Cleared concepts: An early heads-up for savvy scientists seeking funding



Marie A. BERNARD,

Deputy Director,

Office of the Director (OD). Deputy Director,Office of the Director (OD).

Our most recent National Advisory Council on Aging meeting yielded a bumper crop of new cleared concepts for NIA funding opportunity announcements (FOAs). Since there were no new concepts from the last Council meeting in September, we are pleased to have a feast of interesting opportunities and ideas to share with the research community this time around.

The fine print

As in the past, we’ve published summaries of the newly cleared concepts on our website, along with contact information for the appropriate NIA program staff for each. Please note that these listings do not include award mechanisms or funding allocations, which won’t be set until the FOAs are developed for official publication in the NIH Guide.

We first began posting cleared concepts in fall 2016, and they have since been enthusiastically received by our scientific community. We hope that this is a valuable early notice to our readers and their colleagues, and we look forward to continuing this service in future posts.

The envelope please

Without further ado, here are the most recent crop of approved concepts:

Time to start planning and preparing

Now that the latest concepts are released, it’s an excellent time for researchers in corresponding fields of study 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. This planning should include taking stock of personnel, facilities, and other necessary resources to make sure they will be sufficient to investigate your desired topic. It’s also never a bad idea to begin holding informal discussions with colleagues about strategies to attack a problem or topic and to begin game-planning ideas.

Lastly, a reminder to regularly monitor the NIH Guide (or better yet, subscribe to it) and bookmark the NIA Grants and Funding page. You can also subscribe to receive a monthly e-alert of the latest funding opportunities.

Above all, we share these concepts because we value your input. We hope they are a helpful resource. Please read up on them, then get in touch with program staff with questions or comments, or comment below on this post. We look forward to hearing from you as you explore these invigorating new ideas!