Recovery Act: Administrative Supplements to Support Core Consolidation

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009

NIH Announces the Availability of Recovery Act Funds for Administrative Supplements to Support Core Consolidation (NOT-RR-10-001)

This initiative is being offered by the NIH to help fulfill the goals of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (Recovery ActExternal Link: Please review our disclaimer.) to help stimulate the economy through support of biomedical and behavioral research. Additional information on the Recovery Act and related NIH opportunities is available through the Office of Extramural Research.

With this Administrative Supplements initiative, NIH announces the opportunity for investigators and U.S. institutions with active funded Program Project/Center (P) and Collaborative Agreement (U) research grants that support core facilities to request administrative supplements for the purpose of consolidating multiple cores into a single, more efficient core.  For the purposes of this Notice, a core facility is defined as a centralized shared resource that provides access to instruments, technologies, services, as well as expert consultation to biomedical or behavioral investigators.  This is a broad definition that covers instrument intensive facilities as well as facilities that offer advice concerning experimental design or data interpretation.

The goal of this Notice is to allow institutions that have multiple cores to consolidate those facilities into a single, more efficient, core.  This Notice would allow cores supported by multiple ICs at the same institution to consolidate if the ICs agree that this action is appropriate.  NIH intends to issue only one administrative supplement per consolidation.  Costs for the ongoing core as well as the retiring core(s) should be submitted as part of a single administrative supplement.  If consolidating cores funded by multiple ICs, a letter/e-mail from the Program Officer of each award should be included in the supplement request indicating approval of the plans to change the existing core.

Examples of situations that are responsive to this Notice include:

• Merging two biomedical/behavioral core facilities in different departments or on different campuses of the same institution to a single core.  These cores could have been initiated by the institution or created as a result of NIH awards.
• Moving equipment acquired by a single investigator and used by a small cadre of biomedical/behavioral researchers into a core facility where it would be accessible to a much larger group of investigators.
• Consolidating cores in two different technologies (cell sorting and sequencing, for example) into a larger single facility.  Such a move should allow cross training of staff in multiple techniques and would allow the cores to share centralized billing and scheduling infrastructure.
• Merging core facilities at different institutions into a single facility that serves the needs at both institutions.

This list is exemplary rather than exhaustive or prescriptive.

To be eligible for an Administrative Supplement to Support Core Consolidation:

• The parent grant must be an active U or P award with a core facility funded by NIMH.  Projects currently in a no-cost extension are NOT eligible to apply.
• The core consolidation activities proposed in the supplement must be accomplished within the current competitive segment
• The proposed administrative supplement MUST be within the general scope of the peer-reviewed activities and aims approved for the parent grant
• Supplements can request no more than $500,000 in equipment.  Supplements can request no more than $500,000 for alteration and renovation.  Supplements can request no more than $200,000 (direct costs) for other costs such as personnel and supplies.  A particular supplement can contain a request for equipment, renovations, and other costs although all supplements may not require all three categories of support. 

Review and Selection Criteria:     

Administrative supplement requests to support core consolidation will first be reviewed administratively by NIH Program and Grants Management staff with expertise relevant to the supplement request.  This evaluation will consider the merit of the supplement request and its applicability to the goals of the Recovery Act.  The recommendation of awards for the program will be determined by a trans-NIH group with representation from each IC participating in this Notice.  The final evaluation by this group will include the merit of the supplement request, its applicability to the goals of the Recovery Act, and the availability of funds.

Selection factors will include the following:

• Relevance to the goals of creating fewer higher quality core facilities that will serve a wider range of biomedical/behavioral researchers.
• Relevance of the proposed activities to the parent grant and determination that the proposed activities are within the existing peer-reviewed and approved scope of the project.
• Adequate progress of the parent grant appropriate to the current stage of the project.
• Appropriate and well-described plan to accomplish the goals of the supplement within the timeframe proposed.
• Appropriateness of the request to achieve Recovery Act goals in promoting job creation, economic development, and accelerating the pace and achievement of scientific research.

While geographic variation will be considered in awarding Recovery Act funding, a proposal’s scientific merit will always be the prevailing criterion.

How to apply: Please see the NIH announcement of the Availability of Recovery Act Funds for Administrative Supplements to Support Core Consolidations (NOT-RR-10-001) for full details on the application elements.  Incomplete packets will be considered unresponsive to the notice and will be ineligible for funds.

Supplement packet should be submitted to NIMH directly as a single pdf document and must include:

• Cover Letter – signed by the authorized organizational representative
• PHS 398 Form Page 1 (Face page) MS Word  PDF
• PHS 398 Form Page 2 MS Word  PDF
• A brief proposal describing the project, including:
  • Scope of the overall project and the anticipated contribution of the requested supplement
  • The research project plan should discuss the business plan for the consolidated core facility
  • The research project plan should discuss how the supplement will accelerate the tempo of scientific research and/or allow for job creation and retention and/or use green/sustainable technologies and design approaches
  • Budget for the supplement with a justification that details the items requested, including Facilities and Administrative costs and a justification for all personnel and their role(s) in this project. PHS 398 Form Pages 4 (MS Word PDF) and 5 (MS Word PDF
  • Biographical Sketch for all new Senior/Key Personnel MS Word PDF
  • Human Subjects/Vertebrate Animal Documentation
• PHS398 Checklist form MS Word  PDF

All Application must be received by January 13, 2010 at 5pm local time.

HOW TO SUBMIT:

Submit applications to NIMH electronically.  The Principal Investigator of the Overall Center grant is responsible for submitting the administrative supplement application.  He/She should click on the link below and log into the NIMH Administrative Supplement website using his/her eRA Commons ID and password.  Please submit your application as a “Core Consolidation Supplement” when prompted for the Supplement Type.

https://wwwapps.nimh.nih.gov/ssf/

Questions about the overall program should be addressed to:

Roger Little, Ph.D.
National Institute of Mental Health
6001 Executive Boulevard, Room 8211
Rockville, MD   20892-9667
Telephone:  (301) 402-5844
FAX:  (301) 443-1328
Email:  alittle@mail.nih.gov

For Specific questions regarding eligibility or questions about the science to be proposed, please contact your Program Official on the parent grant.

For question on how to submit your request or general information on NIMH Recovery Act Supplements, contact:

Tracy Waldeck, Ph.D.
Associate Director for Special Projects
National Institute of Mental Health
National Institutes of Health
Phone: (301) 435-0322
Email:waldeckt@mail.nih.gov