FY 2012 FUNDING AND OPERATING GUIDELINES

National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
National Institutes of Health

Available Funding and Operating Guidelines

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GOALS

The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) will continue to apply National Institutes of Health (NIH) cost management guidelines when making fiscal year 2012 grant awards. http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-12-036.html Funds will be restored as appropriate for FY 2012 awards previously made at the 90% provisional amount. Although funding decisions are usually made in priority score or percentile order, final funding decisions are based on considerations of program relevance, overlap with existing programs, availability of funds, and NHLBI Advisory Council recommendations.

Payline Information

The paylines for NHLBI competing awards are displayed in the table below. Paylines are initially determined for most mechanisms at the time of the first National Heart, Lung, and Blood Advisory Council (NHLBAC) meeting of the fiscal year and will be updated throughout the fiscal year as appropriate.

Paylines in percentile or priority score:

*Summary Statment issues must be satisfactorily resolved on applications >15 percentile.

Future Year Commitments on FY 2012 New and Competing Renewal Awards:

Inflationary increases for future year commitments will be discontinued for all competing and non-competing research grant awards issued in FY 2012, however adjustments for special needs (such as equipment and added personnel) will continue to be accommodated whenever possible. http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-12-036.html Although the NHLBI remains committed at this time to funding at the recommended levels each year, fiscal constraints and NIH policy may necessitate future adjustments.

Duration of Grants

Competing awards are adjusted to achieve a four-year average duration for research project grants. Applications from ESIs, program project grants, and clinical trial grants are generally awarded for the full length of their Council-recommended project period. Competing applications with a Council-recommended duration of four years will not be reduced further to three years. Please note that amended applications (i.e., A1s and A2s) will be reduced by one year, regardless of the priority score or percentile accorded the application.

Early Stage Investigators

Applications from New Investigators (NI) who do not qualify as early stage investigators (ESI) are no longer considered for special funding as of FY 2010.

Fostering the success of Early Stage Investigators (ESIs) who are establishing careers in biomedical research is a high priority of the NHLBI and NIH. The NHLBI emphasis on ESIs is exhibited in the special consideration given in determining both funding priority and period of support. The NHLBI routinely considers ESI applications for payment, including those that score outside of the normal funding range.

The NHLBI will continue a commitment to help ESIs in accordance with NIH guidelines articulated in the NIH Guide Notice Revised New and Early Stage Investigator Policies. All awards to ESI applicants that are included under this policy will be funded for all years recommended by the NHLBAC.

Please note that the NHLBI considers ESI eligibility for special funding consideration to have been determined at the time of the initial A0 grant application submission. If an applicant would have qualified for ESI special funding consideration at the time of the A0 application submission, that eligibility would be maintained through to the A1 revision.

Additional information on ESIs can be found in the NHLBI document Commitment to Early Stage Investigators.

The NHLBI will use the following guidelines for funding RPGs:

Salary Cap

The FY2012 salary cap for individuals under an NIH grant or cooperative agreement remains in effect and is established by statute at $179,700. Information regarding the applicable law and how it will be implemented at NIH can be found at the following link: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-12-035.html.

New (Type 1) Research Project Grants

The NHLBI policy for new grants is to award them at the NHLBAC recommended level except for specific programmatic and administrative adjustments. Applications that do not exceed $250,000 direct costs in any given year of support in the recommended competitive segment are generally awarded under the modular concept. Applications requesting direct costs that exceed $250,000 in any year of support in the recommended competitive segment will be awarded with categorical budgets.

Competing Renewal (Type 2) Research Project and MERIT Extension (Type 4) Awards

The NHLBI policy for competing renewal and MERIT extension grants that will be awarded in FY 2012 differs depending upon the nature of the award in the preceding competitive segment and the likely form of the award for a competitive renewal. Please note that if a proposed award would result in a reduction greater than 25 percent from the requested amount in the application, NHLBI program staff will contact the PI and the applicant institution before an award is issued to obtain either a statement that the approved aims and objectives can be accomplished within the proposed level of support, or a revised statement of aims and revised budget for the proposed level of support.

Program Project Grants (Type 1 and Type 2)

Type 1: The direct cost award will not exceed $1,515,000. Facilities and Administrative (F&A) Costs associated with first tier subcontracts are not included in the direct cost ceiling. Annual increases for recurring costs in non-competing years are not allowed. 

Type 2: Direct costs will be awarded at the same amount shown on the Notice of Award for the last noncompetitive segment. As with new awards, annual increases for recurring costs are not allowed.

Categorical to Categorical

For competing renewal and MERIT extension grants that were categorical awards in the preceding competitive segment and will be in excess of $250,000 direct costs in any given year of the recommended competitive segment, the Institute will award at the NHLBAC recommended direct cost up to a maximum of three percent (10 percent for MERIT extensions) above the level of the last non-competing award of the preceding competitive segment, except for specific programmatic and administrative adjustments that may be warranted. The maximum may be exceeded to accommodate non-recurring equipment costs. Facilities and Administrative (F&A) costs for first tier consortia are not considered in the direct cost base when calculating the maximum that can be requested.

Modular to Modular

For competing renewal and MERIT extension grants that were modular awards in the preceding competitive segment and will be no more than $250,000 direct costs in any given year of the recommended competitive segment, the Institute will award at the NHLBAC recommended direct cost amount. Facilities and Administrative (F&A) costs for first tier consortia are not considered in the direct cost base when calculating the maximum that can be requested.

Modular to Categorical

If the previous award is 10 modules, a requested increase will cause the competing renewal to be awarded as categorical. In all such cases, the Institute will award at the NHLBAC recommended direct cost up to a maximum of 3 percent (10 percent for MERIT extensions) above the level of the last non-competing award of the preceding competitive segment. The maximum may only be exceeded to accommodate specific programmatic and administrative adjustments that may be warranted or for non-recurring equipment costs. Facilities and Administrative (F&A) costs for first tier consortia are not considered in the direct cost base when calculating the maximum that can be requested.

Continuation Awards (Type 5 Noncompeting Renewal)

The NHLBI will award Type 5 grants in accordance with the NIH Fiscal Policy for FY2012. http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-12-035.html. In accordance with the policy, non-competing awards will be issued without cost of living/inflationary adjustments in FY 2012; however adjustments for special needs (such as equipment and added personnel) will continue to be accommodated whenever possible. This policy http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-12-036.html applies to all grants (research and non-research) when applicable.

Last Updated: July 2012