Frequently Asked Questions About NIH Funding Opportunities
See specific questions and answers about:
Eligibility
- Are the H3Africa funding opportunities open to the entire continent of Africa?
Yes, the funding opportunities are open to investigators from all African countries.
- Are we eligible to apply if our research group includes co-investigators from US or outside Africa?
H3Africa awards will be made to African institutions. Applications may include proposed collaborations with researchers/institutions from outside the continent. However, collaborations with other African institutions are required and more than one half of the funds must be spent within on the African continent.
- Are institutions, as opposed to individual investigators, eligible to apply?
NIH grants are awarded to institutions, not individuals. In order to qualify to apply, an institution must complete several registrations by the time the application is submitted. Please note that if a multi-PI mechanism is used, ALL institutions that are participating in the collaboration must be registered in eRA Commons.
- If my country of origin is African and I am conducting studies in Africa, but am working at a non-African institution, am I eligible to submit an application to one of the H3Africa FOAs?
In the NIH system, an application must be submitted by the institution, not the investigator. Therefore, an African institution must submit an H3Africa application. If an investigator has an appointment at an African institution and the institution is willing to submit the application, then it is possible for that investigator to also work at a non-African institution.
- For the H3Africa Research Projects (U01), can the partner(s) be in the same university/city/country, or is there a trans-Africa expectation?
The funded grant that the U01 is proposed to augment with genomics does NOT have to be in another institution, city or country. It would be fine for it to be in another institution or country, but that is not required in the case of the U01 program.
- Do you consider transcriptomics and proteomics to qualify as "genomics" for the NIH RFAs?
Yes. The purpose of H3Africa is to apply cutting-edge technologies to the determination of the genomic/environmental determinants of disease. Transcriptomics and proteomics certainly fall within the category of "cutting-edge" technologies.
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Collaborations Involving Partners from Non-African Institutes
- To what extent can a non-African collaborator participate in either an H3Africa Collaborative Center (U54) or an H3Africa Research Project (U01)?
A non-African scientist can participate in a full scientific collaboration
within either a Collaborative Center or H3Africa Research Project. The decision
as to whom to collaborate with is fully up to the Program Director/Principal
Investigator (PD/PI). However, please remember that the PD/PI must be at an
African institution, the award will be made to the African institution, and
the majority of the awarded funds must be spent on the African continent.
- In a proposal with multiple PIs, can one of the PIs be from a non-African institution?
Yes, an investigator at a non-African Institution can be one of the co-PIs. But the contact PI must be at an African institution because only African institutions are eligible to apply for an H3Africa award. The applicant institution will then be responsible for distribution of the funds to the co-PIs and any other collaborators. Please note that, in order to be a co-PI, an investigator's institution must have completed all of the necessary registrations.
- Are we eligible to apply if our research group includes co-investigators from US or outside Africa?
H3Africa awards will be made to African institutions. Applications may include proposed collaborations with researchers/institutions from outside the continent. However, more than one half of the funds must be spent within the African continent.
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Applications and the Application Process
- Are the application deadlines postmarks dates or receipts dates?
The application deadline for paper applications (U54, U41) are receipt dates. The application must have been received by NIH by 5:00 pm (Eastern Standard Time, U.S.) on December 2, 2011.
Electronic applications (U01, UH2/UH3) must be received and accepted by 5:00 pm local time of the applicant organization. To ensure that your application will be accepted by the electronic system (grants.gov), you should consider trying to submit it a day or two before the official receipt deadline.
- Is there any way to extend the deadline for NIH applications?
No. We understand that the deadlines are approaching fast, but we cannot extend the deadlines. In order to make the H3Africa awards in 2012, we have to begin the review and decision-making processes immediately after the stated receipt date of December 2, 2011.
- Can one submit a full application without previously submitting a Letter of Intent?
Yes. A Letter of Intent is not required for submitting an NIH application. However, a Letter of Intent will help the NIH staff in preparing for the review of the applications and, more importantly to you, will allow the staff to provide you with more specific information and advice about your application.
- All of the H3Africa Funding Opportunity Announcements express interest to funding early stage investigators, how does the NIH define early stage investigators?
In general, a Program Director/Principal Investigator (PD/PI) is considered a New Investigator if he/she has not previously competed successfully as PD/PI for a significant NIH independent research award. For example, a PD/PI who has previously received a competing NIH R01 research grant is no longer considered a New Investigator. A complete definition of a New Investigator along with a list of NIH grants that do not disqualify a PD/PI from being considered a New Investigator can be found at: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/new_investigators/index.htm#earlystage.
