The NIH has issued two new policy notices that have impact on UTMB Researchers.  Please take a moment to review them to see how they will affect you.

Temporary Extension of Eligibility for the NIH K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Award During the COVID-19 Pandemic
(NOT-OD-20-158)
Under normal circumstances, individuals must have no more than four years of postdoctoral research experience to be eligible to apply for a K99/R00 Pathway to Independence award. The purpose of this notice is to inform the extramural community that due to disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, NIH will be providing up to a two-receipt cycle extension (roughly eight additional months) of eligibility for prospective applicants meeting the requirements for submission of a K99/R00 application from the time period covered by the June/July 2020 due dates through the February/March 2021 due dates.

Extending the Special Exception to the NIH/AHRQ/NIOSH Post-Submission Material Policy During the COVID-19 Pandemic
(NOT-OD-20-163)

This Notice extends the special exception for post-submission material (see NOT-OD-20-123) to applications submitted for the May 2021 Council round.

For applications submitted for the May 2021 council (beginning with applications submitted for the September 25, 2020 due date for Spring 2021 review meetings), the NIH, AHRQ, and NIOSH will accept a one-page update with preliminary data as post-submission materials for applications submitted under all activity codes, ONLY if the Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) used for submission allowed preliminary data in the application. One page of preliminary data will be accepted for single component applications or for each component of a multi-component application.

The deadline for submitting all post-submission materials, including preliminary data, will be 30 days before the study section meeting. Because applications for emergency competitive revisions and urgent competitive revisions undergo expedited review, post-submission materials will not be accepted for those applications.

All other materials listed in NOT-OD-19-083 as acceptable post-submission materials will continue to be accepted if submitted 30 days before the study section meeting.