National Institutes of Health

The following documents are available for download:

• UWA NIH Principal Investigator Assurance Form [PDF] [RTF]
• Example UWA NIH PHS 398 Face Page [PDF] [RTF]
• Example UWA NIH PHS 398 Checklist Form Page [PDF] [RTF]
  These both contain UWA specific NIH data, such as ethics assurance and other numbers.

Please take note of the "Grants to Foreign Institutions, International Organizations, and Domestic Grants with Foreign Components", which is part of the NIH Grants Policy Statement, and that every effort should be made to comply with the format specifications (http://www.format.nih.gov/FAQ/FAQ.htm), which are based upon a standard U.S. paper size of 8.5" x 11”. UniPrint can supply this paper. For enquiries please contact David Prior or Craig MacKenzie.

The UWA Preparing an Application page contains many useful documents, such as the Internal Guidelines, which should be consulted for information on internal procedures, preparation of salaries and other budget items, etc.

Please note that the maximum the NIH will pay for infrastructure ("F&A costs") to non-US institutions is 8%. This should be included in budgets - i.e. added to the direct costs when calculating total costs, and referenced in the Checklist Form Page, as in the example available for download. Of this 8%, 4.8% remains centrally and 3.2% is credited to the relevant school infrastructure Project Grant. Further information on Recovery of University Infrastructure Costs is available at: http://www.research.uwa.edu.au/page/15635. Please contact the Research Grants Office if you have any queries concerning this.

Also available for download are a large number of PowerPoint presentations given by NIH staff at a seminar in the US during 2003. The presentations cover a number of topics, including: Current Issues at NIH; Grant Writing for Success; New Frontiers: Stem Cell Research; NIH Fundamentals; and Scientific Peer Review. These are well worth viewing.

The Community of Science (COS) Funding Opportunities database and Funding Alerts is ideal for locating information on individual NIH opportunities - a search on this database (Sponsor = "NIH" and Citizenship = "Australia or Unrestricted or Unspecified") locates over 800 Program Announcements or similar.

There is a great deal of information on the various NIH websites: www.nih.gov. Below are some suggested links: 

• An Introduction to Extramural NIH
  Provides an overview of the NIH, grants, and the peer review process.
• Grants and Funding Opportunities
  This page provides links to all of the NIH grants pages.
• Grants Office of Extramural Home Page
  Quite possibly the most important starting page for all grants related documents.
• Getting Started at NIH
  Has links to such documents as: Grant Application Basics, How to Plan a Grant Application, How to Write a Grant Application, Grants Policy Statement, a section on Modular grants, which provides policies, lists of sample applications and valuable Q & As.
• NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts
  This is "the official publication of NIH policies, procedures, and availability of funds." It includes all Program Announcements, Request for Applications, and Request for Proposals. It's a weekly, web based, publication. The table of contents can be received, weekly, via email by subscribing to this service.
• NIH Institutes, Centers and Offices
  Has detailed information on, and links to, the 27 NIH Institutes and Centers.
• PHS 398
  This page contains the form used for most applications as well as guidelines, instructions and a range of other related documents.
• NIH Modular Research Grant Applications
  Applications for amounts of no greater than $US250,000 per year are classified as modular. Amounts are requested in modules of $US25,000, with less budget justification being required than for larger grants.
• Award Data
  Contains statistical information, and information on individual awarded grants.
• Grant Writing Tips Sheets
  "Many NIH Institutes put out guides and tip sheets on their Web sites. These guides can be useful resources. Here are just a few."
• Glossary of Funding and Policy Terms and Acronyms
  Provided by the NIAID, one of the NIH Institutes.