UCSF Guides: UCSF Research Development Office (RDO): Grant Templates and Guides: Funder Updates and Initiatives

National Institutes of Health (NIH)

On March 9, 2024, President Joe Biden released his fiscal year (FY) 2024 budget request. Although Congress ultimately allocates federal funding, the President’s Budget provides insight into the administration’s priorities and may be considered during congressional negotiations. Overall, President Biden requested a 6.5% increase in nondefense discretionary funding as compared to last year, including $144 billion in discretionary budget authority for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), an 11.5% increase from the enacted FY 2023 level.

Climate Change – an increase of $25 million for research and other activities related to climate change (in collaboration with other agencies)

Below are highlights from the UCSF Research Development Office related to new initiatives or updates by the National Institutes of Health. UCSF MyAccess required.

High-level Grant Application Form Change Summary: FORMS-I
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This summarizes the changes to the grant application using Form G set versus required new Form H set.
NIH Grant Application Instructions "FORMS-I"
Final NIH Policy for Data Management and Sharing
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The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is issuing this final NIH Policy for Data Management and Sharing (DMS Policy) to promote the management and sharing of scientific data generated from NIH-funded or conducted research. This Policy establishes the requirements of submission of Data Management and Sharing Plans (hereinafter Plans) and compliance with NIH Institute, Center, or Office (ICO)-approved Plans. It also emphasizes the importance of good data management practices and establishes the expectation for maximizing the appropriate sharing of scientific data generated from NIH-funded or conducted research, with justified limitations or exceptions. This Policy applies to research funded or conducted by NIH that results in the generation of scientific data.
NIH Application Instruction Updates – Data Management and Sharing (DMS) Costs: NOT-OD-23-161
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This notice updates the NIH application instructions for submitting requests for Data Management and Sharing costs in a single line item. As outlined in the Final NIH Policy on Data Management and Sharing (DMS), costs associated with data management and data sharing may be allowable under the budget for the proposed project. Currently, the NIH How to Apply - Application Guide states that costs to support activities described in the DMS plan, including personnel costs, must be noted on the R&R Budget Form as a single line item titled “Data Management and Sharing Costs.” The line item must be used only for DMS costs and cannot be combined with any “Other” costs. If no costs will be incurred, the applicant must enter “0” in the funds requested column. These previous instructions will be rescinded effective October for due dates on or after October 5, 2023.

Effective for applications submitted for due dates on or after October 5, 2023, NIH will no longer require the use of the single DMS cost line item. NIH recognizes that DMS costs may be requested in many cost categories. Therefore, in line with our standard budget instructions, DMS costs must be requested in the appropriate cost category, e.g., personnel, equipment, supplies, and other expenses, following the instructions for the R&R Budget Form or PHS 398 Modular Budget Form, as applicable. While the single cost line item is no longer required, NIH will require applicants to specify estimated DMS cost details within the “Budget Justification” attachment of the R&R Budget Form or “Additional Narrative Justification” attachment of the PHS 398 Modular Budget Form, pursuant to the instructions.
Updates to the NIH How to Apply – Application Guide will be published prior to the October 5, 2023, effective date.
Changes to the Biographical Sketch and Other Support Format Page
NOTE:
* NIH's adoption of the Common Form for Biographical Sketch and a new Biographical Sketch Supplement originally scheduled for May 25, 2025 is postponed. Continue to use NIH-specific format pages until further notice.
RECALL - There are two biosketch format pages - non-fellowship biosketch and fellowship biosketch

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NIH Changes to the Biographical Sketch and Other Support Format Changes

As some of you may know, NIH is changing the Biosketch yet again. The announcement has some solid federal-ese: “In an effort to support strong collaboration between Federal research agencies, NIH has made every effort to align the Biographical Sketch (Biosketch), Other Support format page and Application Form Instructions with the guidance issued by the Office of Science and Technology Policy Joint Committee on the Research Environment.”

There's always more to a story. Yes, for many years there has been a push to normalize biosketches via SciENcv, but there were also the concerns about China's Thousand Talents program. The changes in the Biosketch and for the Other Support seem like they might have some roots in an apparent need for increased financial and resource disclosure. The changes seem designed to capture that information.

