NIH Issues Revised PHS 2590, Implements Policy Changes

The National Institutes of Health has revised “Continuation Progress Report for a DHHS Public Health Service Grant” (PHS 2590, rev. 06/09). The newly revised instructions and forms are available at http://grants.nih.gov/grants/forms.htm. The revised PHS 2590 form will will be accepted immediately for all progress reports and will be required for all annual progress reports due on or after October 1, 2009.

NIH will release corresponding changes to the eSNAP Commons Module on October 9, 2009. For eSNAPs due October 15th, NIH encourages grantees to delay submitting eSNAP reports until after the October 9th enhancements are in production in order to implement use of the revisions for all progress reports submitted for FY 2010 funding. For eSNAPs due by October 15th, NIH encourages grantees to submit them on time; however, an additional grace period to November 1, 2009 is permitted to accommodate these changes.

This revision of the PHS 2590 implements a number of important policy changes, including:

• New All Personnel Report: Replacement of the Senior/Key Personnel Report with an All Personnel Report (Form Page 7) that collects information on all personnel who participate in the project for at least one person month or more. The All Personnel Report also implements a new NIH requirement that all individuals with a postdoctoral role with one person month of more of measurable effort must have an eRA Commons user ID (see NIH Guide Notice OD-09-140, New Requirement for eRA Commons User IDs for Individuals in a Postdoctoral Project Role with Measurable Effort on an NIH Annual Progress Report (PHS2590), for details and background on this new requirement).
  
  
• New Assurance for Institutions Receiving Awards for Training of Graduate Students for Doctoral Degrees: For institutions receiving NIH awards for graduate training through certain Institutional training grants, a new Graduate Student Assurance, required by the NIH Reform Act of 2006 (P.L. 109-482) is now included. In addition, for annual progress reports for Institutional training grants Table 12A is modified to collect data related to the Graduate Student Assurance. More details on this new institutional assurance are described in NIH Guide Notice OD-09-141 , New Reporting and Assurance Requirements for Institutions Receiving Awards for Training of Graduate Students for Doctoral Degrees.
  
  
• Inclusion of Changes to Innovative Potential: As part of the NIH Enhancing Peer Review Initiative, PD/PIs are asked, if applicable, to address any changes to the innovative potential of the project. This information is now part of the Progress Report Summary, Section B. Studies and Results.
  
  
• Changes to the Biographical Sketch: Another change associated with the peer review initiative is the addition of a Personal Statement to the biographical sketch. The statement is for the senior/key personnel to address why their experience and qualifications make them particularly well-suited for their role on the project. Instructions for the biographical sketch also encourage applicants to limit the list of publications to no more than 15. Reminder: A new biosketch is only required as part of the progress report for new senior/key personnel since the previous submission.
  
  
• Human Embryonic Stem Cells (hESCs): A new item is added to the Progress Report Summary, under D. Plans, as Item E. Human Embryonic Stem Cell Line(s) Used, for grantees to note if proposed research involving hESCs is different from that proposed in the previous submission, including use of a different cell line (Form Page 5).