This page is historical material reflecting the Feedback Loop Blog as it existed on August 29, 2012. This page is no longer updated and links to external websites and some internal pages may not work.
August 29, 2012

Archived: Update on NIH Special Council Review Policy

By Ann Hagan
NIH has announced a new policy whereby applications from investigators who receive more than $1 million in direct research support from active NIH grants will receive additional scrutiny by NIH institute and center (IC) advisory councils. This is a threshold, not a cap: Investigators may still receive additional grant awards if the ICs determine such awards will further their missions. A few notes: The policy replaces a piloted one that set the threshold at $1.5 million total costs. NIGMS will continue its current practice that sets the threshold for special scrutiny of well-funded investigators at $750,000 or more in direct costs for all research support, regardless of the source. Below is a chart that outlines some of the differences between the NIH and NIGMS policies. For more discussion on this topic, see comments to my earlier post.

NIH

NIGMS

Funding source

NIH only

NIH and non-NIH

Threshold

$1M direct costs on existing grants

$750K direct costs including the pending application

Exclusions

RFAs, P01s, some multi-PI awards

Resource awards
topic Research Administration

About the Author

Ann Hagan

Until her retirement in early 2019, Ann was director of extramural activities. In this position, she set and coordinated grant funding policies and procedures, and advised staff on the best grants management practices.