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NIH Paylines & Resources
I update this page as ICs revise their funding strategies. I've also included links to "cleared concepts" (i.e., potential funding initiatives approved by the IC's Advisory Council for future development into PAs or RFAs) and to IC program contacts (program officers). Those ICs that traditionally do not publish payline or percentile guidance are indicated by "no payline data available" (& none probably ever will be). You can find details on the scoring procedure and interpretation as well as reviewer guidelines by mechanism.
Last updated: 6 July 2017
NIH Institutes & Centers
(descending order of budget, percentiles for established/new PIs)
NCI ($5.21B): FY16: 10th percentile for R01s (12th percentile for ESI only), 7th percentile for R21s (applications at higher percentiles considered on a case-by-case basis to fill gaps & address high priority needs, with special consideration to new/ESI applications); priority score of 25 for R03s & R15 likely funded (higher scores may be selected for funding on a case-by-case basis)
NCI cleared concepts
NCI program contacts
NIAID ($4.71B): FY17 : 11th/18th percentile for established/new-ESI PIs for R01; impact score of 28 for R21 & R03, 22 (interim) for R15, 26 for R41/R42, 32 for R43/R44, 17 for T32/T35; interim impact score of 15 for F30, 17 for F31, 19 for F32, 18 for K (except K99)
NIAID cleared concepts
NIAID program contacts
NIAID Paylines (historic data by year and mechanism)
NHLBI ($3.11B): FY17 interim: 15th/25th percentile for established/ESI PI R01, 36th percentile for F31, F32, F33; impact score of 24 for R15, 20 for F30, 32 for Ks [FY16: 14th percentile for established PI/24th percentile for ESI PI R01s (summary statement concerns resolved for 19-24th percentile); 36th percentile for F31, F32, F33; impact score of 20 for F30, 30 for Ks, 25 for R15s, 29 for R43, 19 for R44; Zone of Consideration impact scores of 10-33 for R21 & P01, of 10-40 for T32, T35, & R41/R42]
Translating NIH Peer Review Changes into Funding Policies
NHLBI cleared concepts (click on most recent Council minutes, see proposed initiatives)
NHLBI program contacts
New Investigator Policy Change: "The applications from New investigators (NI) who do not qualify as early stage investigators (ESI) are no longer considered for special funding as of FY 2010. This policy continues into FY2011."
Duration of RPGs: "Beginning in FY 2014, it is anticipated that NHLBI policy will be to fund investigator-initiated R01 competing applications, regardless of percentile or priority score, for a period of 4 years [see policy for exceptions … [therefore] researchers are encouraged to submit for review only applications with a project period of 4 years or less."
NIGMS ($2.51B): No specific payline – explanation of how funding decisions are made by Program Staff and Council
NIGMS cleared concepts (click on most recent Council minutes)
NIGMS program contacts
NIDDK ($1.97B): FY16: 13th percentile for established and new investigators (8th percentile for annual DC of $500K or more), 18th percentile for ESI applicants, 15th percentile for first renewal of ESI R01s
NIDDK cleared concepts (click on most recent Council minutes)
NIDDK program contacts
NINDS ($1.695B): FY15: up to the 14th percentile
NINDS cleared concepts (click on most recent Council minutes)
NINDS program contacts
NIMH ($1.52B): FY15: most applications to the 10th percentile, case-by-case up to the 20th percentile
NIMH cleared concepts
NIMH program contacts
NICHD ($1.34B): FY15: 9th/12th for established/new-ESI PIs, AIDS at 5th percentile; 9th percentile for R03s & R21s; 8th percentile for P01s; 11th percentile for F30 & F31 parent applications, 18th percentile for F31 diversity applications, 20th percentile for F32s; priority score of 23 for R15s, SBIRs, STTRs, & K99s; priority score of 16 for other Ks, 18 for Type 2 T32s, 20 for Type 1 T32s, and 30 for R13/U13s.
NICHD cleared concepts
NICHD program contacts
NIA ($1.6B): FY16: up to 11th percentile for RPGs below $500K, with new investigator applications considered up to the 19th percentile and ESI to the 21st percentile; R01s above $500K at the 7th percentile, with new investigator applications considered up to the 16th percentile and ESI up to the 18th percentile; priority score of 20 for Ks (33 for Alzheimers), 30 for Fs (40 for Alzheimer's), & 34 for SBIRs/21 for STTRs; Alzheimer's disease: R01s at the 22nd, 25th, & 27th percentile below $500K and at the 19th, 22nd, & 24th percentile above $500K (established, new, ESI, respectively).
NIA program contacts and priorities (click through most relevant division)
NIDA ($1.05B): Fiscal policy but no paylines
NIDA program contacts (click on relevant Division)
NIDA cleared concepts (click on latest Council minutes)
Funding priorities & policies
NIEHS ($771M): Fiscal policy but no paylines
NIEHS cleared concepts (click on latest Council minutes)
NIEHS program contacts
NEI ($708M): Fiscal policy but no paylines
NEI cleared concepts (click on latest Council minutes)
NEI program contacts
NCATS ($685M): Fiscal policy but no paylines
NCATS cleared concepts (click on latest Council minutes)
NCATS program contacts
NIAMS ($542M): FY15: 12th/17th percentile for established/new PI R01s, 12th percentile for R21s, 6th percentile for R15s, 5th percentile for F30s; priority score of 20 for R03s, of 30/22 for SBIR/STTR, 30 for K23/K24, 14 for K99, 19 for F31/F32/F33, 20 for T32 [FY14: 14th/19th percentile for established/new PI R01s, 14th percentile for R21s, impact score of 20 for R03s & R15s, 30 for SBIR, 23 for STTR, 22 for F31/F32/F33, 24 for F30, 20 for T32, 24 for K99, 30 for K01/K08/K25, 33 for K23/K24]
NIAMS cleared concepts (click on latest Council minutes)
NIAMS program contacts (click on relevant scientific area)
NHGRI ($513M): Fiscal policy but no paylines (funding priorities listed)
NHGRI cleared concepts (click on most recent meeting agenda & documents)
NHGRI program contacts (click on relevant program)
NIAAA ($467M): Fiscal policy but no paylines
NIAAA cleared concepts (click on most recent Council minutes)
Training & Career Development Contacts
Division Contacts (check organizational chart as well)
NIDCD ($423M): Fiscal policy but no paylines
NIDCD cleared concepts
NIDCD program contacts
NIDCR ($413M): Fiscal policy but no paylines
NIDCR cleared concepts
NIDCR program contacts
NLM ($396M): FY15: For experienced investigators, applications with scores 30 or better are the most likely to be funded. For Early Stage Investigators and New Investigators seeking their first R01 research grant, and for K award applicants, applications with scores of 35 or better will be considered for funding
NLM cleared concepts
NLM program contacts
NIBIB ($344M): FY15 payline at 12th/17th percentile for established/new investigator R01s (except BRP); 12th percentile for R21s; impact score at 26 for R03s & R15s; 12th percentile for U01s; impact score of 24 for SBIR.
NIBIB cleared concepts (click on most recent minutes)
NIBIB program contacts
NIMHD ($281M): Fiscal policy but no paylines
NINR ($146M): Fiscal policy but no paylines
NINR program contacts
NCCAM ($130M): Fiscal policy but no payline data
NCCAM cleared concepts
NCCAM program contacts
FIC ($70M): No payline data provided
FIC program contacts
Other Resources
NIH Advisory Council Meeting Dates (all ICs)
NIH Funding Strategies
NIH Paylines & Percentiles explained
NIH Success Rates
NIH Budget Allocation by Disease/Disorder
IC Strategic Plans (priorities)
Einstein College of Medicine Paylines-Success Rates Page
Please note that because this page attracts so many comments (and becomes very slow to load/refresh as a result), I am moving comments by calendar year onto archived pages, which has the added benefit of making them searchable.
2,771 Comments »
2:32 pm
I have a question about ESI/NI status. Let's say I submit 2 separate R01s as an ESI/NI. R01#1 gets funded while R01#2 is still under review. Does my ESI/NI status remain intact for R01#2? (I know that I have seen a thread related to this somewhere on this site, but I have searched and searched and haven't found it. Sorry!)
Thank you so much!
May 6, 2014 @
4:07 pm
I have a 48% unobligated balance for my RO1 this year because there was a significant delay in recruiting qualified postdocs. Any negative impact on my next year's funding? As noticed in the NOA, the grantee can automatically carry over the unobligated balance.
May 6, 2014 @
6:43 am
It's been a long road, but I received my NGA today! Below is my timeline. My start date was not until 6/1/14, which is why (I'm told) it took so long to get the NGA. It seems applications are prioritized by start date, which makes sense. Still the time from pending to awarded seemed like a long three months. Best of luck to others!
05/07/2014 Application awarded
05/01/2014 Award prepared
02/05/2014 Pending administrative review
01/24/2014 Request for JIT from GMS
12/10/2013 Scientific Review Group review completed
07/18/2013 Scientific Review Group review pending
07/15/2013 Application entered into system (submitted)
May 7, 2014 @
1:48 pm
Thanks v much. I have a grant that is 2% above payline and I noticed that the status changed 2 days ago to "pending administrative review"- it was reviewed back last Summer so the start date was already. I contacted the PO who did know about this. In my prior grants, "pending administrative review" usually = to be paid. Im confused given the lack of insight from the PO. Any insights from your experience?
March 16, 2016 @
- 1:48 pm
4:55 pm
Dear Writedit,
Am I allowed to directly contact the SRO of a study section, even before submitting an application, to ask if my research fits their study section?
May 7, 2014 @
11:31 am
I recently submitted a K23 which is still pending. I have been asked to be a co-investigator on an R01. 1) Is it okay for me to participate as an R01 co-investigator (not PI)? 2) If I did not request salary support, would that make a difference?
Many thanks!
May 8, 2014 @
12:17 pm
Hi, All, I resubmitted my F31 to NIDA [Impact score 26, percentile 25] and recently noticed that my eRA Commons status changed from 'Pending Admin Review' to 'Award Prepared' post Council meeting and I'm wondering if anyone could help clarify what this means? Does this mean the F31 will be funded/not funded or is this part of the process as it moved through administrative review? I'm so nervous about lack of funding for another year! I know that the F series is different than standard grants and I'm not sure how the process works.
Thank you!
May 9, 2014 @
12:39 pm
Dear Writedit, is the published payline inclusive of the payline value itself? My NIAID K award impact score is right the payline value itself (JIT request from the GMS was just responded too). Also, if I can be awarded, can I take it to another institution that does not have the mentoring resources (maybe some) like my current place but geographically not too far away (3hrs driving though)?
Thank you very much for all your helpful comments!
May 9, 2014 @
12:40 pm
Dear Writedit, if I get scored (but not funded) for a PAR, but the PAR expires before the next NIH resubmission date, will I be allowed to resubmit, or am I SOL? Given the high likelihood of a resubmission these days, I am wondering whether to even apply for this about-to-expire PAR.
May 14, 2014 @
1:24 pm
I received a 10% at NIDDK for R01 (below the payline). What is soonest I should look for NOA, council met today.
May 14, 2014 @
2:46 pm
Hi, Writeedit
My eRA commons status is Council Review Completed on May 7 (NIDDK). My Percentile is within the payline. Do you know what it means? In addition, I still did not receive JIT.
May 14, 2014 @
9:55 am
Thank you Writedit for all your help. I wanted to give an update that I just received my FoA this morning after my eRA status changed from "Pending. Award Prepared" last Friday.
If at all helpful for others, my timeline for my F31 was:
12/09/13: Application Submitted (resubmission)
3/11/14: Scientific Review Group Meeting
4/21/14: Pending Admin Review
5/6/14: Council Mtg (although I don't think they review F's at the council, unsure)
5/9/14: eRA status changed to "Award Prepared: refer questions to GMS"
5/15/14: Notice of Award
Thank you again for this wonderful blog, and good luck to all.
Happy researching,
Julie 🙂
May 15, 2014 @
7:06 pm
I am a PI for a NIH RO1 subcontract. We are now preparing progress report for this grant and was requested to send information to primary institution. I cannot find any NIH guideline for progress report related to subcontract PI and don't know what information I should send to the PI. Please help.
May 15, 2014 @
9:30 pm
Hi writedit — another couple of questions re: a competitive renewal application.
(1) NHLBI is granting a 5% benefit for the first competitive renewals of those who were ESI at the original submission time.I was an ESI at the time I received this award (picked up by NHLBI). Should I send the renewal application to the same study section where I was funded? I have mixed feelings about this — the application might be a better fit for the profile of another study section, but I anticipate the "old" study section (that funded me) would like to see how I did. At the same time, the "new" study section has funded many grants that were picked up by NIDDK. If my proposal is selected by NIDDK, I lose the 5% benefit that (only) the NHLBI would grant me. The direction of my proposal is roughly a 50-50 split between the two institutes missions. What do you advise?
(2) Does the title of a renewal R01 application have to stay the same as in the original one?
May 15, 2014 @
10:54 am
First, writedit, thanks so much for your great contribution here. I have a question about my NCI/K99 application. My application was submitted in Nov, 2013 and I got the impact score of 12 in March 2014. At the end of April, the PO asked me to submit the JIT and then I did it. In the eRA system, it is said the council meeting will be held in May 2014. I am wondering when I can receive the final notice of the decision. Now I looked at the eRA system everyday and found the status unchanged (pending council meeting). I appreciate your answer.
May 20, 2014 @
5:15 pm
Dear Writedit,
I enjoy reading your blod very much and want to thank you for these very helpful insights!
I recently received a KO8 from NIHLBI, and I was wondering if it is allowed to rebudget especially the salary portion, e.g. can I use that part of the fund to pay a technician, postdoc, or supply?
Thanks again and best regards..
May 21, 2014 @
5:46 pm
Dear Writedit,
I am in 2nd year of the K99 phase. My mentor asked me to write an NIH research grant. Am I eligible for R21 or R01 ? He (my mentor) told me I can bring it with me when I get a job.
May 21, 2014 @
2:58 pm
My score is beyond the NIA K01 payline, however I found that my status is "council review completed" what does this mean…?
May 22, 2014 @
4:39 pm
My PO told me that she has defended my proposal for funding by exception at several levels. Now, she said the Division Director has to present it to NCI Leadership. Will that step be what is referred to as "council?" Many thanks, as always, for your help!
May 23, 2014 @
2:51 pm
Dear Writedit,
I recently received a R21 award. I am planning on submitting a R15 grant with no overlap with the R21. My question is whether a PI with a active R21 can receive a R15 even if there is no overlap between the two grants.
