February 21, 2020 • 19 mins
Learn about the Notice of Grant Award and the role of the NINDS Grants Management Branch from Chief Dr. Tijuanna Decoster and Grants Management Officer Elizabeth Conklin.
Building Up the Nerve is a podcast from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke for neuroscience trainees that takes you through the life cycle of a grant from idea to award at NINDS with the people who make it happen. We know that applying for NIH funding can be daunting, but we’re here to help—it’s our job!
This episode has been edited since its original publication.
Transcript: http://ninds.buzzsprout.com/558574/2778262-episode-10-issuing-the-grant-award
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Lauren (00:02):
Welcome to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders
and Stroke's, Building Up the Nerve,a podcast for neuroscience trainees
that takes you through the life cycleof a grant from idea to award at NINDS
with the people who make it happen.
We know that applying for NIH fundingcan be daunting, but we're here to help.
It's our job.
Hi, I'm Lauren Ullrich, ascientific program manager at NINDS
Marguerite M (00:25):
and I'm Marguerite Matthews, a health program specialist
at NINDS and we're your hosts today.
In the last episode wediscussed grant resubmissions.
Today we're going to discussthe issuance of the grant award
Lauren (00:37):
and as always, I want to state the disclaimer that everything we
talk about may only be relevant for NINDS,so if you're applying to a different NIH
Institute or center, it's always bestto check with them about their policies.
Marguerite Matth (00:49):
And joining us today are Dr. Tia Decoster, the chief
of the grants management branch, and LizConklin, a supervisory grants management
officer in the grants management branch.
So please introduce yourselves.
Tia Decos (01:01):
I'm Tia Decoster, I'm the chief grants management officer.
I've been here approximately12 and a half years.
As a chief grants management officer Ioversee all of the grants within NINDS,
issuance of all the grants within NINDS.
We have a staff of approximately, um, whenfully staffed approximately 25 people.
Three teams; each team consistsof six people, including the
(01:22):
team leader seven people.
Before starting here, I worked forthe department of justice as a grant
specialist and then I moved intoa grants policy, policy advisor,
uh, driving a lot of public policyfor the department of justice.
Uh, prior to that I worked withthe department of commerce.
Uh, I've worked with privateindustry, KPMG consulting as
a senior consultant in grants.
(01:43):
Uh, and uh, prior to that I did workfor NIH as a grant specialist in
the Heart Institute for 12 years.
Lauren Ullrich (01:50):
Wow.
Marguerite Matthews (01:50):
So you are truly a grants expert.
Tia Decoster (01:53):
Yes I am, yes.
Lauren U (01:55):
And what's one of your hobbies or passions outside of work?
Tia Decoster (01:57):
I like to swim and I like to cook.
Liz (02:00):
Hi, my name is Liz Conklin.
I'm a supervisory grantsmanagement officer here at NINDS.
So I have a team of six specialists.
And I work with them to makesure the awards are correct.
And we also work with program officers andthe program staff just to make sure we're
doing everything, you know, by the book.
(02:22):
A big part of our job is takingquestions from grantees and even
potential applicants as well.
So we're sometimes we're like oneof the first people that they,
that they encounter when they call.
So, you know, we try to be thereand be helpful and try to redirect
things even if they call us and wemight not be the right place to call,
but we try to redirect as needed.
(02:42):
I've worked here for, it'llbe 11 years in January.
I started out as a grantsmanagement specialist and then in
2015, uh, I became a team leader.
So before I started here, um, I,you know, got out of college and got
married and became a mom and was astay at home mom for a little while.
And then I went back to school and gotmy MBA in uh, finance concentrated in
(03:06):
finance and then saw a job opening forsomething called the Emerging Leaders
Program at Health and Human Services.
And I thought, "well, that soundsinteresting." And within the
year, my family and I had moveddown from Pennsylvania and we
were, you know, started here.
So I was very fortunate to beable to be a part of that program.
And, uh, from there I went, workedat a bunch of different operating
(03:27):
divisions at HHS, but then ended upin the office of grants policy, a
downtown and the office of the secretaryand then, um, came to NINDS to do
grants work here and work with Tia.
And I've, I've been here ever since.
So yeah, so I do, Ihave, uh, two children.
One is, uh, just marriedand one's in college.
(03:48):
So I try to spend as muchtime as I can with them.
Um, I knit and, uh, spend as much timeas I can with my dog, either walking
through the woods or sitting on the couch.
