With U.S. federal science funding set to rise to unprecedented levels, Duke researchers are pursuing stimulus grants with optimism and steady caution.
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 will ultimately inject $787 billion into the U.S. economy. Of the total stimulus package, $10.4 billion will be allocated to the National Institutes of Health-a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the primary funding agency for biomedical research-and $3 billion will be allocated to the National Science Foundation for basic science research. The ARRA requires agencies to push out all funds by September 2010 to projects that will last no longer than two years.
Vice Provost for Research James Siedow said the University anticipates significant levels of funding from the stimulus package in the next several months, primarily from the NIH and the NSF. Beyond the windfall pulse of resources, however, he said long-term federal support remains unknown.
"There is no question that there will be a big bolus of money in the system," Siedow said. "There's still some uncertainty what the cliff's going to look like, how big it will be, whether it will be steep or a sloping road. It's just not certain how the money's going to play out.... At the end of the day, how big will the drop-off be?"
Researchers and administrators are unsure of how the stimulus' effects will unfold in research universities, Siedow said. Nevertheless, the money is an extraordinary resource for researchers after years of financial strain and increasingly competitive NIH grants.
The NIH made applications available March 10 for a total of $1.5 billion in grants funded by the ARRA. The grants, which will provide a 34 percent budget increase for the NIH, will fund scientific research, construction of research facilities and the purchase of scientific equipment. At least $200 million is slated for Challenge Grants in Health and Science Research that will confront research challenges on biomedical and behavioral topics by focusing on research that will benefit from 2-year jumpstart funds.
Furthermore, the NIH will distribute $1 billion in construction grants to help build new facilities or improve existing research facilities. It will also distribute $300 million in shared instrumentation grants to facilitate the purchase of research equipment for work financed by the stimulus bill.
The NIH challenge grants are due April 27, Siedow said. He estimated that more than 100 professors are currently assembling challenge grant proposals.
David Beratan, R.J. Reynolds professor of chemistry, who is a researcher applying for stimulus funding, said he anticipates a flurry of grant writing.
"Although funds will be awarded, they will certainly be pursued very aggressively by the research community and, as ever, competition for funds will be intense," he said.
Melissa Vetterkind, assistant director for federal relations, told Duke News last month that the approval of the plan bodes well for the future of science.
"For the past couple of years, innovation and science have been political buzzwords, yet funding hasn't necessarily followed," Vetterkind said. "So far, it looks like the new administration is serious about making a more appropriate investment in basic research, which ends up benefiting the public with everything from better health to new kinds of jobs."
The stimulus funding recognizes both the economic and health impacts of biomedical and behavioral research, said NIH Acting Director Dr. Raynard Kington in a March 10 press release.
"The science funded by the Recovery Act will stimulate the national economy, and have a profound impact on people's health for many years to come," he said.
Proceeding with caution
In March 2008, Duke, along with five other U.S. research universities, published a report entitled, "A Broken Pipeline? Flat Funding of the NIH Puts a Generation of Science at Risk." The report stated that since 2003, the NIH has experienced a 13 percent drop in effective purchasing power, consequently slowing research progress.
The NIH's budget has remained nearly stagnant for the past six years, according to the report. In addition, the success rate-the percent of reviewed grant applications that receive funding-has dropped from 32.4 percent in 1999 to 21.8 percent in 2008, according to the NIH Research Projects Success Rates report.
Although amplified resources in the wake of stagnant federal funding may seem particularly exciting, Siedow said administrators have been quick to dampen their optimistic predictions.
The message from the University is that the stimulus bill has never been implemented before and the future cannot be determined, Siedow added.
"Don't expect these funds to remain," he said. "[Researchers] shouldn't become absolutely dependent on that money to keep the lights on, because the bottom line is that there is a fair amount of uncertainty."
The application process
Emerging details of the NIH and the NSF's distribution plans have set Duke administrators and researchers scrambling for their share of the funding.
In preparation for the next several months, the Office of Research Support launched a new Web site March 26 entitled "Duke Economic Stimulus." It aims to provide information and resources regarding the ARRA funds. The Web site offers announcements, documents and links to support Duke faculty and staff with ARRA funding interests.
In addition, the Research Administration Continuous Improvement Steering Committee-led by Siedow and others-has shifted its focus sharply to institutional initiatives to respond to the ARRA funding. The committee is reviewing procedures to make sure that Duke is ready to reassign or hire research staff quickly, account for new funds and respond to new federal requirements for the funds.
Beratan said he is currently exploring mechanisms for ARRA support from the NIH, either through a research grant supplement or through a new proposal. He added that the NIH has a program within ARRA to supplement ongoing work.
"Some projects are easily ramped up and can be accommodated on a tight time line," Beratan said. "This is an example of funding that could readily be used rapidly and effectively in our research programs."
Despite the mandated 2010 deadline, the NSF has set an internal goal of distributing all stimulus funds within 120 days, according to a Feb. 23 New York Times article. The agency will not actively seek new proposals, but will provide funds for projects deemed "beaker-ready" that were recently reviewed or are currently under review.
"Other than some additional infrastructure enhancement programs, it is not really possible to submit new research ideas for funding from the NSF to take advantage of ARRA resources," Beratan said.
Providing capable information technology systems to meet the expected increase in financial and programmatic activity in the next several months will be crucial to implementing the provisions of the stimulus bill.
According to a March 9 memo from the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, the country's online grant application system Grant.gov, which supports submissions from 26 federal agencies including the NIH and the NSF, has a high risk of failing due to the flood of grant applications. The OMB is responsible for identifying risks that could disrupt effective implementation of the ARRA.
Siedow said the concern was not surprising, adding that there have been problems in the system at almost every NIH deadline.
"Nobody thinks that Grants.gov is up to the task," Siedow said. "It's not a very robust system and it can't handle the workload."
ARRA jobs at Duke
With funds from the stimulus package about to flow, University officials anticipate a high demand in hiring research, technical and clerical staff for ARRA-funded projects.
Duke Human Resources is currently seeking individuals for potential employment and has launched a new Web site to provide information to those interested. All positions are short-term and will generally end after 18 to 24 months, according to the Human Resources Web site. Available positions include research technicians, laboratory research analysts and postdoctoral associates.
"We are working on mechanisms to fast track the availability of technical research positions, which will be available to labs as soon as new positions are identified," the RACI Steering Committee wrote in a March 4 letter to University deans, chairs and directors entitled "Economic Stimulus preparations."
Siedow said the University will employ several hundred individuals, though the specific details remain unknown. Priority would be given to current employees at the University, he added.
"Obviously we want to be very careful to utilize current Duke staff first, but we believe there is substantial local and regional talent available as well," the March 4 letter reads.
In addition, the steering committee will meet later this week to examine ways in which the opportunity can be made available to recent Duke graduates, Siedow said.
Kyle Cavanaugh, vice president for human resources, said that though it is "impossible to predict an exact number," the department anticipates sizable growth in employment.
Nevertheless, Human Resources has emphasized that potential job openings strictly depend on the demands of funded projects.
"We have placed specific positions on the Web site with the language that employment opportunities are contingent upon how much funding is secured," Cavanaugh said.
Interest in the jobs is quickly escalating, he added, noting that to date, more than 300 people have expressed interest in the research technician position.
After all, employment is the major objective of the ARRA, RACI members reminded administration officials in the March 4 letter.
"Our goal is for Duke to be very successful in securing as much of the stimulus funding as possible, within the stated objectives of the President's Administration: the funds must be fully spent by September 2010, on good science which has an impact on employment," the March 4 letter reads.
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