University at Buffalo - The State University of New York

Pending passage of the Federal omnibus budget bill for federal fiscal year (FFY) 2006, the National Institutes of Health are operating under a continuing resolution that authorizes spending at FFY 05 levels. Until uncertainties about what the final NIH appropriation will be, NIH will issue non-competing continuation awards at 80% of committed amounts. After the federal budget is passed and signed into law, NIH will restore as much of the committed amount as its appropriation will allow.

Unlike previous years of budgetary uncertainty when it took similar action, NIH provided no advance warning that it would issue non-competing continuations at less than committed levels. In response to inquiries from several institutions, including UB, NIH posted OD-NOT 06-014 http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-06-014.html to this weeks Guide.

In order to minimize the impact of encumbrances for personnel costs from tying up funds needed in other categories, we will establish accounts for non-competing continuations with reduced budgets for 9 months. After the NIH has its FFY 06 budget and these awards are adjusted upwards, we will extend the accounts to their full 12 month periods.

If you have questions, please contact the Grant and Contract Administrator (GCA) for your department (http://www.research.buffalo.edu/sps/staff/assign.cfm ) or Charles Kaars at kaars@research.buffalo.edu .