Supplements to Grants and Cooperative Agreements

A supplement is a formal request for funds to be added to an existing grant or cooperative agreement. NIDA supports two types of supplement programs (Administrative Supplements and Revision Applications), and the distinctions between these two types of supplements are described below. Applicants are strongly encouraged to contact the Program Officer assigned to their grant with questions related to developing a supplement application.

Administrative Supplements

An administrative supplement is a request for an increase in support within a current budget period to pay for necessary items or activities that fall within the scope of that award but were unanticipated at the time that the new or competing continuation application was submitted. 

Administrative supplements cannot be requested for increased costs due to an investigator’s transfer or promotion, nor can they be used to expand the original scientific research aims. Applicants may not request additional funds if the unforeseen costs can be paid for by either rebudgeting funds or using the unobligated balances from prior year awards.  

The supplement budget request should only include funds for the additional supplement activities. All requested costs in the supplement request must be strongly justified and meet the test of allowability as defined by “Cost Considerations” in the NIH Grants Policy Statement.

Consistent with existing NIDA policies, it is anticipated that NIDA administrative supplements will be awarded only under rare circumstances. The request must be strongly justified and must address the criteria detailed in the parent announcement for administrative supplements under, Section V., Application Review Information.

Some examples of administrative supplemental requests that might be considered for funding:  

  • Preservation of a unique research material or resource that may otherwise by lost, such as maintaining a unique knockout mouse model.
  • Addition of patients, populations, or other items related to a protocol due to enrollment issues, a need for statistically significant data, or responses to protocols and data and safety monitoring board (DSMB) reviews.
  • Provision for an orderly termination or temporary continuation of support to prevent loss of research resources or hardship of personnel, which includes taking advantage of a rare event with immediate need, such as salvaging a rare animal model.
  • Replacement of equipment, supplies, and time lost due to a natural disaster.

Administrative Supplements - Key Dates and Basic Definitions

Administrative supplement requests will be accepted on a continuous basis throughout the year but will only be considered for funding four times during the fiscal year; December, February, May and August.  

The NIH fiscal year begins October 1 and no awards are issued before December 1 in a new fiscal year.  The final submission date for each fiscal year is July 1.   Supplements received after July 1 may not be considered for funding until the following fiscal year.  The earliest possible award date for requests submitted after the final submission date for each fiscal year (July 1) is normally December 1.  

As standard policy, NIDA/NIH does not issue supplements to awards that are in a no-cost extension. The parent award must be active when the supplement application is submitted (e.g. within the originally reviewed and approved project period), regardless of the time remaining on the current project.

Applicants are strongly encouraged to discuss a potential submission of an administrative supplement request with a NIDA Program and Grants Management specialist before applying. The telephone number and email address of your NIDA Program Officer and your NIDA Grants Specialist are available in the eRA Commons, on your Notice of Award, and are also available at NIH NED.  NIDA staff will review the application and consider whether the budget and the requested period of support are fully justified and reasonable in relation to the proposed research.  Administrative supplement requests above $99,999 in direct costs will also be reviewed by the National Advisory Council on Drug Abuse.

Administrative supplements should be submitted via the NIH Parent NOFO - Administrative Supplements to Existing NIH Grants and Cooperative Agreements (Parent Admin Supp Clinical Trial Optional)

In addition, NIDA participates in at least two other parent supplemental programs which can also be found in the NIH Guide to Grants and Contracts –

Please review these Parent Announcements for application and submission information as well as NIDA contacts.

Revision Applications (formerly termed Competitive Supplements)

A revision application is a request for an increase in support within a current budget period for an expansion of the project’s approved scope or research protocol. The request may specify budgetary changes required for the remainder of the project period as well as for the current budget period. Revision applications are submitted using the forms, instructions, and guidelines detailed in the parent grant’s originating funding opportunity or the funding opportunity listed in the Notice of Special Interest (NOSI) seeking revision applications. Should the parent grant’s NOFO be expired, applicants are encouraged to apply via the guidelines for the appropriate Parent Announcement.

There are three types of Revision Applications –

  • A Revision Application undergoes the same peer review process of the original parent application. To determine the appropriateness for submission of a regular Revision Application, please review the funding opportunity for which the original application was submitted.
  • An Urgent Competitive Revision may be submitted to meet the immediate needs to help address a specific public health crisis in a timely manner, but that were unforeseen when the new or renewal application or grant progress report for non-competing continuation support was submitted. Applications for Urgent Competitive Revisions will be routed directly to NIDA who will consider the appropriateness of the proposed expansion of the scope of the project and responsiveness to the immediate need to help address a specific public health crisis.  Additional information related to the application review process is detailed in the Notice of Special Interest (NOSI) seeking revision applications.  Urgent Competitive Revision applications should be submitted via the NIH Parent Funding Opportunity Announcement - Urgent Competitive Revision to Existing NIH Grants and Cooperative Agreements (Urgent Supplement -  Clinical Trial Optional).
  • An Emergency Competitive Revision application may be submitted in support of a presidentially declared disaster under the Stafford Act, a public health emergency declared by the Secretary, HHS, or other local, regional or national disaster. Applications for an Emergency Competitive Revision will be routed directly to NIDA who will consider the appropriateness of the proposed expansion of the scope of the project and responsiveness to the immediate need to help address a specific public health crisis.  Additional information related to the application review process is detailed in the Notice of Special Interest (NOSI) seeking revision applications.   Emergency Competitive Revision applications should be submitted via the NIH Parent Funding Opportunity Announcement - Emergency Competitive Revision to Existing NIH Awards (Emergency Supplement - Clinical Trial Optional)

For specific questions regarding eligibility or questions about the science to be proposed, please contact the program official assigned to the parent grant.

For questions regarding financial eligibility, please contact the grants management specialist assigned to the parent grant.

For general questions about administrative supplements contact:

Ms. Pamela Fleming 
Chief, Grants Management Officer 
Grants Management Branch 
Division of Extramural Research 
National Institute on Drug Abuse 
National Institutes of Health 
301-480-1159 
pfleming@nida.nih.gov