Lauren Ull (04:03):
In our last episode, we left off with
there's been a decision made, the,I think the last-last episode was,
let's say you have to resubmit.
And now this episode we want to focuson, um, an award is slated to be funded.
And really what's happening behind thescenes as the awards are being prepared?
Tia Decoster (04:27):
It depends.
[laughter] Okay.
Um, behind the scenes if we have,uh, addressing programmatic needs, of
questions that they may have, lookingat overlap, budgetary overlap, uh,
reviewing the budgets, making sure thatthey are accurate, uh, reviewing, if
information is needed for clarification.
We work with grantees to get that.
(04:49):
Uh, looking at, reviewing the F&A rates,uh, making sure we have the most updated
F&A rate, um, to award the grants.
Lauren Ullrich (04:57):
Do you want to talk about what F&A is?
Tia Decoster (04:58):
Excuse me.
Indirects, the indirect cost rate.
F&A is facilities andadministrative costs.
Those are the indirect costs.
So you may hear indirects orF&A but it's all the same.
Working to ensure that we are awarding thegrant correctly and making sure that, most
of all, that what we're doing is, we arefederally compliant in what we're doing.
Marguerite Matthew (05:18):
Now, what is the just-in-time information and
how do investigators submit that?
Liz Conklin (05:23):
So the just in time information has is just
like what it sounds like.
So it's information that weneed just prior to award.
So this is information that could beincluded in the grant application, but
even if it is, we're going to need itwithin 120 days before the award is made.
We want to be sure thatthis information is current.
So the elements of just in (05:41):
uh, other support information, that needs
to be current; other items that wemight need are um, IRB approvals for
human subjects work or IACUC approvalsif there's any work involving animals.
Sometimes there may be some otherinformation that can be submitted
by just in time like if there's aresource sharing plan or maybe some more
(06:03):
clarification on the budget or something,you know, something of that nature that
can be submitted with Just in time.
As for how to submit it, the bestway to do it is through the commons.
There should be a just in time link that'sassociated with the commons account.
And so that's always the best placeto upload it because that ensures
that a variety of people herecan see it, the grant specialists
(06:24):
and also the program officials.
If anyone's out of the office,you know, anybody can see that.
So that is always very helpful.
Uh, when uploading to just in time, youdon't necessarily have to have everything
ready before you start to upload.
You can upload in pieces.
So if you just have some elements,you know, you can upload very often
we'll get the IACUC approval later orthe IRB approval later than some of
(06:47):
the other support or other documents.
So that is acceptable.
If for some reason your just in timelink isn't active, you could please just
send that information via an authorizedsigning official to the grant specialist
and also to the program official.
Lauren U (07:02):
I was wondering if you want to talk a little bit about the
role of the authorized signing official?
Because I think trainees might notnecessarily be aware of everything that
that person does or their importance.
Tia Decoster (07:16):
Okay.
The, the AOR or known as theauthorized signing official,
that person is responsible forsubmitting information to the NIH.
They are the people that wecontact if there are issues.
They are the people that keeptheir institution compliant.
Uh, so it's importantthat you work with them.
Some offices may call them your sponsoredprograms office, some other offices
(07:40):
may call them your sponsored researchoffice, uh, or research administration.
It's important that you work withthem so that what what is submitted
is correct and you are dependent,you are, your information reflects
their institutional policies.
Those, again, those are the people thatkeep your institution, uh, compliant.
Lauren Ullrich (08:01):
Right.
And anything officialhas to come through them.
So you might send us something andwe'll come back and say like, no,
have your AOR, send that to us.
Liz Conklin (08:10):
Especially if it comes through email.
Now if it comes through the Just intime, then you should be alright because
you've, you have, um, you know, if youhave access to the Just in time link,
then you should be able to upload itwithout necessarily having to go through
somebody else at your organization.
Um, but if not, uh, you know,that'll just depend on your
organization as well and how theprivileges are set up in the commons
Tia Decos (08:32):
And also the business official or sponsored programs person
or research administration, those peopleare, should be your first line of defense
when it, when it comes to questions,because again, we have to work within the
confines of your institutional policies.
Marguerite Matthe (08:46):
And if you're at the stage of the award, you've
probably already talked with thesepeople cause they're the ones
who submitted your application.
So don't panic.
These aren't different people.
Um, it may be a different specificperson, but they're probably coming from
the same office at your institution.
