What’s New at NIH in 2018
It was hard to prioritize changes at NIH or other federal science funders given the, shall we say, uncertainty at federal levels of government. But here are a couple of highlights that may have escaped your notice in the flurry of news and non-news coming from D.C. last year.
For 2018, the NIH has several new requirements you should be aware of. Many of the changes are related to clinical trials and human subjects. You can read about those here: https://grants.nih.gov/policy/clinical-trials/new-human-subject-clinical-trial-info-form.htm
The new FORMS E is required for all grants submitted after January 2018. This document summarizes what has changed in FORMS E. Among other things, Timelines, Recruitment, and Study Team descriptions are now to be offloaded outside of the main grant text. Read the whole thing carefully.
https://grants.nih.gov/grants/funding/high-level_summary_of_form_changes-FORMS-E.pdf
NIH Podcast on the Apple Store
There have also been major changes to what material can go in appendices. And, yes, you can–while you are stuck in America’s urban traffic nightmare–listen to NIH’s podcast, All About Grants. This one, from late 2017, is about appendices and how messing them up can kill your application. There are 3 on this topic from last year so apparently NIH is getting serious about appendix compliance!
https://grants.nih.gov/podcasts/All_About_Grants/episodes/Changes%20to%20the%20NIH%20Appendix%20Policy%202018.mp3
I find NIH’s website extremely difficult to find anything on, so I hope pulling these resources out saves you all some time hunting for stuff.
What’s New at C3 Science
2017 was a busy year at C3 Science. Several C3 clients were awarded funding for proposals that ranked in the top 5% of all proposals to NIH, so congratulations to them! One of them was ranked in the top 1% of all NIH proposals. It’s gratifying to know that when good science and good grantsmanship go together, efforts are rewarded.
New Referrals
I welcomed many new clients in 2017, but I am always looking for more. Along those lines, from now on if I get new clients that are referred by one of my existing clients (which happens often, so thank you all for that!), and that person lets me know you gave them my name, I will give you 2 free hours of editing to show my appreciation for the referral.
Rate Changes
In 2018, I raised my rates to 125$ per hour. This is the first time I have raised my rates in six years, so it was overdue. I am confident that my rates are still highly competitive for the value I provide, but if any of my clients have concerns, please email me and we can discuss the change.
Please note, for clients that have contracts with me, or have prepaid for services, my rates will stay the same until the contract is fulfilled or the prepaid hours are used up. No charges will be changed retroactively.
Happy researching in the Year of the Dog and keep up the good work. The world needs robust science now more than ever and I am grateful for and fascinated by all the good work C3 clients are doing.