What has changed?

Biosketches (Here are NIH's Biosketch resources)

· Section B, Positions and Honors, has been renamed Positions, Scientific Appointments, and Honors. This seems straightforward but it's now in reverse chronological order. This is a change.

· Non-fellowship Biosketch: Section D has been removed. That means no Current or Completed support section.

· Fellowship Biosketch: Section D has been updated to simply say Scholastic Performance.

· Information on ongoing and completed research projects now goes in the part A. Personal Statement. Specifically, they say, "…including ongoing and completed research projects from the past three years that you want to draw attention to (previously captured under Section D. Research Support)."

And of course, NIH has provided a sample biosketch (Word document). I noted that the suggested format for describing the grant includes a bit less information than the previous sample.

And it's always worth reading the instructions (Word document).

There are changes to the Other Support pages, which are usually only submitted as Just-in-Time documents for applications.

· The page now separates funding from in-kind support.

· A signature block was added. Each PD/PI or senior/key personnel must electronically sign their Other Support section as a PDF prior to submission.

· Copies "of contracts, grants or any other agreement specific to senior/key personnel foreign appointments and/or employment with a foreign institution as supporting documentation. If they are not in English, recipients must provide translated copies."

· Undisclosed Other Support must be immediately reported.

NIH has updated Other Support resources.

All in all, the biosketch changes won't take you too long to fix. As always, read the FAQ.
NIH and AHRQ Salary Cap Changes Effective January 1, 2025
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The National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) published updated information regarding the Fiscal Year 2023 salary limitation under NOT-OD-23-056 and NOT-HS-23-005 respectively. The Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 (Public Law 117-328), signed into law on December 29, 2022, restricts the amount of direct salary which may be paid to an individual under an HHS grant, cooperative agreement, or applicable contract to a rate no greater than Executive Level II of the Federal Executive Pay Scale. Effective January 1, 2023, the Executive Level II salary level is $212,100.

Proposals

The Office of Sponsored Research (OSR) implemented use of the new salary cap on January 6, 2023, with an effective date of January 1, 2023, for all new, renewal, supplement, or resubmission NIH proposals. To do so, eProposal was updated to include the new salary cap option: $212,100- FY2023 NIH Salary Cap 01/01/23-Forward.

As a reminder, please be sure to indicate in the budget justifications when personnel are over the salary cap.

Existing Awards

Rebudgeting

The new salary cap may be used for existing awards if adequate funds are available, as described in the NIH Notices. If the increased salary cap is adopted on existing awards, you will be allowed to rebudget funds to accommodate the new cap; however, no additional funding will be provided by the sponsor.

Payroll Processing

UCSF will use an effective date of January 1, 2023, for payroll processing using the new salary cap. The HHS cap type in the UCPath system has been updated to $212,100 with an effective date of January 1, 2023.

Adjusting Payroll

To avoid the need for salary cost transfers, please complete funding entry changes in UCPath prior to January funding entry deadlines.

To update payroll funding prospectively, create a new effective-dated funding record using the Salary Cap/MCOP Funding Worksheet and apply the updated “Cap Rate” on appropriate earnings distribution lines. While use of the Faculty Salary Calculator (FSC) worksheet is never required for funding entry, in keeping with past practice the FSC worksheet has been updated to include the new salary cap option, $212,100-FY2023 NIH Cap 01/01/23.

Training materials and additional resources are posted on the Information for Funding Entry Initiators and Approvers and Information for Salary Cost Transfer Initiators and Approvers pages on the UCPath website.