May 27, 2014 @
12:04 pm
FYI …this was the timeline for my application. Literally a year from submission. It was super helpful to me to know some time frames that were posted by others:
05/27/2014 Application awarded.
05/20/2014 Award prepared: refer questions to Grants Management
04/23/2014 Pending administrative review. Refer any questions to
Program Official or Grants Management Specialist.
02/05/2014 Council review completed.
11/20/2013 Scientific Review Group review completed: Council review
pending. Refer any questions to Program Official.
06/13/2013 Scientific Review Group review pending. Refer any
questions to the Scientific Review Administrator.
06/04/2013 Application entered into system
May 29, 2014 @
2:52 pm
My timeline as a New Investigator for those interested (NIH-NIAID):
1. R01 A0 submitted 11/13/13
2. Reviewed on 3/07/14
3. Summary Statement Released 3/21/14 (18 Impact, 8 %tile)
4. Early Electronic Council Review Completed 4/07/14
5. JIT request from GMS 5/19/14
7. Start Date 6/01/14
This was my second R01 submitted. The A0 and A1 for the first were both submitted back in 2012. It missed the payline by 1 percentile.
Many thanks to writedit and all of the commenters for keeping me informed and sane through out the process.
May 30, 2014 @
2:47 pm
I am a newbie faculty, and I was wondering whether there are strict rules about proposing aims/experiments in junior faculty private foundation grants that overlap with R00 aims. Does the NIH frown on R00 overlapping with other funding sources the same way they do for R01 aims? Is the R00 more like seed-money to help the new faculty or like a mini-R01 given to fund the actual experiments proposed? Grateful for any input, thanks!
May 31, 2014 @
4:55 pm
First of, I want to say that your blog is excellent and has answered many of my questions in the past. Great work!
I have recently applied for a mentored K01 and got a score of 13. I figured that it is pretty high but since there was no percentiles and my mentor kept on asking I started looking around and found your blog. I did that because my PO is not very responsive. He does answer questions but in a sort of yes/no way which does not really answer much. Hence after trying about three times I figure I did not want to anger him and waited instead. Your blog helped me wait for the right time and after the council date I got an email from another guy asking for my JIT which I gave the next day. He was very supportive of the fact that we sent it quick and said that it will go to Dr. Varmus and then get a NOA. He also said it could be a couple of weeks but didn't specify whether to give an NOA or to tell me if I even got it. His email made it look like a got it but I figure asking him directly is not going to lead to answers based on my experience so fat. I am truly at a loss of knowing what is going on with the application and I am hoping that it got funded but if not I want to start getting ready for the re-submission since I guess getting all the reference letters again is not going to be an easy task.
What I want to know is:
1.- Is there an NCI "payline" for K01? (obviously not percentile). If so what is it or where can I find it?
2.- What question should I ask my PO or the other gentleman about my award? Are they allowed to tell me more or less what it means or are they assuming I am supposed to know something? If so…what? I couldn't find anything that specific on the NIH K kiosk and pretty much says to contact them. I read a from many of the posters here and they seem to have talked at length with their PO so I am worried I did something wrong.
3.-My supposed start date is July 1st. How does that fit into these delays? If awarded will the date change? is it because of the shutdown back in November?
Any help will be welcome!
June 1, 2014 @
1:51 pm
Are new investigators treated the same as ESI when it comes to special consideration for funding? Along those lines, my ESI status just expired. I saw that you can ask for an extension under certain circumstances. Under the rules of the K25 award that I currently have, I was not allowed to apply for a R01 for the first three years. Would something like that qualify?
June 4, 2014 @
11:29 am
Dear Writedit:
I have a very senior postdoc that is submitting an R21 as a PI. Can s/he put down 100% efffort or does that look bad? Should it be less, say 75%?
June 6, 2014 @
9:49 am
I'm not sure if this is an admissible post or not, but there isn't a page for LRP related questions/discussion. I have an LRP renewal under review (assigned to NIDA), but have not heard if I am being recommended for funding. A number of people have heard about their LRP applications over the last few weeks, though they have all been assigned to different institutes (as far as I can tell). I'm just wondering if anyone out there has received any news on a NIDA assigned LRP application.
June 8, 2014 @
10:17 pm
I recently received notice that my LRP renewal app with NIDA had passed the first level of review, but that email said that funding decisions would be made in late July.
June 9, 2014 @
12:57 pm
Just to update, I'm still awaiting any official notice on my renewal. The timeline at http://www.lrp.nih.gov/timeline.html indicates that LRP funding decisions go out by 8/7 (tomorrow). If nothing pops up online tomorrow I might contact them on 8/8.
August 6, 2014 @
- 12:57 pm
- 10:17 pm
12:05 am
I just got an email from my PO saying that he's cautiously optimistic that my grant will be funded and have a question about this wording. Has anyone been told to be cautiously optimistic and then not had their grant funded in the end? Or is this wording always a good sign and the PO just has to wait until it is official before they can say anything else?
June 9, 2014 @
3:46 pm
For those who are interested in SBIR applications to NIGMS, here is the timeline for our award (10 months from submission to award):
06/09/2014 Application awarded.
06/03/2014 Award prepared.
03/28/2014 Pending administrative review.
01/30/2014 Council review completed.
11/06/2013 Scientific Review Group review completed.
08/05/2013 Application entered into system.
This is a Fast Track grant (Impact score: 23) where Phase I and II are submitted within the same application.
June 9, 2014 @
10:39 am
I just got my first R01 scored. Unfortunately, it did not do very well. I got a priority score of 45. What I was curious about was the percentile which was a 35. I know NIH is pushing reviewers to spread out the scores and use the entire range. So, theoretically, an impact score of a 45 would be the 50th percentile. However, in reality, I know the scores are getting bunched up, and most reviewers don't give anything worse than a 6 or so. That being said, I would expect that my score of a 45 would actually put me at a worse percentile if the scores only spanned the range of let's say 10-60. Any insight on this? I guess what I am getting at is whether a resubmission and an improvement of 10-15 points on my score would dramatically get me into a much higher percentile.
June 10, 2014 @
8:19 pm
You should keep in mind that the bottom 50% or so of R01 applications are typically triaged and are not discussed. Those grant applications do not receive a priority score and are not given a percentile. Therefore, just by making it into the pile of grants that get discussed, you should be in the top 50%. Different study sections may behave differently in how effectively they spread their priority scores.
June 10, 2014 @
3:38 pm
Thanks for the replies. 2 of 3 reviewers gave me criteria scores that when averaged would have put me in a fundable range. Even the 3rd reviewer, whom had significant issues with a few things, did not score me down that low (but probably helped to bring about the discussion that did lower my priority score). I know, I know, criteria scores are not indicative of the priority score . . .
June 16, 2014 @
5:38 pm
Why don't reviewers go back and update their critiera scores then? I know they cannot change their individual priority scores, but they can adjust their reviews. Interestingly, the biggest problems with the grant were in the Approach, yet the PO summary at the beginning said the Approach was a strength. Anyway, I will know more after I get the chance to speak with the PO.
Also, how are POs assigned? I always assumed they were related to the study section, but in this case the PO's background was in line with my assigned institute and not the expertise of the study section.
June 16, 2014 @
11:11 am
Wow, ok. I have never contacted a PO ahead of time, just a SRO to determine if a specific study section was a good match. In this case, the PO's background is perfect. And in my case in which the work is interdisciplinary and could have gone to a completely different study section, I think this particular PO will be able to advise me on this possibility.
I never understood this. If the SRO runs the study section and writes up the summary, why aren't they the ones to answer questions concerning the discussion of your grant?
I may check out that book!
June 17, 2014 @
12:44 pm
Thanks. I have always talked to POs after the reviews were in to get help with a possible resubmission. I noticed that there is an extended submission date for each cycle so that new investigators can get more time but resubmit so that the proposal is reviewed in that current cycle. Are they expectations any different with a short turnaround?
June 19, 2014 @
1:50 pm
I have consolidated my review down to 11 major points. Of them, only 3 would require new data/experiments. Fortunately, I already have the data. Thus, the rest would be writing, so I am considering the quick turnaround . . .
June 19, 2014 @
- 3:38 pm
- 8:19 pm
2:18 pm
I applied the NCI K99 last October.
I just got the notice from PO asking me to submit JIT. the PO said that there is very high likelihood that my application will be in the funding range, and they should know more in early July.
My questions are:
1. Does it mean that my application will surely be granted?
2. If I am granted K99, in order to receive the 100 K/per year, do I need to ask my PI to change my title to sth like "instructor" to remove the salary cap?
June 15, 2014 @
8:57 am
Hi whiteorblack, have you heard anything else from your PO or GMS? I also got a score of 24 on my NCI K99. I was asked for JIT information twice (the second time was about 2 weeks ago) and haven't heard anything else. Thanks
July 8, 2014 @
2:03 pm
Thanks for the advice writedit. I emailed my PO and he told me that the OEP cleared the human subjects section of my application and that:
"The NCI Office of Grants Administration (OGA) is currently reviewing your application – we should have more information in 4-6 weeks."
What does this mean, exactly? Any insight as to whether this is a good sign that the proposal will be funded or whether this happens with many proposals that ultimately aren't funded?
Thanks for maintaining this great forum!
July 9, 2014 @
2:51 pm
Thanks so much for the interpretation and insight. In a previous email he did say "Your application is being considered for funding." Does that change anything? I'll just keep waiting for now and see what happens. Thanks again!
July 9, 2014 @
- 2:03 pm
11:26 am
I am interested in knowing how did you resolve this issue. Were you able to re-budget / increase your salary prior to the award notice during JIT submission?
July 16, 2015 @
- 8:57 am
10:51 am
Dear Writeedit
First, many thanks for your kindness for these researchers here. I am still waiting for my R01 grant. The following is the detailed information.
My R01 was submitted to NIDDK and received a 15% percentile and the payline for ESI was 18%. The council meeting was finished on May 14 and the current status of my grant is Pending Administrative Review. On April 21, I received an email from PO and asked me to provide the comments on issues raised in my summary statement. Please see the email.
In reviewing your summary statement for the above reference grant application, I was wondering if you would like to comment on some of the issues raised. In particular, I would like to gain your perspective on the comments regarding the budget for your application.
Best regards,
The start date of this grant is July 1, but I still do not receive JIT from PO. On May 21, I send an email to Grants Management Specialist on JIT, and she replied to me one sentence " I am working on it.
Would you please give me some advice what I should do?
June 16, 2014 @
1:04 pm
As everyone says, this is an amazing blog for discussion – thanks for maintaining it. I'm including my timeline below for what it's worth. But, I have a question about wording that is raising some anxiety, though I should probably just relax. I just received a change in status to "Award prepared: refer questions to Grants Management Specialist." But when you search for official NIH documentation regarding these status messages http://era.nih.gov/docs/era_status_codes.pdf, the IMPAC II description for this is "Award prepared, not funded". I don't know what IMPAC II is, or what the implications of "not funded" are — I'm hoping its just administrative language.
Timeline for NINDS K23 – A0
10/23/2013 Application entered into system
10/31/2013 Scientific Review Group review pending. Refer any questions to the Scientific Review Administrator.
02/26/2014 Scientific Review Group review completed: Council review pending. Refer any questions to Program Official.
Priority Score 26
I discussed with advisors who all thought it was a good score, but not great. Percentiles are not published by NINDS for Ks as far as I know
03/17/2014: Summary Statement Released — most of the issues seemed addressable so I contacted the PO about submitting a revision. The PO responded and was positive about the score and asked that I prepare a Response to Reviewers and send directly to the PO, which I did in about 2 weeks.
The JIT link opened at some point in this timeframe and an automated JIT request was sent out.
05/29/2014 Council review completed.
05/30/2014 Pending administrative review. Refer any questions to Program Official or Grants Management Specialist. — Although this the statement in the Status History, the Status that I see in my list of grant applications is simply "Pending"
06/09/2014 NINDS Training Office sent an email invitation to the K Award Training Seminar. When I asked, they explained that they could not legally tell me if the grant was awarded but for those who would be awarded they wanted to advise them early enough that they could make travel arrangements for October 2014.
06/10/2014 My institution received a K23 specific JIT request with form that was forwarded to me.
06/17/2014 Award prepared: refer questions to Grants Management Specialist (status on Status Result – List of Applications/Grants page is still "Pending")
June 19, 2014 @
3:49 pm
hello, I applied for F32 at NHLBI in Dec, got 29th percentile and based on the current update from the NHLBI website, the cut off is at 30th percentile. The council met on June 11 and since then I have not heard anything from them or seen any further update on their website. Does anyone know how long it takes for my status getting updated after the council met (whether I will get funded or not)? Thanks
June 19, 2014 @
11:55 am
Hi Quynh T, did you happen to find out if you were funded? If you don't mind me asking, did you submit to the regular FOA or the diversity/minority one? Thank you.
August 19, 2014 @
12:43 pm
Yes I finally got the award. I submitted to NHLBI, regular FOA. I found out the final decision around the 2nd week of July. My award is not activated till December since I still have some support from the PI till then.
August 19, 2014 @
- 12:43 pm
- 11:55 am
2:27 pm
Hi Writedit,
It is a wonderful blog. I need your suggestion. I got 12% on my RO1 grant (NHLBI). I am a new investigator but not an ESI. what would be my chance of getting funded. With new budget is there any hope? What I should do? please advice.
June 20, 2014 @
10:38 pm
Hi, I have a general question about K99. Is it possible to take on a faculty position (non-tenure track) in a different institution during the K99 phase? and then the tenure starts when the R00 phase starts? The current institution only offers a postdoc type position, but if I want to transfer to another school to be a faculty member, is this allowed by NIH policy? Thank you.
June 20, 2014 @
5:40 pm
Hi, I just received an Impact score of 18 on a K99 grant to NIAID. Since NIAID do not publish their paylines for K99's, I was wondering if you had a gut feeling what its chances are??? I'm now past 4 years, so I only have this one shot and am obviously a little anxious. Curiously, the phone number for my PO is not working and am dying to know how I stack up. Any insights here?
June 21, 2014 @
9:00 pm
NIAID's extramural group is relocating and their phone numbers are changing. You can try email, but as Writedit says, paylines won't be known for some time.
June 27, 2014 @
- 9:00 pm
12:14 pm
Thanks for this great blog. We have got 14th percentile on our resubmitted R21 from NCI. I am a new investigator, will that help? It is way beyond NCI payline 9th percentile. What are our options? We replied in response to an RFA, does that give some extra credit? Can we ask them to change to another institution such as NIGMS (although we did not list it in our application?
