Tracking ARRA R

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Key questions related to VPR tracking of RD
funded under ARRA

• How will the ARRA RD money be allocated among
  federal agencies and programmatically within each
  agency?
• How will each agency award the money, e.g.,
  solicitations, supplements, non-funded but well
  reviewed proposals in-house, etc.?
• Are there important competitive factors PIs need
  to be aware of in applying for research funding
  under the ARRA program, e.g., special review
  criteria?

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VPR ARRA RD Funding Tracking

• American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
• 21.5 billion in federal research and development
  (RD) funding 18.0 billion for RD and 3.5
  billion for facilities and large research
  equipment
• RD funding at agencies benefiting most by ARRA
• NIH 10.4 B
• NSF 3.0 B
• DOE Energy Programs 2.5 B
• DOE Office of Science 1.6 B
• NASA 1 B
• Smaller, non-RD funding to DOD, USDA, NOAA,
  USGS, etc.

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VPR ARRA RD Tracking Activities

• VPR ARRA-Web (http//rgs.tamu.edu/arra )
  targeting federal agencies receiving ARRA RD
  funding
• The site is updated daily with new information
  related to the programmatic areas receiving ARRA
  RD funding, new solicitations under ARRA,
  process information on submitting ARRA proposals,
  and related resources for developing more
  competitive ARRA RD proposals
• VPR/OPD ARRA RSS Feed enables users to subscribe
  to automatic updates informing them that new ARRA
  content has been posted to the VPR ARRA web
  (http//opd.tamu.edu/funding-opportunities/categor
  ies/arra-items/arra-items/RSS)

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VPR ARRA RD Tracking Activities

• ARRA RD funding opportunities emails to faculty,
  department heads, research deans, CPI, center
  directors, provost office, etc. will be sent by
  the Office of Proposal Development several times
  daily, along with related ARRA resources,
  solicitations, review processes, special
  requirements, etc. (http//opd.tamu.edu/ )
• The ARRA RD information is mirrored at both VPR
  ARRA and OPD web sites
• Compilations of ARRA information is posted in the
  VPR/OPD Monthly Research Newsletter containing
  new funding information, agency specific
  information, and research grant writing
  information specific to ARRA competitive factors
  
• The ARRA research posting process ensures daily
  updates of all ARRA information on the VPR ARRA
  Tracking Web and mirrored to the Funding
  Opportunities portion of the OPD site.

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Federal Agency ARRA RD Tracking

• Each agency receiving ARRA funds has established
  an agency specific tracking web at
  http//www.recovery.gov/
• Each agency has established a weekly tracking
  summary http//www.recovery.gov/?qcontent/agency-
  weekly-reports
• Starting on Tuesday March 3rd, and each Tuesday
  thereafter through May 12th, agencies receiving
  Recovery Act funds will be submitting weekly
  cumulative reports detailing their latest
  recovery activities
• The ARRA funding landscape is still a work in
  progress

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NSF Implementing the American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act of 2009

• American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (Recovery
  Act) FAQs
• http//www.nsf.gov/pubs/2009/nsf09038/nsf09038.jsp
  
• Posted March 27, 2009
• Fact Sheet American Recovery Reinvestment Act
• http//www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id1144
  83orgNSFfromnews
• Posted March 26, 2009
• Important Notice 131, American Recovery and
  Reinvestment Act
• http//www.nsf.gov/pubs/issuances/in131.jsp
• Posted March 18, 2009

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NSF ARRA Allocations

• 3.0 billion under ARRA
• 2.0 billion distributed by regular peer merit
  review process
• 300 million to Major Research Instrumentation
  program
• 200 million to Academic Research Infrastructure
  program
• 100 million to Education and Human Resources
• 60 million to Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship
  Program
• 25 million to Math and Science Partnership
  program, and
• 15 million to a new Professional Masters Science
  Program
• 400 million to the Major Research Equipment and
  Facilities Construction

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Key Point Important Notice 131

• NSF currently has many highly rated proposals
  that it has not been able to fund. For this
  reason, NSF is planning to use the majority of
  the 2 billion available in Research and Related
  Activities for proposals that are already in
  house and will be reviewed and/or awarded prior
  to September 30, 2009.