So if a grant is to be awarded,how long will it take for the
investigator to receive their funding?
The big question, when do we get paid?
Tia Decoster (09:09):
Liz you ready?
Liz Conklin (09:10):
Oh sure.
Tia Decoster (09:12):
It depends.
Liz Conklin (09:12):
It depends! It definitely depends.
Tia Decoster (09:16):
Okay.
It depends upon what is missingfrom the application as far
as needing to be funded.
Um, if everything is, is in, theprogram official has completed
the, the internal process of ourchecklist, as soon as Council is
over, we can get that award out.
(09:36):
Uh, if there are issues, uh, againwith overlap, if there are issues
with, uh, any type of scientificconcerns that can hold up an award.
So it's best once you, once you receive,uh, an email from either the grant
specialist or the program official,it would be great if you could respond
immediately because the faster youare, the faster we can get it out.
Liz, you want to add something?.
Liz Conklin (09:57):
No, that's true.
It also, you know, it willdepend on our pay plan.
So if you, uh, depending on howyour application was scored, uh,
and you know, the pay plan for theInstitute, uh, sometimes things are
funded on an expedited basis, but thatisn't always necessarily the case.
So it can take some time.
There can be some internal, uh, review,you know, of course there's time we
(10:20):
need to allow for internal review.
So it can take some time.
It can be very quickly and itcould also take several months.
So it really just depends.
I would say get in touch with your grantsmanagement specialist and ask them.
Lauren Ullrich (10:32):
Right.
And our fiscal year starts October1st and all the systems shut down.
And so that's another thing thatcan delay the issuance of the award.
So, what is the notice of award and whatkind of information does it contain?
And is there anything in particularthat investigators should be paying
(10:53):
attention when they get that NOA?
Tia Deco (10:55):
The notice of award is basically a letter with your money.
It's attached to your money.
It's important that you read theterms and conditions of the award.
Every award has terms and conditions.
It's important that you read those.
And if you have questions, contact thegrant specialist or the program officer.
The notice of grant award also tellsyou the amount of money that you
(11:15):
have, direct and indirect costs.
It will have, uh, information, uh, who theprogram officer is, the program director.
It will have information as far aswho's the grants management specialist.
All the contact information you needis in the notice of award spelled out.
Liz C (11:30):
I would say, too, there's no, um, there's no official award
until you see that notice of award.
So you're going to get, you know, theNIH will send out many, um, automatic
emails, you know, congratulating onyour score or letting, you know, things
were reviewed, that--this sort of thing.
And that's all wonderful.
But that's not an award.
So until that notice of awardis issued, it's not finished.
(11:51):
You don't have an award until then.
And Tia mentioned the terms of the award.
So those are contained in sectionsthree and four of the award.
Section three contains terms that arestandard to NIH, to all of NIH awards.
And then section four will includeNINDS-specific terms of award.
So especially if you havemilestones or if you have a phased
(12:14):
award or anything like that.
Any, any, um, you know, specialinstructions, please be sure
to look in section four.
And then at the end like Tiasaid, you have your specific
contact information will be there.
There may also be some contact informationin section four that may differ a little
bit from the individuals at the end.
(12:34):
Those may be extra peoplefor you to contact.
The award will also include informationabout, uh, any, uh, future years
that are anticipated for funding.
Now, that's not a guarantee for the futureyears because it's, you know, dependent on
congressional appropriations, et cetera.
But that represents the intention ofthe NIH to fund future years given
(12:55):
that everything goes according to plan.
So please pay attention to those.'Causeif you're expecting three years
and you only get two, it's, orsomething like that, it's much better
to know early than to know later.
So please do read through that.
And also it's good to know whoat your organization receives
(13:15):
a copy of that notice of award.
So the principal investigatorwill receive that award.
Um, and also, uh, of course thebusiness office, uh, sponsored
projects, whatever it's called, willreceive a copy of that because remember
the award goes to the institution.
So it's not just the principalinvestigators award, it's, you
know, its the institutional award.
(13:36):
So, um, but again, you know, workwith your individual business
office and they'll help youwith any, you know, questions or
internal procedures or, or whatnot.
Tia Dec (13:45):
Again, if you, for some reason there's a computer glitch and
you don't get the notice of award,contact the business official and they
can provide you with a copy of it.
Marguerite Matthews (13:53):
So when and under what circumstances should
investigators contact the grantspecialist regarding their award?
