Seasons Turn, and Fiscal Years End

The new fiscal year started at the beginning of this week, and the folks at the National Institute of General Medical Sciences' Feedback Loop blog offer answers to common questions and concerns about the turn of the fiscal year. Laurie Tompkins and Joe Gindhart point out that NIGMS only funds a few R01s after its September Advisory Council meeting. "Most pending applications are funded after January 1, depending on when NIH gets its budget appropriation from Congress," they write.

Tompkins and Gindhart also note that individuals with grant anniversary dates at the beginning of December may receive awards late because funding guidance and financial programs have to be established and sometimes because the National Institutes of Health is funded by a temporary continuing resolution rather than a full-year budget.

And, they add that sometimes continuation budgets may also be reduced due to NIGMS being funded through a temporary continuing resolution. "This is because we must fund conservatively in case of a further CR or an appropriation that is at a lower level. The likelihood of a temporary budget cut is highest in December and January, since the probability that NIH will be on a CR is highest at the beginning of a fiscal year," Tompkins and Gindhart write. "It's possible that some or all of the budget reductions will be restored after NIH gets an appropriation."