NIA Final Funding Line Policy for FY 2021
NIA and NIH received an appropriation through H.R.133 - The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 that was signed into law on December 27, 2020.
NIA is paying future FY 2020 non-competing awards at their full committed level as shown in the Notice of Award and restoring cuts made in non-competing awards paid earlier in this fiscal year.
General Allocation
NIA is reducing FY 2021 competing awards by 18% on average. This average cut policy applies to all research project awards except R03s (small grants), R21s (exploratory/developmental awards) and R15s (Academic Research Enhancement Awards and the NIH Research Enhancement Awards program). These awards (R03, R21, R15) generally receive the study-section recommended amount of support. The 18% cut remains an average. Individual awards may be reduced by more or less than that percentage.
Alzheimer’s Allocation
NIA is paying awards at their full study section recommended amounts, unless concerns about overlap or similar issues reduce the amount awarded.
| General pay line, <500k | General pay line, ≥ $500k | ADRD pay line | |
|---|---|---|---|
| All (except below) | 10% | 7% | 28% |
| New investigator R01s | 13% | 10% | 31% |
| Early Stage Investigator R01s | 15% | 12% | 33% |
Though NIA expects to pay most applications within these lines, when scientific concerns are identified in peer review that weaken the case for making an award, we may alternatively provide short term support (R56) or invite a re-submission of the application. Similarly, we may pay a few applications beyond the pay lines when they focus on high priorities of the Institute.
Applications Responding to Alzheimer’s-related program announcements
FOAs paid based on percentile: PAR-18-497, PAR-18-516, PAR-18-519, PAR-18-760, PAR-18-877, PAR-19-070, PAR-19-071, PAR-19-298
FOAs paid based on score: PAR-18-513, PAR-18-878, PAR-20-156
We are paying applications responding to the above PARs by impact rating rank order (priority, or "overall impact" score) rather than by percentile rank. We are currently paying these applications to an impact rating of 40. Though these pay lines are generally followed, NIA may pay a few applications beyond these lines or choose to provide short-term support or require a resubmission from a few applications within these lines, following both peer review comments and published funding priority guidelines.
| General pay line | ADRD pay line | |
|---|---|---|
| Program projects | 15 | 40 |
| Other NIA-reviewed research | 15 | 40 |
| Parent career development awards | 21 | 35 |
| Parent fellowship awards | 30 | 40 |
Though NIA expects to pay most applications within these lines, when scientific concerns are identified in peer review that weaken the case for making an award, we may invite a re-submission of the application. Similarly, we may pay a few applications beyond the pay lines when they focus on high priorities of the Institute.
All other categories of awards (Conference, Institutional Training, Small Business) are allocation-based rather than based on a funding line.