Federal Agencies Respond to Coronavirus
The national response to COVID-19 is impacting every aspect of American lives, including the scientific enterprise. Many federal research agencies have issued guidance for researchers with regard to grant submission deadlines, travel, and review panels. See more information for specific agencies below.
Updated on April 2, 2020
Office of Management and Budget
On March 19, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued a memorandum authorizing federal agencies to provide regulatory flexibility on all federally supported research. The memo list several actions that federal research agencies can take including grant application deadlines, no-cost extensions, short term relief for administrative, financial management, and audit requirements. Each agency will need to decide exactly how and which changes to enact. Check back here regularly for updates.
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
The National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) issued extensions for several grant submission deadlines.
See the full list of deadline extensions here.
NIFA Director, Scott Angle, sent a message to stakeholders on March 26 saying NIFA was exploring how to work under the OMB memo to provide relief to researchers whose work has been impacted by COVID-19. Dr. Angle said "NIFA is exploring a process for supplementing competitive awards where increased otherwise allowable costs are required to fulfill research objects during this time [of disruption]."
NIFA posted an FAQ document regarding new agency flexibilities that may help researchers cope with the impacts of the COVID-19 outbreak. The document states that awardees are authorized to continue to charge salaries, stipends, and benefits to currently active USDA NIFA awards consistent with the recipient’s policy of paying salaries from all funding sources. This includes both “competitive” and “capacity” funds. Further, it provides instructions to project directors if a project cannot work towards its science objectives during this time and what they should do if a competitively awarded project cannot be completed within its original time frame or budget.
National Science Foundation
The National Science Foundation has released multiple FAQ documents with guidance for grant awardees and submissions, travel, review panelists, and major facilities and contracts.
See all information here.
They have also issued a Dear Colleague letter seeking Rapid Response Research (RAPID) proposals to conduct non-medical, non-clinical-care research that can be used immediately to explore how to model and understand the spread of COVID-19, to inform and educate about the science of virus transmission and prevention, and to encourage the development of processes and actions to address this global challenge.
NSF has also posted information for how it will be implementing the OMB memo (see above) on research funding flexibility due to COVID-19.
Department of Energy-Office of Science
The Department of Energy-Office of Science (DOE-SC) has issued an extension of 14 days for researchers submitting a pre-application, letter of intent, or proposal. DOE-SC also has guidance on impacts to travel, progress reports, and budget submissions.
See all information here.
DOE-SC is also soliciting ideas about how the Department and the National Laboratories might contribute resources for science and technology efforts and collaborations. The Department is encouraging the scientific community and others to consider research questions that underpin COVID-19 response and is requesting input on strategic, priority research directions that may be undertaken using DOE user facilities, computational resources, and enabling infrastructure.