Thanks again.
June 23, 2014 @
10:12 am
Dear Writedit, do you know the fundable score range for a K99 application to NIDCR? They don't publish payline, so what would be a guaranteed/most likely fundable score?
Thank you!
June 27, 2014 @
4:42 pm
What if PO continues to ignore(?) my emails since I received the review statement in late April..?.
Can you please help me figure out what this signifies? On my 3rd email, I have listed some specific questions, yet no answer. (Before I submit, I had a chance for a phone conference with the PO which was helpful).
After this Wed, I probably need to contact other persons to move forward. If that is the case, who would be a person that I can reach out to further understand my score and the review statement?
I discussed with my primary mentor regarding this matter as you previously suggested. He said that the PO is always very slow; and will try to talk to him at a conference in person in this coming Nov….!!?; in the mean time, just go ahead and prepare for re-submission.
I agree that the PO is slow in general, but this time I feel odd. I also do not want to just jump into another submission … Any suggestion ?
June 27, 2014 @
8:14 pm
Hi all,
Does anybody have info on NIDA paylines for R01s? Does anyone know how much the new/ESI break is worth at NIDA?
Thanks much for any info.
And thanks for this wonderful site!
June 27, 2014 @
9:11 pm
Thanks for a great blog! I'm getting a bit confused reading a few comments though. I just got my score for my F31, which at a 20 my PO said was "very likely" to be fundable, but that she'd know with more certainty in September. However, some of these responses/comments on the blog seem to suggest that with the midterm elections, determinations about funding may actually come much later than that. Is my PO being overly optimistic about being able to say if this will be funded after September, or are F31s somehow different? Thanks for any clarity that can be offered!
June 28, 2014 @
11:17 am
Thanks so much for this excellent site and I learned a lot from it. I listed the timeline of my NCI/K99 application, in case it can provide useful information to any of you.
2013/2/12: 1st submission
2013/6/14: 1st submission: not discussed.
2013/7/10: 1st submission comments available in the eRA. All the reviewers thought the preliminary data were poor, so the proposal part scored 4~5. Other parts were fine (1~2).
2013/9: Decided to use another project to submit a new application, as there were still no much data for the 1st project.
2013/10/30 (delayed due to NIH shutdown): 2nd submission using a different project (still A0).
2014/3/13: 2nd submission impact score 12
2014/3/17: 2nd submission comments available in eRA.
2014/4/28: JIT request from PO
2014/6/2: 2nd JIT request from GMS
2014/6/25: eRA status changed "Award prepared: refer questions to Grants Management Specialist."
2014/7/1: eRA status changed "Application awarded".
July 1, 2014 @
11:58 pm
Congratulations. I am also in the same boat but I did not get any Letter of intent to commit funds. Did you get LOI from Meininger Jennifer or Kramer Arina
July 25, 2014 @
- 11:58 pm
11:55 am
Thank you writedit for your great efforts! Yes, the 1st failure, even not discussed, was actually so helpful for me to prepare the 2nd submission. I then knew what I should focus for each part, as I had no sample applications for reference. Thanks again.
July 1, 2014 @
4:50 pm
Hello Writedit,
If I move to a new job (another institute) early next year, and if I submit an R grant (R21 or R01) this summer in my current institute, what would happen to my application? Would NIH still fund the project even if I would be in a new institute? Would I be able to re-submit it in the next round?
Thank you in advance.
July 3, 2014 @
5:24 pm
Hello Writedit,
Thank you for keeping this informative blog going!
My question is what is happening between GMS satisfactory review of JIT and NoA?
July 7, 2014 @
2:13 pm
Hi Writedit,
I submitted my NCI K99 proposal last October and got an impact score of 20. Do you know the payline for this calender year from NCI. I emailed my program director and got a reply that the OGA is still reviewing my application. Not sure what "OGA" means. Could you please clarify.
July 9, 2014 @
6:28 pm
Dear Writedit,
If you remember my A0 RO1 submission last Oct/ Nov with the 18% score was assigned to NICHD. Although I got JIT request and then the PO asked me to send her an administrative rebuttal so she could submit her recommendation to the council, it seems that my A0 will not be funded at NICHD because of budget restrictions. I resubmitted my revised RO1 for this July and asked in my cover letter for a change in my primary institute from NICHD to NIMH as I was told by several colleagues involved with NIMH that NIMH funded RO1s up to 20% for new investigators. I just checked my resubmitted grant in my commons and my primary institute is again NICHD. Like my first submission, NIMH and NIDA are my secondary. I am going to speak with my PO next week. Although I know my revised grant is certainly better and I responded all the reviewer' comments, I worry who gets to review my revised grant and what if my score doesn't get better than 18% and I am still stuck with NICHD. Is it possible to change the institute now before the study section meets? any advice how to talk with my PO to make this transfer.
Thanks a million again for this wonderful blog and your extremely helpful advice!
July 9, 2014 @
4:54 pm
Does request for JIT indicate any thing? Our percentile is 14th for NCI so we were not positive then we get request for JIT. Should we be hopeful?
July 10, 2014 @
1:30 pm
Thank you, Write edit. It came from era commons. Also it is for our revised A1 application. So far we have not got a chance to call PO. We are waiting for her to give us time. So thankful to you for this blog, and thanks for being there for all of us. Have a great weekend.
July 11, 2014 @
3:47 pm
Hi Writedit,
I'm trying to gauge my chances for receiving a NRSA. I submitted a F31 to NIGMS, which does not publish a payline. My impact score was 29. Is there somewhere that I can go to see what the fundable range was for F31's submitted to NIGMS in previous years? Any info would be appreciated.
July 11, 2014 @
11:37 pm
Thanks, Writedit for posting it. Although type 1s have a 17% of reduction as 2013, type 2s may only have 10% of reduction this year.
July 14, 2014 @
4:33 pm
My company has developed a topical analgesic formula, and we are interested to submit a Phase I SBIR. Does anyone know the appropriate NIH institute to submit to?
July 16, 2014 @
10:26 am
Hello writedit,
I applied for an F32 (start date July 1) and have received word from my PO that it falls within the Institute's payline (NICHD). But so far no NOA. My PO sent a formal letter detailing my funding status, saying that they expect to be able to fund my award but "that the NIH budget has not yet been approved, and many government agencies are operating under a Continuing Resolution. The Institute is therefore limited in its ability to issue awards at this time. We expect to start processing your award when funds become available."
I am quite anxious about it at this time because I will have to prepare to move and as it stands I do not have any idea when I should expect the NOA. Do you know of any other information that could help me gain a better sense of when this could be? Or when at the latest I would receive notice?
July 17, 2014 @
11:54 am
Thanks to you both! That helps a lot. I will patiently wait for the NOA 🙂
July 17, 2014 @
2:11 pm
I forgot to mention in my previous post that I also looked up some past NOA dates for NICHD postdoc fellowships from previous years, and they were issued July 22nd, so hopefully it will be around that same date again this year.
July 17, 2014 @
- 2:11 pm
2:01 pm
I find it very disturbing to find out a K99 application to NEI got a score of 17 and left unfunded. How difficult do they want to make this? Apparently an outstanding-exceptional application cannot be funded! Is NEI particular challenging to support K99 compared to other institute of similar funding size? What about NIDCR, would it be more or less difficult for K99 applications?
July 20, 2014 @
4:18 pm
Thanks again for this excellent blog. I've found it extremely helpful to get a feeling for NIH funding idiosyncrasies. I applied for an NCI K22. Even on this comprehensive forum that seems to be a rare beast so I thought I would share my experience. I prepared my first submission for an Oct 12, 2013 deadline. Unfortunately, this coincided with the Oct 1-17, 2013 government shutdown. We did not know until close to the last minute what this would mean for the deadline but in the end it resulted in a new deadline of Nov 12. The extra time was perhaps helpful but overall this added a lot of extra stress and stretched out the period of lost productivity due to focus on grant preparation. In early April scientific review was completed and about a week later I received my impact score of 18. I happened to be at AACR and was able to meet in person with my NCI PO, who was there for information sessions. She told me that she was "cautiously very optimistic" and should not work on a resubmission, but instead start planning for job interviews to get the tenure-track offer that a K22 requires. She talked with me for about 30min and gave me a lot of useful advise on this. Council review completed end of June. One week later I received an email from PO congratulating me on a successful application and one week after that got a LOI to commit funds from the grants officer. ERA commons system still just says "Council review completed".
Oct 12, 2013 – original deadline for submission – delayed due to government shutdown
Nov 12, 2013 – extended deadline for submission after government shutdown
Nov 12, 2013 – Application entered into system
Nov 15, 2013 – Scientific Review Group review pending.
Apr 3, 2014 – Scientific Review Group review completed: Council review pending.
Apr 7, 2014 – Impact Score appears in ERA commons
Jun 26, 2014 – Council review completed. (Last status change)
Jul 2, 2014 – PO emails to notify me that application was recommended for funding in FY2014
Jul 15, 2014 – Received letter of intent to commit funds
July 20, 2014 @
12:00 am
Congratulations. I am also in the same boat but I did not get any Letter of intent to commit funds. Did you get LOI from Meininger Jennifer or Kramer Arina
July 26, 2014 @
3:39 pm
No. It was from someone else. Did you get an email from your PO saying that an LOI was on its way? If so, when? My PO said to be patient. The LOI came in about 1 week. They sent it to me and my institute simultaneously.
July 26, 2014 @
12:21 pm
I wanted to share a tip I learned during this process. Since the K22 is activated upon accepting a tenure-track position it might be a good idea to anticipate a raise in salary and budget for that. I proposed 75% effort (support) at my salary level of the time. But, when I started the award in my new position the amount budgeted did not cover 75% of my salary any more. Initially grants/finance people resolved this by making up the difference from other parts of the K22 budget. So, instead of having that money to do the research I proposed a part of it was covering my increase. I negotiated with my department to have them make up the difference but this was a pain and could probably have been avoided by budgeted for at least an approximately realistic bump that you can expect when going from postdoc or research-track faculty to tenure-track. I assume this is possible but maybe some on this blog will tell us if you can't budget for a hypothetical future salary amount. Another question I have is whether it is even remotely possible to go back to NCI and re-negotiate the budget given what my salary ended up at.
September 28, 2015 @
12:43 pm
Yeah. I suspected this is what I should have done and hope others see this and avoid my mistake. Exactly right that myself and admin person helping me just didn't think far enough ahead. Of course, there is no guarantee that you will even end up at the submitting university when you activate the K22, salary is often probably different from original estimate, so its important to make sure everyone is clear on how and who will pick up any difference between budgeted and actual salary amount when you start.
September 28, 2015 @
- 3:39 pm
- 12:00 am
7:06 am
Hi Writedit,
Just wanted to update you about the transfer of my first RO1 submission from NICHD. I met with my PO at NICHD and she brought up the idea of transferring my grant to NIDA or NIMH as she wasn't optimistic that the 18% would be funded even in FY15 at NICHD. Of course I was very happy that she brought it up and told her that I had also requested this in my resubmission. She was extremely supportive and started to contact the POs from NIDA and NIMH. Especially the PO at NIDA showed a lot of interest and wanted a transfer. My PO at NICHD started the process but also requested to stay as my secondary institute. I am assuming not only my first submission but the resubmission will also be reassigned to NIDA?
Thanks so much again for this extremely helpful blog, I have learned so much about this process and I am following your blog to learn more!
Very best,
July 22, 2014 @
7:57 am
I am trying to determine when the best timing is to submit an F32 resubmission to NIAMS to be considered for funding starting August 2015. Would you recommend submitting this August, or is submission by the December deadline also an option?
July 23, 2014 @
10:39 am
Hello WriteEdit and everyone,
Does anyone know the payline information of NINDS for R21? I saw at the top of this blog the payline for NINDS' R01, but it seems the institute does not have any payline information for R21(?).
July 25, 2014 @
10:13 pm
Hello writeedit and everyone,
I have a perhaps tricky question. Say you have an A0 R01. The review comments requested big changes. Then in what scenarios does it make more sense to revise the A0 as much as possible but send it back as a new A0 instead of as an A1? Is it allowed? For example, if I keep 2 of the 3 specific aims unchanged but completely change the 3rd aim in the revision, should I submit the grant as an A0 (assuming it is allowed by the NIH)?
July 25, 2014 @
1:47 pm
I have been informed that my R01 should be funded by 9/1 (per PO). I submitted JIT on 7/17 with no additional word from the GMS. There were budget concerns expressed during scientific review so I expect cuts will be larger than the standard. Is there anything I can do at this point to find out what budget I can expect? Email the GMS? I haven't felt comfortable making plans yet (e.g., job postings) because I don't know how much money will be awarded. Many thanks for your advice!
July 29, 2014 @
1:53 pm
FYI, for some reason, new posts seem to be posting out of order on the page (at least, on my end). My post I just sent is showing up between posts from 7/27/14 and 2/15/14. When I scroll to the bottom of the page, the most recent post is 7/2/14. The actual most recent post is in the middle of the page, and it was not a comment on a previous post. Just thought I would let you know. Thanks!
July 29, 2014 @
- 1:53 pm
1:53 pm
What an amazing resource–thank you writedit! I have looked to see if the answer to my question is buried here but can't find it. I received SRG scores from my NIH NRSA (F32) application a few days ago (impact=20, percentile=15). There is neither a summary statement nor a JIT link in my account, although a statement at the top of the page says the link is automatically available for those who have scores in this range, so I assume there is nothing I currently need to do. My IC is NICHD and after reading your blog I looked up council dates for NICHD. The next meeting is January, 2015 (while future years do list a Sept. date, no Sept. meeting is listed for 2014). Does this mean that I will need to wait until at least January, 2015 to hear about funding? Then, if funded, the money might not appear until mid-2015, according to other timelines on this blog? This seems strange and particularly so because I am now exactly two years into my postdoc (I had another fellowship until now) and did not plan to stay more than four years total. Am I missing something about how the process works? Thanks!
July 30, 2014 @
2:25 pm
Thanks very much writedit. Luckily, the first two years of my postdoc were funded through a private foundation so I am, indeed, already two years into the postdoc. I had applied for two additional years of support with the F32. I suspect there won't be time for resubmission given my position and the apparently very long timelines of funding of these fellowships, so I'll hold out hope that this application will be funded. However, is there going to be a payback issue if they do fund me? Will they fund two years starting mid-2015 and, if I accept it, will I then have to pay back if I exit the postdoc before two years has passed? Thanks again.
