Tag Archives: NIH

NIH News – Reminder: xTRACT Use Required in FY 2020

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Beginning with RPPRs due on or after October 1, 2019 (FY 2020), recipients must use the xTRACT system to create the required training tables for submission with NIH and AHRQ T15, T32, T90/R90, and TL1 progress reports. While it is not mandatory to use xTRACT for new and renewal applications for the specified types of training grants, it may be required in future years.

Check out our resources on xTRACT such as the user guide, instructional videos, and FAQs, available on the eRA website. For more details on its required use and implementation, see the full Guide Notice.

Implementation

Beginning with RPPRs due on or after October 1, 2019 (FY 2020), recipients must create the required training data tables for submission with NIH and AHRQ T15, T32, T90/R90, and TL1 progress reports via the xTRACT system. System validations in the RPPR module will check to ensure that uploaded PDFs of the data tables were created via xTRACT, and users will not be able to submit RPPRs that are not in compliance. Guidance on preparing the required tables for the RPPR are available in the xTRACT User Guide and on the Data Tables website.

The use of xTRACT to prepare the data tables for new and renewal applications for the specified types of training grants (i.e., T15, T32, T90/R90, and TL1) will not be mandatory in FY 2020 but may be required in future years. Applicants for new or renewal training grant awards are encouraged to take steps now to gain experience with the system prior to its required use. New users may wish to explore the xTRACT resources available on the eRA website, including instructional videos and FAQs.

Recipients of other types of predoctoral, postdoctoral, and career-level training, education, and career development awards that currently use training data tables (e.g., T37, R25, K12/KL2 awards) will not be required to use the xTRACT system to prepare tables for RPPRs in FY 2020. Recipients of these awards can continue to use the system on a pilot basis, however they may wish to wait for future editions of xTRACT, which are expected to include features and instructions tailored to their specific types of programs.

NIH Regional Seminar – What You Need to Know About NIH Grants, Straight from the Source

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What better way to learn about NIH grants policy and processes than straight from the source? The NIH Regional Seminar on Program Funding and Grants Administration provides an array of pre-seminar workshops and sessions over the course of three days, all presented by 70 NIH & HHS review, program, grants and policy experts! Check out some of these topics designed to help you understand the NIH grants process, such as:

  • Application preparation and submission
  • Understanding NIH funding mechanisms
  • Human subjects and animals in research
  • Peer review mock study session
  • Research integrity
  • Grants policy and compliance
  • Budget basics for administrators and investigators
  • Navigating NIH programs to advance your career
  • Inventions, patents, copyrights and data sharing
  • RePORT and online resources
  • And so much more!

In addition to approximately 45 different session and workshop topics to choose from, you also have the opportunity to meet with our experts 1:1 to address your specific questions. Make plans to join your peers from all over the world and register today for the Fall 2019 NIH Regional Seminar in Phoenix, Arizona, November 6-8, 2019. See the tentative agenda, hotel/travel details, and more on the NIH Regional Seminar site.

Limited Submission Opportunity – NINDS Neuroscience Development for Advancing the Careers of a Diverse Research Workforce (R25)

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NIH National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) Neuroscience Development for Advancing the Careers of a Diverse Workforce (R25): Limited Submission Opportunity

 

Internal Limited Submission Deadline to the Office of Research Administration: Wednesday, July 17, 2019

NIH Proposal Due Date: September 25, 2019

Funding Opportunity Description

The NIH Research Education Program (R25) supports research educational activities that complement other formal training programs in the mission areas of the NIH Institutes and Centers. The over-arching goals of the NIH R25 program are to: (1) complement and/or enhance the training of a workforce to meet the nation’s biomedical, behavioral and clinical research needs; (2) enhance the diversity of the biomedical, behavioral and clinical research workforce; (3) help recruit individuals with specific specialty or disciplinary backgrounds to research careers in biomedical, behavioral and clinical sciences; and (4) foster a better understanding of biomedical, behavioral and clinical research and its implications.