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ScienceInsider Stimulu Funds to Follow Soon at
NSF, March 19

• NSF is only a few weeks away from awarding the
  first portion of its 3 billion in stimulus
  funding
• Cora Marrett, acting deputy NSF director, told
  the panel that "we will begin to move the money
  out the door in 2 to 3 weeks." She said the
  agency already has close to 2 billion in
  highly-rated proposals submitted since last fall
  that it can't fund out of its regular research
  budget, a number that will grow once NSF finishes
  the next round of reviews this spring.
• NSF was given 2 billion from the 787 billion
  package to fund new grants within its six
  research directorates, along with 900 million
  for three infrastructure programs and 100
  million for education activities. The research
  funds, she added, "will be the first out of the
  gate."

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NSF Funding Prioritization (March 18)

• NSF will ensure that Recovery Act funds are
  awarded in a timely manner while maintaining its
  commitment to its established merit review
  processes.
• In keeping with this, NSFs overall framework for
  Recovery Act investments emphasizes the
  following
• All grants issued with Recovery Act funds will be
  standard grants with durations of up to 5 years.
  This approach will allow NSF to structure a
  sustainable portfolio.
• Funding of new Principal Investigators and
  high-risk, high-return research will be top
  priorities.

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NSF Conference, March 30-31Notes by Lucy Deckard

• The ARRA Major Research Instrumentation
  solicitation (they are calling it MRI -R squared)
  is in "clearance" at NSF and should be out in
  April, with a June or July due date.
• The solicitation will be substantially the same,
  with a few additional requirements (I speculate
  additional criteria will be included related to
  ARRA objectives, such as jobs created, etc.).
• There will be some minor changes in cost sharing
  and in the amounts that can be requested.
  However, folks would be safe it they start
  preparing a proposal based on the old MRI
  structure. (http//www.nsf.gov/publications/pub_su
  mm.jsp?orgNSFods_keynsf09502 )

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NSF Conference, March 30-31Notes by Lucy Deckard

• The Academic Research infrastructure (ARI)
  program will be a revision of the old ARI program
  that was last active in 1996. If you want to
  know what the program will be like, look at the
  old solicitation. (http//www.nsf.gov/pubs/stis199
  5/nsf968/nsf968.txt ).
• The key is that it will focus on modernizing
  infrastructure, not on new infrastructure. It
  typically will not support renovation of
  buildings, though. One way to modernize
  infrastructure is the use of cyber
  infrastructure.
• An example might be if you have a lab with
  20-year-old equipment and need to modernize the
  lab. Keep in mind, though, that the focus is on
  research, although educational applications are a
  plus.
• This will be a limited submit competition, and
  the time frame will be the same as MRI
  (solicitation out in April, and proposals due in
  June or July).

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NSF Conference, March 30-31Notes by Lucy Deckard

• Contacting Program Officers about ARRA - It was
  emphasized many times that NSF would prefer that
  PIs not contact Program Officers to ask questions
  about ARRA (such as whether the PIs pending or
  recently-declined proposals might still be
  funded, or about how the ARRA funds will affect
  particular programs). POs are overwhelmed and
  are not replying to such requests. They are in
  the process of going back through well-reviewed,
  unfunded proposals to decide which to fund, and
  they are not soliciting PI input at this point
  (the message Dont call us, well call you). In
  fact, they said if a PI needs to contact a PO
  about a subject unrelated to ARRA, they should
  put in the subject line, This is not about ARRA
  in order to get the PO to read the e-mail.

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NSF Conference, March 30-31Notes by Lucy Deckard

• Funding Rates - In answer to a question about
  how ARRA funds might affect funding rates for
  proposals that have not yet been submitted (e.g.,
  the CAREERs due in July), the program officer
  replied that although the ARRA funds will be
  committed relatively quickly on proposals that
  are already in-house and on the new solicitations
  mentioned, it is anticipated that funding rates
  for many programs will rise next year since other
  funds that might have been committed this year
  may be freed up and since there may be fewer
  resubmits. This is a guess, though, since they
  dont yet know what their budgets will be.

