CTSA Program PAR-24-272 Application Information

Determination of Allowable Budget Request Amount

CTSA UM1 hub applications submitted in response to PAR-24-272 must be submitted by a single applicant institution, plus the option of one or more partnering institutions and one or more collaborating institutions.

As per PAR-24-272:

• Collaborator/Collaborating Institution(s): Have a significant role in one or more aspects of the CTSA UM1 hub and may be included in more than one CTSA UM1 hub application. For the purposes of this NOFO, NIH funding to the collaborating institution is not included for determination of maximum direct cost budget requests.
• Partner/Partnering Institution(s): Must be effectively integrated into the proposed activities of the CTSA UM1 hub are necessary for attaining its strategic goals and research priorities. A Partnering Institution may be included as a partner in only one CTSA UM1 hub application. For the purposes of this NOFO, NIH funding to the partner/partnering institution is used for determination of maximum direct cost budget requests.

Applications to PAR-24-272 must include the following Other Attachment in the SF424(R&R) Other Project Information “Information on Hub Partners and Collaborators”.  This other attachment provides a table listing all partnering and collaborating institutions with contributions and justifications for the participation of each; justifications must be commensurate with the specified role. (See: CTSA Program Summary Data Guide.)

For the purposes of PAR-24-272, NIH funding to the Partner/Partnering Institution must be included for determination of maximum direct cost budget requests. Partner/Partnering Institution(s) must be effectively integrated into the proposed activities of the CTSA UM1 hub and are necessary for attaining its strategic goals and research priorities.  An organization named as Partner/Partnering Institution in a CTSA UM1 application including a subsequent UM1 award (under either PAR-21-293 or PAR-24-272), or a CTSA UL1 award funded previously under PAR-18-940, PAR-18-464 or PAR-15-304 may be listed as a Partner with only one UM1 or UL1 unless the UM1 and UL1 are from the same organization.

The list of Institutions that are partners of CTSA Program hubs in FY24 are the following:

• CTSA Partner List - FY24  (PDF - 98KB)

An organization named as a Partner Institution in a CTSA UM1 application, UM1 award, or a CTSA UL1 award funded previously under PAR-18-940, PAR-18-464, PAR-15-304 or PAR-21-293, may not apply as an applicant organization to PAR-24-272 under the following scenarios:

• While the UM1 or U54 application on which they are listed as a Partner is under review consideration
• While the UM1or U54 application on which they are listed as a Partner is under consideration for funding
• While the UM1 or UL1 award on which they are listed as a Partner is funded

CTSA UM1 applications from organizations named as a Partner Institution in a funded CTSA UM1 or CTSA UL1 award are not allowed, except under rare circumstances with compelling justification.

The maximum direct cost amount (DC) that may be requested for the UM1 budget is based on the sum of two NIH funding components: A) 5-year average of the most current NIH DC funding of the applicant institution, plus B) 5-year average of the most current NIH DC funding of any partner(s).

CTSA UL1 award recipients funded previously under PAR-18-940, PAR-18-464, PAR-15-304 or RFA-TR-12-006, may request the appropriate tiered UM1 threshold shown on Table B but will not receive more than a 5% reduction in DC annual support for the core hub responsibilities (UM1) relative to the last budget period of the previous competitive project period of their UL1 award, exclusive of administrative supplements/competitive revisions and subaward F&A. Thus, those CTSA UL1 award recipients whose UM1 DC Tier calculation is more than a 5% reduction in DC annual support may submit a budget request at 95% of the DC level of the last budget period of the previous competitive project period of their UL1 award, exclusive of administrative supplements/competitive revisions and subaward F&A.

NIH aggregate fiscal year (FY) funding tables with the most current 5-year average of FY costs and the four maximum DC award tiers for CTSA UM1 hubs will be provided on an annual basis. Applicants are strongly encouraged to use the provided tables to generate a combined funding amount that defines their maximum DC amount allowable for the annual award (see PAR-24-272 for tiers). Applications for the following due dates must use the following tables:

Note that:

• Applications received during a particular FY must use the same tables (as stated directly above). 
• Table A: Institutional NIH Direct Cost (DC) Funding Table: Data is released by the NIH in late December of each year. NCATS will release Table A when the Institutional NIH DC Funding Table is available.
• Table B: Maximum Direct Cost (DC) Budget Requests for CTSA UM1 hubs: The four maximum DC award tiers for CTSA UM1 hubs will be provided on an annual basis.  

Verification of Funding Tier Calculation:

Applicants are strongly encouraged to verify their funding tier calculation with NCATS in advance of application submission by sending an email to CTSA NOFO Questions. Applicants should list the primary applicant organization and any partner institution(s) that contribute to the funding tier calculation. Requests to verify the funding tier calculation should be submitted by the institution’s authorized organization representative.  Once NCATS verification is received and recorded, the applicant should include a note in the R&R Budget Section of the application that NCATS has reviewed and accepted the funding calculation prior to submission.

Applicants are strongly encouraged to use the following NOFO tables and information:

FY26 Awards: For PAR-24-272 receipt dates March 13, 2025, May 28, 2025, Sept. 29, 2025: PAR-24-272

Table A: Institutional NIH Direct Cost (DC) Funding Table FY19-23 (Excel - 160.72 KB)

Table B: Maximum Direct Cost (DC) Budget Requests for CTSA UM1 hubs

Notes about NIH Direct Cost (DC) Funding Table:

1. The data contained in this table is imported directly from the NIH RePORT NIH Awards by Location & Organization webpage and consolidated and tabulated for your convenience.  Instructions to manually download funding data for an individual organization are provided below.  Applicants are free to verify table data via their own customized download; however, the 5-year funding average totals contained in this table must be used to calculate budget tier eligibility. If discrepancies exist between this table and your individual download, please notify NCATS Program staff immediately by sending an email to CTSA NOFO Questions.
2. Organizations may have NIH funding listed under different names for different FY if organizational name changes have occurred. Applicants are reminded to review the contents of this table carefully to identify all former names associated with a parent organization. If name changes exist, your application should include a brief note in the budget justification explaining the current and former names that support its use in determining the application's eligible budget tier (see PAR-24-272 Section IV. Application & Submission Information, 2. Content and Form of Application Submission, R&R Budget, Award Budget).
3. In rare instances, the dataset may include typos (e.g., added spaces, commas or abbreviations) in the Organization's Name.  Again, applicants are reminded to thoroughly review this list to identify all funding components associated with parent and partner support.
4. Data download instructions to Applicants: In order to download NIH Awards by Location & Organization funding data directly from NIH RePORT, applicants can go to the NIH RePORT webpage and filter by Fiscal Year and by Organization.  Once the filter query is complete, applicants should click on the "Data" hyperlink to access and download a dataset containing Direct Cost amounts for individual NIH awards made to the specific organization during a particular fiscal year (FY).  The data in Table A has been generated to consolidate and tabulate the NIH Direct Cost Spending amounts by organization and fiscal year. 
5. Institutional NIH Direct Cost (DC) Funding tables (Table A) for prior years may be found here:
   • Institutional NIH Direct Cost (DC) Funding Table FY18-22 (Excel - 52KB)
   • Institutional NIH Direct Cost (DC) Funding Table FY17-20 (Excel - 49KB)
   • Institutional NIH Direct Cost (DC) Funding Table FY16-20 (Excel - 64KB)