July 30, 2014 @
3:58 pm
I just received news that my A01 R21 to NCI scored 9th percentile on the review 2 days ago. This was submitted to a PAR. What do you think are my chances? Will I have to wait until the new FY15 budget comes out to find out if this will get funded?
August 1, 2014 @
1:03 pm
Hello writedit, your website is by far the most helpful grant writing resource out there. I was notified that my K01 will mostly likely be funded but with a major budget cut (3 years instead of 5). I was wondering if there is a way to appeal that? I must say that PO has been extremely nice and responsive.
August 2, 2014 @
9:43 am
Hi, I was reading some grantsmanship instructions. It appears NIH is discouraging ESI to apply for R03 or R21. What should an ESI try then? directly apply for an R01? Can one submit an R01 application during the phase of K99? Thanks!
August 3, 2014 @
9:56 am
can one apply an R01 during the phase of K99? or would it be better to try an R21 or R03 first? Thanks!
August 3, 2014 @
2:01 pm
Does anyone have any experience with the American Cancer Society Research Scholar Grant? I recently had a grant recommended for funding consideration, but I was curious to know what that means exactly? Are most grants considered for funding after peer review, or just the top 20%, etc? I will note that my primary reviewers gave me a score of "good", which is below the ranks of "outstanding" and "excellent", but above "fair" and non-competitive.
August 5, 2014 @
2:17 pm
I was told ACS rarely funds anything except "Outstanding," but I don't think they would have said it was recommended for funding consideration if they weren't seriously considering funding the proposal. When I applied for the ACS MRSG, my first submission was "Excellent" but not recommended for funding consideration. My resubmission was "Outstanding" and recommended for funding. I hope that helps!
August 5, 2014 @
- 2:17 pm
2:08 pm
It is very troubling to learn how NIH grant is awarded. The initial ranking to fund is based on the average of overall impact scores NOT based on the average of 5 criterion scores (Significance, Investigator, Innovation, Approach, and Environment) from all the reviewers of the application. In fact there is no calculated formula between the two. The initial ranking is based on the average of overall impact scores from 3-4 assigned reviewers (e.g., average score 5, from three reviewers with scores of 4, 5, 6). If initial score of 5 is below 50% of all applications, then it is not to be discussed (designated as ND) and not funded no matter how good the criterion scores ranked and what details were provided on the Summary Statement to the PI. Rather Overall Impact is based on reviewers assessment of "the likelihood/probability of a project to exert a powerful and sustained influence to the field of research". So the funding seems can be/is ultimately decided based on reviewers' personal opinion and who They Like to Fund or Want To Fund.
August 5, 2014 @
10:21 pm
Hello, I was wondering whether you have any information about the DP2 success rates (or payline)? Also, do you know of a good resource (or guide) on the web for how to prepare my application? Thank you.
August 5, 2014 @
10:47 am
Hi, I applied for a K99 at NIAID in the Feb/March 2014 cycle (a resubmission), and got an impact score of 17. My eRA status changed to "Council Review completed" in late July, although the Council Meeting is supposed to be in September. I haven't heard anything more, even though I emailed the PO a week back. Do you know what this means? Thanks a ton !
August 14, 2014 @
10:27 am
Hi writeedit,
I have a question. I have a R21 that has gone from A0 to A1 and its score had greatly improved but the A1 missed the payline by 1%. So I will revise the A1 and submit as a new A0. My question is, when submitting the new A0, can I ask the NIH to possibly assign the same reviewers of the previous A1 to review the A0? I certainly will ask the A0 be assigned to the same study section but not sure if it is appropriate to ask for the same reviewers, sth like "can you assign the reviewers of R21CA1234567A1 to review this application?"
Thank you!
August 15, 2014 @
3:45 pm
Hi Writedit, How to understand the description in my commons page: "The NIH provides the JIT (Just in Time) link in the Commons for applications receiving a percentile of less than 30 or for applications receiving a priority score of between 10 and 60 if no percentile is provided." ? Since one of applications was not discussed, but it also shows JIT in the page. Thanks.
August 15, 2014 @
12:12 pm
Dear Writedit
First thank you a million for your kind help for these research scientists here. I just received NOA for my RO1.
This is my timeline:
Oct 22, 2013: Submitted NIDDK
Feb 11, 2014: Scientific Review Group review completed: Council review pending. Refer any questions to Program Official.
April 21, 2014: PO requests the comment on some of the issues raised in the summary statement
May 7, 2014: Council review completed.
May 23, 2014: Pending administrative review. Refer any questions to Program Official or Grants Management Specialist.
July 22, 2014: JIT requested
Aug 7, 2014: Award prepared: refer questions to Grants Management Specialist.
Aug 16: NOA
Hope this will be helpful for other investigators.
August 19, 2014 @
2:57 pm
Dear Writedit,
I have a question. My R01 grant application with ESI eligibility (A1) was scored in Feb 2014 (24th percentile) under the institute of NHLBI – VCMB study section. That was the last chance for me under the category of ESI. The Council review was completed in June 2014. My grant was 2 percentile away from the funding rank (NHLBI – 22 percentile for ESIs). I was advised to discuss with my PO to request for a possible funding for a shorter duration of 3 or 4 years instead of 5 years given the situation of my ESI eligibility is finished. In addition, I was told that council may have some left over money of their annual budget, which they may use to fund grants with shorter duration. I need your advice whether it is appropriate to request my PO for a possible shorter period of funding (e.g. 3 years).
Thank you.
August 21, 2014 @
9:46 am
I am also in the same situation, 22 percentile although different study section under NHLBI. I have not heard from the PO. But I just got an email showing STTR payline increase from 24 to 28…… Hope the same increase in R01……
August 26, 2014 @
- 9:46 am
4:22 pm
Thank you so much for your suggestion.
August 21, 2014 @
3:40 pm
Dear Writedit, would a K99 recipient be eligible to submit an R21 application during the K99 phase, if the recipient is appointed as a non-tenure track faculty member during K99? Thank you.
August 23, 2014 @
5:00 pm
Many thanks for all your help through this application process. I finally received the NOA from NCI last week. I always found others' timelines very helpful so here is mine for anyone interested. Thanks again!
9/30/13: Submitted R01 to NCI (A0 and ESI)
2/12/14: SRG review completed
6/26/14: Council review completed
7/10/14: JIT request from GMS
7/17/14: JIT submitted
8/12/14: Award prepared
8/18/14: Awarded
August 25, 2014 @
11:47 am
Can anybody tell me how to transfer a NIH grant subcontract from one institution to another? I knew how to transfer RO1 but don't know how to transfer a subcontract. Thanks!
August 26, 2014 @
2:37 pm
Dear Wrtiedit, I have another question: What can I do if my current institution refuse to release the equipment purchased from my NIH grant when I move?
August 26, 2014 @
1:24 pm
Thanks Writedit for hosting this wonderful site! We are hoping that you and others can help us with this confusing situation.
Our R01 A1 application received an impact score of 1.1 and 1st percentile. Needless to say, we were very happy about the score and expected that it would highly likely get awarded. Then, we have been contacted by the primary institute, who would like to fund this as a preclinical R34 at the substantially lower the funding level. They are asking us to change our application from R01 to R34 with a set of different Aims and study design. We are really confused about this. Our understanding is that the scientific review panel decided that the study is highly meritorious as a clinical trial study, yet the institute wants to change the funding mechanism for the application. Our questions are 1) is this a common practice? Has someone experienced something like this? 2) would it be reasonable for us to contact the secondary institute to see if they would pick up our R01? We would appreciate any comments on this.
August 28, 2014 @
7:59 pm
Thank you so much for the information and service provided! Here is my timeline:
6/17/13: Submitted R21 to NIMH (NICHD was secondary)
10/14: Originally planned SRG–Cancelled due to Govt. shutdown
12/10/14: SRG review completed at PDRP (28 score; 19th percentile)
1/28/14: Council review completed
2/26/14: JIT request from GMS
3/14-8/14: Long, drawn out negotiation over IRB
8/7/14: Award prepared
8/15/14: Awarded
Between 3/14 and 8/14:
3/13/14: Revision of R21 Submitted
6/11/14: SRG review completed at PDRP (13 score; 4th percentile)
8/14/14: Administratively Withdrawn
August 29, 2014 @
12:43 pm
I'm wondering what is the likelihood for funding with 10-15th percentile from NIMH. Any suggestions?
February 5, 2015 @
- 12:43 pm
3:55 pm
Hello, writedit. I have a question regarding a pending R15 application to NIMH. Following initial review, I received a priority score of 30 and a percentile or 18. PO says this is on the edge, but that I have a "non-zero" chance of getting funded this round. Subsequently, she has asked for a preliminary reply to reviewers, and gave me a number of extremely helpful tips on preparing this, concluding with the comment that she thought I was "ideally positioned," in terms of the scientific content of the grant being in line with her take on NIMH priorities, etc.
So, I prepared the reply and submitted it a few weeks ago, and yesterday I received an email from my PO inquiring about some possible overlap between my R15 project, and a pilot project I am currently working on (funded as an administrative supplement to a P20 COBRE award). I informed her of a small amount of overlap, and she replied that we should work on eliminating this by modifying the current pending proposal. I made a suggestion re. how to do this, and she replied that she liked the idea, and that she would email me next week to let me know how to go about documenting this change to the project.
The council meeting date is listed as 9/18 in the commons, so I was wondering what might be going on, and if I should be reading much into these requests etc. at this point? Any insight would be greatly appreciated.
Cheers, and thanks for the great service you provide to all of us anxious would-be funded scientists!
August 30, 2014 @
2:10 pm
Dear writedit, I want to let you know that my K25 has been funded with NIAID. The score was 25, right at the FY 14 payline. Thank you for all your help along the way!
A question i have now is that I am planning a R21 with a collaborator. Can I serve as a contributing co-PI in the R21? My PO said yes but she would like to double check on that, and I have not heard back from her yet.
September 3, 2014 @
3:14 pm
Hello writedit. I submitted a revised A1 almost a year ago (for FY14). I received a decent score, but it was just outside the payline and did not seem likely to be funded. Just recently, I got an e-mail from the GMS saying that the application is currently under administrative review and they needed confirmation of the amounts budgeted. My commons status hasn't changed. Do you think this is good news? Or will I just have to wait through the end of the fiscal year to see what happens? Thank you.
September 3, 2014 @
1:16 pm
HI Writedit,
I am moving to a different school with my mentor. My F31 application (NCI) is under second revision. Do I need to withdraw my application and resubmit it? or is there any other way to fix this? (since training plan and application has to be changed completely)
September 6, 2014 @
1:10 pm
Hi, I thought to hope for some answer or relief here. The impact score of my revised F32 (appl. deadline Aug 8th, 2013) was 30 and I basically gave up. But few weeks ago I found out that some info was requested (e.g. year I got my PhD and clarification of the budget). I checked the status on eRA and it changed to the ambiguous "Award Prepared; refer questions to GMS". I wonder if anyone got this and then never obtained funding? I emailed to GMS but they were very vague in their response, basically saying that awards will not go out until 9/15/14 if that helps.
Here is my timeline:
11/03/2014: Awared Prepared, refer questions to GMS
11/20/2013: Scientific Review Group review completed. Refer any questions to Program Official.
08/16/2013: Scientific Review Group review pending. Refer any questions to the Scientific Review Administrator.
08/08/2013: Application entered into system
What do you guys think it all means?
September 12, 2014 @
1:12 pm
correction: 9/03/2014: Award Prepared….
September 12, 2014 @
- 1:12 pm
4:15 pm
Hello what Institute were you applying to? In my understanding, if your percentile or impact score is at the funding range, you will be likely to get it. At NHLBI they posted the funding percentile and they do update their website and funding score occasionally. Based on what they posted at your eCommons, it looks like you are getting the fellowship. However, it could take longer than what they posted regarding the expected date of the award. Also later they could ask you to submit a form to declare what date you want the award activated. My F32 fellowship that I just got from NHLBI stated that the award will be in July. But the whole process was not done till the end of July. Then I requested them to activate my award in December. You could email your PO and ask what is really going on. But my bet is you will get it eventually but it takes some time for them to prepare everything.
September 12, 2014 @
3:18 pm
Thanks guys (and you too writeedit!). I just got the Notice of Award. You were right, it took more here than for others in the past. I did contact the PO and he did inform me that my application was funded. Thanks so much for wishing me success on the project!
September 15, 2014 @
- 3:18 pm
9:08 am
If you feel there is a reviewer on the study section roster who is biased against your work, is it possible to ask the SRO that this person not review the application. Roster was published on September 9 and review if October 9. Will the person know that you asked they not review?
September 17, 2014 @
11:47 am
Hi everyone, I've been silently following this blog for close to two years now and have learned a lot about the application process from reading the responses. Writedit… thank you so much for maintaining this page. I am providing my F31 NRSA application timeline, in case anyone out there might find it useful. Don't give up!
Funding Opportunity: F31, Ruth L. Kirchstein National Research Service Award
FOA Number: (PA-11-112)
Funding Agency: National Institute on Aging (NIA)
4/12/2013 1st submission
6/27/2013 SRG review
07/02/2013 SRG review results available in eRA Commons; Impact Score 33
07/24/2013 Summary Statement available in eRA Commons. Reviewers criticized the training plan, which they felt was generic and not trainee specific. They liked the rest.
12/13/2013 2nd submission (A1)
12/29/2013 Received an email stating my application was dead due to a missing document. Heart stopped. However, this was resolved after contacting the Division of Receipt and Referral in the Center for Scientific Review, NIH, where I explained all documents were indeed submitted. They double-checked and found the document. Heart beat again.
02/24/2014 SRG review
02/27/2014 SRG review results available in eRA Commons. Impact Score 30
03/12/2014 Summary Statement available in eRA Commons. Reviewers noted the application was substantially improved, though surprisingly the impact score did not change much. Biggest critique was the project timeline/funding period, which they felt should be longer.
08/22/2014 Received an email requesting IACUC numbers and approval/expiration dates from NIA. No change in eRA Commons status. *** over 5 months of having heard nothing!***
09/02/2014 Current Application Status in eRA Commons for A1 changed to "pending". In General Grant Information, status changed to "Award prepared; refer questions to GMS".
09/15/2014 Received NoA via email. eRA Commons status changed to "Fellowship awarded".
September 17, 2014 @
10:20 am
My status changed to "Application awarded" >24 h ago, but I haven't received any email yet. There's a PDF of the Notice on eRA Commons. It would really help for me to be able to say now (to prospective grad students, the chair, etc.) that I've got this in the bag, but I'm paranoid it's not really official yet. Should I write my PO at the end of business tomorrow if I haven't received an email?
