Approaching an RFA: How to Structure a Grant

Approaching an RFA – How to structure a grant Liz Olmsted, CRA (Certified Research Administrator) ewo6p@virginia.edu UVA, Center for Global Health

The Steps 

1. Identify an area of research or program and the appropriate committed research partners. How qualified and experienced is your team?  Seniority/skills mentoring, complementary areas of expertise, existing facilities and institutional support to implement and manage the award.

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2. Find potential funding opportunities  Key word searches, grant funding portals, list serves.

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3. Read guidelines & instructions carefully – the fine print - do you really meet all criteria?  Do you need active grants, minimum years from terminal degree, existing data, specialized equipment, a specific regional or country focus.

The Steps  4.

Contact all key persons to obtain commitment – to research and timeline.  Designate roles both pre and post-award. ►Who

leads writing of specific sections/components? ►How will you communicate?

 5.

Identify your internal team

 Budget, collection of documents, writing the various components, institutional signatures.  Be mindful of vacations and holidays (and broken wrists!).

Time Line

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Work back from the due date – optimal is 6 months - and 12 months if multi-site or international.  If you don’t have institutional registrations in place – at least a year.

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External (final) due date typically includes a TIME of day (ie.

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Do you have an internal / institutional review? 2 to 4 weeks in advance is standard.

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Give sub-grants 3 to 4 weeks to prepare and process their institutional documents.

5:00 pm EST or 12:00 midnight PST)  If a non-business day (Saturday or Sunday), the due date may be moved to following business day.

 Consortium agreements, regulatory requirements …

►

Allow time for uninvolved colleagues to review and comment.

Responsibilities of the Institution ► Primary

point of contact and responsible party for all external registrations / registries. ► Approves any commitments made in the proposal ► Ensures adequate financial reporting systems. ► Budget loading/funds release via account creation. ► Review, approve or disallow costs. ► Adheres to and enforces institutional, national and sponsor policies. ► Signature authority and business official ► Submits the proposal and continuation and final reports (in some cases such as NIH). ► Establishes INTERNAL procedures ► Your institution ‘owns’ the grant – not you.

Responsibilities of PI ► Writes

or manages process of all narratives of the proposal  Initial contact to senior/key persons and all personnel on grant to determine scope of work, level of effort, roles on grant, amount of funding  Sets aims (ensures and conveys has personnel, resources, time frame to perform successfully)  Sets overall budget and length of research

► Ultimately

responsible for everything related to the specific grant/research project:  Financial management and science oversight

Responsibilities of Grants Administrator ► Manages

the “technical and internal” aspects:

 Ensures following all guidelines: font, page length, formatting, putting it all together in consistent manner;  Processing documents (obtain internal/external signatures);  Ensures correct documents are collected, submitted;  Ongoing communication with consortium/sub-award administrative peer, timely collection of documents;  Sets deadlines with/for PI and all other parties, submits for review.

► Find

counterpart at other institution(s) and communicate directly with him or her. ► This is the ‘traffic cop’. Make sure roles are clearly understood by everyone at all times.

Funding Opportunity Announcements ►

RFA – Request for Application: A time limited invitation to submit a grant or cooperative agreement application to accomplish a specific program purpose 

►

http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/search_results.htm?year=active&scope=rfa

LOI – Letter of Inquiry: open or specific requests. Require approval by sponsor in order to submit a full proposal.  http://www.gatesfoundation.org/grantseeker/Pages/grant-opportunities.aspx

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Parent Announcement: NIH-wide, general ongoing announcement for unsolicited or investigator-initiated research project applications  http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/parent_announcements.htm

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PA - Program Announcement: A formal statement about a new or ongoing extramural activity or program. It may serve as a reminder of continuing interest in a research area, describe modification in an activity or program, and/or invite applications for grant support. (see link directly above)

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RFQ – Request for Quotation: Generally contracts, fee for service.