Contacts

For questions regarding application of the new salary cap to proposals, email OSRinfo@ucsf.edu.
For questions regarding application of the new salary cap to existing awards, contact the CGA Compliance Service Desk.
Funding Entry and Salary Cost Transfer Initiators and Approvers should contact the Controller’s Office Solution Center directly for support updating funding distributions in UCPath.
Updated Policy Guidance for Foreign Subaward/Consortium Written Agreements
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Under this new NIH policy update, which will go into effect on October 1, 2023, foreign subgrantees will be required, every three months (and potentially more frequently), to send prime recipients copies of all lab notebooks, data, and documentation that support research outcomes
eRA Information: UEI Field Will be Added to Institutional Profile in eRA Commons May 12, 2022
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eRA Information: UEI Field Will be Added to Institutional Profile in eRA Commons May 12
The Institutional Profile screen in eRA Commons will accommodate the Unique Identity Identifier (UEI) following a release tomorrow, Wednesday, May 12, 2022.

As you are aware, as of April 4, 2022, the UEI replaced the Dun & Bradstreet (DUNS) number as the official identifier required for an organization/institution to apply for and receive federal funding from NIH and other federal agencies (See NIH Guide Notice NOT-OD-21-170). The UEI, a 12-character alpha numeric identifier, is issued as part of the System for Award Management (SAM) registration process. For applications due on or after January 25, 2022, applicant organizations must have a UEI at the time of application submission.
eRA Reminder: Password Moving to Passphrase for eRA Commons Users Starting November 17, 2021
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Effective November 17, 2021, users of eRA Commons (including Commons Mobile, ASSIST, and IAR) who change their passwords will be required to use a passphrase — a set of random words or a sentence at least 15 characters long — instead of a password. The change is designed to make passwords easy for users to remember but hard for others to guess. We previously communicated this change in a Nexus article and in targeted messages.
Even though eRA is moving to use of two-factor authentication (Login.gov or InCommon Federated Account), users still need to maintain their eRA Commons username and password/passphrase and will get reminders to reset the password annually. With this move, users will need to change their passphrase only once a year (as opposed to the current NIH policy that requires passwords to be changed every 120 days).
eRA users can reset their password by clicking the Forgot Password/Unlock Account link on the eRA Commons Login screen; see Figure 1. This link brings up the Reset Password screen where users enter their eRA Commons user ID and email associated with their eRA account.

Figure 1: Forgot Password/Unlock Account link on eRA Commons Login screen.
Users then receive an email with a temporary password. Upon eRA Commons login with the temporary password, which can be copied from the email and pasted into eRA Commons screens, the Change Password screen appears; see Figure 2. They might also be forwarded to this screen if logging into a new account or if their administrator has reset their password.

Figure 2: eRA Commons Change Password screen.
When the validation messages on the right indicate that password requirements have been met, the user clicks the Submit button to change the password.
After November 17, if eRA Commons users reset their passwords for any reason, they should keep the following password requirements in mind:
• Password length is 15 characters minimum.
• Password can be phrases including spaces and all printable characters, but special characters are not required.
• Going forward, passwords must be reset less frequently, only once per year.
• The password is case sensitive and cannot be reused within 10 passphrase cycles.

Please look for updated content and an updated eRA password policy document on November 17 on the Change Password page of the eRA website.

electronic Research Administration (eRA)
NIH Office of Extramural Research

Note: If users experience an issue with an eRA module after a release, they should completely clear out their browser cache, which will generally resolve the issue. If not, please contact the eRA Service Desk.

Need Help? Submit a web ticket; or call Toll-free: 1-866-504-9552, Phone: 301-402-7469. The Service Desk hours are Mon-Fri, 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. ET.

NIH Simplified Review Framework: An Informational Townhall

Did you know NIH will be changing to a Simplified Review Framework for Research Project Grants submitted after January 2025? An informational session to discuss the forthcoming changes and the implications of those changes for UCSF investigators was held on Wednesday, September 25, 2024. For those who missed the presentation you can find the slide deck and the recording here. 'All About Grants' NIH podcast episode focused on the Simplified Review Framework here. Highlighted FAQ's here.

Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H)

The Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) is a U.S. government agency created in 2022 and operates within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. ARPA-H aims to fund innovative research and breakthrough technologies to address critical health challenges. Its funding goals focus on accelerating the development of high-impact solutions, such as advanced treatments, diagnostic tools, and preventive measures for diseases across various areas, including cancer, chronic diseases, and emerging health threats.

