Last Call to Answer the NIAID Funding News Survey
We are conducting a reader survey about this newsletter: 2024 NIAID Funding News Survey. We hope to gain insights into our audience (e.g., how many readers are investigators versus business officials) and their preferences (e.g., whether to prioritize grant-writing advice or analysis of funding trends).
The survey will close on November 15, 2024.
Register Now for Small Business Entrepreneurship Boot Camp
If your team has not yet received a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) or Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) award for your technology development project—or even if you have not yet formed a company—the NIH Entrepreneurship Boot Camp for pre-SBIR/STTR Innovators can teach you critical communication skills relating to diverse stakeholders, regulators, third-party payers, and potential strategic partners.
This free program is restricted to small two- to three-person teams who will commit to fully participate across all coursework, webinars, and one-on-one coaching sessions. Registration opens on November 25, 2024. The classes will kick off on February 6, 2025. Find additional details at NIH Entrepreneurship Bootcamp.
Double Dipping Could Lead to Payback
In his blog post The How and Why of Recovery of Grant Funds, Dr. Michael Lauer, NIH Deputy Director of Extramural Research, takes up the question “What happens in cases of research misconduct?” Breaches of research integrity can take many forms, for example: overlapping or duplicative funding, research misconduct (to include fabricated, falsified, or plagiarized content), overcommitment, unallowable costs, false claims, foreign interference, or unmanaged conflicts of interest.
NIH follows a Process for Handling Allegations of Research Misconduct—conducting a preliminary assessment and, if necessary, referring a case to the HHS Office of Research Integrity. NIH institutes, like NIAID, have multiple remedies for noncompliance or enforcement actions: suspension, termination, and withholding of support.
Researchers can avoid many of these breaches, errors, and the associated consequences by properly disclosing other support for their research projects, allowing NIH institutes to make fully informed funding decisions, such as reducing the budget, salary, or other costs.
Instruction for Labs Working with Synthetic Nucleic Acids
In April 2024, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) released the Framework for Nucleic Acid Synthesis Screening to outline a unified process for screening purchases of synthetic nucleic acids and benchtop nucleic acid synthesis equipment.
NIH expects award recipients to adhere to the OSTP Framework. NIH funds may be used to procure synthetic nucleic acids or benchtop nucleic acid synthesis equipment only from sources adhering to the OSTP Framework for Nucleic Acid Synthesis Screening.
The policy will take effect on April 26, 2025, and apply to all NIH-funded grant awards, cooperative agreements, and research and development contracts. Refer to the October 25, 2024 Guide notice for further details.