Types of sponsors/opportunities ► Federal

agencies (NIH, Dept. of Defense)

► State (Virginia, California, etc.) ► Foundations (Bill & Melinda Gates) ► Internal

/ Institutional ► National Organizations (Susan G. Komen For the Cure (Breast Cancer))

► Other

universities (as a subcontract)

Web searching/Search Engines PI should familiarize him/herself with web based searches for funding opportunities using key words related to field of research and specific search engines such as … ►

Google or other large search engines.

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CDFA (Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance) https://www.cfda.gov/index?cck=1&au=&ck=

CFDA provides a full listing of all Federal programs available to State and local governments (including the District of Columbia); federally-recognized Indian tribal governments; Territories (and possessions) of the United States; domestic public, quasi- public, and private profit and nonprofit organizations and institutions; specialized groups; and individuals.

Web searching/Search Engines  SPIN Search https://spin.infoedglobal.com

 FedBizOpps.gov (Federal Business Opportunities) https://www.fbo.gov/index?cck=1&au=&ck=

 PIVOT http://pivot.cos.com/

 GrantsNet (to search for funding opportunities for training in the sciences (postdocs) and for undergraduate science education.)

http://sciencecareers.sciencemag.org/funding  RePORT (Research Portfolio Online Reporting Tools) (search NIH funded projects by location, category, etc.)

http://report.nih.gov/

 Grant Forward https://www.grantforward.com/index

Web searching/Search Engines

some are paid access – usually have free trials – you may want to have one license for the entire university

 Foundation Center http://foundationcenter.org/  List of top 100 funders in the US with links to their sites  Database of 140,000 foundations worldwide

Electronic Portals for Federal Agencies (for searching, submission and reporting)

► NSF

– Fast Lane https://www.fastlane.nsf.gov/fastlane.jsp ► NIH – grants.gov to eRACommons https://commons.era.nih.gov ► DoD

– grants.gov and: http://cdmrp.army.mil/funding/

Federal Funding Agencies

search from their sites or www.grants.gov ► USAID

(Agency for International Development)

►Dept. of Education ►EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) ►DoD (Department of Defense) ►Dept. of Health & Human Services

NIH (National Institutes for Health)

► Dept.

of Labor ► Peace Corps ► Dept. of State

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Whether required depend on the sponsor most of for federal awards (NIH)

D-U-N-S (Dun & Bradstreet Credibility Corp) NCAGE (NATO Commercial and Governmental Entity) SAM (System for Award Management) Grants.gov eRACommons (Electronic Research Administration sponsored by the National Institutes of Health)

FCOI / Conflict of Interest Requirements FFATA (federal funding accountability and transparency act) IT IS IMPORTANT THAT ONE PERSON/OFFICE MANAGE THESE MANY AGENCY REGISTRATIONS AS THEY ALL MUST BE CONSISTENT, KEPT UP TO DATE AND RENEWED ANNUALLY/BIANNUALLY. IT IS ALSO IMPERATIVE THAT GENERIC CONTACT EMAIL ADDRESSES ARE USED THAT WILL PERSIST AS PEOPLE COME AND GO.

FWA – Federal wide assurance for the Protection of Human Subjects (requirement of the US Dept of Health & Human Services) Needed at time of submission of proposal.  http://www.hhs.gov/ohrp/assurances/assurances/filasurt.html

The institution must update its FWA within 90 days after changes occur regarding the legal name of the institution, the Human Protections Administrator, or the Signatory Official. The FWA is effective for 5 years and must be renewed every 5 years, even if no changes have occurred, in order to maintain an active FWA.

 Total direct costs: ►Personnel

Budget

(usually majority of budget)

 All salaries and fringe must be verified and should include ALL sources  Do the personnel have the available time/effort? ► Confirm other grant budget commitments (eRACommons – most recent report)  Does the budget allow administrative support? ►OTPS

    

(other than personnel services)

Materials and supplies Travel Shipping Publication costs Fellow and fellowship costs: trainee travel, training related expenses (TRE) including health care.

