Administrative Supplements to Grants and Cooperative Agreements
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
National Institutes of Health
March 8, 2012
PURPOSE
This document describes the new procedure that grantees must use
when submitting requests for administrative supplements.
Administrative supplements are used by the National Heart, Lung, and
Blood Institute (NHLBI) to add funds to a grant or cooperative
agreement for defined purposes that do not expand a
project's scientific scope. Prior approval from the NHLBI is
required before the submission of an administrative supplement
request.
Please note that the NHLBI policy on administrative supplements
has not changed. Only the process by which administrative
supplements are submitted has changed, as described below.
BACKGROUND
On Feb. 8, 2012, NIH published a program announcement in the NIH
Guide for Grants and Contracts (PA-12-100)
entitled “Administrative Supplements to Existing NIH Grants and
Cooperative Agreements (Parent Admin Supp)”. This funding
opportunity announcement (FOA) allows grantees to electronically
submit administrative supplement requests through grants.gov or
through the eRA Commons for grant application
activity codes that have transitioned to electronic submission (41 KB).
Activity codes that have not transitioned will continue to apply on
paper, using the PHS 398 forms as described below.
POLICY
Administrative supplements are funds awarded above study
section-recommended levels. Consideration is restricted for
increased costs due to unforeseen circumstances in high priority
research programs. Consistent with past policies of the NHLBI, it is
anticipated that NHLBI administrative supplements will be awarded
only under rare circumstances.
Grantees may not request additional funds if the unforeseen costs
can be paid for by rebudgeting funds or from utilization of
unobligated balances from prior year awards. Administrative
supplements cannot pay for increased costs due to an investigator's
transfer or promotion, nor can they be used to expand research aims.
No request will be accepted for consideration without prior
approval from NHLBI. Grantees who wish to submit supplement
applications under this announcement must obtain written approval from the NHLBI program official and the grants management specialist assigned
to the grant. This written approval must accompany the
supplement application at the time of submission.
Administrative supplements do not undergo peer review. Instead,
they are reviewed by NHLBI program and grants management staff. In
some cases, additional expertise may be called upon to assist in the
review. Administrative supplemental requests above $250,000 in
direct costs will also be reviewed by the National Heart, Lung, and
Blood Advisory Council.
The following are examples of supplemental requests that might be
considered for funding:
-
Preservation of a unique
research material or resource that may otherwise be lost, such
as maintaining a unique knockout mouse model.
-
Addition of patients, populations, or other
items related to a protocol due to enrollment issues, a need for
statistically significant data, or responses to protocol and data and
safety monitoring board (DSMB) reviews.
-
Provision for an orderly termination or
temporary continuation of support to prevent loss of research
resources or hardship of personnel, which includes taking advantage of a
rare event with an immediate need, such as salvaging a rare animal
model.
-
Replacement of equipment, supplies, and time
lost due to a natural disaster.
Administrative supplements may not pay for a principal investigator (PI)
to move in a new scientific direction, to obtain preliminary data for
another contemplated research effort, or to use a new technology or an
animal model not specified in the application. If additional funds are
needed for such purposes, investigators should apply for another grant.
Requests must stay within the original Council-approved scope of the
research. If grantees need additional funds for an expansion in
project scope, they should request a revision (competing supplement) rather
than an administrative supplement. Revision applications undergo the same
peer review process as regular competing applications. They are usually peer
reviewed by the initial review group that reviewed the parent grant
application. For further information, please contact your program official.
APPLICATION PROCEDURE
-
The PI should contact the NHLBI program
official or grants management specialist that are listed on the Notice of
Award to discuss a possible administrative supplement.
-
The Authorized Organization Representative (AOR)
must verify that the required financial reporting for the grant is up to
date.
-
The PI and AOR may only submit the
administrative supplemental request after receiving an email approval from
the NHLBI.
-
The following details must be included with
the request:
-
Reason for the request and justification for
the funds
-
Detailed budget and composite budget page if
more than one year of supplemental support is requested
-
Biographical sketch and human subjects
documentation (if applicable) for any new key personnel
-
The written approval to submit the administrative
supplement from the NHLBI
-
The grantee should determine the appropriate
method to use for the request.
-
There are two options if the parent award type
(such as R01) has made the transition to electronic submission:
-
Apply electronically through grants.gov
-
Use the Apply for Grant Electronically
button provided in the parent FOA, “Administrative Supplements to
Existing NIH Grants and Cooperative Agreements (PA-12-100).”
-
Follow the SF 424 instructions for
supplement requests.
-
Apply electronically through the eRA Commons
-
Log in to the eRA Commons, go to the Admin
Supp tab, and choose “Initiate Request”
-
Follow instructions in the eRA Commons
Administrative Supplement User Guide
-
If the parent award type has not made the
transition to electronic submission:
-
Apply on paper using the PHS 398 forms
-
On the face page, note the administrative supplement PA title and number
from the FOA above
-
Your AOR should mail the signed original, the checklist, and two signed
photocopies directly to your NHLBI grants management specialist
CONTACTS
For specific questions about administrative
supplements, contact the program official or grants management specialist for the
grant.
For general questions about administrative
supplements contact:
Ms. Ryan Lombardi
Office of Grants Management
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
National Institutes of Health
301-435-0166
lombardr@nhlbi.nih.gov
REFERENCES
Last Updated March 2012
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