Research NewsletterIssue: ORN-2020-19

NSF Electronic Research Administration Forum Presentation
NSF New Biographical Sketch and Current and Pending Support Forms

NSF hosted the most recent ERA Forum Webinar on May 14, 2020 on NSF-approved Formats for the Biographical Sketch and Current and Pending Support Sections of NSF Proposals; the new Award Notice; and Research.gov Demo of Separately Submitted Collaborative Proposals from Multiple Organizations. Please use the following links to access the agenda and presentation material.

• Agenda
• Presentation

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NJIT Pandemic Recovery Plan
Research Continuity Plan Update: Phased Recovery Operations

NJIT faculty, staff, and students at research facilities must follow the specific social distancing and safety protocols including the use of personnel protective equipment (PPE) as required by the institutional, state and federal guidelines in the respective phase of the research continuity plan. State and national information regarding current conditions can be found at:

• New Jersey’s COVID-19 information hub
• White House Plan for Opening up America Again

The following guidelines should be adapted with each respective phase for the recovery of research operations. We are currently in Phase 0. Based on the assessment of federal, state and local regulations, NJIT will announce the periods of subsequent phases for gradual recovery.

Recovery Phase 0: All non-essential research operations halted. Essential research operations follow strictest social distancing and safety protocols with only essential staff.

• Safety within laboratories must be rigorously maintained with adequate access to PPE and other safety related supplies. Labs will not be authorized for access unless adequate safety supplies are identified as being available. PIs must identify by name the people that will be considered essential personnel (including replacements/backups). During this time all essential research operations (ERO) must be approved by chair, dean, and the senior vice provost for research through the emergency research continuity plan process currently in place.
• Research involving human subjects that requires face-to-face interaction with human subjects is halted.
• Research that can be conducted remotely should be continued to the extent possible.

Recovery Phase 1: Minimal research operations approved through chairs, deans and senior vice provost for research to pursue time-sensitive priority research such as projects related to COVID-19 response; approved Essential Research Operation (ERO) plans in Phase-0; long-term research experiments with cell-lines, animals, and human subjects that were already underway before Phase-0; grants and contracts expiring within six months; submission of proposals in response to special solicitations (Requests for Proposals); and projects involving students with graduation requirements.

• Requests for projects considered time-sensitive should be directed to departmental chairs. The dean and senior vice provost for research will provide guidance as needed.
• All research operations at NJIT facilities in this phase must follow the highest possible level of social distancing implemented.
• Research that can be conducted remotely should be continued to the extent possible.

Recovery Phase 2: Most research operations, whether sponsored through external grants and contracts or internally funded, may be restarted through the approval of department chairs using significant social distancing and safety protocols with restrictions on the number of researchers and staff present in laboratories at one time.

• The Phase 2 restart may require developing flexible work schedules, plan for supply chain issues, and prepare core and fabrication facilities in advance of need. To ensure social distancing requirements and to reduce density of research personnel in university research spaces, the lab directors should consider permitting flexible lab access schedules, work shifts or staggered workdays, and extended facilities support to enable more round-the-clock operation of research facilities. Under no circumstances should safety be sacrificed due to lack of adequate supplies, type, and quality of PPE.
• Research that can be conducted completely remotely or in addition to the on-campus operations should continue to be conducted in that manner.

Recovery Phase 3: Most research operations on funded and unfunded projects along with research required for future proposal submissions are restored with minimal social distancing and personnel safety
protocols.

• Group meetings and research presentations with faculty, staff and students should be restricted and kept to a minimal size protecting any vulnerable participants. If possible, these meetings should continue to be held online until we reach a state of full recovery.
• Other laboratory safety protocols must be strictly followed.
• Research that can be conducted completely remotely or in addition to the on-campus operations should continue to be conducted in that manner.

Full Recovery: All research operations are restored fully with no specific social distancing requirements. However, all laboratory and personnel safety protocols must be strictly followed.

This document refers to research conducted on the NJIT campus in Newark, NJ, including the physical campus and activities that have direct contact with individuals (human subjects) anywhere. Satellite locations, such as the Big Bear Solar Observatory in California, must follow a similar phased approach informed by local conditions.
 

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Guidance on Financial Management of Grants and Contracts

Funding agencies such as NSF and NIH are following the OMB guidance with respect to grant management during this disruption to university business and research. The OMB Memorandum M-20-17 with the important information on the financial management of the research grants and contracts is posted on the research website. Principal investigators should check with the websites of their specific funding agencies for more information.

COVID-19 Information for NSF applicants and award recipients FAQ is regularly updated on the website. COVID-19 Information for NIH applicants and recipients of NIH funding is regularly updated on the website.

A multiple Funding Agencies Research Impact Guidance Matrix by the Council of Government Relationships is posted on the website COGR's Federal Agency Guidance Matrix (XLS) (Updated).

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Office of Research Administration Operations

All Office of Research processes continue during this period of remote operation. Our hours of usual operation remain 8:30-4:30 Monday through Friday. All staff are available by email and most have their office phone numbers forwarded to them through Cisco Jabber. You should receive a reply to an inquiry within 24 hours. You may always reach out to your college’s research administration support person for assistance.

Principal investigators who have sub-award activity with other institutions or contracts with industry partners are asked to discuss the current situation with their counterparts to determine if the COVID-19 disruption will require a modification to our existing agreements. If it is determined that a modification is required, please contact Justin Samolewicz at Justin.m.samolewicz@njit.edu to discuss next steps.

Budget transfers or other actions needed to comply with this guidance should follow the standard procedures. Questions or concerns regarding post-award financial activity on grants may be directed to your grant accountant or Mariel Diaz at mariel.diaz@njit.edu.