September 18, 2014 @
9:19 am
Hi Writedit,
At the end of each fiscal year, NIH will use the fund left in the budget to fund applications in the gray zone. I am wondering if you know when the decision will be made, by the end of this month? Thank you.
September 19, 2014 @
4:41 pm
Quick question: I have a R01 at NCI that was reviewed and got as A1 an Impact of 20 and a percentile of 6. Current status says Council review completed. A buddy of mine got a grant reviewed at around the same time and just got his award notice. Do I still need to be nervous about this…?
September 26, 2014 @
3:05 pm
NIAID just posted interim paylines for FY2015 R01s and much to my surprise they are higher than FY2014 final paylines.
Any insight into why the interim payline may so "relatively" high?
September 30, 2014 @
5:01 pm
Dear Writedit,
I have a question a bit off topic — I am in the 5th year of my R01, and one of my collaborators (non-key, but senior) is less than forthcoming with data on my project., more than a year after the experiments were performed This makes it difficult to generate the best hypothesis for the competitive renewal, I feel blindsided.. Are there any NIH policies/mechanisms that could help with such a situation? Or is it just the art of collaboration, that I have (obviously) yet to master. I have to mention I was an ESI when I got the award, so quite junior. Thank you in advance!
September 30, 2014 @
4:31 pm
Hello Writedit,
thank you for this very helpful blog.
I have a RO1 A1 (submitted 3/05.2014) to NCI, which received raw score 26 and 8 percentile (scientific review on 6/3/2014). eRA Common indicated the Council review completed on Sept 10, 2014. Yet, I haven't heard anything yet regarding JIT request. I spoke with my PO earlier in June and was instructed to wait until someone to contact me asking for JIT. I am anxious to know whether I can get NOA or not. Is this caused by undetermined FY2015 budget from Congress? Should I contact my PO again to ask for the instruction or just be patient?
Thank you so much for your advise.
October 6, 2014 @
11:28 am
Thank you Writedit for your advice! Yes, 26 is Overall Impact/Priority Score. I will contact my PO as you suggested. Thanks again.
October 7, 2014 @
10:09 am
Hello WriteEdit,
I have a grant that is already reviewed but missed the payline at its assigned primary institute A. Now institute B (which is not one of the assigned institutes of the grant) says they will request a transfer to B for consideration. I wonder, in this process, should I as the applicant get involved in the transfer process or should I just wait for institute A to transfer the grant to B? If I should get involved, should I direct write to the PO of A to ask them to transfer the grant to B? I am asking because in eRA Commons it looks the grant is still with A, though it has been three months since it had been reviewed.
October 9, 2014 @
6:36 pm
Hi there!
So sorry that I am just seeing your question.
Exactly what Writedit told you has happened to my grant, and the transfer was done between my PO from primary IC ( NICHD) and my PO at the secondary IC ( NIDA) but I was advised by my first PO to send a resubmission as well. I took her advice and I am glad I did! My A1 was assigned to NIDA as primary and NICHD became my secondary and today I found out that my A1 was scored in the 7th percentile! If my A1 was scored lower than my A0, my assumption is that NIDA might have considered my A0 for funding in FY15 which was scored in the 18%. This happened to one of my colleagues for his R21 who scored much lower for his A1 and his A0 was borederline.
Dear Writedit,
I can't thank you enough for your wonderful advice, and support here! I think I made it!!!
All the best,
October 9, 2014 @
- 6:36 pm
5:35 am
Thanks SO much Writedit and I will continue following your terrific blog!
October 10, 2014 @
1:53 pm
I'm writing back with a follow-up question re. my still-yet-to-be funded R15 proposal. Since last writing, I have been asked by my PO to write up and submit a short description of how I would modify my proposal to eliminate a small amount of overlap with another grant, signed by myself and our university signing official on university letterhead. After that, I received a call from the Grants Management Specialist on 9/12 telling me that they were looking into funding my proposal in FY14, and that they wanted to make sure I would be ready to accept the award by the end of the month, and would be able to submit any additional JIT information within 24 hrs of the request. A couple days later, I received the JIT request, and promptly submitted the requested information.
That's the last I've heard. My status changed to Council Review Completed on 10/03, but I have yet to hear any final word about it, and an email to my PO has gone unanswered for the last week and a half.
Reading through the posts here, and talking to colleagues, it seems highly improbable that they would ask for all of the above unless they were planning on funding the proposal. This has not reduced my anxiety, however.
Any insight re. what may be going on here? If I were going to be funded in FY14, would I have heard something by now? I'm trying to be patient over here, but I'm also thinking about the looming Oct deadline for R15 submissions/revisions.
October 10, 2014 @
1:53 pm
I submitted an R15 application to NIGMS which just received a score of 27. I'm happy with the score, but my guess is that it probably doesn't have a good chance of being funded. I'm wondering if its worth my time to try to resubmit for the next deadline in 2 weeks, or if I should hold off for another cycle. The study section was just this past week, so I would be getting my summary statement pretty close to the deadline, but I'm guessing the comments are minimal if my scores were a mix of 2s and 3s. I would hate to lose a cycle if I don't have to, but I'm debating whether its realistic to try to turn this application around so quickly.
Thanks! And this is a great blog!
October 11, 2014 @
6:09 am
I will be completing my third year of K08 from NHLBI in spring 2015. I am interested in applying for R03 from another institute that has a start date of June 2015. Am I allowed to do that, and keep both grants if funded? Thanks!!
October 12, 2014 @
12:27 pm
Greetings Writedit! In my recently submitted R01, I noticed that on the cover/info sheet (which I assume is completed by who ever assigns the application) there is a mistake in the reported budget. The direct costs (minus consortium F&A) are listed correctly for years 1, 3, 4, & 5; however, for year 2 it lists the total direct costs (i.e., it includes consortium F&As) which makes it look like year 2 is >$100,000 more than any other year. Should I contact someone to have this corrected? It is still less than $500,000 for that year, but it looks like there is a huge jump in direct costs during year 2 (which isn't accurate).
October 12, 2014 @
2:11 pm
Hello WriteEdit,
Just curious, say one has an unfunded R21A0, after revision and adding more content, can one submit an R01A1 based on the R21A0? In other words, can one submit an A1 as a different type of grant?
October 15, 2014 @
11:54 pm
Dear Writedit,
I have a R15 that just got scored at NIDDK. I don't think it was scored fairly because no one on the panel was in my area of research. (You might remember that I came to ask you whether it's possible to move an application from one institution to another. I talked to the PO at NIAID following your suggestions but the PO wasn't able to help me.) There is an upcoming deadline for R15 (October 25) and I am interested in resending the same grant to NIAID, as a new submission, without waiting for the summary statement. Do you think I can do that? I do have a time limit as my start-up is running out. I would appreciate your advice.
October 15, 2014 @
12:07 am
According to NIH Policy NOT-OD-14-074, it sounds like I cannot. But my circumstance is not described in the policy.
I do think that this was a referral error. What do you think I should do? Thank you!
October 16, 2014 @
- 12:07 am
11:33 am
I have an R01 A1 that was recently scored at the 14th percentile. It's assigned to NIBIB, with NCI secondary. The payline for both institutes is the 9th percentile (I'm an experienced investigator). I read your Kindle book and learned that for most institutes there are a substantial number of grants funded beyond the payline. There is no data in your book for NIBIB, and I've been unable to find anything online. Do you know of a way for me to get this information?
Another issue is that the PO did not respond to emails that I sent after the review of the A0. I will try again after I get the summary statement, but I don't have much hope that he will advocate for this grant.
Thank you.
October 16, 2014 @
9:06 pm
ESIprof got his first R01 funded after he submitted another one (entirely different project and institute). He was considered an ESI for the second R01 (given that ESI eligibility is determined on the date of submission). Now, his second R01 did not get a fundable score. Would ESIprof still be consider an ESI when he resubmit the second R01 as A1?
October 18, 2014 @
2:23 am
My RO1 A1 submitted to NICHD got scored – 12 percentile with 26 priority score (as an established PI), and I have a few questions before discussing with my PO. NICHD hasn't posted payline for FY14/15, but I assume it wouldn't be much different from FY13's (9 percentile). You mentioned that grants scored above the payline could be funded. Do you know how those grants are chosen? Randomly or by priority scores? I am very curious about the selection process and if you have any suggestions on increasing the chance. Also, there is no secondary institute assigned for this grant (as this is for specific topic and FOA announced by NICHD), but in case this doesn't get funded, would it still be possible to ask other institutes to consider? NHLBI and NIGMS have ones that fit very well for this grant. If so, when would be best time to contact? I would so much appreciate your help!
October 19, 2014 @
12:17 pm
I have a budget question to toss out there. I am putting in my R01 renewal to NCI and am unfortunately under the Type 2 cap rule such that I can only ask for 225, not 250K. I was instructed however that the Type 2 cut is 10%, such that the hassle of putting in for a waiver for 250 (unlikely to fly) then taking a 17% cut is not worth it. My question is this: my institution requires a more detailed budget – should the average of this be over 225K for all 5 years such that I qualify for that module, or if it is an average of 220K per year would the grant fall to 200K module? I don't think this matters for NIH but I am paranoid since I have been knocked modules before due to institutional mistakes. thanks for your help.
October 19, 2014 @
12:51 pm
That's very helpful! Many thanks as always!
October 19, 2014 @
9:10 pm
writedit – can SBIR indirect funds be used to pay bonuses to employees of the company?
October 21, 2014 @
11:07 pm
Hi, all!
I've been a lurker for a couple months on your extremely useful blog. In my daily check of Commons, I noticed that under the Action section, a link for Inclusion popped up today. I was wondering what this meant for my grant, if anything. I tried searching the blog and the internet, but came up empty. Is this something that is automatically generated like the JIT? Also, I haven't been asked to submit a JIT, nor has the link for a JIT popped up on Commons, which is why I'm kind of confused about this. I figured the JIT link would be the next step in the process, not the Inclusion. My score for my F31 application was under the 30th percentile cut-off for the automatic generation of the JIT link, too.
Thank you for your help!
October 21, 2014 @
11:57 pm
Dear writedit,
Thank you for answering my questions about the R15 that went to the wrong IC. Today I received the summary statement. There were very few comments. To my surprise, the first two reviewers gave decent scores (very few comments though). The 3rd one, however, gave very bad scores without any explanation other than saying that the approaches were bad (literally just these words).
Apparently I need to take this proposal to another IC and study section. My question is that, should I show the summary statement to the PO at the new IC?
October 21, 2014 @
11:47 am
Hello, my R21 with NEI received an impact score of 33. No percentile is given for the R21s.
Any idea if the impact score is good enough for funding?
October 24, 2014 @
12:01 pm
Thank you. I have contacted the PO and we agreed to wait for the summary statement. thanks again
October 24, 2014 @
3:27 pm
Hi Writedit,
Quick question: are only gray zone applications considered for select pay ?
Thank you for this great blog.
October 24, 2014 @
3:45 pm
Hi writedit:
Love your blog, as always. My K23 mentee just got his K score back (NHLBI): a 28. The FY2013 final payline was 25 and the FY2014 payline was 30. Obviously, we're reading into the tea leaves here, but do you (or does anyone) have a sense about whether the federal budget is likely to be as NIH-friendly (hah) as FY14?
Thanks for any info/guesses/deep thoughts!
October 27, 2014 @
1:37 pm
Hi writedit,
Thanks for keeping this wonderful blog!
I got 13% for my first R01 as an ESI from NIDDK. Based on the previous paylines for NIDDK, mine is on the borderline for established PI but since ESI gets additional 5%, I feel somewhat optimistic. Looking at the summary statement, I saw one reviewer was definitely NOT enthusiastic about my proposal but the other two gave nice comments. I started to contact my PO by email and phone a week ago but got no response. This PO has been very nice to me in the past and always responded to my emails fairly fast. Of course it may be just because PO is very busy right now, but I can't help thinking that maybe this is a sign that my situation is not as promising as I thought. Should I keep trying to get contact with PO? In your opinion, what is the chance that I will be funded? Many thanks!
October 29, 2014 @
2:07 pm
Hello WriteEdit,
Do you know if one can change the title of his grant in the A1 submission but keep the same grant number? I am asking because we are pondering to resubmit an A0 grant but want to change the title to emphasize a dramatic change in the research topic.
October 30, 2014 @
2:54 pm
Hi WriteEdit
My recent R21 application was assigned to a study section, but I do not want mine to be reviewed in that section. Is it possible to request the change now? It was submitted to the Oct 16 deadline.
October 30, 2014 @
3:47 pm
Hello WriteEdit!
My F32 at NIGMS just came in at Impact Score 16, Percentile 5.0. This is pretty good right? I have a decent shot at getting funded? I would go up to council in January.
October 30, 2014 @
7:54 pm
Dear writedit,
I had a question, that I need to answer urgently.
I am submitting a renewal for my first R01 andwondering if the "progress report publications list" attachment can include a narrative about the progress made in the first funding period.
I do have a list of publications on this page, but one reviewer said that the progress report could have included a discussion of the relevance of the publications. I am not sure if they referred to a progress report within the research plan (as the NIH SF424 says), or to the prog. report publiciation list.
If it is not a crime to add a discussion the progress report/publications page, that would save me a lot of essential space in the main grant.
Thank you in advance for any input….your help has always been invaluable.
November 2, 2014 @
1:12 pm
I just received my F32 scores from NIGMS as well: impact score 32 and 27th percentile. I am not sure if this is a good score and was wondering if anyone can comment on whether I have any chances to get my application funded?
November 3, 2014 @
3:08 pm
Thank you for your terrific blog. I'd like to get your perspective on my K23 experience:
03/12/2014 A1 submitted, IC: NIA
06/05/2014 Study section. Impact Score=20 (NIA FY14 K payline: 20; A0 score=41)
09/16/2014 Council. Not funded.
11/03/2014 Heard from PO. Since NIA doesn't have a budget yet, this next round will likely be very conservative where a 20 won't cut it. Once they have a budget, my application may still be in limbo until the end of the FY (September 2015). I was not advised to resubmit as "there is nothing [I] can do that can change [my] chances," though I should reportedly remain optimistic.
Is it just me, or does this projected length of time in limbo seem excessive? Is this an NIA thing? I have colleagues with K's from other ICs whose scores were 22-28. I'm a little dismayed by the possibility that I may have to wait several months for even a chance at getting funded, despite a decent score.
