The Office of Sponsored Research Administration is closely tracking guidance issued by the NIH, DOD and other grant making agencies with regard to COVID-19. See below for the most recent updates. For WCM's COVID-19 Guidance page, visit WCM Central.
Guidance for WCM Investigators conducting scientific and animal research related to COVID-19 can be found here.
COVID-19 Funding Opportunities
National Institutes of Health
A comprehensive list of NIH opportunities is available here.
National Science Foundation
The National Science Foundation (NSF) is accepting 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 encourages the research community to respond to this challenge through existing funding opportunities.
More information is available here.
Department of Defense
The Department of Defense requests enhanced white papers for the Development of Treatments for COVID-19. Deadline is April 8th.
NIH Update on COVID-19 Flexibilities for the Research Community
NIH's comprehensive COVID-19 overview page can be found here.
USAMRAA’s Supplemental Guidance on Administrative Flexibilities for Grants and Cooperative Agreements in Response to COVID-19 Pandemic
Updated, robust guidance for DOD Awardees can be found on their comprehensive website here.
Updated NIH Late Submission Policy
NIH further revised their late submission policy during the COVID-19 crisis NOT-OD-20-091
NIH understands that the emergency declaration related to novel coronavirus (COVID-19) will adversely affect many NIH applicants' ability to submit applications in a timely manner.
Therefore, all grant applications submitted late for due dates between March 9, 2020, and May 1, 2020, will be accepted through May 1, 2020.
NIH will be highly accommodating of late applications submitted through May 1, 2020. They anticipate, but cannot guarantee, that all late applications submitted by that date will be reviewed in the council round to which they were submitted (e.g. August or October 2020). As much as NIH would like to extend flexibility further, this rapidly evolving situation also creates multiple challenges for conducting review, and the timeline for getting review outcomes to councils (so that funding can occur) can only be delayed so long. Therefore, applicants should assume that late applications submitted after May 1 may not be reviewed until meetings for the January 2021 council round (e.g., October-November 2020).
US Department of Defense Submission Deadline Extensions
Due to impacts of COVID-19, the DOD has extended some application due dates, see table below.
Requests for further extensions to the new deadlines will not be accepted. Please consult the modified Program Announcements.
Program | Deadline Type | New Deadline Date |
Breast Cancer Research Program Breakthrough Award Levels 1 and 2 | Full Application | March 30th, 2020 |
Breast Cancer Research Program Era of Hope Scholar Award | Full Application | March 30th, 2020 |
| Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Research Program | Pre-application | April 15th, 2020 |
| Autism Research Program | Pre-application | April 28th, 2020 |
| Ovarian Cancer Research Program | Pre-application | April 30th, 2020 |
NIH Message on Flexibilities Needed for COVID-19
NIH Announces Flexibilities Available to Applicants and Recipients Affected by COVID-19
NIH outlines administrative flexibilities applicable to NIH applicants and recipients where the entity is conducting research activities related to or affected by COVID-19. Affected entities are those that have been closed, or business activities have been hindered due to COVID-19 precautionary measures and/or illness. Affected entities will be asked to provide documentation to NIH describing effects.
Full Announcement: NOT-OD-20-086
NIH Late Submission Policy and FAQs for COVID-19 Impact on Research Management
NIH releases updated Late Submission Policy and General FAQs on NIH proposal and award management related to COVID-19. Faculty should direct all grant related COVID-19 inquiries to the Office of Sponsored Research Administration for further guidance and discussion.