Questions related to OMB guidance, research compliance or general concerns about the administration and financial management of grants and contracts may be directed to Eric Hetherington, Executive Director, Sponsored Research Programs Administration at erich@njit.edu.

Please also use the following group email addresses for your specific questions in the respective areas:

• Pre-Award inquiries: srard@njit.edu
• Post-Award financial management: gca@njit.edu
• Institutional Review Board: irb@njit.edu
• Institutional Biosafety Committee: ibc@njit.edu

All other research-related inquiries during the emergency should be submitted to https://research.njit.edu/inquiry.

Keywords and Areas Included in the Grant Opportunity Alert Section Below

NSF: Division of Chemistry: Disciplinary Research Programs (CHE-DRP); Plant Biotic Interactions; Centers for Chemical Innovation (CCI); Industry-University Cooperative Research Centers Program (IUCRC); Inclusion across the Nation of Communities of Learners of Underrepresented Discoverers in Engineering and Science (NSF INCLUDES); Antarctic Research; Coastlines and People (CoPe); NSF Program on Fairness in Artificial Intelligence in Collaboration with Amazon (FAI)

NIH: Research Program Award (R35); NIH Small Research Grant Program (R03); NIH Exploratory/Developmental Research Grant Program (R21); NIH Research Project Grant (R01); Notice of Special Interest (NOSI): Data Driven Research on Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) (R21); Emergency Awards: Rapid Investigation of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) (R21)

Department of Defense/US Army/DARPA/ONR: DoD Hearing Restoration Focused Research Award; DoN Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics (STEM), Education and Workforce Program; DoD, Breast Cancer, Innovator Award; DoD Multiple Sclerosis, Investigator-Initiated Research Award; Biological Technologies; UNITED STATES MILITARY ACADEMY Broad Agency Announcement

Department of Transportation: UTC PROGRAM TIER 1 COMPETITION 2020

Department of Agriculture: Distance Learning and Telemedicine Grants; Biotechnology Risk Assessment Grants Program; REAP-Renewable Energy Systems and Energy Efficiency Improvements

Department of Labor: Youth Apprenticeship Readiness Grant Program

EPA: Assessment Tools for Biotechnology Products

Department of Energy: Next-Generation Technologies and Field Validation; Notice of Intent to Issue Funding Opportunity Announcement No. DE-FOA-0002252; Artificial Intelligence and Decision Support for Complex Systems

NASA: ROSES 2020: Astrophysics Pioneers; The New (Early Career) Investigator Program in Earth Science; Early Stage Innovations (ESI); National Space Grant College and Fellowship Program: Program-Level Independent Evaluation Opportunity; Advanced Component Technology; Living With a Star Science; ROSES 2020: Space Weather Science Application Operations-to-Research; Heliophysics Supporting Research; HELIOPHYSICS - Early Career Investigator Program; Astrophysics Research and Analysis

National Endowment of Humanities: Research and Development; Advanced Topics in the Digital Humanities; Fellowships

Special COVID-19 Research and SBIR/STTR Funding Programs: NIBIB RADx and DoD SBIR/STTR Programs

Private Foundations: Brain Health Foundation: 2021 Scientific Innovations Award; Facebook: Facebook Research

(National and Federal News Related to Research Funding and Grant Opportunities)

$4.745 B to NIH, $125 Million to NSF for COVID-19 Related Research
The Democrats' Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions (HEROES) Act passed 208-199. A House fact sheet on the HEROES Act says it would give the National Institutes of Health $4.745 billion "to expand COVID-19-related research on the NIH campus and at academic institutions across the country and to support the shutdown and startup costs of biomedical research laboratories nationwide." The bill directs $3 billion to offset "costs related to reductions in lab productivity resulting from the coronavirus pandemic or public health measures related to the coronavirus pandemic," and $1 billion "to support additional scientific research or the programs and platforms that support research:" The National Science Foundation's sum would be "to prevent, prepare for, and respond to coronavirus, including to fund research grants, of which $1,000,000 shall be for a study on the spread of COVID–19 related disinformation:" Lewis-Burke's overall assessment: "While the bill addresses some of the issues raised by the higher education and research community, it still falls short of relief requests submitted to congressional leadership."

National Institutes of Health – $4.745 billion to expand COVID-19-related research on the NIH campus and at academic institutions across the country and to support the shutdown and startup costs of biomedical research laboratories nationwide. Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response – $4.575 billion to respond to coronavirus, including:

• $3.5billion for Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) for therapeutics and vaccines;
• $500 million for BARDA to support U.S.-based next generation manufacturing facilities;
• $500 million for BARDA to promote innovation in antibacterial research and development; and
• $75 million for the Office of Inspector General

$100 B for Education
Of the HEROES Act amount, "$90 billion is allocated for grants to governors to distribute among K-12 schools and public colleges and universities," Lewis-Burke reports. "The remaining $10 billion is for higher education stabilization. A major change to the final version of the bill . . . compared to the original proposal that was released earlier this week is related to student loan forgiveness. In the original version, up to $10,000 in student loan forgiveness was allowed for each borrower; however, the final version makes this only available to 'economically distressed borrowers.'”

NIH Initiates New COVID-19 Research Funding Program
So predicts Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health, of the shark-tank-style competition underway to develop rapid, inexpensive tests for COVID-19. Recent stimulus legislation provided $1.5 billion for the effort. Of that amount, $500 million went to the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering "to accelerate research, development, and implementation of point of care and other rapid testing related to coronavirus" and $1 billion to Collins's office "to develop, validate, improve, and implement testing and associated technologies; to accelerate research, development, and implementation of point of care and other rapid testing; and for partnerships with governmental and non-governmental entities." More information about NIBIB’s RADx funding program is provided in the Newsletter below and also posted on https://www.poctrn.org/radx.

How can I update my eRA Commons ID for all future NIH proposals?