Office of Research and Project Administration

The following is NIH's first response to the across-the-board reduction by
Congress of NIH sponsored "non-emergency, discretionary programs." As you
can see, non-competing awards will be awarded at 97.65% of the amount
originally indicated for the FY06 budget period on the previous year's
Notice of Grant Award.

For institutional and individual NRSA awards, the stipends remain flat for
undergraduates and predocs. Postdocs with 0 and 1 year of experience show a
slight increase. Institutional allowances also show a slight increase for
postdoctoral trainees and fellows. Please begin using the new levels for
competing and non-competing applications.

The NIH policy for offsetting NRSA expenses for tuition, fees and health
insurance is still being re-examined. Information from a recently held NIH
Town Hall Meeting is provided at
http://pub.nigms.nih.gov/generic_meeting/index.cfm?id=10 . A decision
regarding the policy is expected this spring.

Please contact your ORPA research administrator with any questions.

Donna Beyea - x5-8037
Donna Galloway - x5-1502
Marlene Boutet - x3-3960
Brenda Kavanaugh - x5-1504

Cheryl K. Williams
Senior Research Administrator
Office of Research and Project Administration
University of Rochester
515 Hylan Building
Rochester, New York 14627
585-275-1503, telephone
585-275-9492, facsimile
cwilliam@orpa.rochester.edu

The text of the notices follow. They are available on-line at
<http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-06-025.html>
and
<http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-06-026.html>,

NIH Financial Policy for Grant Awards - FY 2006

Notice Number: NOT-OD-06-025
Release Date: January 9, 2006

Issued by National Institutes of Health (NIH), (http://www.nih.gov)

The NIH appropriation for FY 2006 includes an across-the-board reduction
to non-emergency, discretionary programs, which has a direct impact on
NIH's budget. The NIH share of this adjustment is approximately $286
million. NIH has established the following financial polices consistent
with this appropriation.

Research Project Grants (RPG)
(http://grants.nih.gov/grants/funding/funding_program.htm)

Non-competing awards for every RPG will be awarded at a level of 97.65%
of the amount indicated for the FY2006 budget period in the Notice of
Grant Award for the previous budget year. The amounts indicated for
future budget periods will also be adjusted by the same factor.

Non-competing awards previously issued in FY 2006 at reduced levels up
to 80% of the amount previously indicated (See: NOT-OD-06-014
http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-06-014.html)
will be revised to provide a restoration of funds to the 97.65% level.
Amounts indicated for future budget periods will be adjusted as well.

The amounts provided for competing RPGs will be managed to an average
award amount equal to FY 2005 levels. FY 2006 policy includes the
provision of a 3% escalation factor in the amounts indicated for future
years on competing RPG awards which are not based on modular
applications.

National Research Service Awards (Fellowships and Training Grants)

This policy is published in a separate notice. (See NOT-OD-06-026)

Other Grant Programs

Other grant programs will be managed in accordance with the policies to
be established by each Institute and Center. Questions regarding
adjustments applied on individual grant awards may be directed to the
Grants Management Specialist identified on the Notice of Award.

Subsequent Notices in the NIH Guide will address Legislative Mandates
and Salary Limitations for the FY 2006 Appropriation.

========

Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) Stipend and
Other Budgetary Levels Effective for Fiscal Year 2006

Notice Number: NOT-OD-06-026

Key Dates
Release Date: January 9, 2006

Issued by
National Institutes of Health (NIH), (http://www.nih.gov/) Agency for
Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ),
(http://www.ahrq.gov/)
Health Resources Services Administration (HRSA),
(http://www.hrsa.gov/)

The stipend levels for Fiscal Year (FY) 2006 Kirschstein-NRSA awards for
undergraduate, predoctoral and postdoctoral trainees and fellows are
shown below. The Training Related Expenses for trainees and the
Institutional Allowance for individual fellows for FY 2006 are also
shown below.

The Budgetary Categories Described in this Notice Are Effective Only for
Kirschstein-NRSA Awards Made with FY 2006 Funds.