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NSF Conference, March 30-31Notes by Lucy Deckard

• The Chemistry Division in the MPS Directorate is
  fine-tuning its topic areas for the core
  programs. The new topic areas will be posted on
  their website this summer.
• In the Division of Materials Research, they plan
  to mainstream nano research (meaning it will be
  absorbed into their core programs), so no new
  general nanoscale center competitions are
  expected, although there may be some targeted
  nano-related solicitations.
• In the CISE talk, the program officer pointed out
  that the Computer Research Infrastructure program
  will fund equipment purchases for CISE-related
  research, and the competition is typically low
  for these grants. He also pointed out the FODAVA
  program (Foundations of Data and Visual
  Analytics), which just started last year and
  focuses on developing methods for taking high
  dimensional data and reducing it so that it can
  be visualized on a computer screen. This is a
  partnership with DHS, and the idea is to apply
  this research to intelligence analysis.

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NSF expeditious award funds

• Math and Science Partnership program (funded at
  25 million)
• Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program (funded
  at 60 million)
• Major Research Equipment and Facilities
  Construction Account (funded at 400 million)
• Academic Research Infrastructure (ARI) program
  (funded at 200 million) and the
• Science Masters program, (funded at 15 million).
  Solicitations for these latter two programs will
  be posted this spring.

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NSF ARRA Updates March 27

• NSF describes how it intends to implement the
  American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (March 27)
• http//www.nsf.gov80/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id1
  14483govDelUSNSF_51
• NSF American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
  (Recovery Act) Frequently Asked Questions
• http//www.nsf.gov/pubs/2009/nsf09038/nsf09038.jsp
  ?govDelUSNSF_25

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NSF American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
(Recovery Act) Frequently Asked Questions

• What restrictions will be placed on awards made
  with Recovery Act funds? Will there be any
  special award terms and conditions or additional
  reporting requirements?
• Are there special priorities for awards made via
  the Recovery Act?
• Will there be any eligibility restrictions on who
  may be supported using Recovery Act funds?
• Does NSF expect to fund any new programs in
  response to the Recovery Act?
• Will awardees have to separately account for
  Recovery Act funds?
• Does NSF expect an increase in proposal
  submissions from the research and education
  community and in requests to the community to
  review proposals in response to the Recovery Act?

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NSF American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
(Recovery Act) Frequently Asked Questions

• What method should awardees use to demonstrate
  that they have created or retained jobs as a
  result of Recovery Act funding received from NSF?
  
• What advice can NSF provide to proposers that did
  not submit earlier this fiscal year and who
  therefore do not have a proposal already in-house
  at NSF that may be considered for Recovery Act
  funding?
• Will NSF approve requests to increase the budgets
  on proposals that are currently in-house or were
  declined and are now being considered for
  Recovery Act funding?
• Are there any special considerations for
  proposals with an international component?

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NSF American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
(Recovery Act) Frequently Asked Questions

• Are there limits or guidelines on the timeframe
  for expending funds once an award is made?
• Will there be any restrictions on no-cost
  extensions for awards made with Recovery Act
  funds?
• Will any Recovery Act awards be made through use
  of continuing grants?
• How will awardees receive Recovery Act funds
  awarded to their organization?
• Will an organization have to establish a separate
  bank account for the Recovery Act funds?
• How will Recovery Act funding affect the
  quarterly Federal Financial Report (FFR) process?
  

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National Institutes of Health

• 10.4 billion under ARRA
• 8.2 billion in support of scientific research
  priorities
• 7.4 billion is transferred to the Institutes and
  Centers and Common Fund (CF), based on a
  percentage-based formula
• 800 million to the Office of the Director (OD)
  (not including CF)
• 1 billion to support Extramural Construction,
  Repairs, and Alterations
• Allocated to the National Center for Research
  Resources (NCRR) in support of all NIH funded
  research institutions
• 300 million Shared Instrumentation and other
  capital equipment
• Allocated to NCRR to support all NIH activities
• 500 million for NIH buildings and facilities
• To fund high priority repair, construction and
  improvement projects on NIH campuses that also
  align with the overall purpose of the Act
• 400 million for Comparative Effectiveness
  Research (CER)

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NIH Recovery Links

• NIH Recovery
• http//nih.gov/recovery/
• Recovery Programs
• http//www.hhs.gov/recovery/programs/index.html
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Reposting April 6, 2009 Major revisions to most
  or all FAQs and new FAQs added)
• http//grants.nih.gov/recovery/faqs_recovery.html