In 2024, Congress provided an increase of $500 million to ARPA-H’s start-up budget of $1 billion. This relatively new health innovation incubator, modeled after DARPA and ARPA-E, is working to jumpstart multi-sector-fueled, high-risk/high-reward science aimed at shattering barriers and forging progress against existing and emergent health threats. Importantly, the bill also includes authorizing language that will guide the next phase of this agency’s unique and important trajectory. ARPA-H maintains a distinct and independent funding agency with its own culture, policies, and processes.

The ARPA-H Resource webpage, developed in partnership between the Office of Sponsored Research (OSR) and RDO, is now up and running on the OSR Public website, providing resources for potential applicants who are new to ARPA-H.

Features:

Resource to connect applicants with their OSR Staff - available to provide assistance in preparing the Letter of Intent or Innovative Solutions Openings (ISO) and full applications.
Budget Summary Tool to prepare the Rough Order of Magnitude.

Resource to connect with the UCSF Research Development Office (RDO) to access funding opportunities and assistance preparing the Concept Summary, Innovation & Impact, and Proposed Work sections of the ISO.

Please visit the site for more details - https://osr.ucsf.edu/advanced-research-projects-agency-health-arpa-h. The information is also provided below.

Responding to an ARPA-H Funding Call

Cooperative Agreements and Other Transaction Authority (OTA) Agreements are the two primary funding mechanisms used by ARPA-H. ARPA-H may leverage other mechanisms under unique circumstances.

Letter of Intent/Innovative Solutions Openings

OSR Proposals and Grants staff (OSR Staff) are prepared to assist Investigators with ARPA-H Letters of Intent (LOIs) also known as Innovative Solutions Openings (ISO), Solution Summaries, or other “pre-proposal” submissions. Potential applicants are strongly encouraged to work with their OSR Staff on ARPA-H pre-proposal activities.

1. Initiate LOI/ISO – identify funding opportunity and discuss the following with your OSR Staff:

Timeline, required components, and roles and responsibilities
Submission details, e.g., is ARPA-H Solutions (https://solutions.arpa-h.gov/) used or another submission system. Create a login if submitting the LOI/ISO.
Confirm with OSR Staff that you or your delegate will submit the LOI/ISO.

2. If the Rough Order of Magnitude (ROM or budget) is required, please complete the green fields of the Budget Summary Tool and return it to OSR Staff per the agreed timeline. OSR staff will complete the summary to arrive at the final figure for confirmation.

3. OSR Staff will:

Review funding announcement for Research Security requirements and contact appropriate central unit (e.g. UCSF Research Cybersecurity Program, Export Control) to confirm the university can comply and any additional costs that need to be added to the budget. The PI will be copied on these communications.
Ensure that there is no requirement of institutional certification, e.g., institution is not committing to any terms and conditions through submission of the LOI/ISO. If there is such a requirement, an OSR Officer will review and approve the LOI/ISO before it can be submitted.
Complete the following elements of the LOI/ISO Cover Page:
- Prime Awardee Information
- UCSF legal entity name: The Regents of the University of California, San Francisco
- Type of Organization: OTHER EDUCATIONAL
- Total dollar amount of the LOI/ISO or ROM from the confirmed Budget Summary Tool
Collect the following cover page information from the PI
- Project Title
- If UCSF is prime awardee, project personnel and institutional affiliation, collaborators

7. PI will compile the final components of the LOI/ISO following the format described in the funding opportunity and submit the LOI/ISO to the sponsor copying their OSR Staff and the Research Development Office (RDO) at RDOInfo@ucsf.edu.

The RDO is available to assist with the preparation of other sections, e.g., Concept Summary, Innovation & Impact, and Proposed Work – see funding opportunity for specific section(s) and maximum page limits.

Full Application

Initiate the proposal preparation process: Please contact your OSR Staff upon receipt of requests for the full application and copy them on any additional information received from the sponsor.

ARPA-H Research Areas and Priorities

ARPA-H will make big bets to build high-payoff capabilities or platforms to drive biomedical breakthroughs – ranging from molecular to societal – that will provide transformative solutions for all individuals. The focus areas below illustrate the types of work and impact that ARPA-H may pursue as it hires its first PMs.

