Food and Drug Administration, HHS.
Notice.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is revising the Request for Applications (RFA) published in the
FDA recognizes the value of partially supporting scientific meetings and conferences designed to coordinate, exchange, and disseminate information when the objectives are clearly within the scope of the agency's mission. FDA's policy is to participate with other organizations to support meetings where practicable, rather than provide sole support. In view of the diversity of interests among the various FDA centers/offices, and in order to provide maximum flexibility, FDA will not set rigid requirements concerning the type of scientific meetings to be supported so long as they are within the agency's mission.
FDA views the partial support of scientific conferences as an ongoing program and may award a limited number of grants each fiscal year. These awards are subject to availability of funds and range from $1,000 to $25,000 in direct costs only per conference. This announcement is intended to be a “Standing Program Announcement” and will be modified in the event of required changes to the program.
Support for this program will be in the form of a grant. These grants will be
Conference grant support is available to any public or private nonprofit entity including State and local units of government, scientific and professional societies, faith-based organizations, and for-profit entities. For-profit entities must commit to excluding fees or profit from the conference in their request for support.
In the case of an international conference held in the United States or Canada, the U.S. component of an established international scientific or professional society is the eligible applicant. In exceptional cases, where there is no U.S. component, a grant to support a specific segment of an international conference may be awarded directly to a foreign institution provided that the following conditions are met: (1) Grants to foreign institutions or international organizations are not prohibited under the governing legislation and (2) approval of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) agency head or his or her designee is obtained in each case.
An individual is not eligible to receive grant funds in support of a conference. As provided in 2 U.S.C. 1611, organizations described in section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code that engage in lobbying are not eligible to receive Federal funds constituting grant awards.
See section IV.2.B.11 of this document.
FDA is accepting new applications for this program electronically via Grants.gov. Applicants are strongly encouraged to apply electronically by visiting the Web site
If submission is electronic, the application package is posted under the “APPLY” section of this announcement under Grants.gov. The required application forms are listed under “Mandatory Documents.” They can be completed and submitted online.
If applicants are not submitting electronically, an original and two copies of the completed grant application form SF–424 (revised 9/03) should be delivered to the address listed in
Applications must include the following information:
1. Title that has the term scientific “conference,” “council,” “workshop,” or other similar description to assist in the identification of the request;
2. Location of the conference;
3. Expected number of registrants and type of audience expected, along with speaker credentials;
4. Dates of conference (inclusive). Each application must address only one specific conference;
5. Conference format and projected agenda, including list of principal areas or topics to be addressed;
6. Physical facilities required for the conduct of the meeting (e.g., simultaneous translation facilities);
7. Justification of the conference, including the problems it intends to clarify and any developments it may stimulate;
8. Brief biographical sketches of individuals responsible for planning the conference and indication of adequate support staff;
9. Information about all related conferences held by the applicant on this subject during the last 3 years (if known);
10. Details of proposed per diem/subsistence rates, transportation, printing, supplies, and facility rental costs;
11. The budget for the entire conference, budget items requested from FDA, budget items supported by other sources, and a list, including amounts, of all other anticipated support; and
12. The necessary checklist and assurance pages provided in each application package.
Some examples of allowable costs include the following items: (1) Salaries in proportion to the time or effort spent directly on the conference, (2) rental of necessary equipment, (3) travel and per diem, (4) supplies needed to conduct the meeting, (5) conference services, (6) publication costs, (7) registration fees, (8) working meals where business is transacted, and (9) speaker fees.
Some examples of nonallowable costs include the following items: (1) Purchase of equipment; (2) transportation costs exceeding coach class fares; (3) visas; (4) passports; (5) entertainment; (6) tips; (7) bar charges; (8) personal telephone calls; (9) laundry charges; (10) travel or expenses other than local mileage for local participants; (11) organization dues; (12) honoraria or other payments for the purpose of conferring distinction or communicating respect, esteem, or admiration; (13) patient care; (14) alterations or renovations; and (15) indirect costs.
Grant funds may not be used to provide general support for international scientific conferences held outside the United States or Canada. Grant funds may be awarded to a U.S. component of an international organization to provide limited support for specific segments of an international conference held outside the United States of Canada if the conference is compatible with FDA's mission. An example of such support would be a selected symposium, panel, or workshop within the conference, including the cost of planning and the cost of travel for U.S. participants for the specified segment of the scientific
A letter of intent is not mandatory. However, applicants may submit a letter of intent to the contact (see
Applications will be received and reviewed quarterly during each fiscal year. The receipt dates are in direct relation to the conference date and can be seen in table 1 of this document.