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NIH ARRA Scientific Focus

• NIH will choose among recently peer reviewed,
  highly meritorious R01 and similar mechanisms
  capable of making significant advances with a
  two-year grant. R01 are projects proposed
  directly from scientists across the country.
• NIH will also fund new R01 applications that have
  a reasonable expectation of making progress in a
  two-year grant.
• NIH will accelerate the tempo of ongoing science
  through targeted supplements to current grants.
• NIH will support awards to jump start the new
  NIH Challenge Grant program for health and
  science problems where progress can be expected
  in 2 years.

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New NIH ARRA Solicitations

• Supporting New Faculty Recruitment Enhance
  Research (P30) (3-30)
• Administrative Supplements (3-18)
• Competitive Revision Applications (3-18)
• Administrative Supplements Providing Summer
  Research Experiences for Students and Science
  Educators (3-18)
• NIAID Supplements Through the Economic Recovery
  Act (3-16)
• Administrative Supplements Grants/Cooperative
  Agreements (3-16)
• Core Facility Renovation, Repair, and Improvement
  (G20) (3-5)
• Extramural Research Facilities Improvement
  Program (C06) (3- 5)
• High-End Instrumentation Grant Program (S10)
  (3-5)
• NIH Challenge Grants in Health and Science
  Research (RC1) (3-4)

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Biomedical Research Core Centers (P30)

• Recovery Act Limited Competition Supporting New
  Faculty Recruitment to Enhance Research Resources
  through Biomedical Research Core Centers (P30)
• http//grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-O
  D-09-005.html
• Letters of Intent Receipt Date April 29, 2009
• Application Receipt Date May 29, 2009
• These awards are designed to enhance innovative
  programs of excellence by providing scientific
  and programmatic support for promising research
  faculty and their areas of research. Specifically
  for the purposes of this announcement, Core
  Center Grants are institutional awards that
  provide funding to hire, provide appropriate
  start-up packages, and develop pilot research
  projects for newly independent investigators,
  with the goal of augmenting and expanding the
  institutions community of multidisciplinary
  researchers focusing on areas of biomedical
  research relevant to NIH.

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NIH Planning Meeting

• NIH to Hold ARRA Planning Meeting April 16 (March
  27)
• http//edocket.access.gpo.gov/2009/pdf/E9-6472.pdf
  
• An agenda will be posted at http//acd.od.nih.gov/
  

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USDA ARRA Funding

• USDA Recovery
• http//www.usda.gov/wps/portal/?navidUSDA_ARRA
• USDA was appropriated 28 billion (3.5 percent)
  of the package. The Act--
• Provides 19.7 billion to increase the monthly
  amount of nutrition assistance to 31.8 million
  people.
• Enables expanded opportunities for broadband
  loans and grants to rural communities.
• Expands funding opportunities to develop water
  and waste facilities.
• Provides funding to protect and conserve the
  nation's forests and farm land.

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Department of Energy, Energy Programs

• 2.5 billion for energy efficiency and renewable
  research, development, demonstration, and
  deployment projects, including
• 800 million is set aside for biomass and
• 400 million for geothermal energy
• 1.0 billion specifically for RD programs within
  a 3.4 billion total Fossil Energy appropriation,
  which will fund RD related to cleaner coal, oil,
  and gas technologies, including research on
  carbon sequestration.

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ScienceInsider Stimulu Funds to Follow Soon at
Energy, NSF, March 19

• Matthew Rogers, senior advisor to Energy
  Secretary Steven Chu, told ScienceInsider that
  the science office's funds will be spent on
  pending requests from national laboratories and
  universities as well as on ideas from a new round
  of competitive grants aimed at fostering
  collaborative research.
• He said that DOE is planning to request a waiver
  to extend the timeline for spending 400 million
  to create an Advanced Research Projects Agency
  for Energy.
• Geographic distribution is an important
  consideration for spending the stimulus money at
  some agencies (not NSF).

