Recovery.gov - Track the Money

The Shared Instrumentation program consists of two main activities:

Shared Instrumentation Grants (SIG) (approximately $200 million) - The SIG program supports grants to groups of three or more NIH-supported investigators at public and non-profit domestic institutions for the purchase of commercially available instruments costing from $100,000 to $500,000. Types of instruments supported include confocal and electron microscopes, biomedical imagers, mass spectrometers, DNA sequencers, biosensors, cell sorters, X-ray diffraction systems, and NMR spectrometers among others.

High-End Instrumentation Grants (HEI) (approximately $100 million) - The HEI program supports grants to groups of three or more NIH-supported investigators at public and non-profit domestic institutions for the purchase of a single major item of biomedical research equipment costing from $600,000 to $8,000,000. Examples of equipment that could be funded under this program are structural and functional imaging systems, macromolecular NMR spectrometers, high-resolution mass spectrometers, cryoelectron microscopes, and supercomputers.

The National Institutes of Health through the Extramural Grants Management Advisory Committee (GMAC), and the Contract Management Advisory Committee (CMAC), has established policies and procedures to assure a consistent and integrated approach to oversight practices that monitor extramural grantee activities for NIH contracts, grants, and cooperative agreements. These committees meet approximately twice a month. Guidance for progress tracking, financial management, and administrative management of NIH grants includes OMB Circular A-110, OMB Circular A-123, Management's Responsibility for Internal Control, sections of the Recovery Act including Section 1512, and the Updated Implementing Guidance for the Recovery Act of 2009.

In addition, the NIH Office of Management Assessment (OMA) and the Office of Financial Management (OFM) are establishing a common framework for identifying, assessing, and testing of operational and financial risks and internal controls associated with implementing Recovery Act requirements. OMA will work with NIH offices that are responsible for implementing programs receiving Recovery Act funding to: identify and score Recovery Act risks, assess controls related to the identified Recovery Act risks, remediate controls as needed, monitor the inventory of the Recovery Act risks, and report on the risks and controls to NIH and HHS leadership. These assessments will be done consistent with the statutory requirements of the Federal Manager’s Financial Integrity Act, which required managers to assess the effectiveness of management controls applicable to their responsibilities, and the Improper Payments Information Act, as well as OMB’s circular A-123 Management’s Responsibility for Internal Control, which strengthens financial management controls so that Federal agencies can better detect and prevent improper payments.

NCRR is responsible for administering and overseeing the shared instrumentation program, while each grantee is responsible for ensuring that the awarded grant funds are used properly and as specified. NCRR works closely with the grantee to make sure the federal funds are expended appropriately. Additionally, NCRR is employing management tools to mitigate program risk through all program phases including grant review, award, and post-award monitoring.

Transparency:

NIH will be open and transparent in all of its contracting and grant competitions and regulations. To ensure recipient cost and performance requirements are reported on a quarterly basis, all awards issued with Recovery Act funds have special accounting numbers and codes to track the funds and awards. All Recovery Act funds must be awarded separately from the normal appropriation funds. The awards must comply with both existing NIH reporting requirements and the Recovery Act reporting requirements. More specifically, grants will include special terms and conditions based on guidance provided by OMB and HHS. NIH will ensure that recipient reporting required by Section 1512 of the Recovery Act and OMB guidance is made available to the public on Recovery.gov by October 10, 2009. NIH will inform recipients of their reporting obligation through standard terms and conditions, grant announcements, contract solicitations, and other program guidance. NIH will provide technical assistance to grantees and contractors and fully utilize Project Officers to ensure compliance with reporting requirements. NIH will have a link to Recovery.gov on its website.

Accountability:

To ensure that managers are held to high standards of accountability in achieving program goals under the Recovery Act, NIH will build on and strengthen existing processes. Senior NIH and Shared Instrumentation officials will meet regularly with senior Department officials to ensure that projects are meeting their program goals, assessing and mitigating risks, ensuring transparency, and incorporating corrective actions. The personnel performance appraisal system will also incorporate Recovery Act program stewardship responsibilities for program and business function managers.

The Project officer’s annual review requires additional information from the grantee for any identified risk or challenge areas. Mitigating or corrective actions are documented and trigger additional review as required. Outputs are reviewed by program officials to confirm appropriate progress. Progress standards are based on planned activities and milestones within the grant application. Grants management can limit disbursement of funds for any funding improprieties and if progress is not satisfactory.

NIH is coordinating efforts with its Office of Management Assessment and Office of Financial Management to ensure that existing risk management processes are fully used as NIH implements the provisions of the Recovery Act. Terms and conditions of award notices will also be amended so that awardees are fully aware of the reporting requirements associated with these funds.

This program does not support Federally-owned assets.