NIH support for conferences and scientific meetings.

This program announcement (PA) provides updated guidelines for NIH support of scientific meetings. It replaces the guidelines issued by the NIH Guide on 30 October 1998 and is effective with the 15 December receipt date for cycle III applications. An NIH conference grant website has been created to centralize information regarding grants for scientific meetings and conferences. This site includes contact information for the participating NIH institutes and centers (ICs) and other NIH offices, and links to detailed information regarding specific interests and funding parameters. This site and related links are updated frequently, and interested parties should check periodically for the most current information.

A major revision made in this PA is the requirement that applications for conference grant support present a letter from the appropriate NIH IC staff documenting advance permission to submit a conference grant (R13) or conference cooperative agreement (U13) application. As a streamlining measure, there are now three annual receipt dares for all applications for support of scientific meetings, and decisions about awards will normally be made within six months of submission.

The NIH recognizes the value of supporting high-quality scientific meetings that are relevant to its scientific mission and to the public health. A scientific meeting is defined as a gathering, symposium, seminar, conference, workshop, or any other organized, formal meeting where persons assemble to coordinate, exchange, and disseminate information or to explore or clarify a defined subject, problem, or area of knowledge. Support of such meetings is contingent on the fiscal and programmatic interests and priorities of the individual ICs, which are linked to the NIH conference grant website located at http://grants.nih.gov/grants/ funding/r13/index.htm.

This PA will use the NIH R13 and U13 award mechanisms. Under the R13 mechanism, the applicant will be solely responsible for planning, directing, and executing the proposed project. Multiple-year awards may be made to a permanently sponsoring organization for conferences held annually or biennially on a recurring topic. The total project period for an application requesting support may not exceed five wars. The NIH U13 is a cooperative agreement award mechanism.

This PA does not use just-in-time concepts and does not use modular budgeting formats. Follow the instructions in PHS 398, located at http://grants.nih.gov/grants/ funding/phs398/phs398.html, for nonmodular research grant applications. Complete information on this announcement is located at http://grants1.nih.gov/grants/guide/ pa-files/PAR-03-176.html. Applications submitted in response to this announcement will be accepted annually on 15 April, 15 August, and 15 December.

Contact: Linda M. Stecklein, Office of Extramural Research, NIH, 6705 Rockledge Dr, Rm 3524, Bethesda, MD 20892 USA, 301-402-7989, fax: [phone], e-mail: [e-mail]. Reference: PA No. PAR-03-176