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DOE has 30.7 billion targeted at 10 areas

• 5 billion for energy efficient homes and
  businesses
• 4.5 billion for greening federal buildings
• 2.5 billion for renewable energy projects
• 4.5 billion for Smart Grid technology and
  transmission infrastructure
• 3.4 billion for clean fossil energy technology
• 800 million for next generation biofuels
• 1.6 billion for science and basic research in
  the energy technologies of the future
• 2 billion for battery research and advanced
  vehicle technologies
• 400 million Advanced Research Project
  Agency-Energy (ARPA-E)
• 6 billion for cleanup of nuclear legacy

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Department of Energy Office of Science

• 1.6 billion for a mix of extramural basic
  research, DOE laboratory research, facilities
  upgrades and construction, and advanced
  scientific computing.
• The stimulus appropriation combined with the
  regular appropriation could leave DOE OS with a
  FY 2009 budget of 6.0 billion or higher, well
  above the 5.3 billion authorized for FY 2009 in
  the America COMPETES Act of 2007
• In addition to the Science funding, the stimulus
  bill also provides 400 million to start up the
  ARPA-E (Advanced Research Projects Agency -
  Energy), authorized in the America COMPETES Act
  of 2007 but never appropriated until now.

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DOE Allocates 1.2 Billion in Stimulus Funding to
Labs and Universities (ScienceInsider, March 23)

• Secretary of Energy Steven Chu laid out a plan
  for how to spend 1.2 billion of the 1.6 billion
  that the 787 billion provides DOE's Office of
  Science. Most of that money will pay for upgraded
  buildings and equipment at the national
  laboratories.
• The biggest single chunk of cash150
  millionwill go to Brookhaven National Laboratory
  to speed up construction of its National
  Synchrotron Light Source II. Other big winners
  include the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
  (124 million), Lawrence Berkeley National
  Laboratory (116 million), Oak Ridge National
  Laboratory (71 million), and SLAC National
  Accelerator Laboratory (68 million.) Some 65
  million will go to accelerate a big upgrade of
  the Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility
  (CEBAF) at the Thomas Jefferson National
  Accelerator Facility, and 69 million will pay
  for a super-high-speed data network that will
  link the nation's research centers. Another 50
  million will go to the NOvA neutrino experiment
  to be managed by Fermi National Accelerator
  Laboratory in cooperation with the University of
  Minnesota.
• Chu announced that 277 million will be available
  for Energy Frontier Research Centers, a new
  competitive program for researchers based at
  universities and national laboratories. And 90
  million will be allocated to supplement existing
  DOE-funded research grants.

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Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy

• 1.93 billion in new funding for EERE
• 169 million for hydrogen technology, including
  3 million for fuel processors and 5 million for
  manufacturing activities
• 217 million for biomass energy
• 175 million for solar energy, including 30
  million for concentrating solar power
• 55 million for wind energy
• 44 million for geothermal energy
• 40 million for "water power," which includes
  both conventional hydropower and tidal and marine
  technologies (posted March 18)

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National Institute of Standards and Technology

• 610 million to NIST under ARRA
• 220 million to Scientific and Technical Research
  and Services for NIST laboratory research,
  competitive grants, additional research
  fellowships, and advanced research and
  measurement equipment
• 360 million to Construction of Research
  Facilities appropriation
• 180 million for NIST infrastructure
• 180 million is a competitive construction grant
  program for funding science research facilities
  outside of NIST.
• 20 million for standards-related research that
  supports development of electronic medical
  records to reduce healthcare costs and improve
  the quality of care.
• 10 million supports collaborative efforts with
  industry and federal agencies to develop a
  comprehensive framework for a nationwide, fully
  interoperable smart grid for the U.S. electric
  power system.

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National Aeronautics and Space Administration

• 1.0 billion ARRA for NASA
• 400 million for the Science portfolio of earth
  science, planetary science, heliophysics, and
  astrophysics, to accelerate the development and
  launch of key earth science climate research
  missions highlighted in a 2007 National Academies
  Decadal Study.
• 150 million in stimulus funding for aeronautics
  research, and funding (50 million) to reimburse
  NASA for construction and repair costs associated
  with 2008 natural disasters.
• 400 million in development funding to
  Constellation Systems to narrow the looming gap
  in U.S. human space flight capabilities.
• By the end of April, NASA will be working with
  Congress and the Office of Management and Budget
  to finalize its Recovery plans.