Tia Decos (14:00):
questions, questions, questions, make sure that you understand
everything on that notice of award.
If you don't understand how the awardwas made, the dollars, make sure that
you contact them and they can walk youthrough your award line item by line item.
They can tell you what was excluded.
They can explain your F&A or your indirectcost rate, what was included in that rate.
(14:22):
Anytime you have a question or, or anytime that you don't quite understand,
please contact the grant specialist.
That's why we are here.
Liz Conk (14:29):
I would say, you know, they should definitely, always
feel free to contact--that theirfirst line of defense should also
be, right, the business office.
But always feel free to contact us ifit's something having to do anything
having to do with the actual programor the science or you know, their
specific aims or anything of that nature.
I would say it's probably best tocontact the program first because if
(14:52):
you contact your grants managementspecialist with those questions,
we're going to say we don't knowbecause we don't handle the science.
So we would just refer you to program.
But if you have certainly any questionsabout the money or the terms or you know,
really just anything, you know, like Tiasaid, just contact us and we, if we're
not the people to, uh, to help, we willput you in touch with who can help you.
Tia (15:12):
If you ever have questions regarding, well, what's the difference?
grants management specialists,science: program officers,
Lauren Ullrich (15:20):
Right.
And we work together pretty closely,um, to get the grants out the door.
And so if you, if you get confused,you don't know who to contact,
just pick one and they candirect you to the right person.
All right.
Well is there anything else youwant applicants to understand
about the grant issuance process?
Some common misconceptionsthat you've found that you
(15:41):
want the chance to clear up?
Tia Decoster (15:43):
Some of the basic errors that I've noticed with
applications is miscalculation.
Making sure that you are, if theFOA, if it states modular budget
or if it says make sure you, you,you comply with it if its a modular
budget or if it is a categoricalbudget, make sure you understand that.
Make sure that again,miscalculation errors.
(16:04):
We find a lot of those and make surethat you're calculating your, your
dollars correctly and your justification.
Make sure your justificationmatches your dollars.
Liz C (16:14):
Some other things to keep in mind is um, your budget request.
Your project requests might not alwaysequal the amount of that's awarded or
the number of years that's awarded.
Uh, depending on a number of (16:24):
we don't fund inflationary escalation in the
out years, so that could represent a cut.
We have standard cuts that are appliedto our awards, which are outlined in the
funding plan, you can see that on ourwebsite under the NINDS funding plan.
So that'll give you an idea.
And also another thing to rememberis that grant awards, they're
(16:47):
meant to be assistance mechanisms.
They're not always meant tofund projects fully, right?
So it's a matter of assisting,not necessarily fully funding.
Lauren Ullrich (17:02):
All right.
Well thank you both forsharing your wisdom today.
And can I ask each of you forone last piece of parting advice
for our future applicants?
Tia Decoster (17:12):
Patience
Liz Conklin (17:15):
I agree, I agree.
Patience and um, justask lots of questions.
Lauren Ullrich (17:21):
And Marguerite, do you have any advice?
Marguerite Matthews (17:22):
Yeah.
One of the common themes throughoutthe podcast is talk to a program
officer and now you're hearing, talkto your program specialist and talk
to the people at your institution.
These are not people who shouldfeel like strangers to you.
They should be people that youknow enough to feel comfortable
to reach out for any questions.
You should not be confusedabout how this process works.
(17:44):
There is a lot going on from the timeyou think of an idea that you want
to be funded the way to, the timethat you get funded for that idea.
There's a, there's a lot ofpaperwork, a lot of um, things
to sign, things to submit.
Um, but if at any time it getsoverwhelming, reach out to the people
who are specialists at this, we areexperts and we want to help you.
(18:06):
What about you Lauren?
Lauren Ullrich (18:07):
I think just being proactive about making sure
that NIH has all the informationthat it needs to issue the award.
Um, so making sure your IACUC or your IRBinformation is in there and, but it can
also include other components and justcheck with your program director, your
grants specialist, and make sure thatthey have all the information you need,
(18:28):
especially if things seem to be takinga little bit longer than they should.
Be proactive.
That's my advice.
So that's all we have time fortoday on Building Up the Nerve.
Thank you to our guests this weekfor sharing their expertise and
thank you to program director Dr. BobRiddle for our theme song and music.
(18:52):
See you next time when we tacklemonitoring grant performance.