Thanks in advance for your input. I realize persistence (and apparently unbridled optimism) is key, but it's challenging to figure out the next steps on which to persist when career development plans can be unresolved for quite some time.
November 3, 2014 @
11:06 am
Thanks. That's much more consistent with the advice I've received from numerous other sources. You indicate that I need a better PO. How does one get a better PO? Aren't you pretty much stuck with who you're assigned to? Is there any possibility for backlash?
November 4, 2014 @
1:40 pm
Hi Writedit,
I got 12% on my RO1 (NHLBI) which was reviewed in June. Recently I was asked to upload JIT from the Grants department. Council Review was completed on Oct 22nd and it says Council review pending on my commons. I have not heard any thing so far. Please suggest me what I should do now. Should I contact my PO? What are the chances for me to get funded?
Thank you.
November 5, 2014 @
11:07 am
My NCI/K99 score was just notified in the eRA. It is 10, and I can't believe my eyes. This is my first submission and my last chance. I appreciate the great help from this site and thanks so much for writedit's efforts! Is the 10 safe enough to receive the award?
November 6, 2014 @
11:11 am
You know that 10 is a perfect score, right? So obviously unless they don't fund ANY K99's at NCI you are basically guaranteed to get it… congrats!
November 6, 2014 @
3:07 pm
Does any know the NCI K99 pay line this year?
November 6, 2014 @
4:39 pm
I know somebody with NCI/K99 score 28 finally funded in August 2014 (submitted last Oct).
November 6, 2014 @
- 4:39 pm
3:36 pm
I received a score of 27 on an NCI R21 A0 – I think I can work with that for resubmission as we have successfully optimized the critical model by now. I have not contacted the PO yet as the summs have not been released. However, this was a special emphasis panel, that looks to be expired with no reissue. Does this mean there are no options for resubmission or would the grant go to a regular study section now? thanks.
November 6, 2014 @
10:47 pm
Hi All,
I just got a score of 26 for a Phase 2 NHLBI SBIR grant. It seems that historically the payline has never been below 28. This year it is 25 so far. What is you opinion about my chances of getting funding? Thanks!
November 7, 2014 @
3:52 pm
My grad student got an IF of 30 on F31 at nia. There was no percentile listed, does she have a chance?
November 10, 2014 @
3:56 pm
I received a score of 23 on my resubmission of a K99 from NIDCR (original score was 32). The PO said that it is in the competitive range. The council meeting will take place in January. I was wondering if you have any knowledge of scores for applications that normally receive funding for this FOA from NIDCR. I know that NIDCR does not have have pay lines for K99. Thanks!
November 10, 2014 @
7:52 pm
I received a score of 20 on my first submission of a K99 from NHGRI but still waiting the summary statement.
Do you think I have any chance considering the previous years?
Fiscal Year Activity Code NIH Institute / Center Number of Applications Reviewed Number of Applications Awarded Success Rate Total Funding
November 10, 2014 @
12:23 am
My NCI R15 grant impact score is 36. But, i see most of the places priority score or percentile. Is this number is different if it translated into priority score or percentile. And What are the funding probabilities with impact score of 36. I am highly appreciate for your reply to this posts. Thanks.
November 12, 2014 @
6:14 pm
I applied to an F31 in August to NIGMS, and got an impact score of 31 (26th percentile). The review panel was in disagreement about my GRE scores (that are actually pretty good, all above 80th percentile) and my co-sponsor's funding (which has been renewed since than). I have a few questions:
1. What are my chances of actually getting the fellowship?
2. I am considering resubmitting in December. I could make all the corrections by then. I currently have no publications (2 in preparation). Should I wait until the April deadline, by which I will at least have submitted manuscripts?
3. I read somewhere that NIGMS only funded F31-diversity during 2013. Is that true? Will this change for 2015?
November 12, 2014 @
6:34 pm
Thanks for the incredible information you provide. Just looking for advice: Established PI, R01 submitted as an A0 after A1 was scored but killed in discussion due to essentially one piece of new equivocal preliminary data. Encouraged by P.O. to resubmit as A0 (using new mechanism of unlimited submissions), replacing questionable figure with much more appropriate and hypothesis-backing one. Scored last month as 14th%ile, 28 impact with NIDDK, secondary=NCI, (1% off DK payline for FY14, as you know). The A0 is in some ways an A4, as a version of the application went two rounds at another study section before the current 3 versions at the new one. Why do I keep resubmitting? Because each time, it scores 20-30%ile with relatively minor criticisms that I fix, and then new ones come up on the next version.
Emailed my P.O. when I got the new A0 score 3 weeks ago. P.O. is wonderful and, in the past, always responsive. No response so far, though, this time. Just got Summary Statement yesterday. Resume of Discussion all positive except one line about adding an additional type of analysis to the proposed experiments. Individual critiques with only essentially questions about expected outcomes or asking for clarification (not really asking for more data or more experiments). I really don't want to send this thing in any more and would hardly know what to change other than text, not proposed experiments, and I've been holding off on going forward with this project for nearly two years and will have to hire new people to continue if I have to wait until FY16. Any advice on talking to the P.O. what to say, etc, or about likelihood of funding eventually would be fawningly appreciated!
November 12, 2014 @
4:59 pm
I'm wondering if anyone has an idea of what score for the NIDDK K01 was funded this last cycle or in the last year. I received a score of 26 —
November 15, 2014 @
8:03 pm
My DK K01 funded with a 20 in fy13. I know some DK K08 applications that funded in the 30s. Good luck!
November 15, 2014 @
8:54 pm
Writedit – does NIH post lower scores (SBIR/STTR) before posting the higher scored results on commons? I know they post summary statements in this order – best to last
November 16, 2014 @
11:39 am
Writedit- can we propose to have a 50% sub-contractor (SBIR) who is located outside of the USA?
November 17, 2014 @
12:01 pm
Our MPI RO1 AO application received 20%. The funding is from NCI. Both primary and 2nd reviewers gave very positive reviews, but 3rd reviewer had some concerns regarding approaches. But they all agreed the novelty and potential impact. Is there any funding possibility under this situation? Look forward to your advice.
November 17, 2014 @
2:42 pm
Dear Writedit
First thank you for your knowledable posts and comments here. In June, 2015, I submitted a R01 to NIDDK and received a percentile 49%. Last week I received the summary statment and read it carefully.
First: I found that my primary reviewer is too biased to write about the case objectively. She/he even did not read the proposal carefully because I found that she/he copied some comments from other grants that is not involved in my research project.
Second: She/he claimed that the feasility is low because of no related publications.
Third: The reviewer said that PIs have no expertise in liver cancer. She/he did not notice that one Co-PI is an extremly famous investigator from the top institution University of California, San Francisco.
Fourth: I think that our finding is outstanding because we found that one naturally-occuring small molecule in human body can completely prevent the development of liver cacer in two mouse models. We also found that this small molecule is able to completely kill different human liver cancer cells with divergent backgrounds. The reviewer claimed that our finding only have a very limited impact on the field of liver cancer.
There are numbous unprofessional jargon in the summary statement.
Could you please let me know what I should do for this? Do you think that I should talk with my PO on this biased summary statement or just prepare for the re-submission?
November 17, 2014 @
5:07 pm
Dear Writedit
Thank you very much for your timely reply and will follow your advice to do it.
Have a great day
November 17, 2014 @
3:06 am
Dear Writedit,
I have a NLM R01 that received an impact score of 40. It appears that the payline for FY15 is 35 for NIs. It also seems that in previous years the payline was up to 40. I am guessing that there is no chance this will be funded, but it is the first submission so I can submit an A1.
I am not in the US, but this was a multiple PI application with a long-standing collaborator in the US, and it was submitted through his institution. I understand that multiple PI applications are less likely to be funded; however, I also have heard that for non-US investigators, it is better to have a US-based co-PI. Would you have any sense of whether a resubmission would fare better with just one PI outside of the US and a US-based collaborator?
November 18, 2014 @
10:51 pm
Dear Writedit,
I have a DIVERSITY F31 that received an impact score of 39. It appears that the payline for FY15 is 30 for NIAID. I see that a score of 39 is too high. I have two questions.
1) Does the payline for Diversity F31 applications (PA 11-148) differ from regular F31? I'm trying to see if I there is a slim chance that it may be funded.
2) I plan to graduate in 3 semesters. There is no point of resubmission unless I can transfer it to an F32. Is that possible?
November 18, 2014 @
9:31 am
Has anyone heard back on their NIGMS R15s? It sounds like I'm in a similar situation to Heliotron above, whose score was in the low 20's, (mine is 22). No updates except "Council Review Completed" on 9/24. PO wants me to be patient, but that's hard to do, and I need to decide what graduate students (if any) will be RAs next semester.
November 19, 2014 @
7:58 pm
Dear Writedit,
I finally received the JIT request last week (my proposed R01 starting date is 12/01/2014). Is that a sign that I will receive NOA within a few weeks rather than after all the dusts settle down (budget bill passed, ICs get their appropriation, as sometime in February, March or even April)?
November 19, 2014 @
11:16 pm
Dear Writedit: I submitted a K08 grant to NHLBI in June 2014. The grant was reviewed in October 2014, and it received an impact score of 28. The NHLBI payline for 2015 is 30. Can I be sure I will get the grant. Please advise.
November 19, 2014 @
1:43 pm
Hi — where can we find the 2015 paylines for K's? (NIDDK)
December 3, 2014 @
- 1:43 pm
11:25 pm
I am an established investigator. I submitted a new R01 (ES) in 2013 November, wherein it received a score of 39 and percentile of 30. Upon re-submission, I got a score of 44 and percentile of 27. I then improved the application significantly and sent it back as new (A0), and the grant got unscored. I cannot believe the application with each improvement is getting worse score, Can I re-submit the grant the grant as a new A0, as I cannot address some of the comments of one reviewer, who seems very tough and killed the grant for non-scientific reasons as his comments do not make any sense. I am thinking of requesting the SRO to not assign the application to this reviewer. Please let me know id this will be a good strategy. I know the science is very good, but I feel some of the reviewers are very unreasonable. Please advise.
November 19, 2014 @
12:02 am
I submitted an F31 at the same time as my PI submitted an R21. My Aim 2 of my F31 has scientific overlap with parts of the R21's Aim1/2. My PI assures me that since the F31 is for my stipend and the R21 is for reagents/supplies that this overlap will not be a problem. We were approved for the R21. I just submitted my JIT forms for the F31 and pointed out the overlap and I am concerned that since we were awarded the R21 they will not want to award me the F31. What is your opinion on overlap between R21s and F31s?
November 21, 2014 @
4:24 pm
I recently received my priority score for a F31 application submitted in the 2nd cycle (August). The score is the same as the interim payline; what is the likelihood of it being funded? Is there any historical data that shows the payline moves down (i.e. 22 to 21)
November 21, 2014 @
2:19 pm
I also applied for an NIAID F31. I submitted my application in April with a projected start date of September 1st 2014; however, I am just now hearing about the award.
My previous funding ended in July 2014. If I receive the F31 award will they provide retroactive funding for September to now? I would like to pay my PI back the money he has paid me the last few months if possible.
11/25/2014 Award prepared.
11/17/2014 Pending administrative review.
07/15/2014 Scientific Review Group review completed.
04/17/2014 Scientific Review Group review pending.
04/04/2014 Application entered into system.
November 26, 2014 @
- 2:19 pm
9:44 pm
I wonder what is the payline for the predoctoral fellowship (F31) with NCI, thanks a lot!
November 21, 2014 @
4:46 pm
editit, if you happen to find the answer to this question I would be curious to know as well–from what I have seen on this forum most of the F30/F31 paylines refer to NIAID.
December 7, 2014 @
- 4:46 pm
4:06 pm
I read here (http://www.nia.nih.gov/research/blog/2013/12/nia-interim-payline-update , dated 12/2013) that the NIA interim payline for K awards was 20. When I talked to my PO in mid-2014, she informed me that the payline for K applications was the high 20s (higher scores). Is this possible? I was also encouraged to resubmit in late 2014 rather than early 2015. I'm confused and wonder if I should take the encouragement to resubmit with a grain of salt. Any advice? And is there any updated information on the NIA payline for K awards?
November 22, 2014 @
2:48 pm
Received my NEI K23 impact score two weeks ago: 28, but I realized yesterday that the salary budget I requested for my K23 grant was based on 9 months instead of 12 months (it was supposed to be a 12-month based budget).
I should have paid closer attention to the budget form submitted by my SPO — but what's the best way of handling this, and would this affect the funding decision and the amount of funding that I will received should I get funded?
November 25, 2014 @
7:13 pm
Thank you for a very informative blog. I am a new investigator but not ESI: R01 A1 at NIGMS impact score 36 and percentile 21. It was to go for council review in Oct 2014 and we submitted the JIT on request. It now says council meeting completed but nothing else. I have heard nothing else. Do you think I have lost my chance for funding? Thank you for your answer
November 28, 2014 @
6:55 pm
Thanks very much for your reply. I will wait for the budget to check with the PO and to rework it toward a resubmission as a new A0.
I am a bit confused: would this grant (council review in oct 2014) come under this year's funding range and budget or whether a new payline would apply to it based on the 2015 budget that could be more restrictive and likely to exclude the grants in my percentile range? Thanks very much for clarifying.
November 29, 2014 @
5:08 am
Thanks very much for clarifying. Its good to have a clearer picture.
November 30, 2014 @
10:30 am
We are writing an SBIR grant to NCATS. I am the PI and have a PhD, but unfortunately, I do not have any published papers because all my work so far has been highly proprietary. I do have filed patents. Is peer-reviewed published work important for PI consideration, or should we look for another PI with a better publication record?
November 30, 2014 @
9:13 pm
Writedit – I am submitting a Direct Phase II SBIR to NCI, and am trying to decide if some of my key collaborators/advisors should be listed as co-investigators or consultants. All of the work will be performed at the company, but we will rely heavily on academic collaborators to advice on project direction, etc. Would you kindly advise?
December 1, 2014 @
9:39 am
Hello, received a 30 imapct score for R21 (NEI). While this is not within funding range, the PO has asked me for some paperwork in order to "clear" them prior to council meeting…..in case the R21 gets funded.
Isnt that a little strange? why woud he care to "clear" paperwork if the grant is way outside funding range? do you think it is possible the grant was selected due to novelty/uniqueness?
December 2, 2014 @
12:13 pm
WEll….when i spoke on the phone with the PO i was told that 30 is probably outside the range and i should think about re-submission or turning it in to an R01. That was before i received the request for all the paperwork.
I understand there are no guarantees of funding…..but even bn considered would be promising.
