Notices and Announcements
1. Federal Policy for the Protection of Human Subjects Update (Common Rule) (Monday, January 21, 2019)
Significant revisions to the “Common Rule” – a regulation that governs research involving human subjects conducted or sponsored by the Federal departments and agencies that have adopted those rules – are expected to take full effect on January 21, 2019.
This is the first revision to the Common Rule since its publication in 1991 and aims to strengthen the protection of research participants, while also reducing administrative burden for investigators.
The UD Institutional Review Board (IRB) will continue providing oversight of any studies reviewed and approved prior to January 21, 2019 under the version of the Common Rule under which the study was originally approved (pre-revisions). All new project submissions to the UD IRB beginning January 21, 2019 will be required to comply with the Revised Common Rule and will need to use the new templates as posted in IRBNet.
A new course on the “Revised Common Rule” is available under the University of Delaware training curriculum at www.citiprogram.org. Below is a summary of several key provisions and changes that will require compliance beginning January 21, 2019.
2. Partial Government Shutdown (Wednesday, January 2, 2019)
A partial government shutdown has continued into the new year. While NIH and the Department of Education are funded, others such as NSF, NASA, NOAA, USDA, NIST, and NEH are not. Agency Contingency Plans and FAQs can be found on the OMB website.
3. NSF accepting proposals related to hurricane Irma (Thursday, September 21, 2017)
With the second major hurricane – Hurricane Irma – to strike the United States, the National Science Foundation (NSF) and its staff remain strongly committed to supporting the people and institutions affected by these storms. Now that the consequences of these disasters are upon us, new science and engineering questions are being raised. Through this Dear Colleague Letter, NSF encourages the submission of proposals that seek to address the challenges related to Hurricane Irma.
4. NSF Newsletters (Monday, April 24, 2017)
The Proposal & Award Policy Newsletter is a quarterly publication designed to provide information about upcoming changes and clarifications to policies and procedures that affect how you prepare and submit proposals, and manage NSF awards.
5. NIH initiatives for 2017 (Friday, January 6, 2017)
The Research Office writes to inform the UD Research Community of several reforms and new initiatives the National Institutes of Health (NIH) will be implementing in the upcoming weeks and months with the aim of enhancing clinical trials stewardship.
6. UD – NSF Template for Collaborators & Other Affiliations (Monday, February 1, 2016)
The Research Office has created a template to assist with the new NSF Collaborators & Other Affiliations Requirements. Instructions on how to use the template can be found using the link.
7. NIH Salary Cap Updated (Monday, January 4, 2016)
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has announced an updated salary cap for grant and cooperative agreement awards and extramural research and development contract awards. Effective January 10, 2016, the Executive Level II salary cap will be raised to $185,100. This change effects the following:
NIH grant/contract awards for applications/proposals that request direct salaries of individuals in excess of the applicable RATE per year will be adjusted in accordance with the legislative salary limitation and will include a notification such as the following: None of the funds in this award shall be used to pay the salary of an individual at a rate in excess of the applicable salary cap.
NIH competing grant awards with categorical budgets reflecting salary levels at or above the new cap(s) that are issued on or after the January 10, 2016 effective date, will reflect adjustments to the current and all future years so that no funds are awarded or committed for salaries over the limitation.
The salary limitation provision DOES apply to subawards/subcontracts for substantive work under an NIH grant or contract.
8. NSF – Updated Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG) (Monday, November 23, 2015)
NSF has released a new version of the PAPPG, to take effect January 25, 2016. Key changes include new formatting guidance for letters of collaboration, page limitations for Collaborators and Other Affiliations information and updated submission deadlines.
9. ONR No Funds Extensions (Friday, November 13, 2015)
ONR has recently released new guidance pertaining to No Funds Extensions, effective immediately. The new guidance spells out the maximum extension time allowable and what parties need to be involved at each step.
10. NSF Fastlane Changes- new automated compliance check now live, Effective Date: April 24, 2015 (Friday, April 24, 2015)
Beginning April 24, 2015, proposals submitted in response to Program Solicitations in Fastlane will undergo a series of automated proposal compliance validation checks to ensure they comply with requirements in the Proposal & Award Policies and Procedures Guide (PAPPG).