NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – The National Institutes of Health has released three new funding programs supported under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act stimulus program, including one to give researchers administrative support, revision grants to expand support for ongoing studies, and funds for summer research programs.
The funding for these programs will come from a pool of $1 billion from the funding NIH received under the ARRA, and which are to be spent by Sept. 30, 2010.
US investigators may seek funds from the NIH Research Grants program to request administrative supplements "for the purpose of accelerating the tempo of scientific research on active grants," NIH said today.
These funds could be used to purchase equipment (costing under $100,000), to enhance clinical trials by increasing enrollment and increasing the capacity for data analysis; research employment opportunities for post-doctoral students; hiring college and master's degree graduates; and for comparative effectiveness research.
The Comparative Revision Applications program will enable applicants to seek support to expand the scope or research protocols of projects that have already been approved and funded.
These activities could include: hiring students, postdocs, or other personnel to accomplish new scientific objectives or to generate novel resources; making investments in technology essential to expand the goals or enhance the efficiency of the project; seeking to change a single primary investigator grant to a multiple primary investigator grant; and other types of revisions may be appropriate if they are consistent with the goals of the recovery act.
The Summer Research Experiences for Students and Science Educators program enables investigators to request administrative supplements for the purpose of job creation and economic development by encouraging students to "seriously pursue research careers in health related sciences" and to provide teachers, from elementary school on through universities, with some experience at NIH-funded labs.