Health Science Futures - Expanding what’s technically possible

Accelerating advances across research areas and removing limitations that stymie progress towards solutions. The tools and platforms developed apply to a broad range of diseases.

Scalable Solutions - Reaching everyone quickly

Addressing challenges that include geography, distribution, manufacturing, data and information, and economies of scale to create programs that result in impactful, timely, and equitable solutions.

Proactive Health - Keeping people from being patients

Reducing the likelihood that people become patients. Preventative programs will create new capabilities to detect and characterize disease risk and promote treatments and behaviors to anticipate threats to Americans’ health, whether those are viral, bacterial, chemical, physical, or psychological.

Resilient Systems - Building integrated healthcare systems

Developing capabilities, business models, and integrations to weather crises such as pandemics, social disruption, climate change, and economic instability. Resilient systems need to sustain themselves between crises – from the molecular to the societal – to better achieve outcomes that advance American health and wellbeing.

ARPA-H will be looking for projects that are transformational, driving biomedical breakthroughs. They will not support incremental research efforts. They seek to support "Imagine if..." projects. They will ask proposals to address the following set of questions about a well-defined problem.

ARPA-(H)eilmeier Questions - Towards a Well-Defined Problem

What are you trying to do? What health problem are you trying to solve?
How does this get done at present? Who does it? What are the limitations of present approaches?
What is new about our approach? Why do we think we can be successful at this time?
Who cares? If we succeed, what difference will it make?
What are the risks? That may prevent you from reaching your objectives? Any risks the program itself may present?
How long will it take?
How much will it cost?
What are our mid-term and final exams to check for success?
To ensure equitable access for all people, how will cost, accessibility, and user experience be addressed?
How might this program be misperceived or misused (and how can we prevent that from happening)?

National Science Foundation

The 2023 bill provides an increase of $1.036 billion to NSF (12.0% over FY22), a historic increase that is a significant down payment on the resources urgently needed to assure U.S. competitiveness in the global economic arena. This increase includes $9.54 billion in the CJS appropriations bill and $335 million in supplemental funding. While this increase is less than funding authorized through the landmark CHIPS and Science Act, it represents a clear commitment to fulfilling the charge of the CHIPS and Science Act in advancing U.S scientific and technological competitiveness. - Modified from Research!America News (researchamerica.org)

Since 2017, NSF has been building a foundation for the Big Ideas through pioneering research and pilot activities. In 2019, NSF invested $30 million in each Big Idea and continues to identify and support emerging opportunities for U.S. leadership in Big Ideas that serve the Nation's future. Check out these 10 Big Idea areas of investment: https://www.nsf.gov/news/special_reports/big_ideas/.

Administrative Updates

NSF has released a revised version of the NSF Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG) (NSF 23-1). The new PAPPG will be effective for proposals submitted or due, and awards made, on or after January 30, 2023.

Current Funding Opportunities - Highlights

Agency	Title		Due Date(s)	Link
NSF Technology, Innovation and Partnerships (TIP) Directorate
	Partnerships for Innovation (PFI)	NSF 23-538	5/2/2023; 9/5/2023; 1/2/2024	https://beta.nsf.gov/funding/opportunities/partnerships-innovation-pfi-0
	Accelerating Research Translation (ART)	NSF 23-558	5/9/2023; 9/18/2024	https://beta.nsf.gov/funding/opportunities/accelerating-research-translation-art

NSF Technology, Innovation and Partnerships (TIP) and STEM Education Directorates
	Experiential Learning for Emerging and Novel Technologies (ExLENT)	NSF 23-502	9/14/2023	https://beta.nsf.gov/funding/opportunities/experiential-learning-emerging-novel-technologies

