February grant tip: Cleared concepts – a glimpse into future NIH funding directions

A quick perusal of active RFAs on the Grants.gov website indicates that the average interval from RFA announcement to RFA expiry is approximately 4 months, and this includes a number of large applications, like Us and Ps. This forces the prospective applicant to scramble about, coming up with a responsive project, assembling a team, generating preliminary data etc – suffice to say, the final product isn’t always the best it could have been.

Wouldn’t it be great if there was some way to see, ahead of time, what sorts of funding announcements the various Institutes/Centers (I/Cs) were contemplating? Wouldn't it be such an advantage if you could assemble a team, plan the project, and set up some relevant preliminary experiments, maybe have some momentum before the funding announcement is released? Well, there is and you can!

I/C Advisory Councils regularly discuss “concepts” – ideas for future directions and funding announcements that are put forward by I/C staff – Program Officers, for example. Once a concept is approved, or “cleared” by the Council, it becomes the basis for a future funding announcement. Details of these cleared concepts are usually published on the I/C web site after the Council meets. This information isn’t always obvious or easy to find - the best way I have found is to simply google, for example, “cleared concepts NCI”.

So, pick your I/C of choice, search for their cleared concepts directly (or contact the I/C and ask for directions). As the NIA site says, reading the latest concepts is “an excellent time […] to get an early start brainstorming on how you might respond to possible future related Program Announcements, Requests for Applications, or Notices of Special Interest.”

For assistance in all aspects of your grant writing endeavors, please contact NC TraCS Proposal Development.