NIH raises salary cap to $181,500

The NIH announced today that they are operating under a continuing resolution, and that the Executive Level II salary is increased by 1% from $179,700 to $181,500. See NOT-OD-14-043 for more information.

Inside Higher Ed article about how the sequester has affected research institutions

WASHINGTON -- The automatic federal budget cuts, known as sequestration, that took effect in March have forced universities to lay off research-related personnel, delay projects and admit fewer graduate students, according to a new survey released Monday. Read more: Inside Higher Ed

Cold Spring Harbor Lab (LI) hosts the NSF for an upcoming workshop

The tentative agenda includes:
• an overview of the proposal and merit review process at NSF
• information on cross-disciplinary programs
• breakout sessions for specific disciplines, and
• "Proposal Preparation 101"

Registration costs run from $150 to $300 (including lunch, reception and hotel room where appropriate). More information can be found at https://meetings.cshl.edu/meetingsregistration_nic1.asp.

Fordham has a NEW Indirect Cost (F&A) Rate

As of July 1, 2013, our on-campus rate is going up to 78.5% and our off-campus rate is going up to 39%. As a reminder, these are the rates we must use when there is no cap on the F&A rate for a grant proposal. Our full rate is calculated against our salaries and wages only, and includes our fringe benefits. If there is a cap on F&A for a grant proposal, you must use the capped rate on the total direct costs, not just Fordham personnel costs.

NIH transitioning to new forms (version C) in September

Most NIH proposals due September 25, 2013 or after will be using the new Forms C packages in Grants.gov. Be careful that you don't download application packages too early and end up with Forms B - they will not be accepted. More information here: Notice NOT-OD-13-074

NIH posts official notice of fiscal practices for the rest of FY2013

The NIH announced on 5/8 that it is operating on a budget that's about $5M less than FY2012's and therefore continuing awards will continue to be made at lower levels than originally projected. This level is actually better than the 10% decrease seen on continuing awards while the NIH was under a Continuing Resolution (CR) (i.e., without a budget from Congress). Some awards made while they were under the CR may be partially restored with the new budget, which is the good news. The bad news is that all inflationary increases are discontinued and the salary cap remains at Executive Level II ($179,700).

Read the full text of the notice here: NOT-OD-13-064

UPDATE: We've just received a revised notice of award for one of our NIH grants issued while NIH was under the CR, restoring more than $20,000 to the budget. Take heart! And remember, even though funding may be down, you'll never get any money you don't ask for.

NIH releases some information about sequester cuts

Science Insider has an interesting article about the actual impact of the sequestration so far, including Twitter reactions: NIH Details Impact of 2013 Sequester Cuts