An individual who is classified as a New or First-Time Investigator AND is within 10 years of completing his/her terminal research degree or is within 10 years of completing medical residency (or the equivalent) is considered an Early Stage Investigator (ESI). More information on ESIs is available at: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-08-121.html.
- How will the FOAs for the research projects and collaborative centers that will be reissued in 2013 differ from the current FOAs?
At present, we have not developed the plans for reissuing the Collaborative Centers and Research Projects FOAs. When we do so, we will take into account the lessons learned from the initial FOAs. There might be some differences in detail to address questions or uncertainties identified during the current application and review processes. However, at present, our intention is that the purpose of the reissued FOAs will be similar to those of the current FOAs.
- Do I send my application directly to the H3Africa Program directors??
No. Paper applications (U54, U41) should be submitted to:
Center for Scientific Review
National Institutes of Health
6701 Rockledge Drive, Room 1040, MSC 7710
Bethesda, MD 20892-7710 (U.S. Postal Service Express or regular mail)
Bethesda, MD 20817 (for express/courier service; non-USPS service)
At the time of submission, two additional paper copies of the application and all copies of the appendix files must be sent to:
Dr. Rudy Pozzatti, Ph.D.
National Human Genome Research Institute
National Institutes of Health
5635 Fishers Lane, Suite 4076, MSC 9306
Bethesda, MD 20892-9306
Phone: 301-402-0838
Fax: 301 435 1580
Email: rudy.pozzatti@nih.hhs.gov
FedEx/UPS/Other Courier Delivery Address:
NIH/NHGRI/DER
5635 Fishers Lane, Suite 4076, MSC 9306
Rockville, MD 20852
We have posted an annotated set of instructions for paper applications, which must be submitted using the PHS 398 form 
.
Electronic applications (U01, UH2/UH3) must be submitted via Grants.gov, the online portal to find and apply for grants across all Federal agencies. Applicants must then complete the submission process by tracking the status of the application in the eRA Commons, NIH’s electronic system for grants administration.
We have posted an annotated set of instructions for electronic applications, which must be submitted using the 424 (R&R) form .
See also Successful eSubmission of NIH Grant Applications for tips on successful electronic grant submission.
- Where may one view examples of grant applications?
We have posted, as examples, four successful applications from international grantees applying to different Funding Opportunity Announcements. These can be found at: http://www.niaid.nih.gov/researchfunding/grant/pages/appsamples.aspx.
- How can I go about finding a collaborator for H3Africa?
The NIH H3Africa Team has created a social networking site. There is no registration fee to join the group. You are encouraged to browse the member profiles and post discussion topics of interest to you.
- Is there an opportunity to resubmit an application if it is not successful?
The H3Africa FOAs do not allow resubmissions. For that reason, NIH plans to reissue two of the RFAs, those for the U54 Collaborative Centers and the U01 Research Projects, in about a year. You will have the opportunity at that time to submit a new application. It is also possible for you to submit an application to NIH that is not in response to an RFA, i.e. as an unsolicited grant application. If you wish to do so, you are strongly encouraged to contact a Program Director in the NIH Institute/Center which would be interested in the proposed research; NIH H3Africa staff will be able to assist you in finding the appropriate Program Director at a suitable time. Please note that for unsolicited grant applications, you must receive permission from the receiving Institute/Center to submit an application requesting more than $500,000 in any one year.
- Do all investigators on a multi-PI grant have to be register in eRA commons?
Yes, if an investigator is not registered in eRA Commons, he/she should not be included as one of the multiple PIs on the grant application. Under extremely limited circumstances, NIH may consider a grantee’s request to change from a single PI to a multi-PI award. Those circumstances are detailed here. Please note that administrative concerns are never considered a valid reason to request this change.
- Are applicants allowed to submit applications to both the Wellcome Trust and NIH?
Yes, you may, with the caveat that you will need to use the NIH application submission forms for the NIH application and Wellcome Trust application submission forms for the Wellcome Trust application.
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H3Africa Collaborative Centers
- How broad should the scientific scope of an H3Africa Collaborative Center be?
Yes. If an investigator is not registered in eRA Commons, he/she should not be included as a PI on the grant application.
- Are applicants allowed to submit applications to both the Wellcome Trust and NIH?