You can find past episodes of thispodcast and many more grant application
resources on the web at ninds.nih.gov.
Marguerite Mat (19:04):
You can email us your questions at NINDSNervePod@nih.gov.
Make sure you've subscribed to thepodcast on Apple podcasts or your favorite
podcast app so you don't miss an episode.
We'll see you next time.
Welcome to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders
and Stroke's, Building Up the Nerve,a podcast for neuroscience trainees
that takes you through the life cycleof a grant from idea to award at NINDS
with the people who make it happen.
We know that applying for NIH fundingcan be daunting, but we're here to help.
It's our job.
Hi, I'm Lauren Ullrich, ascientific program manager at NINDS
Marguerite M (00:25):
and I'm Marguerite Matthews, a health program specialist
at NINDS and we're your hosts today.
In the last episode wediscussed grant resubmissions.
Today we're going to discussthe issuance of the grant award
Lauren (00:37):
and as always, I want to state the disclaimer that everything we
talk about may only be relevant for NINDS,so if you're applying to a different NIH
Institute or center, it's always bestto check with them about their policies.
Marguerite Matth (00:49):
And joining us today are Dr. Tia Decoster, the chief
of the grants management branch, and LizConklin, a supervisory grants management
officer in the grants management branch.
So please introduce yourselves.
Tia Decos (01:01):
I'm Tia Decoster, I'm the chief grants management officer.
I've been here approximately12 and a half years.
As a chief grants management officer Ioversee all of the grants within NINDS,
issuance of all the grants within NINDS.
We have a staff of approximately, um, whenfully staffed approximately 25 people.
Three teams; each team consistsof six people, including the
(01:22):
team leader seven people.
Before starting here, I worked forthe department of justice as a grant
specialist and then I moved intoa grants policy, policy advisor,
uh, driving a lot of public policyfor the department of justice.
Uh, prior to that I worked withthe department of commerce.
Uh, I've worked with privateindustry, KPMG consulting as
a senior consultant in grants.
(01:43):
Uh, and uh, prior to that I did workfor NIH as a grant specialist in
the Heart Institute for 12 years.
Lauren Ullrich (01:50):
Wow.
Marguerite Matthews (01:50):
So you are truly a grants expert.
Tia Decoster (01:53):
Yes I am, yes.
Lauren U (01:55):
And what's one of your hobbies or passions outside of work?
Tia Decoster (01:57):
I like to swim and I like to cook.
Liz (02:00):
Hi, my name is Liz Conklin.
I'm a supervisory grantsmanagement officer here at NINDS.
So I have a team of six specialists.
And I work with them to makesure the awards are correct.
And we also work with program officers andthe program staff just to make sure we're
doing everything, you know, by the book.
(02:22):
A big part of our job is takingquestions from grantees and even
potential applicants as well.
So we're sometimes we're like oneof the first people that they,
that they encounter when they call.
So, you know, we try to be thereand be helpful and try to redirect
things even if they call us and wemight not be the right place to call,
but we try to redirect as needed.
(02:42):
I've worked here for, it'llbe 11 years in January.
I started out as a grantsmanagement specialist and then in
2015, uh, I became a team leader.
So before I started here, um, I,you know, got out of college and got
married and became a mom and was astay at home mom for a little while.
And then I went back to school and gotmy MBA in uh, finance concentrated in
(03:06):
finance and then saw a job opening forsomething called the Emerging Leaders
Program at Health and Human Services.
And I thought, "well, that soundsinteresting." And within the
year, my family and I had moveddown from Pennsylvania and we
were, you know, started here.
So I was very fortunate to beable to be a part of that program.
And, uh, from there I went, workedat a bunch of different operating
(03:27):
divisions at HHS, but then ended upin the office of grants policy, a
downtown and the office of the secretaryand then, um, came to NINDS to do
grants work here and work with Tia.
And I've, I've been here ever since.
So yeah, so I do, Ihave, uh, two children.
One is, uh, just marriedand one's in college.
(03:48):
So I try to spend as muchtime as I can with them.
Um, I knit and, uh, spend as much timeas I can with my dog, either walking
through the woods or sitting on the couch.
Lauren Ull (04:03):
In our last episode, we left off with
there's been a decision made, the,I think the last-last episode was,
let's say you have to resubmit.
And now this episode we want to focuson, um, an award is slated to be funded.
And really what's happening behind thescenes as the awards are being prepared?