If the receipt date falls on a weekend or holiday, it will be extended to the following workday. Responsive applications received after the quarterly deadline date will be held for the next review cycle if the conference date falls under the next cycle. Applications received after the quarterly deadline date for a conference within that review cycle will be returned to the applicant if not received in time for orderly processing.
Applications will be accepted during normal business hours, from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, on or before the established receipt date. Applications will be considered on time if sent, mailed, or electronically submitted on or before the appropriate receipt date as evidenced by a legible U.S. Postal Service dated postmark or a legible date receipt from a commercial carrier. Private metered postmarks will not be acceptable as proof of timely mailing. Applicants should note that the U.S. Postal Service does not uniformly provide dated postmarks. Before relying on this method, applicants should check with their local post office.
The regulations issued under Executive Order 12372 may also apply to this program and are implemented through HHS regulations under 45 CFR part 100. Executive Order 12372 sets up a system for State and local government review of applications for Federal financial assistance. Applicants (other than federally recognized Indian tribal governments) should contact the State's Single Point of Contact (SPOC) as early as possible to alert them to the prospective application(s) and to receive any necessary instructions on the State's review processes. The names and addresses of SPOCs are listed on the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB's) Web site at
See section IV.2.B of this document.
See section IV.1 of this document.
Upon receipt, all applications submitted in response to this announcement will be evaluated for responsiveness to this RFA. Responsiveness is defined as submission of a complete application with original signatures within the required submission dates (see
An application will be considered nonresponsive if any of the following criteria are not met: (1) If the applicant organization is ineligible, (2) if it is received in the grants management office after the specified receipt date (see
Responsive applications will be reviewed and evaluated for their scientific and technical merit by an ad hoc review panel composed of experts in the field using the following criteria:
a. The content/subject matter and how current and appropriate it is for FDA's mission;
b. The conference plan and how thorough, reasonable, and appropriate it is for the intended audience;
c. The experience, training, and competence of the principal investigator/director and support staff;
d. The adequacy of the facilities;
e. The reasonableness of the proposed budget give the total conference plan, program, speakers, travel, and facilities; and
f. Previous experience of the organization/principal investigator.
Successful applicants will be notified via Notice of Grant Award signed by the Chief Grants Management Officer, FDA.
Applications submitted under this program may be subject to the requirements of Executive Order 12372. FDA's conference grant program is described in the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance, No. 93.103. The applicable administrative regulations for this program are 45 CFR parts 74 and 92. The legislative authority is title XVII of the Public Health Service Act.
A final Financial Status Report (SF–269) and a final progress report or conference proceedings are required. An original and two copies of these reports must be submitted to the Grants Management Office (see section VII of this document), within 90 days after the end of the budget period of the grant award. Copies of conference proceedings resulting from the meeting may be substituted for the final progress report. Failure to provide these reports in a timely manner may jeopardize future grant support or delay an award.
For information regarding this program, please contact Tya Marks (see
FDA strongly encourages all award recipients to provide a smoke-free workplace and to discourage the use of all tobacco products. This is consistent with FDA's mission to protect and advance the physical and mental health of the American people.
FDA is committed to achieving the health promotion and disease prevention objectives of “Healthy People 2010,” a national effort designed to reduce morbidity and mortality and to improve quality of life. Applicants may obtain a paper copy of the “Healthy People 2010” objectives, vols. I and II, for $70 ($87.50 foreign), S/N 017–000–00550–9, by writing to the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, P.O. Box 371954, Pittsburgh, PA 15250–7954. Telephone orders can be placed to 202–512–2250. The document is also available in CD–ROM format, S/N 017–001–00549–5, for $19 ($23.50 foreign), as well as on the Internet at
Information collection requirements requested on PHS Form SF–424 were approved and issued under OMB Circular A–102.
Data included in the application, if restricted with the legend specified in this section of the document, may be entitled to confidential treatment as trade secret or confidential commercial information within the meaning of the Freedom of Information Act (5 U.S.C. 552(b)(4)) and FDA's implementing regulations (21 CFR 20.61).
Unless disclosure is required under the Freedom of Information Act as amended (5 U.S.C. 552), as determined by the freedom of information officials of HHS or by a court, data contained in the portions of this application that have been specifically identified by page number, paragraph, etc., by the applicant as containing restricted information, shall not be used or disclosed except for evaluation purposes.