By indicating that the overall H3Africa Collaborative Center program is open to including a very wide range of scientific issues, we did not intend to imply that each of the collaborating centers should necessarily be so broad. In fact, it has been our experience with other genomics centers programs that focus is one key attribute for success. The types of scientific problems that we expect will be addressed in individual center proposals are difficult enough so that, as a rule, $1M in funding per year for five years will be required to make real progress and come to viable, useful conclusions that can serve as the basis for further, particularly, translations research programs. Another important attribute of centers is the synergy that will emerge from the multiple components. A competitive Collaborative Center application will have a well-articulated theme that addresses the goals of the H3Africa program and a research plan that benefits from the interactions among the multiple projects. A competitive center application will thus not consist of "only" a collection of research projects, but will take advantage of the interactions among the components (for example, in terms of obtaining particular resources, applying specific technologies, or analyzing data). In sum, the center's theme and the overall plan must be clear, sharp, ambitious, and address the goals of H3Africa within the constraints of developing a high-quality research project.
- Which resources are expected to be provided by the collaborative centers and bioinformatics network as there appears to be overlap?
The Collaborative Center should have the capability to meet the bioinformatics needs of the proposed science, including data acquisition, data management, and immediate analyses. The Bioinformatics Network will provide the connectivity among all of the components of the H3Africa Research and Resources Consortium, will develop new informatics tools needed by the Consortium, and will conduct bioinformatics training on the African continent. The Bioinformatics Network investigators may also collaborate with the investigators in the Collaborative Centers in developing new solutions to problems that might arise within the Collaborative Centers.
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H3Africa Research Projects
- For the U01 H3Africa Research Projects, does the affiliated grant currently have to be completely lacking in genetics/genomics activity?
No, the affiliated grant can support some genetics/genomics activity already. In that case, the U01 application should propose a significant expansion of that activity or capability.
- How will the FOAs for the research projects and collaborative centers that will be reissued in 2013 differ from the current FOAs?
At present, we have not developed the plans for reissuing the Collaborative Centers and Research Projects FOAs. When we do so, we will take into account the lessons learned from the initial FOAs. So there might be some differences in detail to address questions or uncertainties identified during the current application and review processes. However, at present, our intention is that the purpose of the reissued FOAs will be similar to those of the current FOAs.
- For the H3Africa Research Projects (U01), how many partners should be included?
NIH had anticipated that a U01 Research Project would be affiliated with a single, currently funded grant. However, additional partners could be involved if that makes scientific sense.
- Are both the research projects and biorepositories expected to store sample?
The H3Africa projects (both U54 and U01) are expected to deposit all of their samples in the H3Africa Biorepository system, once the latter has been established at full scale (in 2014). Until then the projects will be responsible for storing any samples that they collect; there will be no requirement for the projects themselves to distribute the samples. Once the samples have been deposited in the H3Africa biorepostiory, there will be no H3Africa requirement for continued sample storage at the project site(s). However, if the applicants wish to continue to store their samples, they may of course do so but if the applicant plans to charge the H3Africa grant for such continued storage, those costs must be included in the budget request.
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H3Africa Bioinformatics Network
- Which resources are expected to be provided by the collaborative centers and bioinformatics network as there appears to be overlap?
The Collaborative Center should have the capability to meet the bioinformatics needs of the proposed science, including data acquisition, data management, and immediate analyses. The Bioinformatics Network will provide the connectivity among all of the components of the H3Africa Research and Resources Consortium, will develop new informatics tools needed by the Consortium, and will conduct bioinformatics training on the African continent. The Bioinformatics Network investigators may also collaborate with the investigators in the Collaborative Centers in developing new solutions to problems that might arise within the Collaborative Centers.
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H3Africa Biorepositories
- The FOA referring to the biorepository mentions that it will fund up to 4 feasibility grants. If fewer grants are funded will more funds be available for the successful applicants?
Yes. The NIH has accorded $400,000 per year for two years to fund as many as four feasibility grants. If fewer than four applications merit funding, the NIH will consider providing more funds to the successful applicants. However, NIH cannot award more funds than are requested in the application; this is why we have allowed applicants to request $115,000 per year in direct costs.
- Will the biorepositories be required to host both the samples as well as genotype and phenotype information?
Yes. The biorepositories will be required to receive, store and distribute all samples collected in all awards made through H3Africa funding (include both NIH and Wellcome Trust awards). The biorepositories will not serve as the H3Africa repository of genotype and phenotype information. That information will be collected by the biorepositories only to the extent that it is needed for purposes of sample management and to provide relevant information to biorepository users.
- What sorts of samples should the biorepository expect to store?
It is expected that the Phase II biorepositories will deal with as many as 100,000 samples per year including blood and DNA in liquid, frozen or dry form. Applicants may propose to include other sample types, for example dried blood spots or cell lines, if they think that the H3Africa research projects will generate such samples.
- How will consistency be maintained amongst the H3Africa biorepositories?
