NIH Competing Renewal R01 Program

Enhancing Purdue’s NIH Research Portfolio

Office of Research
Purdue University
West Lafayette, IN 47907

Deadlines

Proposals

Standard submission dates are September 22 and February 22 each fall and spring semester.

If due date falls on a weekend, the submission will be accepted through 5:00pm of the following workday.

Funding Notification

December and May following the fall and spring deadlines.

Overview and Purpose

The purpose of the NIH Competing Renewal R01 Program is to increase the submission success rate of NIH R01 renewal applications with the long-term goal of increasing Purdue’s NIH funding portfolio. The backbone of a major research university’s NIH portfolio is R01 awards. A need exists to assist NIH investigators to improve the first submission success rates of R01 competitive renewal applications. A small influx of funds at a pivotal time in the project period will allow freedom to extend studies, try higher risk approaches, or gain access to samples/materials that are beyond the available funds, which are concentrated on the most “doable” experiments. These approaches, if successful, will provide critical data that will increase the probability of success in the renewal process.

Eligibility

Faculty who hold active NIH R01 grants and anticipate submitting a competitive renewal within 12-18 months of one of the above deadlines are eligible to apply.

Maximum Award

Requests are limited to $50,000 and below.

Application and Submission Process

The due dates are based on the NIH competitive renewal funding cycles and are designed to provide funding approximately 12-18 months before the competitive renewal due date. Faculty should work with their pre-award centers to prepare applications, which must be submitted by the pre-award centers to the following InfoReady application page: https://purdue.infoready4.com/#competitionDetail/1925912.

Incomplete applications and/or applications that do not meet these requirements will be returned without review.

Applications must use Arial 11 point font with 0.5 inch margins, single line spacing and must follow the supplied NIH Renewal Application Template. Applications should contain the following components:

Abstract (30-line limit)
Introduction and Specific Aims (one-page limit):
- Scientific problem the proposal will address.
- Scientific gap the project will address.
- Anticipated specific aims (not those of the eventual submitted R01)
Proposal Narrative (three-page limit): Discuss how funding from this program will enhance the competitiveness of your renewal application.
- Identify the original specific aims where progress has been insufficient and discuss how funds might be used to enhance progress, if applicable.
- Identify any anticipated specific aims where funds might be used to enhance preliminary data.
- Distinguish the work planned for the proposed competitive renewal and how it will be different than the original R01.
Cited Literature (limited to two pages)
NIH Biosketch plus current and completed projects for the PI and Co-PI(s)
Budget and budget justification: COEUS format for budget page is acceptable.
Funded R01 application from the last review cycle (technical/science section only)
NIH Review Summary Statement from the funded R01 application
List of publications attributed to the funded R01 grant (provide citation if published, provide journal title if submitted)
Appendix containing all annual Progress Reports since the last competitive review

Incomplete applications and/or applications that do not meet these requirements will be returned without review.

Allowed Costs

It is not the intent of this program to provide salary support for faculty and staff (see FAQs for more information regarding salary support for faculty). Salary support for graduate students is allowed. The major intent of this program is to provide funds for reagents, services, or experimental tools that will enable critical data collection for competitive renewal applications
Equipment purchases are not envisioned as part of this program. However, specialized equipment that would bring significant new capabilities to a project may be considered if carefully justified.

Cost Sharing or Matched Funding

Cost-sharing or matched funding is not allowed.

Requirement

Recipients must submit their competitive renewal NIH R01 application no later than the submission cycle following the 18-month award. Failure to do so may result in the recipient becoming ineligible to receive future funding from the Office of Research.

Review Criteria

Proposals will be evaluated on the impact the funding is likely to have on the success of the investigator’s NIH R01 competitive renewal application. A compelling description of how this funding will increase the likelihood of success at competitive renewal will be weighted in the review process. See item 3 of the Proposal Narrative in the Application and Submission process section above.

Post-Award and Reporting Requirements

The Principal Investigator must submit to the Office of Research (nihcrR01program@purdue.edu):

An email reporting the date the competitive renewal was submitted
A copy of the review summary of the renewal application when it is received.

Additional Information

Questions may be directed to Perry Kirkham (pkirkham@purdue.edu) or Emily Stevenson (steve201@purdue.edu).

Frequently Asked Questions

Why were specific funding mechanisms (e.g., R01) chosen and not others (e.g., R21, R35)?

The intent of NIH incentive funding is to target only a few, limited, NIH funding mechanisms of high priority for Purdue. The funding mechanisms chosen were based on the results of a review of the distribution of awards within Purdue’s current NIH funding portfolio and considerations of requirements for preliminary data.
Will this be a recurring/annual initiative?

Our goal is to continue offering the program semiannually.
What if my R01 is currently in a No Cost Extension (NCE)?

If your R01 is currently in a NCE and you have not submitted a competitive renewal, you are eligible for this program. If you have submitted your competitive renewal and you are not successful, then further discussion may be needed. Contact Perry Kirkham (pkirkham@purdue.edu) for further questions.
Can a portion of the funds be used to pay faculty salary?

In general, support for faculty salaries is not the intent of this program. However, individual cases may arise where this is the most productive use of funds. Contact Perry Kirkham (pkirkham@purdue.edu) for further explanation.