Method to Extend Research in Time (MERIT) Award

Objective and General Features

The overall objective of the NHLBI Method to Extend Research In Time (MERIT) Award (R37) program is to provide productive investigators with a history of exceptional talent, imagination, and with a record of preeminent scientific achievements the opportunity to continue making fundamental contributions of lasting scientific value. The MERIT Award provides long-term, stable support to investigators whose research competence and productivity are likely to continue in the future and is intended to foster their continued creativity and lessen the administrative burdens associated with the preparation and submission of research grant applications.

Through the MERIT Award, a principal investigator may receive up to ten years of research support in two five-year segments without the need to prepare a renewal application after five years of support. Specifically, an initial five-year award is accompanied by an opportunity to obtain an extension of an additional five years of support through an expedited review process. The NHLBI MERIT Award policy has distinct features that are not found in the general NIH MERIT Award policy, such as the MERIT Award Eligibility Criteria.

Major provisions are:

• Investigators may not apply for a MERIT Award. New and competing renewal grant applications from established investigators that are prepared and submitted in accordance with conventional NIH procedures are the basis upon which NHLBI staff and members of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Advisory Council (NHLBAC) identify individuals to be considered for a MERIT Award.
• A MERIT Award must be accepted by the principal investigator. In order to convert an active grant to a MERIT Award, the principal investigator must send a letter of acceptance, countersigned by an appropriate institutional official.
• The MERIT Award program applies only to individual regular research grants (R01). Subprojects in a Program Project Grant (P01) or a Center grant (P50) cannot be converted to a MERIT Award because the research is the result of a team effort rather than an individual effort.
• Research supported by the MERIT Award should be in an area for which the investigator is well known for scientific achievements.  The research must be the investigator's principal scientific endeavor.  The principal investigator must commit a minimum of 20 percent effort.
• MERIT awardees may transfer the MERIT Award grant to another institution. Whenever a change of institution is contemplated, the investigator should contact the NHLBI as soon as possible.  Approval of the transfer is at the discretion of NHLBI staff, in accordance with NIH grant policies and procedures.
• MERIT Awards are not transferable to another individual. In the event that a change in the principal investigator of a MERIT Award is requested by the applicant organization within the first five years of the Award, the NHLBI has the option of approving the change in principal investigator, but the R37 must be converted back to an R01, and a continuation of the grant without peer review will not be possible.  Transfers in the principal investigator within the second five years will be approved only for orderly close out of the grant.
• Recipients of a MERIT Award may have other support.
• Grant applications in response to an RFA are not eligible.
• An NHLBI MERIT Award may not be offered to an investigator who has already had a MERIT Award or an equivalent award from the NHLBI or another Institute or Center at the NIH.
• There is no limit on the number of MERIT Awards at a given institution.

MERIT Award Nominations

• All new and competing renewal applications for research project grants that might subsequently be considered for MERIT Award nominations are first reviewed for scientific and technical merit by initial peer review groups and by NHLBI staff and the Council for program relevance and budget requirements.
• Candidates for a MERIT Award are identified by program staff or Council members. Candidates are then reviewed by the Division Director, Executive Staff, the Director, NHLBI, and the NHLBAC.
• Cost is a consideration in the MERIT Award selection process. Research grants that require a large commitment of resources from the NHLBI must be strongly justified.
• The Council reviews the MERIT Award document of each candidate and makes specific recommendations to the Director, NHLBI. A vote of concurrence by the Council is required for each MERIT Award nomination.
• The Director, NHLBI, makes the final selection. The Director, NHLBI and the extramural Division Director cosign a hardcopy letter that notifies the candidates of their selection for a MERIT Award.

MERIT Award Extensions

• MERIT awardees may submit an application requesting an additional five years of support.  This request receives an expedited staff and Council review without the need for assessment by an initial peer review group. The simplified review process and special administrative procedures are designed to reduce the administration burdens on the investigators.
• Instructions to applicants for extension of MERIT Awards are sent to the MERIT awardees by the NHLBI. The materials should be received by the principal investigator no later than 19 months before termination of the project period so that ample time is allowed for the planning, preparation, and submission of an application for extension.  
• Applications for extension should propose to continue the principal research endeavor of the MERIT awardee at no reduction of effort. The minimum level of effort is 20 percent.
• Applicants who wish to propose the initiation of new lines of research or to increase significantly their levels of research effort with a commensurate increase in budget should be advised to submit a regular competing application as an R01 or other appropriate grant mechanism in lieu of a type 4 R37 grant application. The principal investigator and the program official should discuss options before the investigator makes a final decision.
• Concurrent NIH review of a type 4 R37 grant application by NHLBI program staff and an R01 grant application reviewed either by the NHLBI Office of Scientific Review or the Center for Scientific Review to support the same or substantially overlapping activities is not permitted.
• Applications for extension of the MERIT Award must be submitted on the current version of form PHS 398 (http://grants1.nih.gov/grants/forms.htm). The standard instructions should be followed in preparing all portions of the application except for the Research Plan. The Research Plan should consist of the following parts:
  • A progress report of no more than eight pages, which includes a one-page narrative of the important scientific accomplishments during the MERIT Award period and a summary of up to one page of the objectives, approaches, and significance of the research planned for the extension period.
  • The list of publications should only include those that acknowledge support from the MERIT Award. One copy of each such publication should also be provided.
  • A brief description of any honors, awards, or other recognition received during the initial MERIT Award period should be provided.
• Submission of the application for extension should be timed to allow for the possibility that a subsequent full R01 competing continuation application could be submitted and reviewed before the current MERIT grant award ends. Thus, the application materials for extension should be submitted by the MERIT awardee approximately 16 months before the earliest R01 renewal date.

MERIT EXTENSION TIMETABLE 

The purpose of this table is two-fold:

[1] to identify R37 submission deadlines
for Council approval of the MERIT extension

[2] to identify submission dates
for a type 2 R01 application should a
MERIT Extension not be successful

Type 4 R37 Application Submission	Type 4 R37 Council Review	Type2 R01 Application Submission	Type 2 R01 Application Review	Type 2 R01 Council Review	Earliest Possible Funding Date
JUN 2009	SEP 2009	NOV 5, 2009	FEB/MAR 2010	MAY 2010	JUL 2010
NOV 2009	JAN 2009	MAR 5, 2010	JUN/JUL 2010	OCT 2010	DEC 2010
MAR 2010	MAY 2010	JUL 5, 2010	OCT/NOV 2010	JAN 2011	APR 2011

 

• Applications for extension are not reviewed by groups normally performing initial reviews, but are instead subjected to the NHLBI MERIT extension review procedure. Based on the application for extension, the original competing application, the original summary statement, interim progress reports, and publications resulting from work supported by the MERIT Award, program staff prepare a written recommendation regarding the extension and its budget levels. Recommendations do not include a priority score.
• The Council must discuss the MERIT Award extension and make a specific recommendation, which will be one of the following:
  • Approval for an additional five years of continued support at a specified budget level.
  • Deferral for additional information.
  • Disapproval of continued MERIT Award support, for reasons such as changes in productivity, changes in research direction, or moving from a research to an administrative position.
• The Division Director informs the MERIT awardee of the decision by letter.
• The principal investigator may rebut or appeal the recommendations of the Council, but revision or resubmission of the type 4 R37 application will not be accepted.
• Following the scheduled completion of a MERIT Award extension period, any subsequent competing continuation application should be submitted as a type 2 R01 to the Center for Scientific Review.