The RFA partially addresses this issue by stating "In Phase II, NIH anticipates that there will be a need for a common H3Africa biorepository website to provide information about the H3Africa Biorepositories and to present a single catalog of available resources for users." While the RFA does not specifically state that there is also an anticipation that the biorepositories will adopt common Standard Operating Procedures, it does state that "The applicant should describe how [the methods it proposes compare] with industry standards (http://www.isber.org/bp/index.cfm)."
In the application for the UH2 feasibility phase, the applicant should discuss the issue of consistency with other H3Africa biorepositories and present his/her ideas for how to attain such consistency once the full-scale repositories (UH3 phase) have been established. Once the awards have been made, the issue of consistency among the H3Africa biorepositories will be a matter of discussion by the Steering Committee of the H3Africa Research and Resource Consortium, which will determine a final policy. Therefore, it is important for applicants to indicate in their application that they will be willing to abide by the Consortium's policies.
- Are both the research projects and biorepositories expected to store sample?
The H3Africa projects (both U54 and U01) are expected to deposit all of their samples in the H3Africa Biorepository system, once the latter has been established at full scale (in 2014). Until then the projects will be responsible for storing any samples that they collect; there will be no requirement for the projects themselves to distribute the samples. Once the samples have been deposited, there will be no H3Africa requirement for continued sample storage at the project site(s). However, if the applicants wish to continue to store their samples, they may of course do so but if the applicant plans to charge the H3Africa grant for such continued storage, those costs must be included in the budget request.
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Funding
- What percentage of funds is expected to be spent in Africa?
The majority of the funds in an H3Africa award (i.e., a minimum of 51% of the funds) will have to be spent within Africa.
- What are grantees expected to do once the funding from the NIH ends?
One of the purposes of the H3Africa Initiative is to help African investigators become competitive for international funding. We hope that the investigators supported by H3Africa will continue their research programs after the H3Africa funding from NIH ends. To help applicants think about this issue, we have required that the subject of future sustainability be addressed in the application.
- How will the wide spread federal budget cuts in the USA affect the H3Africa funding?
The budget cuts that have been widely discussed actually have not happened yet, so we don't know whether they will actually occur or, if they do, what their magnitude will be. Therefore, we do not have a policy yet for whether the H3Africa funding will be affected or not. We obviously hope that it will not be affected at all.
- Is there a restriction on the number of institutions from a particular country within Africa that the NIH is able to fund?
No. The number of collaborators and the number of institutions participating in the collaborations should be determined by what makes scientific sense and by the available budget. The most important aspect of an application to NIH is that the proposed research effort must be strong and directed at an important health problem.
- Does the NIH have any mechanism to prevent uneven funding to just one African country?
There is no specific mechanism for this purpose. The H3Africa awards will be made on the basis of the scientific merit of the applications, the extent to which the applications meet the goals of H3Africa, and the overall program balance within the H3Africa program in the H3Africa biorepostiory.
- Are grantees allowed to charge fees for service offered and will the funding be reduced in proportion to the income received?
Yes, grantees are allowed to charge fees for services offered. No, funding will not be reduced in proportion to income received.
- Do funds sent to collaborators outside of Africa count as direct costs?
Yes, both the direct and indirect costs incurred by a sub-contract to a collaborator are considered direct costs to the parent grant. Institutions in Africa can request facility and administration (F&A) costs up to 8 percent of the TOTAL direct costs (less equipment) even if some portion of the funds is sent to collaborators outside of Africa. Foreign collaborators (with the exception of American University of Beirut and the World Health Organization) are limited to 8 percent of total direct costs (less equipment). However, U.S.A. collaborators with a negotiated rate agreement with the Federal government, may be reimbursed at their current negotiated F&A rate.
- How will funds be distributed? Will individual payouts be made to the separate institutes in the case of collaborative centers or individual principal investigators when working on multi-PI grants?
The H3Africa projects (both U54 and U01) are expected to deposit all of their samples in the H3Africa Biorepository system, once the latter has been established at full scale (in 2014). Until then the projects will be responsible for storing any samples that they collect; there will be no requirement for the projects themselves to distribute the samples. Once the samples have been deposited, there will be no H3Africa requirement for continued sample storage at the project site(s). However, if the applicants wish to continue to store their samples, they may of course do so but if the applicant plans to charge the H3Africa grant for such continued storage, those costs must be included in the budget request.
- In RFA-RM-11-008 (Collaborative Centers), you indicate that the direct costs for the collaborative center may not exceed $920,000 and $250,000 are available for equipment. The total costs available for the first year are $3.75 million for up to 3 projects. Does this mean that the total costs requested in a collaborative center application should not exceed $1 million plus $250,000 in equipment in the first year?