Retroactive adjustments or supplementation of stipends or other
budgetary categories with Kirschstein-NRSA funds for an award made prior
to October 1, 2005 is not permitted. Budgetary adjustments for training
grant and fellowship awards, therefore, will be made only at the time of
the FY 2006 award.

STIPENDS: Effective with all Kirschstein-NRSA awards made on or after
October 1, 2005 , the following annual stipend levels apply to all
individuals receiving support through institutional research training
grants or individual fellowships, including the Minority Access to
Research Career (MARC) and Career Opportunities in Research (COR)
programs. These awards are made under the authority of Section 487 of
the Public Health Service Act (as amended).

The stipend levels are as follows:
Career Level

Stipend for FY 2006

Undergraduates in the MARC and COR Programs: Freshmen/Sophomores $7,812
Juniors/Seniors $10,956

Predoctoral $20,772

Postdoctoral
Years of Experience:

0 $36,996
1 $38,976
2 $41,796
3 $43,428
4 $45,048
5 $46,992
6 $48,852
7 or more $51,036

These stipend levels are to be used in the preparation of future
competing and non-competing NRSA institutional training grant and
individual fellowship applications. They will be administratively
applied to all applications currently in the review process.

The NIH encourages institutions to limit the duration of graduate and
postdoctoral training to the extent possible. In most cases, graduate
and postdoctoral research training from any source should not exceed 6
years and 5 years, respectively. The NIH retains eight levels of
postdoctoral stipends to accommodate individuals who complete other
forms of health-related training prior to accepting a Kirschstein-NRSA
supported position. The presence of eight discrete levels of experience
should not be construed as an endorsement of extended periods of
postdoctoral research training.

It should be noted that the maximum amount that NIH will award to
support the compensation package for a graduate student research
assistant remains at the zero level postdoctoral stipend as described at
http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-02-017.html.

Institutional Allowance and Training Related Expenses for
Kirschstein-NRSA Recipients:

The Training Related Expenses for each predoctoral and postdoctoral
trainee as well as the Institutional Allowance for all predoctoral and
postdoctoral fellows will be paid at the amounts shown below for all
awards made with FY 2006 funds: Training Related Expenses on
Institutional Training Grants
Predoctoral Trainees: $2,200
Postdoctoral Trainees: $3,850

Institutional Allowance on Individual Fellows Sponsored by non-Federal
Public & Private Institutions (Domestic & Foreign)
Predoctoral Fellows: $2,750
Postdoctoral Fellows: $7,000

Institutional Allowance for Individual Fellows Sponsored by Federal and
For-Profit Institutions
Predoctoral Fellows: $1,650
Postdoctoral Fellows: $5,900

Expenses allowed within these cost categories are described in the
appropriate program announcements, which can be found at
http://grants.nih.gov/training/nrsa.htm. These amounts will be applied
to all competing and non-competing NRSA awards made with FY 2006 funds.
Any FY 2006 awards issued using previously-approved levels will be
revised. These levels are to be used in the preparation of future
competing and non-competing Kirschstein-NRSA institutional training
grant and individual fellowship applications. They will be
administratively applied to all applications currently in the review
process.

Please note that information concerning the NIH policy for offsetting
NRSA expenses for tuition, fees, and health insurance for FY 2006
competing applications was published on August 2, 2005 and can be found
at: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-05-059.html.

The NIH policy for offsetting NRSA expenses for tuition, fees, and
health insurance is currently being re-examined. Information regarding
this issue and a recently held NIH Town Hall Meeting to discuss this
topic can be found at:
http://pub.nigms.nih.gov/generic_meeting/index.cfm?id=10. A final
decision regarding the policy for FY 2007 is expected to be announced in
the spring of 2006.

Inquiries

Questions concerning this notice or other policies relating to training
grants or fellowships should be directed to the grants management office
in the appropriate NIH Institute or Center.

Walter L. Goldschmidts, Ph.D.
Acting Research Training Officer
National Institutes of Health
6705 Rockledge Drive , Room 3516
Bethesda , Maryland 20892-7963
Phone: (301) 451-4225
FAX: (301) 480-0146
Email: goldschw@mail.nih.gov
Research-AAMC