Funding-DHHS NIH New Innovator Awards; deadline Jan. 15, 2009

Department of Health and Human Services

Participating Organizations
National Institutes of Health (http://www.nih.gov)

Components of Participating Organizations
This FOA is developed as an NIH Roadmap initiative (http://grants.nih.gov/grants/new_investigators/innovator_award/); all NIH Institutes and Centers are participating. This FOA is being administered by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS, (http://www.nigms.nih.gov)) on behalf of the NIH.

Title:  Pre-Application for the 2009 NIH Director’s New Innovator Award Program (X02)

Announcement Type

New

Program Announcement (PAR) Number: PAR-09-013

NOTICE: Pre-applications submitted in response to this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) for Federal assistance must be submitted electronically through Grants.gov (http://www.grants.gov) using the SF424 Research and Related (R&R) forms and the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide.

APPLICATIONS MAY NOT BE SUBMITTED IN PAPER FORMAT.

This FOA must be read in conjunction with the application guidelines included with this announcement in Grants.gov/Apply for Grants (hereafter called Grants.gov/Apply).

A registration process is necessary before submission and applicants are highly encouraged to start the process at least four (4) weeks prior to the grant submission date. See Section IV.

For Assistance downloading this or any Grants.gov application package, please contact Grants.gov Customer Support at http://grants.gov/CustomerSupport

Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number(s)
93.310

Key Dates
Release/Posted Date: October 23, 2008
Opening Date:  December 15, 2008 (earliest date an application may be submitted to Grants.Gov)
Letters of Intent Receipt Date(s): Not applicable
NOTE: On-time submission requires that applications be successfully submitted to Grants.gov no later than 5:00 p.m. local time (of the applicant institution/organization). 
Application Due Date(s):  January 15, 2009
Peer Review Date(s): April 2009
Council Review Date: Not Applicable
Earliest Anticipated Start Date(s): Not Applicable
Additional Information To Be Available: October 31, 2008 – Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) at http://nihroadmap.nih.gov/newinnovator/   
Expiration Date: January 16, 2009

Due Dates for E.O. 12372
Not Applicable

Additional Overview Content

Executive Summary

• Purpose. The NIH Director’s New Innovator Awards Program (http://nihroadmap.nih.gov/newinnovator/) was created in 2007 to support a small number of new investigators of exceptional creativity who propose bold and highly innovative new research approaches that have the potential to produce a major impact on broad, important problems in biomedical and behavioral research. The research proposed need not be in a conventional biomedical or behavioral discipline but must be relevant to the mission of NIH. The New Innovator Awards complement ongoing efforts by NIH and its Institutes and Centers to fund new investigators through R01 grants, which continue to be the major source of NIH support for new investigators. The purpose of this FOA is to solicit pre-applications for the NIH Director’s New Innovator Award.  Pre-applications are a necessary first step in applying for a 2009 New Innovator Award. Pre-applications will be evaluated by a group of external reviewers. Those investigators whose submissions are judged to be the most outstanding will be notified of the opportunity to submit full (DP2) applications under RFA-RM-09-003. All awards will be made under RFA-RM-09-003. No awards will be made under this announcement. For additional information, consult the FAQs at http://nihroadmap.nih.gov/newinnovator/faq.aspx.   
• Mechanism of Support. This FOA utilizes the X02 grant mechanism for submission of pre-applications.
• Funds Available and Anticipated Number of Awards. No awards will be made in response to this FOA. Through the associated FOA (RFA-RM-09-003), NIH expects to commit approximately $55.7 million for the five-year period. It is anticipated that up to 24 awards will be made in 2009.
• Budget and Project Period. No awards will be made under this announcement. Awards through RFA-RM-09-003 will be for up to $300,000 in direct costs each year for five years, plus applicable Facilities and Administrative costs, which will be determined at the time of award.
• Eligible Institutions/Organizations. Institutions/organizations listed in Section III, 1.A. are eligible to apply.
• Eligible Project Directors/Principal Investigators (PDs/PIs). Individuals with the skills, knowledge, and resources necessary to carry out the proposed research are invited to work with their institution/organization to develop a pre-application for support. Women and individuals from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups as well as individuals with disabilities are always encouraged to apply for NIH support. Investigators (PD/PIs) must hold an independent research position at a domestic (U.S.) institution as of September 19, 2009 and must have received their most recent doctoral degree (e.g., Ph.D., M.D., D.D.S., D.V.M., PharmD, or equivalent) or completed their medical internship and residency no earlier than 1999 and no later than the due date for pre-applications. For the purpose of this FOA, “independent research position” means a position that automatically confers eligibility by the researcher’s institutional policy for an investigator to apply for R01 grants, with an appropriate commitment of facilities to be used for the conduct of the proposed research. Investigators still in training or mentored status (postdoctoral fellows) are not eligible to apply unless they have a written commitment of an independent faculty position as of September 19, 2009; submission of the pre-application from that institution serves as the written commitment of an independent faculty position.
• PDs/PIs must meet the definition of “new investigator.” For the purpose of this FOA, “new investigators” are defined as those PDs/PIs who have never been awarded an R01 or equivalent NIH grant (e.g., R23, R29, R33, R37, DP1, DP2, U01, P01 or center grant) or been the leader of a P01 or center grant peer-reviewed project. Individuals who are PDs/PIs on multi-PI R01 or equivalent NIH grants are not eligible to apply for the New Innovator Award. Current or past recipients of K awards are eligible except for the following: K99/R00 or other Independent Scientist and other non-mentored career awards (K02, K04, K05, K24, and K26). Investigators may submit or have an R01 (or equivalent) grant application pending concurrently with their New Innovator Award pre-application or application. However, if that pending grant is awarded in Fiscal Year 2009 with a start date of September 30 or earlier, the applicant is no longer eligible to receive the New Innovator Award. Awardees are required to commit at least 25% of their research effort each year to activities supported by the New Innovator Award. Applicants who were not selected for an award in prior years may submit pre-applications this year if the applicant still meets all the eligibility criteria. There are no citizenship or residency requirements.
• Number of PDs/PIs. Only one PD/PI may be designated on the pre-application.
• Number of Pre-Applications. An individual may submit no more than one pre-application. There is no limit to the number of pre-applications that institutions may submit. 
• Resubmissions.  Resubmissions are not allowed.  All pre-applications must be submitted as “new,” regardless of any previous submissions to the New Innovator Award Program. 
• Renewals. Renewals are not permitted in response to this FOA.
• Special Date(s). This FOA uses non-standard due dates. See Receipt, Review and Anticipated Start Dates.
• Pre-Application Materials. See Section IV.1 for application materials.
• General Information. For general information on SF424 (R&R) Application and Electronic Submission, see these Web sites:

· SF424 (R&R) Application and Electronic Submission Information: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/funding/424/index.htm

· General information on Electronic Submission of Grant Applications: http://era.nih.gov/ElectronicReceipt/

• Hearing Impaired. Telecommunications for the hearing impaired are available at: TTY 301-451-5936. 

Link to Full Announcement: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PAR-09-013.html