The Notice, issued on April 25, 2011, provides guidance about the NIH Fiscal Operations Plan for FY 2011 and implements the Department of Defense and Full-Year Continuing Appropriations Act of 2011 (P.E. 112-10). The Act provides NIH with $30.9 billion or nearly 1 percent less than the total FY 2010 budget authority level of $31.2 billion. The NIH will continue to manage its portfolio in biomedical research investments in a manner similar to that described in the FY 2010 Fiscal Policy Notice (see here). This includes continuing to address the need for a highly productive pool of researchers by providing support for new investigators.
The following NIH fiscal policies are instituted in FY 2011:
Non-Competing Research Awards for All NIH Institutes and Centers (ICs) Except the National Cancer Institute (NCI): The FY 2011 appropriation level specified in P.L. 112-10 reduces funding from FY 2010 levels and thus warrants reductions in commitment levels for NIH research grants. Modular and non-modular research grants, from all ICs, with the single exception of NCI, will be reduced to 1 percent below the FY 2010 award level. Inflationary adjustments for recurring costs on non-competing research grants in FY 2012 and beyond will be set at the 2 percent level, calculated based on the adjusted FY 2011 level. This policy does not apply to projects supported by career Awards, SBIR/STTRs, and Ruth L. Kirschstein-National Research Service Award (NRSA) Individual Fellowships & institutional Training Grants. Awards that have already been made in FY 2011 which are impacted by this policy may be revised.
Non-Competing research Awards for NCI: For NCI, modular and non-modular research grants will be reduced to 3 percent below the FY 2010 award level. Inflationary adjustments for recurring costs on non-competing research grants in FY 2012 and beyond will be set at the 2 percent level, calculated based on the adjusted Fy 2011 level. this policy does not apply to projects supported by Career Awards, SBIR/STTRs, and Ruth L. Kirschstein-National Research Service Award (NRSA) Individual Fellowships & Institutional Training Grants. Awards that have already been made in FY 2011 that have already been impacted by this policy may be revised.
Competing Research Awards: Each NIH Institute and center (IC) will manage its competing portfolio using funds that have not been committed for non-competing awards. It is estimated this will allow ICs to support the NIH investigator pool with approximately 9,050 new and competing Research Project Grants (RPGs). Each IC will establish fiscal policies consistent with these NIH-wide policies according to its specific scientific and programmatic imperatives. Consistent with the policy for non-competing awards, future inflationary adjustments for recurring costs on competing research grants will be provided at 2 percent. Awards that have already been made in FY 2011 which are affected by this policy may be revised in accordance with the guidelines in this Notice.
The information above has been reproduced in NIH Notice NOT-OD-11-068. The complete announcement, including information New Investigators and the NRSA award, can be found here
The Offices of Sponsored Programs and Grants and Contracts Accounting will provide more information regarding individual awards as it becomes available from the NIH.