NIH Grant Application Updates

This week the NIH announced upcoming changes to their grant application process. These changes fall in the following areas:

• Research rigor/transparency
• Vertebrate animals
• Inclusion reporting
• Data safety monitoring
• Research training
• Appendices
• Font requirements
• Biosketch clarifications

Among the updates, the following jumped out at me (but this may be biased, since we do little with vertebrate animals besides our dogs in ORDE).

Research rigor/transparency: Seemingly responding to concern over recent reports showing the low rate that research is able to be reproduced, the NIH is asking for more specifics in the significance and approach sections in grant applications that allude to the rigor and transparency of the project. Additionally, reviewers will be asked to consider new criteria to this effect in study section.

Font requirements: The NIH is becoming more flexible on the fonts accepted in grant applications, but they still offer recommended fonts. Before you go crazy with a nice Brush Script font, remember the expectations of your reviewers. Although font may seem like a small thing, when your reviewers are used to seeing a particular font, and have written their grants in that same font, they may find a new font a bit irksome. We'd recommend staying with NIH's recommended fonts even if you don't have to.

Biosketch clarifications: After the NIH updated their biosketch format earlier this year, these clarifications offer a little more information as to what they're looking for. For instance the link that you're allowed to include for your publication list needs to link to a .gov site, like My Bibliography. Publications and research products can be discussed in both the personal statement and in the contributions to science sections of your biosketch. Also, as many folks are still trying to figure out "what counts" as a  research product, the NIH is making explicit that no graphics, charts, etc. are allowed in the biosketch (so although you could describe any of these as a research product, do not include the image itself).

The larger changes will be applied in a phased approach, with the first being implemented in January 2016. If you're working on an NIH grant or plan to start soon, be sure to read through these updates!

Resources:
NIH Notice