December 2, 2014 @
12:49 pm
That is a great idea. I will contact the PO today.
December 2, 2014 @
7:00 pm
My NIH R01 grant was reviewed in October 2014 and received a 13 percentile from NIDDK. But I didnot receive the JIT link from the era commons. Is it normal or should I contact the GMS for JIT. Thank you very much. KB
December 4, 2014 @
4:19 am
Hello! Could you please tell me the maximum amount of salary one can request as part of their budget for the R03?
Thanks for the blog!
December 5, 2014 @
3:57 pm
Hi writedit, thank you for hosting such an informative blog! I received my scores on my very first F32 submission to NHLBI: impact score 28, percentile 25. The NHLBI FY2015 payline for F32s is percentile score of 25.0. Being right on the payline, what does this mean for my chances of the grant being funded? I have kindly contacted my PO but figured I would also ask here since I've gained a tremendous amount of information from this blog. Thanks in advance for any info you can provide!
December 8, 2014 @
5:03 pm
I received a percentile score of 25 for an F award I applied for in August. The institute doesn't publish paylines, but the PO said that this past year the institute funded up to the 30th percentile. However, since the application is considered in a new FY, they will probably fund up to the 20th % to begin with. When would I know whether the institute has decided to fund higher amounts? Does it make sense to just resubmit for the next deadline (April)?
December 9, 2014 @
12:33 pm
Hello, I submitted a new R01 in June and received a score of 23, 14%ile. The institute was NICHD whose payline was 13%ile for NIs in FY14. I was able to resubmit early (Dec 10 as opposed to waiting until March 5) since I'm a NI. This application will be reviewed in early March. However, do you think that I might have a chance to get funded on the A0 application still?
December 10, 2014 @
6:20 pm
I know that submitting applications for essentially the same work to multiple institutes or PHS organizations is prohibited, but is it prohibited to apply for essentially the same work from a foundation and the NIH at the same time?
December 10, 2014 @
11:05 pm
Hello, thank you (and your commenters) for this incredibly useful site. I submitted a K01 resubmission in March 2014, and it was reviewed in June 2014 – it received a priority score of 30 (K01s don't get percentile scores). After talking with my PO, I submitted the proposal as a new application to a different study section in October 2014. Today, I received an e-mail from NIDA that "NIDA is considering this [the resubmission] application for funding. To that end, please submit current just-in-time information through the eRA Commons as soon as possible." The status has changed in Commons to "pending." Can I be cautiously optimistic? Or is it still a long-shot that the application will be funded?
December 10, 2014 @
10:39 am
Dear writedit,
I have been just made aware of how the funding decisions are made at NIGMS, which could be to my benefit as an ESI. But my area of research isn't listed (disease-related immunology, and I have been sending my applications to NIAID). Do you think NIGMS would be a good fit for me? Thank you!
December 13, 2014 @
10:28 am
Hi all – I received a 13th % on my A0 R01 submission to NCI back in June (Submission in Feb 2014). I've spoken to my PO in Oct, who said he is not really sure how competitive it is since it is an A0 (no ESI status). His suggestion was to resubmit, but he also warned that it is quite possible that my percentile could get worse (!), in which case I would be screwed. I haven't spoken to him since October and ended up resubmitting in early November as suggested. We did have a brief email correspondence about resubmission strateg, and he also pointed out that my A0 score would still be considered until the A1 was reviewed/scored. I took this to mean that there is still a chance for the A0, at least until Feb. My question is: should I hound this guy again now that it looks like the 2015 FY budget is set to pass? My A0 is stuck in "Council Review Completed" limbo and I get the impression that I am never going to get a yes-or-no answer on this. How long before I should assume the A0 is dead? I'm really terrified that my A1 could very well end up with a worse %tile despite addressing reviewer concerns. Having served on this study section, I firmly believe that scoring in the 1-25%tile range is almost entirely random.
December 15, 2014 @
7:05 pm
Once the budget is set, how long does it take for paylines to be determined by the different ICs?
December 15, 2014 @
10:16 am
Hello! Before I ask my question, I want to reiterate what others have said about how great a resource this blog has been throughout the writing/editing and of course waiting for decisions. I recently received an F32 impact score that is within NIAIDs interim payline. The PO asked for and received JIT info from me. Any idea how fast the grant will be awarded, especially now that the budget has passed? I saw your answer above about 6-8 weeks for R01's but I assume things move a little faster for the F's since no council meeting is required. Thanks!
December 16, 2014 @
2:22 am
I discovered your site and I found a lot of useful information. Thanks!
I have just received my NCI R21 score (30 and 17%). Is this score totally beyond funding range? I am NI but not ESI which may not matter for an R21. I haven't talked with the PO yet. When will a JIT be issued usually?
December 19, 2014 @
1:15 am
Thanks for the great advice you provide on this site! I am a late-career investigator who had an R01 re-submission reviewed in October by a standing study section at NIMH. Impact score was 20, but no percentile rank was provided. After receiving the summary statement, I was contacted by the PO assigned to the grant, and we had a good discussion regarding the project. The PO made it sound like it was becoming rare for even standing SRGs to use percentile scores at NIMH, presumably to give the program staff more leeway in selecting proposals to recommend for funding. Based on your experience, is this the "new normal" at NIMH?
Even without a percentile rank as a guide, I'm feeling fairly hopeful about funding. The PO asked us to submit JIT info and to send a written response to the critiques in the summary statement to inform her discussions with other staff at NIMH.
December 20, 2014 @
8:49 am
I received an automated e-mail request for a JIT. Should I respond to this request? Or should I wait for the PO/GMS to directly contact me about the JIT as indicated by many posts on this blog?
December 20, 2014 @
6:28 pm
It is possible to apply for R15 while being the PI for a R01
December 20, 2014 @
8:45 am
NINDS has just updated their payline for funding grants for FY2015:
see: 'http://www.ninds.nih.gov/funding/ninds_funding_strategy.htm'
According to this page: "for competing RPG's, We anticipate that approximately 20% of all eligible competing Research Project Grant applications will be funded this year. We have set aside approximately $140 million of the total funds available for competing awards to fund investigator-initiated grants that were not submitted in response to special initiatives. New (Type 1), competing renewal (Type 2), and competing supplement (Type 3) grants will be funded in percentile rank order up to the 14th percentile. "
Therefore, according to this NINDS website, the payline looks to be 14.0%, which is unchanged from the past few years. Just thought that some people might care to know as it has not yet been updated on this page.
December 24, 2014 @
4:12 pm
I see that NIGMS does not publish a payment. My question is, compared with NIBIB, whether NIGMS' payline is higer or lower than NIBIB's? Anyone has any idea? We want to choose one of them as the primary institution for our R01 grant consideration but don't know which one has a higher payline.
December 24, 2014 @
4:13 pm
Sorry, a typo, "payment" should be "payline."
December 24, 2014 @
- 4:13 pm
12:18 pm
Hi writedit -We recently received a Phase I STTR.
1. Are we required to sub-contract 30% of the direct costs or 30% of the total budget to the collaborating institution?
2. Can we switch collaborating institutions (use a non-profit CRO instead of the academic institution)?
3. If yes to switching institutions, do we need permission from the program director?
Thanks as always!
December 29, 2014 @
9:09 am
Hi writedit, Thanks for maintaining this very useful site. Currently I am in transition from K99 phase to R00 phase and I am preparing R00 application package. The grant manager at the new Institution told me that they can't submit the application until I formally join the new Institution. Is this right? I have another question. Does the mentor evaluation letter need signatures from all mentors (primary and co-mentors)? If primary mentor holds the letter, what should I do?
December 30, 2014 @
12:20 pm
Such a great resource here! I am looking for some advice. I am not sure if this is the correct place to post but there seems to be a nidus of experience with NIH policy and institutional practices. I am at a small liberal arts college and I received an R15 from the NIDDK. My institution allows for pre-tenured faculty to have a semester of paid leave for research. A second semester research leave can be granted without institutional pay; most junior faculty cover the second semester with wages and benefits from federal grants (or chose to return to their teaching responsibilities). My R15 budget covers (wages + benefits at 22%) my second semester research leave that began Jan 1.
Here is the issue on which I would like advice: my institution informed me that I am no longer an employee (while on the second semester), the college considers me a volunteer that is not entitled to certain institutional benefits and protections. In particular the college will not contribute to my retirement benefits nor am I covered under worker's compensation insurance. My health coverage, life and disability will continue. I have informal indication that my students and I would be covered under the college's liability policy.
My concern is that the NIH would require a PI to be an employee, before any award would be granted. And as the award has already been accepted (on my behalf) by the institution and vetted by the Office of Grants; Is the college in breach of that contract? Would it be best to contact my GMS/GMO or PO regarding this policy?
Any thoughts, comments or suggestions are welcome. I am at a loss on how best to proceed.
January 5, 2015 @
10:36 pm
Hi Writedit,
I have a DIVERSITY F31 that received an impact score of 39, I think the payline is 30. I also received the summary statement last month. I think one of the three reviewers did the proposal in, and I don't think it was a fair review. The advisory council meeting is in two weeks. Do you think I should contact the PO regarding my concerns and the likelihood of funding? Or I should wait until the advisory council meeting? Do you think there's any possibility of funding with a score this high?
January 5, 2015 @
11:52 am
I have received the 13 percentile on my RO1 grant (NIDDK) but still did not get the JIT request from website or PO. The council will meet on Jan 28. Is it normal??
January 7, 2015 @
12:39 pm
Any thoughts on why NICHD never posted paylines for 2014? Do you think this trend will continue in 2015?
January 7, 2015 @
1:59 pm
In April 2014, my NICHD PO said that 2014 paylines would be roughly the same as in 2012 and 2013 (around 9-10th% for established investigators, 13-14% for new and early stage investigators). As a new investigator my 2014 NICHD R01 scored at the 9th% and was funded.
January 8, 2015 @
- 1:59 pm
10:59 pm
Dilemma on budget for potential funded RO1
Hi Writedit
I received a 7th percentile on my RO1-A1. This was my final shot as a NI/ESI. My PO has suggested that when the grant goes to council soon, I will have better odds for funding if I settle for 3 years as opposed to 5 years on the grant by cutting one aim and thereby the budget. Any suggestions on how I should respond? Obviously I want to do the science but I am concerned that I would be up for a renewal in 3 years and would take a huge hit on the budget. Any comments are greatly appreciated.
January 7, 2015 @
11:53 am
For NIAID F31 fellowships, is the expected state date ever expedited without request? I submitted the grant in Aug. 2014 cycle. I sent in my JIT documentation and status on Commons has been updated as award prepared, yet start date is still April 2015. Thanks.
January 8, 2015 @
2:22 pm
I am sure that this type of question has been asked before, so I apologize in advance for asking again. NICHD has a council meeting on January 22. So, does that mean that they will know paylines at that point?
January 11, 2015 @
2:43 pm
This from a recent response from writedit (about a week ago):
As I recall, NICHD does not have a good prior history of posting paylines, so I'm not sure they'll reappear. It will take a few more weeks, at least, before the appropriations trickle down to the ICs, at which point your PO might have a better idea of funding levels (which should be roughly the same as FY14). The paylines usually get set after the last cycle of reviews (now through March/April roughly), at which point the ICs know the number and distribution of scores/percentiles and the amount of money they have available for competing awards.
January 11, 2015 @
- 2:43 pm
9:10 pm
January 11, 2015 @
10:48 am
I just received an email from a PO at NICHD with a more definitive answer. This helps those of us waiting!:
"Our national advisory council meets on Jan. 22 and en bloc approval will be sought for a slate of applications. Funding paylines aren't always discussed at council so I don't know if they will or won't be discussed this year. We usually are informed of the paylines around the time of our council. Please check back with me the week of January 26 and I'll fill you in."
January 12, 2015 @
11:04 am
Update on the NICHD paylines from my PO:
"The R01 payline for January 2015 is the 9th percentile getting up to the 12th percentile for new investigators."
January 23, 2015 @
- 11:04 am
- 10:48 am
6:53 pm
I have a friend who is a faculty in a university in a foreign country but also an adjunct proferssor at a university here in the US, where he works part time. Can he apply for NIH grants independently or as my collaborator?
January 13, 2015 @
10:17 am
Did anyone get JIT request from PO for the NIMH February council meeting?
January 15, 2015 @
12:33 pm
I just received my notice of award! Since this site was such a huge help, I wanted to share my timeline; however, I was reluctant to post anything until I had my NoA in hand. Hopefully this is helpful for others. My grant application was for a F31 through NIDA.
1st submission:
01/15/2015 Application withdrawn; previous application funded.
07/22/2014 Summary statement was released. Most of the feedback I received was easily addressable so I went ahead and resubmitted. That time line follows.
07/08/2014 Scientific Review Group review completed. Refer any questions to Program Official. – At this point, I received a score of 28 that fell within the 26th percentile.
04/17/2014 Scientific Review Group review pending. Refer any questions to the Scientific Review Administrator.
04/08/2014 Application entered into system
2nd submission:
01/15/2015 Fellowship awarded.
01/09/2015 Award prepared: refer questions to Grants Management Specialist.
12/10/2014 Received a JIT request from the GMS. Submitted all the requested information on 12/15/2014.
12/10/2014 Pending administrative review. Refer any questions to Program Official or Grants Management Specialist.
11/20/2014 Received my summary statement. Realized that I needed to address a specific issue. Contacted my PO who advised me to write a letter addressing the issue and send it back to him. Sent that back on 12/1/2014.
11/18/2014 Scientific Review Group review completed. Refer any questions to Program Official. – I received a score of 13 that fell within the 3rd percentile. Needless to say, I did a very happy dance at this point.
08/15/2014 Scientific Review Group review pending. Refer any questions to the Scientific Review Administrator.
08/07/2014 Application entered into system
January 15, 2015 @
1:28 pm
I am a New Investigator having a question about funding decisions made by NIH/NCI for grants reviewed in NI category. My first RO1 grant proposal scored 49% at one of the NIH/NCI study sections couple of years ago. I submitted A1 application for June 2014 IRG review and it scored 11%. I was quite happy because I thought it had a good chance to be funded even if it is outside of solid payline. PO for this proposal said that due to the lack of approved budget the funding decisions will be made sometime in January 2015.
I also generated another RO1 grant proposal that scored 24% as A0 in a different NIH/NCI study section a year ago. I resubmitted this proposal as A1 for October 2014 IRG review and it scored 4%. Both of these proposals were reviewed under NI category but they are unrelated and they are handled by different POs.