Yes. While the number of awards will be dependent on the number of applications we receive, total costs awarded in a U54 collaborative center cooperative agreement will not exceed $1 million in each of five years. In the first year, $250,000 for equipment may be requested.
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The Review Process
- Who is likely to serve on the review committee?
The members of the review committee will be experts in the scientific fields addressed in the applications and in conducting research in Africa. Individuals who are named as a PI or qa collaborator on an H3Africa grant application will not be invited as reviewers because they are considered to have a conflict of interest with respect to all of the other H3Africa grants applications. Individuals who are not named as a PI or collaborator but are from the same institution as one of the PIs or collaborators are considered to have a conflict of interest of lower degree, so they will not be allowed to review that one grant application but will be eligible to review other applications. Because we will not know the specific expertise needed and the conflicts incurred, the reviewers will not be selected until after all of the applications have been received.
In this regard, if you propose to involve a Scientific Advisory Board in your application (this is not required), NIH requests that you do not appoint the individual members of that Board, nor should you contact anyone to invite them to serve on your Advisory Board, until after the grant review process has been completed because such individuals will be in considered to be in conflict with your application. You should, however, describe the purpose of the Board, how it will operate, how members will be appointed, etc. Of course, if you have already named people to such a Board, then this point is moot and you should include their names in your application to help us identify conflicts. Please see Notice.
- What is streamlining and is it likely to occur in the reviews of the FOAs for H3Africa?
A few days before a review meeting, the reviewers are asked to send the Scientific Review Officer (SRO) - the federal official who manages the review meeting - their preliminary scores for each application (these are only preliminary scores and reviewers may change them after the application is discussed in the actual review meeting). The SRO then calculates a preliminary score for each application, and those applications in the bottom half of the group (i.e. those with a score poorer than the average) are designated as candidates for streamlining - meaning they would not be discussed at the meeting. At the start of the review meeting, the SRO then identifies for the reviewers those applications that are being considered for streamlining and the reviewers are asked to concur with the streamlining recommendation. If there is a single reviewer (or more) who thinks that the application should be discussed, that application is not streamlined and is fully discussed during the meeting.
The decision as to whether streamlining will be used in the reviews of the H3Africa application will not be made until the SRO finds out how many applications have been submitted to each FOA. If the number is high, then the streamlining procedure will probably be used. If the number is low, then the streamlining procedure will probably not be used.
- Once the review of an application is complete is it possible for the applicant to respond to the summary document prepared by the review committee?
No. The FOA states that no appeals will be allowed for the H3Africa grant applications.
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Data Policy, Sample Collection and Handling
- Who will set the policy for data sharing and sample collection and handling?
The application must include a proposed plan for data and resource sharing, as well as sample collection (including informed consent) and handling. The data and resource sharing plans will not scored by the reviewers, but the plans for sample collection and handling will be (as they are considered part of the study design). Prior to making any award, the NIH staff will negotiate the proposed plans with the applicant to ensure that they are consistent with NIH policies. Then, once the awards are made, the H3Africa Research and Resources Consortium, through its Steering Committee, will develop a set of policies that will apply uniformly to all participants; such policies will, of course, have to be consistent with NIH and Wellcome Trust funding, as well as with the laws and policies of the participating nations. Among the policies that will be addressed by the Consortium are those for data sharing and sample collection and handling. Therefore, it is important for applicants to indicate in their application that they will be willing to abide by the Consortium's policies.
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Training
- All of the NIH Funding Opportunity Announcements refer to training. Where will the training occur and what will it entail?
Another purpose of the H3Africa Initiative is to help develop the next generation of African scientists. This is why the Collaborative Centers, Bioinformatics Network and Biorepositories efforts all have a required training program, and why support for training is allowable in the U01 Research Projects component. The most urgent training needs will differ from site to site among the applicants, and the training opportunities that are eligible to be supported by an H3Africa award range broadly, from graduate student and postdoc training, to additional training for faculty, to training for laboratory personnel. Similarly, a range of training locations is acceptable, ranging from the home laboratory to collaborating laboratories (in Africa or outside the continent) to other sites where specific courses are taught (again either in Africa or abroad).
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Commercial Enterprises
- Would the NIH consider hiring a commercial entity based in Africa to perform some of the research activities?
No, the NIH will not directly "hire" any service providers, whether commercial entities or not. However, applicants are free to involve commercial entities in their proposed projects, either as collaborators or service providers. Please note that all NIH policies and any policies adopted by the H3Africa Research and Resource Consortium will be applicable to all participants in the H3Africa program; no distinction will be made between commercial entities and non-commercial entities with respect to the use of grant funds or any other grants policy.
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