NIH opens stimulus coffers to scientists

[babylonsister]

http://briefingroom.thehill.com/2009/03/10/nih-opens-stimulus-coffers-to-scientists/

NIH opens stimulus coffers to scientists
@ 6:37 pm by Hill Staff


The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is now open for business to scientific researchers who want a piece of the stimulus pie, the agency announced Tuesday.

The NIH won $8.2 billion in the recently enacted stimulus bill, $7.4 billion of it expressly intended to fund medical research projects over the next two years. Tuesday's move by the agency makes the first $1.5 billion of that money available, though nearly all of it would go to building new lab facilities and buying equipment, not actual scientific studies.

“NIH is extremely grateful to President Obama and the Congress for recognizing both the economic and health impacts of biomedical and behavioral research,” said Raynard Kington, the NIH's acting director. “The science funded by the Recovery Act will stimulate the national economy, and have a profound impact on people's health for many years to come."

Here's the breakdown of where the money will go:

The NIH will allocate the Recovery Act funds as follows:

* At least $200 million in Challenge Grants to support research on topics that address specific scientific and health research challenges in biomedical and behavioral research that would benefit from significant 2-year jumpstart funds;

* $1 billion in construction grants to help build new or improve existing research facilities and help grow the economy;

* $300 million in shared instrumentation grants to facilitate the purchase of research equipment that will enable scientists and researchers to complete their critical work.

-Jeffrey Young