource Sharing Plan following the instructions in the SF424 Application Guide. Because the scope is limited to Sharing Model Organisms and Research Tools, these areas are not likely to apply to a BRE-SPAD application. If so, in the Resource Sharing Plan, explain what is not applicable and why.

Data on the current biomedical research faculty pool will help reviewers to assess the need for the proposed PRP program by providing details on the potential faculty who could apply to and would benefit from the program. Applicants should include information on the fields of study for the potential faculty participants. Please remember that all potential PRP faculty participants must be engaged in biomedical research areas within the missions of NIH institutes and centers. If the current biomedical faculty pool is limited at your organization, please describe plans to recruit additional faculty. Although it is not required, applicants are strongly encouraged to include letters of support from any interested faculty who would be candidates for the program. The potential candidates should describe their general research area and indicate how it is within the mission of NIH. Specific pilot research projects should not be described.

Each participating organization (as defined in Section I of PAR-24-268 and summarized on the BRE-SPAD webpage) should have a PD/PI with the following roles. Organizations of higher education should have at least one PD/PI that is an academic administrator (for example, Chair, Dean, Provost). For applicants that are not organizations of higher education, a PD/PI in a leadership position, as defined by the applicant organization, is required. See Section III of PAR-24-268 for additional information. As noted under Section III of PAR-24-268, multiple PD/PI applications are allowed.

Choice of mentors depends on the roles of the PIs in the project aims and the activities and goals of the proposed program. For example, if two of the PIs are Office of Sponsored Programs (SP) personnel, whose role as PI in BRE-SPAD would be to grow SP databases or workflow, it might make sense for them to share a mentor. But if one of those PIs was instead a Dean or Provost of Research, whose BRE-SPAD role was to revise or create policies on workload or tenure, then that PI would probably need a different mentor, one that has relevant experience. Applicants should explain why their mentor(s) will be appropriate for their proposed plans. Ideal mentors are employed at an organization with a level of biomedical research capacity similar to that which the participating organization is trying to attain.

While not expected for most applications, Steering Committee and/or PD/PI Mentors to have either a paid effort on the grant or Senior/Key personnel roles could be proposed with strong justification if their contributions will rise to that level of significance. However, this is not required and is not expected for most projects. More information on Senior/Key Personnel can be found here.