NSF all Directorates plus Office of Integrative Activities
	Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER)	NSF 22-586	7/26/2023	https://beta.nsf.gov/funding/opportunities/faculty-early-career-development-program-career
	Mid-Career Advancement (MCA)		3/1/2023	https://beta.nsf.gov/funding/opportunities/mid-career-advancement-mca
	Inclusion across the Nation of Communities of Learners of Underrepresented Discoverers in Engineering and Science (NSF INCLUDES)		10/22/2024	https://beta.nsf.gov/funding/opportunities/inclusion-across-nation-communities-learners
	Research Coordination Networks (RCN)	NSF 23-529	anytime	https://beta.nsf.gov/funding/opportunities/research-coordination-networks

NSF all Directorates plus Office of Integrative Activities plus DOD, USDA, NIST. DHS-S&T Directorate
	Expanding AI Innovation through Capacity Building and Partnerships (ExpandAI)	NSF 23-506	3/13/2023; 6/26/2023; 10/20/2023	https://beta.nsf.gov/funding/opportunities/expanding-ai-innovation-through-capacity-building

NSF Dear Colleague Letter Supplemental Funding:
	Provisioning Advanced Cyberinfrastructure to Further Research on the Monkeypox Virus		check current year availability	https://beta.nsf.gov/funding/opportunities/provisioning-advanced-cyberinfrastructure-further
	NSF-NIST Interaction in Basic and Applied Scientific Research			https://beta.nsf.gov/funding/opportunities/nsf-nist-interaction-basic-applied-scientific-1
	Workforce Development in Spectrum STEM			https://beta.nsf.gov/funding/opportunities/workforce-development-spectrum-stem
	Enabling Quantum Computing Platform Access for National Science Foundation Researchers with Amazon Web Services, IBM, and Microsoft Quantum			https://beta.nsf.gov/funding/opportunities/enabling-quantum-computing-platform-access-0
	Advancing Educational Innovations and Broadening Participation in STEM with Blockchain Technology			https://beta.nsf.gov/funding/opportunities/advancing-educational-innovations-broadening
	A Supplemental Funding Opportunity for Supporting Research in Nascent Translation (SPRINT) through the Partnerships for Innovation (PFI) Program			https://beta.nsf.gov/funding/opportunities/supplemental-funding-opportunity-supporting

Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI)

Current PCORI Funding Opportunities can be found listed here.

Research Project Agenda Topic Themes

Each year the PCORI research themes are updated. The 2025 themes are list here.

A library of successful PCORI grants by UCSF investigators is available here.

[2025 Epi/Biostate presentation on seeking PCORI funding is COMING SOON]

The UCSF Research Development Office hosted a Get to Know PCORI event on October 2, 2017. Dr. Joe Selby, Executive Director of PCORI, gave an overview of the institute, and five PCORI-funded UCSF investigators discussed elements of preparing a successful PCORI proposal (panel discussion not recorded). A recording of Dr. Selby's presentation is below. The slide deck is available here.

Other Important Federal Agencies for Biomedical and Health Research

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

.The BIPARTISAN OMNIBUS APPROPRIATIONS FOR FY23 bill provides an increase of $760 million for the CDC (9.5% over FY22). The CDC is our nation’s principal public health agency — working to safeguard the US against pandemics, the opioid crisis, antibiotic-resistant “superbugs,” disparities in health and health care, and everyday threats to communities nationwide. This funding is a down payment that will begin the revitalization of an agency that has faced years of inadequate funding, bolstering its capacity to address a range of public health threats, improve and expand the public health workforce, and respond to potential global crisis....

Agency for Health Research and Quality (AHRQ)

The bill provides an increase of $23.1 million for AHRQ (6.6% over FY22), a significant and much-needed increase for AHRQ—another historically underfunded agency. AHRQ empowers the research needed to ensure that medical progress translates into high quality, cost-efficient healthcare. AHRQ-supported research has saved countless lives and generated health care savings that far surpass its annual funding.

Food and Drug Administration (FDA)

The bill describes a $226 million increase (6.5% over FY22) for FDA. This under-funded agency’s broad and critically important mission calls for additional resources. FDA oversees food, medical, and tobacco products valued at more than $2.8 trillion, which account for 20 percent of annual spending by U.S. consumers.

Modified from Research!America News (researchamerica.org)