Tia Decoster (04:27):
It depends.
[laughter] Okay.
Um, behind the scenes if we have,uh, addressing programmatic needs, of
questions that they may have, lookingat overlap, budgetary overlap, uh,
reviewing the budgets, making sure thatthey are accurate, uh, reviewing, if
information is needed for clarification.
We work with grantees to get that.
(04:49):
Uh, looking at, reviewing the F&A rates,uh, making sure we have the most updated
F&A rate, um, to award the grants.
Lauren Ullrich (04:57):
Do you want to talk about what F&A is?
Tia Decoster (04:58):
Excuse me.
Indirects, the indirect cost rate.
F&A is facilities andadministrative costs.
Those are the indirect costs.
So you may hear indirects orF&A but it's all the same.
Working to ensure that we are awarding thegrant correctly and making sure that, most
of all, that what we're doing is, we arefederally compliant in what we're doing.
Marguerite Matthew (05:18):
Now, what is the just-in-time information and
how do investigators submit that?
Liz Conklin (05:23):
So the just in time information has is just
like what it sounds like.
So it's information that weneed just prior to award.
So this is information that could beincluded in the grant application, but
even if it is, we're going to need itwithin 120 days before the award is made.
We want to be sure thatthis information is current.
So the elements of just in (05:41):
uh, other support information, that needs
to be current; other items that wemight need are um, IRB approvals for
human subjects work or IACUC approvalsif there's any work involving animals.
Sometimes there may be some otherinformation that can be submitted
by just in time like if there's aresource sharing plan or maybe some more
(06:03):
clarification on the budget or something,you know, something of that nature that
can be submitted with Just in time.
As for how to submit it, the bestway to do it is through the commons.
There should be a just in time link that'sassociated with the commons account.
And so that's always the best placeto upload it because that ensures
that a variety of people herecan see it, the grant specialists
(06:24):
and also the program officials.
If anyone's out of the office,you know, anybody can see that.
So that is always very helpful.
Uh, when uploading to just in time, youdon't necessarily have to have everything
ready before you start to upload.
You can upload in pieces.
So if you just have some elements,you know, you can upload very often
we'll get the IACUC approval later orthe IRB approval later than some of
(06:47):
the other support or other documents.
So that is acceptable.
If for some reason your just in timelink isn't active, you could please just
send that information via an authorizedsigning official to the grant specialist
and also to the program official.
Lauren U (07:02):
I was wondering if you want to talk a little bit about the
role of the authorized signing official?
Because I think trainees might notnecessarily be aware of everything that
that person does or their importance.
Tia Decoster (07:16):
Okay.
The, the AOR or known as theauthorized signing official,
that person is responsible forsubmitting information to the NIH.
They are the people that wecontact if there are issues.
They are the people that keeptheir institution compliant.
Uh, so it's importantthat you work with them.
Some offices may call them your sponsoredprograms office, some other offices
(07:40):
may call them your sponsored researchoffice, uh, or research administration.
It's important that you work withthem so that what what is submitted
is correct and you are dependent,you are, your information reflects
their institutional policies.
Those, again, those are the people thatkeep your institution, uh, compliant.
Lauren Ullrich (08:01):
Right.
And anything officialhas to come through them.
So you might send us something andwe'll come back and say like, no,
have your AOR, send that to us.
Liz Conklin (08:10):
Especially if it comes through email.
Now if it comes through the Just intime, then you should be alright because
you've, you have, um, you know, if youhave access to the Just in time link,
then you should be able to upload itwithout necessarily having to go through
somebody else at your organization.
Um, but if not, uh, you know,that'll just depend on your
organization as well and how theprivileges are set up in the commons
Tia Decos (08:32):
And also the business official or sponsored programs person
or research administration, those peopleare, should be your first line of defense
when it, when it comes to questions,because again, we have to work within the
confines of your institutional policies.
Marguerite Matthe (08:46):
And if you're at the stage of the award, you've
probably already talked with thesepeople cause they're the ones
who submitted your application.
So don't panic.
These aren't different people.
Um, it may be a different specificperson, but they're probably coming from
the same office at your institution.
So if a grant is to be awarded,how long will it take for the
investigator to receive their funding?
The big question, when do we get paid?
Tia Decoster (09:09):
Liz you ready?
Liz Conklin (09:10):
Oh sure.
Tia Decoster (09:12):
It depends.
Liz Conklin (09:12):
It depends! It definitely depends.
