Sponsor News & Updates

Special Guidance on NIH R15 (AREA and REAP) Programs

NSF Updates
Grant Proposal Guide Changes for 2019 (Complete guide of changes and descriptions)

NSF fundamental change for 2019

NSF changes are in effect for proposals due on or after January 28, 2019. A summary of changes/clarifications for the new proposal guidance is available here:
NSF - https://www.nsf.gov/publications/pub_summ.jsp?ods_key=nsf19001 (includes a section at the beginning that summarizes all changes)

**Please note the following represents key changes only, and researchers should refer to the full proposal guidance documents when preparing proposal packages.

For NSF, there is one significant clarification impacting ALL proposals and proposal types: The description of the work to be performed by the subaward must be included in the project description. This means that you must now explicitly describe what each subrecipient will be responsible for in the description of the research to be conducted. There are additional changes/clarifications related to conference proposals with respect to budgeting participant support, new requirements for policy/code of conduct related to harassment, and inclusion of collaborator spreadsheets for conference proposals in excess of $50,000.

If you have questions regarding this information or need help with a proposal you are working on, please feel free to contact your sponsored projects administrator at OSP@memphis.edu or a Research Development team member at ResearchDev@memphis.edu. If you have questions concerning human subjects, please contact irb@memphis.edu.

NIH Updates
2019 Changes to NIH R15 Program (Complete guide of changes and descriptions)

NIH fundamental change for 2019

NIH changes are in effect for proposals due on or after January 25, 2019.

A summary of the updates may be found in this notice: https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-18-229.html

**Please note the following represents key changes only, and you should refer to the full proposal guidance documents when preparing your proposal packages.

There are two significant sets of clarifications: the first relates to who must complete attachments related to human subjects and clinical trials; the second is a change in the review criteria related to significance and approach sections that will impact how you present information in your research plan.

Changes related to the information required/forms for Human Subjects and Clinical Trials are related to Section 2 (Study Population Characteristics) and clarify that subsections on recruitment and retention plans, recruitment status, study timeline, and enrollment of first subject form/information requirements must be completed by everyone, unless Exemption 4 is selected. Details may be found here: https://grants.nih.gov/grants/how-to-apply-application-guide/forms-e/general/g.500-phs-human-subjects-and-clinical-trials-information.htm#2
Review Criteria for significance and approach now include reference to "rigor of prior research." Specifically, instead of asking reviewers to assess "Is there a strong scientific premise for the project?" in Significance, they will now be asked to assess "Is the prior research that serves as the key support for the proposed project rigorous?" And in Approach, they will now be instructed to consider, "Have the investigators included plans to address weaknesses in the rigor of prior research that serves as the key support for the proposed project?"

Please also note that NIH issued an announcement of planned changes to the R15 AREA grant proposal on December 3 2018 that may be found here:https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-19-015.html. These work to the general advantage of U of M as NIH will now be separating R15 funding for undergraduate-focused versus health professional and graduate schools. The $6 million total support from NIH cap in 4 of the past 7 federal fiscal years still applies; and an institutional letter verifying eligibility with the criteria listed in the funding opportunity announcement will now be required with each application.