NIH Grant Guidelines
GUIDELINES ON INCLUSION OF WOMEN, MINORITIES AND PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES
This information was taken from NIH GUIDE, Volume 24, Number 15, April 28, 1995. P.T. 34 (Effective date: March 31, 1995).
IMPORTANT NOTE: If you are planning to submit a grant proposal to the NIH, you must
read and incorporate into your proposal the following NIH Guideline Policy. In addition to noting you have followed this policy, you must
provide statements and explanations as to the steps taken to insure you enforced this policy.
The review at the NIH will use this information in your evaluation. Volume 24, Number 15, April 28, 1995.
INTRODUCTION
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) recognizes the value of supporting scientific meetings relevant to its health and scientific mission. In addition, NIH affirms that the value of scientific meetings is enhanced by including participants from all segments of the scientific population and, when appropriate, members of the lay community, in both the planning and conduct of such meetings.
Further, the NIH Revitalization Act (P.L. 103-43, Section 206), which adds section 402(b) to the Public Health Service Act, requires NIH to "in conducting and supporting programs for research, research training, recruitment, and other activities, provide for an increase in the number of women and individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds (including racial and ethnic minorities) in the fields of biomedical and behavioral research. In addition, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act require reasonable accommodations to be provided to individuals with disabilities.
POLICY
It is the NIH policy that organizers of scientific meetings should make a concerted effort to achieve appropriate representation of women, racial/ethnic minorities and persons with disabilities, and other individuals who have been traditionally under-represented in science, in all NIH sponsored and/or supported scientific meetings. In addition, organizers who name NIH as a sponsor or use NIH facilities must make a concerted effort to achieve appropriate representation in compliance with this policy. "Appropriate" means representation based on the availability of scientists from these groups known to be working in a particular field of biomedical or behavioral research. The plans to seek appropriate representation should be specified during selection of organizing committees, speakers, and other invited participants, such as session chairs and panel discussants. In addition, efforts should be made to encourage attendance by women, minorities and persons with disabilities at all NIH sponsored and/or supported scientific meeting as a means of increasing their participation in the particular scientific field. The plans to seek appropriate representation will be included as an evaluation criterion during review of the requests for funding for these meetings.
This policy shall apply to all domestic or international scientific meetings sponsored by and/or receiving support from the NIH. "Scientific meetings" include all meetings, conferences, workshops, symposia, seminar series, and lectures that involve organizing/planning committees, expenditure of funds, invited participants, or are nationally or internationally advertised. Such Meetings may be initiated by the NIH's institute, center or division (ICD) extramural and intramural programs or by contracts, or may be investigator-initiated requests for grants or cooperative agreements. Reasonable efforts should be made, as well, to fulfill the goal of this policy for single seminars sponsored by NIH laboratories or extramural programs.
All NIH sponsored and/or supported conferences must be held at accessible sites, as outlined by section 504 of the rehabilitation act of 1973 and, as applicable, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. Conference registration materials should provide a question that will allow participants with disabilities to voluntarily identify any special needs, so that conference organizers can make plans to accommodate these needs.
When making awards for grants, cooperative agreements or contracts for scientific meetings, NIH will work with applicants as necessary to assist them to comply with this policy. NIH's extramural and intramural staff who initiate scientific meetings must comply with this policy. It is the responsibility of the ICD directors to implement this policy. The NIH director will assure that all extramural and intramural programs comply with this policy.
NOTE: NIH adopts the Office of Management and Budget definitions provided in Directive Number 15 for racial and ethnic categories for the purposes of this policy; American Indian or Alaskan native; Asian or Pacific Islander; Black (not of Hispanic origin); Hispanic; and White(not of Hispanic origin). Whites are defined as the majority group; the remaining categories comprise racial/ethnic minorities. The classification of an individual is by self-identification. A person with a disability means any person who (a) has a physical or mental impairment which substantially limits one or more of such person's major life activities; (b) has a record of such an impairment; or (c) is regarded as having such an impairment, as described under section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. Scientific societies and organizations may facilitate this process by making relevant information voluntarily provided by their membership available to members planning such scientific meetings.
For Additional information about these guidelines, contact the appropriate NIH Institute.
LETTERS OF INTENT
Some Institutes and Centers of NIH request a letter of intent for a conference grant application. You must inquire with the Institute Contact regarding the need for Letters of Intent. In many cases such letters are required at least three to six months prior to a proposal submission.
ADVANCE PERMISSION TO SUBMIT
Advance permission to submit an application is required prior to submission of all conference grant applications, including new, competing continuation, supplemental, and amended applications. All applications must include the advance permission letter from the NIH IC staff member who has agreed to accept assignment of the application. The staff member granting advance permission must be one of the contacts designated at the NIH Conference Grant web site.
GRC will not submit a proposal without an acceptance letter. Note that advance permission does not mean the application will be funded.