In his inaugural address to the nation, President Barack Obama pledged to “restore science to its rightful place” by signing a $787 billion stimulus package, which includes $21 billion for science research. Obama followed through on that pledge. For biomedical research in particular, the highlight of the stimulus package, also known as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), is the estimated $10.4 billion being given to the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Given the conditions of the government, stipulating that funds be used to help stimulate the economy, the NIH will be hard-pressed to award grants to only those projects that are most likely to improve the quality of life of Americans and create more jobs while retaining existing ones. In a recent statement to the public, NIH Acting Director Raynard Kington acknowledged this challenge and assured us that the people of the NIH “have been working around the clock to prepare for this possibility, to make the most effective, transparent, and immediate use of these extraordinary resources.”

Get It While It’s Hot!

With the sudden influx of money to spend, the science community has seen a recent flurry of activity as scientists and researchers scramble to get their piece of the stimulus pie. The NIH has stated that this stimulus is a one-time opportunity, and that the awarded money will not carry-over beyond the next two years. As such, scientists are advised to act immediately, and are asked to only apply if they plan to spend the money within the two-year time frame.

Cartoon by Rossana Henriques

An estimated $8.2 billion of the $10.4 billion NIH stimulus will specifically go towards science priorities, and there are three main ways in which the funding will be distributed. The first of these is providing active NIH grants with supplemental funding to accelerate or expand already-established research efforts. The money will go towards new instruments and equipment or will be used to create new training positions, but it will not be used to restore cuts in grant funding from previous years.

A large portion of the money will also be distributed to the Research Project Grant Program (R01), applications which have already been reviewed and applications from fiscal years 2008 and 2009 that passed peer review on their high scientific merit, but were not awarded due to limited funds. Of course, these applications will be reviewed again—and likely with more scrutiny—before they are awarded money. It is important to note that if these grants are awarded, investigators will be forced to revise the proposals to fit within the two year timeframe of the ARRA guidelines.

While it may seem that there may not be much left over for new applications, investigators need not fret! The NIH has set aside approximately $200 million for each of two new grant programs—Challenge Grants and Grand Opportunity (GO) Grants. The two programs have similar administrative requirements, but differ in their specific goals. The Challenge program aims to support those research areas “that focus on specific knowledge gaps, scientific opportunities, new technologies, data generation, or research methods that would benefit from an influx of funds to quickly advance the area in significant ways.” The purpose of the GO Grants is to “support high impact ideas that lend themselves to short-term funding, and may lay the foundation for new fields of investigation.”

Although the NIH has put the focus on funding new research projects, “New Investigators” should be forewarned—if you are awarded ARRA funding for a Challenge or GO grant, you will lose your status as New Investigator. So, although your grant may receive special consideration for being a new project, you will only receive two years of funding (as opposed to the five years for R01 applications) and will not be allowed any resubmissions. As such, it may be best to wait and just apply for R01 grants.

Regardless of the type of grant one applies for, many of the regulations apply, and it is important to keep these in mind when applying for grants. The money will not be delivered in one lump sum, but rather over a two-year period. As such, the funds must be used entirely within that two-year span, and there will be no opportunity to renew ARRA grants. Perhaps the most important thing to acknowledge is the major purpose of these funds—to stimulate the economy and to create and retain jobs. In a public message regarding ARRA funds, the NIH stated, “To demonstrate accountability to the American people, institutions that are awarded ARRA funds will be required to submit special progress reports indicating how many jobs were created as a result of the funding.”

Responding to the Stimulus

The announcement of the $10.4 billion stimulus for the NIH received mostly positive feedback from the nation’s citizens, not including disturbed talk-show hosts named Rush. For anyone involved in the science community, there is plenty of reason for excitement (seriously, who wouldn’t be psyched about $10.4 billion?). A few months ago we were asking ourselves whether Obama would stay true to his word and help make science and technology central to the nation’s economy. One presidential victory and $21 billion later, the tables have turned—it is now our turn as scientists and research administrators to hold up our end of the deal and deliver to a nation in desperate need of an economic boost.

Is science the answer to our economic woes? It is far too soon to tell at this point in time, and given the nature of science research, even the two-year time frame for the ARRA funding may be too short to properly judge Obama’s decision to invest so strongly in science. However, it is difficult to argue against science and technology as critical factors in the recovery of our nation’s economy. By investing in biomedical and technological research, we enable these projects to grow and expand. This creates new job opportunities, as there will be more labs to fill with scientists and more facilities that require maintenance workers. The demand for equipment will also increase, which will create more jobs at the companies that manufacture the instruments used at research universities and hospitals.

Finally, you cannot underestimate the importance of science and technology in maintaining the upkeep of our society and the individuals that make it work. As the world becomes overpopulated, fuel and energy demands are higher than ever, and the only way to meet those demands is to develop more efficient uses of the energy resources we have. In addition, we need to invest in improved medicine and healthcare to ensure that our citizens are able to remain active in our society and economy.