NIH Operates Under a Continuing Resolution:

·         Notice Number: NOT-OD-21-009

https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-21-009.html

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), including NIH, operates under the Continuing Appropriations Act, 2021 and Other Extensions Act (Public Law 116-159) signed by President Trump on October 1, 2020. This Act (CR) continues government operations through December 11, 2020 at the FY 2020 enacted level, with no reduction.

Continuing the procedures identified under NOT-OD-20-068 and consistent with NIH practices during the CRs of FY 2006 - 2020 the NIH will issue non-competing research grant awards at a level below that indicated on the most recent Notice of Award (generally up to 90% of the previously committed level). Upward adjustments to awarded levels will be considered after FY 2021 appropriations are enacted, but NIH expects institutions to monitor their expenditures carefully during this period. All legislative mandates that were in effect in FY 2020 (see NOT-OD-20-066) remain in effect under this CR, as well as the salary limitation set at Executive Level II of the Federal Pay Scale (see NOT-OD-20-065) and the Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award predoctoral and postdoctoral stipend levels and tuition/fees as described in NOT-OD-20-070.

Should you have any questions, please contact the Office of Sponsored Programs.

OSP is keenly aware of the increased administrative burden being placed on our PI’s.  We have established strong links with your business units as well as OCGA so as a team we can be responsive to administrative and contractual matters that may arise.  Please reach out to this support team when you have questions regarding your sponsored award.  This includes times when sponsors contact you directly for non-technical issues.  Faculty are our internal customers, and our goal is to reduce your administrative burden so you can focus on the technical requirements of your awards.  

Whenever possible sponsors should reach out directly to the administrative staff with questions related to contractual or financial issues.  If they reach out directly to the PI please forward the email to the appropriate administrative office and we will be happy to follow-up.  If possible please include the Kuali or People Soft number or the name of the UMBC sponsor and the title of the project.  Of course technical questions are most appropriately sent to the PI.

Thanks

Stan

With his 12 years of OSP experience, Mike brings extensive understanding to the overall support of UMBC’s Research and Creative Achievement activities.  With Mike assuming this important position, we are confident OSP’s high level of service and expertise will continue. 

Please join us in congratulating Mike on this well-deserved promotion.

Dear Colleagues:

Effective October 5, 2020, the National Science Foundation (NSF) will enhance the Project Reporting System in Research.gov to implement the revised Research Performance Progress Report (RPPR). The RPPR is a uniform format for reporting performance progress on Federally funded research projects and research related activities. NSF awardees use the RPPR to prepare and submit annual and final project reports to NSF. Further details about the RPPR can be found on the Research.gov About Project Reports website.

New Question for Project Reports with Active Other Support Changes

• On October 5, 2020, NSF will add the following new question to the Edit Participants screen: Has there been a change in the active other support of the PI/PD(s) since the last reporting period? If Principal Investigators (PIs)/Project Directors (PDs) and co-PIs/co-PDs select “Yes,” they will be required to upload their most up-to-date Current and Pending Support document in an NSF-approved format to notify NSF that active other support has changed since the award was made or since the most recent annual report.
  
  
• Current and Pending Support documents not in an NSF-approved format will trigger a compliance error preventing document upload and submission of the annual or final project report.
  
  
• The NSF-approved formats for Current and Pending Support are SciENcv: Science Experts Network Curriculum Vitae and an NSF fillable PDF.

• The NSF Current and Pending Support website includes additional information as well as links to system-related Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) for both NSF-approved formats. A set of policy-related FAQs related to current and pending support is also available.

• The complete lists of FastLane and Research.gov automated proposal compliance checks effective October 5, 2020, are available on the Automated Compliance Checking of NSF Proposals website.

• What was the impact on teaching and educational experiences? (Impact tab);

• What percentage of the award’s budget was spent in a foreign country? (Impact tab); and

• Has there been a change in primary performance site location from that originally proposed? (Changes/Problems tab).

• NSF-specific help text updates have been added throughout, and NSF-specific instructions have been clarified or enhanced.

• To reduce administrative burden, NSF has consolidated data entry fields where possible.

• NSF Current and Pending Support Video Tutorial
• NSF-specific Bookshelf Resource (includes screenshots and step-by-step instructions)

Reminder: NIH Policy on Use of Hypertext in NIH Grant Applications

Notice Number:

NOT-OD-20-174

https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-20-174.html

Purpose

This notice serves to remind the applicant community about existing guidance that restricts use of hypertext (e.g., hyperlinks and URLs) in NIH applications. Increasing use of unallowable hypertext in NIH grant applications raises multiple concerns, including: 

Reviewer Confidentiality: The wide availability and sophistication of web-based tracking systems may allow applicants to identify reviewers who access web sites through unallowable hypertext in an application.

“Overstuffing”: All material required for the review must be contained within the page limits of the application. Linking out to additional information, even if it is framed by the applicant as “optional” or “supplemental”, provides additional material to reviewers that may exceed the content limitations of the application, particularly in page-limited sections such as the Research Strategy. This is a matter of fairness since all applicants should submit the same amounts and types of information to be considered as part of initial peer review.

Review Consistency: If some reviewers consider information provided by unallowable hypertext and others do not, the quality of review can be negatively impacted by inconsistency among the reviewers.

 Malware: Once a reviewer clicks on a link in an application that is not on an NIH website, the possibility exists for malware or other breaches to occur on the reviewer’s computer and/or system.

Policy:

There is no change in the NIH policy on the use of hyperlinks. As a reminder, that policy as articulated in the NIH SF424 (R&R) Application Guide reads:

• Hyperlinks and URLs are only allowed when specifically noted in funding opportunity announcement (FOA) and form field instructions. The use of hyperlinks is typically limited to citing relevant publications in biosketches and publication lists. It is highly unusual for a FOA to allow links in Specific Aims, Research Strategy, and other page-limited attachments.
• Hyperlinks and URLs may not be used to provide information necessary to application review.
• Reviewers are instructed against viewing linked sites and are cautioned that they should not directly access a website (unless the link to the site was specifically requested in application instructions) as it could compromise their anonymity and allow for malware to be downloaded onto their computers.
• When allowed, you must hyperlink the actual URL text so it appears on the page rather than hiding the URL behind a specific word or phrase. Example:
• NIH (http://www.nih.gov/)

Applications that do not follow these instructions, and include unallowable hyperlinks, may be withdrawn from review and funding consideration.

Please review full notice linked above or contact your OSP representative for further assistance.

OMB published revisions to Uniform Guidance yesterday; provisions in the revised guidance will apply to awards issued after its effective date, November 12th, 2020. However, there are two provisions in the revised guidance that went into effect yesterday: §200.216, Prohibition on certain telecommunications and video surveillance services or equipment, and §200.340, Termination. Summaries of these two revisions are summarized below but can be read in their entirety in Final Guidance posted in the Federal Register linked to this post. OSP will provide a summary of the revisions going into effect in November in a separate post. 

The new provision at §200.216 states that “recipients and subrecipients are

prohibited from obligating or expending loan or grant funds to: (1) procure or

obtain; (2) extend or renew a contract to procure or obtain; or (3) enter into a

contract (or extend or renew a contract) to procure or obtain equipment, services or

systems that use(s) covered telecommunications equipment or services as a

substantial or essential component of any system, or as critical technology as part

of any system.”

The termination provision at §200.340 now eliminates the current “for cause”

reason for termination and replaces it with one stating that an award may be

terminated “if an award no longer effectuates the program goals or agency

priorities.” In addition, federal awarding agencies must make recipients aware, in a

clear and unambiguous manner, of the termination provisions in §200.340.