NIH Announces Special Review for Applications from PIs with More than $1 Million Direct Costs for RPGs

The National Institutes of Health has announced a new Special Council Review policy. In September 2012, Advisory Council members will provide additional consideration of new and renewal applications from investigators who currently receive $1 million per year in direct costs from active NIH awards for Research Project Grants (RPGs).

In May 2012, NIH piloted Special Council Review procedures to provide additional review of applications from investigators with NIH funding of  $1.5 million per year in total costs. The main change from the pilot is that the threshold was changed from $1.5 million total costs to $1 million direct costs from active NIH awards.

Applications that will be given special review include:

• New and renewal applications from investigators who currently receive $1 million or more in direct costs for RPGs, excluding no cost extensions

Applications excluded from special review include:

• Pending applications received in response to requests for applications
• P01s and other multi-component RPGs, unless all the investigators exceed the $1 million threshold
• Multi-PI applications, unless all the investigators exceed the $1 million threshold
• Administrative supplements
• Subprojects within complex applications (This may be revisited by NIH when complex applications are accepted through eRA Commons.)

The August 20 NIH Guide Notice (NOT-OD-12-140) and a Rock Talk post on Moving Forward with Special Council Review provide additional details.

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May 22, 2012 Research Advocate: NIH Piloting Special Review for PIs with Over $1.5M in Research Project Grants