Budget continued…  MTDC (Modified Total Direct Costs) - excluding certain expenditures – on government grants: ►Sub-award

costs over $25,000 ►Tuition remission & tuition fees ►Equipment ≥ $5,000  F&A (“facilities and administration” costs or “indirects” or “indirect costs”) ►For foreign institutions, the allowable rate is typically 8% or 10% for US based sponsors

Budget continued…  F&A ► Facilities

 Buildings, electricity, labs, computers, printers, printer cartridges, general office supplies: paper, pens, stamps, telephone and internet fees, and general lab supplies: gloves, test tubes, trays. ► Administration

   

Secretary / Administrative Assistant Fiscal administrator Grants administrator Chief or chair of division or department

If covered by F&A, you cannot then also charge as a direct expense (double dipping). So the primary question is, what does your institution use F&A funds to cover and what are you responsible for paying yourself?

Budget continued… Follow these rules even for non-federal grants to represent your institution’s recognition of accepted international standards. CONSISTENT TREATMENT OF COSTS  Allowable – did you budget it and does sponsor allow it ?  Allocable – can you easily prove that the expense was used solely for the grant / project ?  Reasonable – are you getting the best price and does it all make sense with aims of project?

Concept / Factors of Allowability ► Most

NIH basic research grants (R01) do not allow administrative personnel costs – they are considered covered by F&A. Only researchers, fellows, and lab personnel can have their salary paid by the grant. ► Exceptions: D43 training grant, large program project awards. ► For non-NIH grants, read the RFA specific instructions.

Budget principles ► ► ► ►

Inflationary costs / cost of living increases in subsequent budget years (NIH does not allow at this time.) Currency exchange rates Direct vs. indirect costs The budget is the blueprint for the entire research project. Before a purchase, ask:  Was it budgeted?  Is it directly related to and completely for the use of the grant? (If not, use a portion of grant to pay and split with other sources.)  If completely unanticipated, talk to PI at prime university or the sponsor contact / Program Official.

Concepts for expenses CAS (cost accounting standards) ► Allowable

by Sponsor (direct or as F&A)

 Pre-agreement costs are unallowable unless approved by sponsoring agency. ► Allocable ► Reasonable ► Necessary ► Consistent

treatment

After submission / JIT (just in time) IRB – Institutional Review Board http://grants1.nih.gov/grants/policy/hs/index.htm

► Applicable

protocol approvals should already be in

place. ► If award will likely be made, grant proposal must be submitted so that the IRB can match protocols to proposal and issue a G/IRB approval certificate.

IACUC – Institutional Animal Care & Use Committee

http://grants1.nih.gov/grants/policy/air/NIH_Funded_Resources.htm

► Protocol

approvals should already be in place. ► If award will likely be made, protocol verification for a grant approval is needed.

If you get an award! NOA or NOGA (Notice of [Grant] Award)

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Read entire NOA document carefully – will state if changes in budget and any restrictions.  If budget is substantially reduced, PI should contract Program Official to renegotiate Specific Aims;  Submit revised budget externally and internally when approved

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Obtain unique account number from your central office. Grant funds must be kept separate from all other funds. Typically awarded year by year once Sponsor has approved continuation report: same award, new project. Labor scheduling. Personnel must have their budgeted effort drawn from the grant funds. Review budget, project period, aims with PI and appropriate lab manager, etc. Prime awardee is responsible for all subawardees (financially and in the conduct of human and animal research)

Post Award 3 primary groups that must communicate! ► Lab

personnel / researchers

 Performs the actual scientific work/research  This is where most purchasing takes place. ► Grant

  

and fiscal administrators

Does the lab have the budget (blue print)? Timely review of all expenditures Prepares invoices and continuation and final reports

► Institutional

authorities

 Big picture – Makes decisions based on the entire university

Spending and Reporting ► If

you have 25% or more of the cumulative funds left unspent at the time you submit your progress report, you have to report this and justify why you haven’t spent the funds. ► THE NIH will likely REDUCE your next year’s funds by the amount unspent! ► For most other sponsors, read the guidelines. Some do not allow carry-forward at all, some only with a letter of request IN ADVANCE of the current year end.

Spending and Reporting ► Spending

should be fairly consistent with what was budgeted.   

► If

NIH allows up to a 25% variance. Gates allows up to a 10% variance. Read the guidelines and NOA.

you need to make a change, consider whether you’ve changed the original aims. This must be discussed with your program officer.