The over-arching goal of this  NINDS Neuroscience Development for Advancing the Careers of a Diverse Research Workforce R25 program is to support educational activities that    enhance the pool of neuroscience researchers from underrepresented backgrounds who are available to participate in NIH-supported neuroscience research. The mission of NINDS is to seek fundamental knowledge about the brain and nervous system and to use that knowledge to reduce the burden of neurological disease. The NINDS is committed to the development of a biomedical research workforce that is representative of the diversity in American society. NINDS seeks to promote diversity in all of its training and research programs and to increase the participation of underrepresented groups. As the US population becomes increasingly diverse, reflection of that diversity among the biomedical research workforce is vital to our science enterprise and the NIH research mission. Evidence from several reports demonstrates that an intervention designed to facilitate successful transitions along this pathway would benefit the research community (Expanding Underrepresented Minority Participation: America’s Science and Technology Talent at the Crossroads, National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, and Institute of Medicine 2011 and Advancing the Nation’s Health Needs: NIH Research Training Programs). Specifically for neuroscience early career researchers, there is a decrease in the proportion of underrepresented trainees from predoctoral (12%) to tenure-stream neuroscience faculty (5%); 2011 Survey Report of Neuroscience Departments and Programs. Active interventions are necessary to prevent the loss of talent at each level of educational advancement (PCAST, 2012).

This NINDS Neuroscience Development for Advancing the Careers of a Diverse Research Workforce (R25) is a flexible and specialized program designed to foster the development of neuroscience researchers from underrepresented backgrounds across career stages. Thus, it encourages applications from applicant organizations that propose innovative mentoring and professional development activities in the mission area(s) of the NINDS. The NINDS Diversity R25 initiative will focus on factors that have been shown to affect retention of underrepresented undergraduate and graduate students, postdoctoral trainees, and junior faculty in neuroscience research such as mentoring, scientific networks and professional development (http://www.nigms.nih.gov/Training/Reports; http://acd.od.nih.gov/dbr.htm). The NINDS expects applicant institutions to propose programs that will lead to an improvement in the professional development, mentoring and technical expertise of individuals who are nationally underrepresented in neuroscience research.

Programs that target transitions and/or more than one career stage for neuroscience career advancement and progression are strongly encouraged. This initiative will support the development of collaborative research education partnerships that will increase participants’ awareness and interest in the neurosciences, develop participants’ scientific knowledge and research skills that will allow them to progress and transition to more advanced neuroscience-related research education and training activities. Proposed program interventions to increase workforce diversity in response to this FOA should also focus on asset models and leadership opportunities, rather than solely deficit models and remediation (recommendations from 2017 NINDS Activating a Neural Network and 2016 NINDS Forming a Neural Network Workshops).

Investigators with creative, innovative ideas for new programs are encouraged to discuss these with NINDS program officials.     To accomplish the stated over-arching goal, this FOA will support creative educational activities with a primary focus on:

  • Courses for Skills Development
  • Research Experiences
  • Mentoring Activities

 

Limit on Number of Proposals per Organization:

Only one application per institution is allowed.

 

For full program details visit NINDS’s funding webpage or the solicitation PAR-17-312.

 

For details regarding The University of Akron’s limited submission process, visit the ORA Limited Submission webpage.

Having Challenges Tracking Down Students and Postdocs at the Time of the RPPR? Here is a Tip to Make It Easier…

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Having challenges tracking down students and postdocs at the time of reporting? Establishing a process where you have students and postdocs establish an eRA Commons account at the time they start working on an NIH grant award can save you a lot of time and energy trying to track down people who may no longer be at your institution at the time of your Research Performance Progress Report (RPPR) submission. You may even want to have them create an ORCID ID as well! (In case you missed it, read the November 2017 Open Mike blog post to learn more about eRA Commons and ORCID integration.) (From NIH ExtramuralNexus, 1/30/2018)

The NIH and Other PHS Agency Research Performance Progress Report (RPPR) Instruction Guide states that information must be provided or updated for all PIs/PDs and each person who has worked at least one person month per year on the project during the reporting period, including graduate students, undergraduate students, and high school students (p.82-83).

Additional information about ORCID can be found in a NIH ExtramuralNexus post from November 15, 2017 titled “Teaming with ORCID to Reduce Burden and Improve Transparency.”

To register individuals in the NIH eRA Commons, please contact your Sr. Grant Coordinator in the Office of Research Administration with the individual’s name and UA email address.