Tia Decoster (09:16):
Okay.
It depends upon what is missingfrom the application as far
as needing to be funded.
Um, if everything is, is in, theprogram official has completed
the, the internal process of ourchecklist, as soon as Council is
over, we can get that award out.
(09:36):
Uh, if there are issues, uh, againwith overlap, if there are issues
with, uh, any type of scientificconcerns that can hold up an award.
So it's best once you, once you receive,uh, an email from either the grant
specialist or the program official,it would be great if you could respond
immediately because the faster youare, the faster we can get it out.
Liz, you want to add something?.
Liz Conklin (09:57):
No, that's true.
It also, you know, it willdepend on our pay plan.
So if you, uh, depending on howyour application was scored, uh,
and you know, the pay plan for theInstitute, uh, sometimes things are
funded on an expedited basis, but thatisn't always necessarily the case.
So it can take some time.
There can be some internal, uh, review,you know, of course there's time we
(10:20):
need to allow for internal review.
So it can take some time.
It can be very quickly and itcould also take several months.
So it really just depends.
I would say get in touch with your grantsmanagement specialist and ask them.
Lauren Ullrich (10:32):
Right.
And our fiscal year starts October1st and all the systems shut down.
And so that's another thing thatcan delay the issuance of the award.
So, what is the notice of award and whatkind of information does it contain?
And is there anything in particularthat investigators should be paying
(10:53):
attention when they get that NOA?
Tia Deco (10:55):
The notice of award is basically a letter with your money.
It's attached to your money.
It's important that you read theterms and conditions of the award.
Every award has terms and conditions.
It's important that you read those.
And if you have questions, contact thegrant specialist or the program officer.
The notice of grant award also tellsyou the amount of money that you
(11:15):
have, direct and indirect costs.
It will have, uh, information, uh, who theprogram officer is, the program director.
It will have information as far aswho's the grants management specialist.
All the contact information you needis in the notice of award spelled out.
Liz C (11:30):
I would say, too, there's no, um, there's no official award
until you see that notice of award.
So you're going to get, you know, theNIH will send out many, um, automatic
emails, you know, congratulating onyour score or letting, you know, things
were reviewed, that--this sort of thing.
And that's all wonderful.
But that's not an award.
So until that notice of awardis issued, it's not finished.
(11:51):
You don't have an award until then.
And Tia mentioned the terms of the award.
So those are contained in sectionsthree and four of the award.
Section three contains terms that arestandard to NIH, to all of NIH awards.
And then section four will includeNINDS-specific terms of award.
So especially if you havemilestones or if you have a phased
(12:14):
award or anything like that.
Any, any, um, you know, specialinstructions, please be sure
to look in section four.
And then at the end like Tiasaid, you have your specific
contact information will be there.
There may also be some contact informationin section four that may differ a little
bit from the individuals at the end.
(12:34):
Those may be extra peoplefor you to contact.
The award will also include informationabout, uh, any, uh, future years
that are anticipated for funding.
Now, that's not a guarantee for the futureyears because it's, you know, dependent on
congressional appropriations, et cetera.
But that represents the intention ofthe NIH to fund future years given
(12:55):
that everything goes according to plan.
So please pay attention to those.'Causeif you're expecting three years
and you only get two, it's, orsomething like that, it's much better
to know early than to know later.
So please do read through that.
And also it's good to know whoat your organization receives
(13:15):
a copy of that notice of award.
So the principal investigatorwill receive that award.
Um, and also, uh, of course thebusiness office, uh, sponsored
projects, whatever it's called, willreceive a copy of that because remember
the award goes to the institution.
So it's not just the principalinvestigators award, it's, you
know, its the institutional award.
(13:36):
So, um, but again, you know, workwith your individual business
office and they'll help youwith any, you know, questions or
internal procedures or, or whatnot.
Tia Dec (13:45):
Again, if you, for some reason there's a computer glitch and
you don't get the notice of award,contact the business official and they
can provide you with a copy of it.
Marguerite Matthews (13:53):
So when and under what circumstances should
investigators contact the grantspecialist regarding their award?
Tia Decos (14:00):
questions, questions, questions, make sure that you understand
everything on that notice of award.
If you don't understand how the awardwas made, the dollars, make sure that
you contact them and they can walk youthrough your award line item by line item.
They can tell you what was excluded.
They can explain your F&A or your indirectcost rate, what was included in that rate.
