Funding Strategy: Fiscal Year 2011
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In general, grants will be funded in priority score or percentile order. Additional considerations will include program relevance and need, NCCAM’s strategic priorities, duplication of ongoing research, availability of funds, and recommendations by the National Advisory Council for Complementary and Alternative medicine (NACCAM). NCCAM will also give additional consideration to applications from first-time R01 investigators (“new” and “early stage” investigators as defined by NIH).
Budget Data
Future Year Commitments of FY 2011 New and Competing Renewal Awards
NCCAM has a funding policy to award competing research project grants (RPGs) in accordance with the NIH Fiscal Policy for FY 2011.
- FY 2011 Grant Fiscal Policy (NIH)
- FY 2011 NRSA Stipends (NIH)
Consistent with the policy for noncompeting awards, future inflationary adjustments for recurring costs on all NCCAM competing grants will be provided at 2 percent. Awards that have already been made in FY 2011 that are affected by this policy will be revised in accordance with the guidelines.
Duration of Grants
Competing awards are adjusted to achieve a 4-year average duration for research project grants. Grants to early stage investigators, Method to Extend Research in Time (MERIT) awards, program project grants, and clinical trial grants are usually funded for the full length of their Council-recommended project period. Competing applications with a Council-recommended duration of 4 years will not be reduced further.
New and Early Stage Investigators
NCCAM will continue to help new and early stage investigators by equalizing the success rate of new and early stage investigators and established investigators for new competing (Type 1) R01 and first renewal (Type 2) applications in accordance with NIH guidelines.
Research Funding Guidelines
NCCAM will use the following guidelines for funding research project grants:
- New Research Project Grants
NCCAM policy for new grants is to award them at the NACCAM-recommended level except for specific programmatic and administrative adjustments. All applications that do not exceed $250,000 in direct costs in any given year of support in the recommended competitive segment will be 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. - 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 noncompeting 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. - 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, NCCAM will award at the NACCAM-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 9 or 10 modules, a requested increase will likely cause the competing renewal to be awarded as categorical. In all such cases, NCCAM will award at the NACCAM-recommended direct cost up to a maximum of 3 percent (10 percent for MERIT extensions) above the level of the last noncompeting 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 nonrecurring 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)
NCCAM will award Type 5 modular and nonmodular research project grants (RPGs) in accordance with the NIH Fiscal Policy for FY 2011 (NIH). Awards previously issued will be revised in accordance with this policy.
Research project grants (e.g., R01, R03, R21, R33, R24, R37, P01, U01, U24, and U19 activity codes) will be reduced by 1 percent below the FY 2010 award level. Inflationary adjustments for recurring costs on noncompeting research grants in FY 2012 and beyond will be limited to 2 percent above the FY 2011 award level. Awards that have already been made in FY 2011 and that are affected by this policy will be revised.
Other types of grants, such as P30, P50, UH1, U10, R/ U34, and U54 activity codes, will not receive a 1 percent reduction in FY 2011. However, future-year escalation for recurring costs will be limited to 2 percent above FY 2011 levels.
Funds will be restored as appropriate for FY 2011 awards previously made at the 90 percent provisional amount. Fellowship (F), Training (T), and Career Development (K) awards will be awarded at the full FY 2010 commitment levels, as will R13, R15, SBIR/STTR, and T15 awards.