I recently contacted PO for my first grant to inquire about it. In his email message he said that "after much deliberation my 11% grant was not selected for funding. It was recognized that I have another New Investigator grant (4%) that will be funded in January 2015."
I am surprised by such reasoning as the key argument appears to be that I am a NI for both proposals. I have a few questions. Does anyone know about any public notice by NIH stating that two grants reviewed under NI category cannot be funded? I was not able to find anything. If I knew such policy existed then of course I would not have been resubmitting my second RO1 proposal in the next cycle after resubmitting the first one.
Is it now an internal policy of NIH/NCI to make funding decisions based on how an unrelated RO1 proposal from the same investigator scores in a different cycle in a different study section? I am confused because NIH to date did not make any decision on my second grant (Council review still pending) and yet, it was used as a justification not to fund my first. Can anyone share thoughts or experience obtained under similar circumstances? Does anyone have any advice? Thanks.
January 16, 2015 @
3:02 pm
Today NIDDK have announced the new paylines for FY2015. The paylines were same like last year.
January 16, 2015 @
4:18 pm
NIMH FY 2015 Funding Strategy is also published. Did anyone hear JIT request for the Feb. council meeting? thanks.
January 16, 2015 @
- 4:18 pm
11:49 am
Minw was in January 28 council meeting, still i did not hear for the JIT
January 17, 2015 @
1:22 pm
Is there a wait period before I can submit a proposal to a study section that I just step down as permanent member?
January 17, 2015 @
3:00 pm
Hi Writedit,
Any idea what's going on with NHLBI? Why they are still on 90% pay line even after they got the budget? My RO1 got 12% (reviewed in June 2014). What is going to happen in terms of funding? Please let me know.
January 17, 2015 @
11:24 am
thanks writedit.
January 18, 2015 @
11:14 pm
Dear writedit, when I apply for DP2 grant, do I put a recommended NIH agency in the cover letter or this will be directly managed through NIH? Will I be competing with other applicants to the same agency or all applicants across the agencies? Thanks.
January 19, 2015 @
12:35 pm
Hi writedit, Thanks for maintaining this very useful site. I in Nov 2014 I got an Ro1 funded as an ESI (submitted in Feb of 2014 i think).
In July of 2014 (still ESI) i applied for another different R01 (R01 #2). R01#2 scored OK as an A0. lets say 15%, in November 2014. Council in Feb 2015 for R01#2.
I called and confirmed with my PO that ESI would be in effect for this and we could try to "rescue" the A0. I rebutted comments and stuff for council.
Now PO says that since it is now 2015, and my R01#1 was funded in 2014, my ESI status sundowned, and i'm in the pool with established PIs.
Can someone find a NIH reference to back this up? Quibbling with the PO is unlikely to help, but i wonder if it can be subtly done… I'd like to ride the ESI into R01#2 if possible… it is war out there and all is fair in love and war, right?
January 21, 2015 @
2:56 pm
Hi writedit,
I submitted an F31 to NIDA in April. The review group meeting was in July and we received an impact score of 10 and 1 percentile (this was our second submission). In December we received a request from the GMS for JIT documents which we submitted around 12/20. I saw in a response above that NIDA has funded some F31s from the August cycle. Our grants management specialist said on 1/13 that they do not know when we might receive our NOA. What might be some of the reasons why our NOA seems to be so delayed?
Thank you!
January 21, 2015 @
6:43 pm
Hi, I posted a couple of months ago about a 14th%ile A0 R01, scored in October. The IC has recently posted a "nominal payline" of 13th% for established PIs like me. My PO did not commit to anything in response to my email query about the application at the time of receiving my Summary Statement, saying the application would have to get a budget and go through Council before she knew anything, so the PO recommended revising the application. My question now is that Council is nigh, the auto-generated JIT request says it expires at the end of the month, and my grants administrator here at my Institution keeps nagging me to submit JIT. I tell her writedit says I must wait until requested by the PO or GMO and that I don't want to nag the PO, because then the PO will know that I'm not a cool and sophisticated PI.
But seriously, does that posted JIT "deadline" actually mean anything? Shouldn't I be expecting a personal request for JIT, being just 1% off the payline with Council next week? Is there harm in contacting the PO about JIT? I do worry it might be awkward. I've been contacting the POfor other reasons a decent amount lately (existing R01 with Supplement application) and don't want to be a nag. Plus, maybe I don't want to hear bad news.
January 21, 2015 @
3:46 pm
My PO told me that my R21 is going to the council and requested some info. Council is/was today. If the PO is pushing this for funding, even though is outside the NEI s range/payline…..how long do i have to wait before i hear council s decision ie notice of award ….or rejection??
January 22, 2015 @
4:17 pm
thank you. that is a very long time. that means i cant re submit either.
do you reccomend contacting the PO?
January 22, 2015 @
3:51 pm
Well we are not gonna make it for February 5th so we might as well wait.
the PO said that he will let me know as soon as he known the decision on the R21.
What do you think? good/bad sign?
January 23, 2015 @
4:15 pm
Did anyone (not ESI) get funded beyond 10 percentile from NIMH? NIMH doesn't have a pay line and it states "the Institute expects to support most of the applications that have an impact score up to the 10th percentile, many between the 10th and 20th percentiles….".
January 23, 2015 @
3:30 pm
Does anyone know what "Pending administrative review. Refer any questions to Program Official or Grants Management Specialist." mean for a K99 application? This was a resubmission with an impact score of 23 (NIDCR), no pay lines. Thanks
January 27, 2015 @
3:49 pm
have a look "here"….to be paid…..Congrats
January 27, 2015 @
3:53 pm
I would be cautiously optimistic. Nothing is certain until you get NOA. Coincidently, I had the same score (23) on K99 (NIAID) and the status remained "Pending administrative review" and eventually not resulting in NOA.
January 27, 2015 @
4:03 pm
Thanks. I agree with you. Nothing is certain until NOA. I will contact the PO in couple of days.
January 27, 2015 @
4:03 pm
really? i didnt know that this can happen. i guess you never know with NIH. thanks RT3
January 27, 2015 @
4:07 pm
I also haven't heard of that happening – did they mention anything administrative came up? scary to know this is a possibility!
January 27, 2015 @
4:34 pm
May i ask when was the council meeting for this application? Just wondering how fast you got to the "admin review".
January 27, 2015 @
4:41 pm
The council review took place today. The status changed very fast i.e. on the day of council review. This is why I'm thinking of contacting the PO in a couple of days.
January 27, 2015 @
4:43 pm
i think you should. Good luck…
January 27, 2015 @
9:58 am
The application was successful! The PO just emailed me.
January 28, 2015 @
10:02 am
January 28, 2015 @
10:48 am
kd! Yes, that did happen. Even worse, the PO officer emailed me a congratulatory note that your grant has been selected for funding. We even opened the bottle of Champagne. A week later I got an email from NIAID that they apologize for a little too early response from their PO and they have decided not to fund the application. I am still sore from this 2011 incident and suspect big politics at NIAID.
January 30, 2015 @
- 4:03 pm
- 3:49 pm
3:45 pm
NICHD finally posted FY14 paylines. Better late than never?
"The NICHD 2014 payline is the 9th percentile for new (Type 1) applications and 9th percentile for renewal (Type 2) and amended (-A1) applications.
For R01 applications from New Investigators and Early Stage Investigators, the payline is the 15th percentile."
January 27, 2015 @
4:09 pm
When is the latest to apply for a renewal on an R01 to maintain funding?
January 27, 2015 @
4:26 pm
I have acquired a lot of useful information here. Last Friday I finally received my NOA from NCI. As I promised, I would like to share my timeline here with a hope it can help you somehow.
6/5/2013, R01 first submission
10/25/2013, received scores, 26%
3/5/2014, R01 A1 resubmitted
6/3/2014, scientific review, impact score 26, 8%
9/10/2014, Council review completed
11/14/2014, JIT request
11/19/214, submitted JIT
11/26/2014 request clarification and additional JIT
12/22/2014 submitted additional JIT
(in between, received a couple of emails regarding progress)
(1/20/2015, grant notification from senate's office)
1/23/2015 Notice of Award
I have learned to be patient and meanwhile you have to move your research further.
January 27, 2015 @
12:31 pm
Hi folks,
I have a grant that is pending (an RFA to NIEHS), with a mediocre score (35) that apparently good enough that the PO has told me I should not discount the possibility of it getting funded. He had previously asked for a rebuttal on the Summary Statement. My question is, it is appropriate to keep the PO informed on research progress relevant to the aims of the grant and/or findings in recently published literature that would bolster the grant? When do updates, if acceptable, become too much information? The council meeting is in 3 weeks, BTW.
Thanks for your thoughts.
January 28, 2015 @
10:12 am
Hi, I am submitting an A1 K23 to the NIA. One reviewer suggestion was to include more learning experiences outside of graduate courses (eg, conferences, workshops). I originally included participation in two national conferences, but I found an additional two relevant conferences. How much $ can you request each year on a K23 to attend conferences? They are so expensive these days. Attending 4 per year could get costly. thanks!
January 29, 2015 @
10:35 am
K23 / K08 applicants (for NEI) at my institute usually request for $1,500 for each conference, and it never seemed to be a problem with the reviewers. However, you need to be careful not to propose to attend too many conferences. An applicant at my institute proposed to attend 3 conferences annually, and one review's comment was "The attendance of three national meetings per year for a graduate student seems excessive."
January 29, 2015 @
12:54 pm
Thanks for the comments!
I did find two workshops/sessions outside of annual conferences, 1 through the NIA and the other through the DHHS/NIH. However, both sessions require an application so admission is not guaranteed. One website actually posted a recommendation NOT to include participation in the workshop in the Career Development Activities of career development awards.
January 29, 2015 @
1:47 pm
Thanks! Great suggestions!
January 29, 2015 @
- 1:47 pm
- 10:35 am
10:13 am
Thank you very much for a very useful website. We submitted another grant to NHLBI. I have heard they only fund 4 not 5 years. Is this true-because we submitted a budget for 5 years. Would our grant get rejected or shunted away from NHLBI because we did this or would we just be asked to redo the budget? Thank you very much for your reply.
January 29, 2015 @
1:11 pm
Thank you very much, this is very helpful to know.
January 29, 2015 @
10:23 pm
Established PI. Just got a 13%ile on an A0 for an NHLBI proposal. Does it get funded in FY15?
February 3, 2015 @
8:09 am
Hopefully this year will be better than last, in similar situation with NCI, my A0 year 17 renewal at 13% wasn't funded (PO tried to get it funded by exception, no luck), revision went to 15%, again not funded. Good news is that the (barely changed) revision went to same study section and got 2%, council next week so hopefully an NGA soon. Timeline – first application was Feb 2013, so 2yrs struggling to support students, long time res assoc, etc.
February 4, 2015 @
6:21 pm
Received an from my PO from NHLBI today and he tells me that there is a chance that the R01 will be funded at 13%ile, but likely won't know till June/July. Obviously, he's non-committal, but I'm going to remain cautiously optimistic.
February 4, 2015 @
7:47 pm
Should read "an email"
February 4, 2015 @
11:10 am
Dave it was wonderful news for you. Hopefully you will get your grant. My grant still I am waiting for response from my NIDDK PO (13% ), they have completed council last week.
February 5, 2015 @
7:13 am
Update: my PO emailed me yesterday to tell me he is "confident that I won't need to submit a revision" bc the nhlbi payline increased to 13%ile for R01s.
February 19, 2015 @
- 7:47 pm
- 6:21 pm
12:07 pm
KB, 13% is within the payline of NIDDK. Did PO tell your proposal went into council? I thought they update the eRA status soon after council meeting.
February 5, 2015 @
12:43 pm
I didnot contact my PO from last 2 months so she did not inform me whether my application went to council or not. But before the council (1/13/2015), they have updated my era commons as
Pending administrative review. Refer any questions to Program Official or Grants Management Specialist.
After the council, there is no update in my era commons.
February 5, 2015 @
2:20 pm
Hi, I just got an impact score for my F32 application at NIDDK of 26. They do not percentile, so it's hard for me to know where I stand.
My PO said this:
"Most likely you will not get funded this round. However, we will be discussing your application for potential funding if some of the better scored applications are not funded. So you should plan on potentially submitting a revised application and hope you do not have to do so. The summary statements should be released by March and the funding decision should be made by mid March."
Anyone know how to decode this? Should I be semi-optimistic?
Waiting for my summary statement …
February 5, 2015 @
9:08 am
I just received my F32 scores from NIDDK which is 26 on 19th February on my first time submission. I saw a comment about a score released on 5th Febraury.
Do NIDDK release scores as and when they are uploaded by the reviewers or they release after the study section meeting?
Also, I went ahead and emailed my PO whether this score could be fundable. She replied that in a month she will have more information and that my grant was in the top 50% of the grants that were discussed on 18th and 19th February from which grants will be selected for funding.
Since NIDDK donot display clearly the F32 percentile cutoff, it is difficult to infer anything. Any idea of FY2015 paylines for F32 specifically?
I am new to all of this, so trying to wrap my head around all the information.
Thank you for the awesome blog.
February 21, 2015 @
11:25 am
Thank you for your help. You have an amazing resource here for all of us who anxiously wait to be funded.
I had applied for F32 in December 2014 for NIDDK. On 4th April, I had received an email from them asking for JIT information. They mentioned that my proposal was being selected for funding. I had requested for 1st July starting date but I have not received the NOA yet. The last update on era website was on 1st April which says: Pending administrative review. I talked with the grants office at my institution and they mentioned to not email them till next week. Also, the program office at NIDDK just retired. Since I have not revived the official NOA, I am not sure if I am getting the funding or not.
Is it common to not get any communications from them till the last minute? Any help will be grateful! thank you in advance.
June 24, 2015 @
11:38 am
I don't know how common it is, but I can say from my own experience it definitely happens. I hate to say it, but you may not hear anything until after your start date. It has happened to me a couple of times.
June 24, 2015 @
- 11:25 am
- 9:08 am
11:41 am
Hi, Writedit. Wondering about something else. What is the etiquette about contacting SROs after grant review and Summary Statement release? Are they ever allowed to comment on tenor of discussion in the IRG meeting the way a PO does? Are there NO-NOs about what can be discussed with them about specific applications after, say, an A0 review in re: what to do in resubmission?
February 6, 2015 @
2:23 pm
Is there a notion that FY2015 will be any better in terms of payline, i mean more generous?
February 7, 2015 @
12:58 pm
Did anyone get an eRA status of "pending administrative review" before NIMH council meeting? Any news from the 2/6 meeting?
February 9, 2015 @