(14:22):
Anytime you have a question or, or anytime that you don't quite understand,
please contact the grant specialist.
That's why we are here.
Liz Conk (14:29):
I would say, you know, they should definitely, always
feel free to contact--that theirfirst line of defense should also
be, right, the business office.
But always feel free to contact us ifit's something having to do anything
having to do with the actual programor the science or you know, their
specific aims or anything of that nature.
I would say it's probably best tocontact the program first because if
(14:52):
you contact your grants managementspecialist with those questions,
we're going to say we don't knowbecause we don't handle the science.
So we would just refer you to program.
But if you have certainly any questionsabout the money or the terms or you know,
really just anything, you know, like Tiasaid, just contact us and we, if we're
not the people to, uh, to help, we willput you in touch with who can help you.
Tia (15:12):
If you ever have questions regarding, well, what's the difference?
grants management specialists,science: program officers,
Lauren Ullrich (15:20):
Right.
And we work together pretty closely,um, to get the grants out the door.
And so if you, if you get confused,you don't know who to contact,
just pick one and they candirect you to the right person.
All right.
Well is there anything else youwant applicants to understand
about the grant issuance process?
Some common misconceptionsthat you've found that you
(15:41):
want the chance to clear up?
Tia Decoster (15:43):
Some of the basic errors that I've noticed with
applications is miscalculation.
Making sure that you are, if theFOA, if it states modular budget
or if it says make sure you, you,you comply with it if its a modular
budget or if it is a categoricalbudget, make sure you understand that.
Make sure that again,miscalculation errors.
(16:04):
We find a lot of those and make surethat you're calculating your, your
dollars correctly and your justification.
Make sure your justificationmatches your dollars.
Liz C (16:14):
Some other things to keep in mind is um, your budget request.
Your project requests might not alwaysequal the amount of that's awarded or
the number of years that's awarded.
Uh, depending on a number of (16:24):
we don't fund inflationary escalation in the
out years, so that could represent a cut.
We have standard cuts that are appliedto our awards, which are outlined in the
funding plan, you can see that on ourwebsite under the NINDS funding plan.
So that'll give you an idea.
And also another thing to rememberis that grant awards, they're
(16:47):
meant to be assistance mechanisms.
They're not always meant tofund projects fully, right?
So it's a matter of assisting,not necessarily fully funding.
Lauren Ullrich (17:02):
All right.
Well thank you both forsharing your wisdom today.
And can I ask each of you forone last piece of parting advice
for our future applicants?
Tia Decoster (17:12):
Patience
Liz Conklin (17:15):
I agree, I agree.
Patience and um, justask lots of questions.
Lauren Ullrich (17:21):
And Marguerite, do you have any advice?
Marguerite Matthews (17:22):
Yeah.
One of the common themes throughoutthe podcast is talk to a program
officer and now you're hearing, talkto your program specialist and talk
to the people at your institution.
These are not people who shouldfeel like strangers to you.
They should be people that youknow enough to feel comfortable
to reach out for any questions.
You should not be confusedabout how this process works.
(17:44):
There is a lot going on from the timeyou think of an idea that you want
to be funded the way to, the timethat you get funded for that idea.
There's a, there's a lot ofpaperwork, a lot of um, things
to sign, things to submit.
Um, but if at any time it getsoverwhelming, reach out to the people
who are specialists at this, we areexperts and we want to help you.
(18:06):
What about you Lauren?
Lauren Ullrich (18:07):
I think just being proactive about making sure
that NIH has all the informationthat it needs to issue the award.
Um, so making sure your IACUC or your IRBinformation is in there and, but it can
also include other components and justcheck with your program director, your
grants specialist, and make sure thatthey have all the information you need,
(18:28):
especially if things seem to be takinga little bit longer than they should.
Be proactive.
That's my advice.
So that's all we have time fortoday on Building Up the Nerve.
Thank you to our guests this weekfor sharing their expertise and
thank you to program director Dr. BobRiddle for our theme song and music.
(18:52):
See you next time when we tacklemonitoring grant performance.
You can find past episodes of thispodcast and many more grant application
resources on the web at ninds.nih.gov.
Marguerite Mat (19:04):
You can email us your questions at NINDSNervePod@nih.gov.
Make sure you've subscribed to thepodcast on Apple podcasts or your favorite
podcast app so you don't miss an episode.
We'll see you next time.
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