Glossary

A B C D E F G H I K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X

P

paralyzed

Partly or completely incapable of movement.

Parent Announcement

NIH-wide FOA enabling applicants to electronically submit investigator-initiated grant application for a specific activity code, e.g., Research Project Grant (Parent R01).

Learn more about types of funding opportunity announcements .

Participant Support Costs

Direct costs for items such as stipends or subsistence allowances, travel allowances, and registration fees paid to or on behalf of participants or trainees (but not employees) in connection with conferences, or training projects. For the purposes of Kirschstein-NRSA programs, this term does not apply. NIH will continue to use the terms trainees, trainee-related expenses, and trainee travel in accordance with NRSA Regulations.

Pass-Through Entity

A non-Federal entity that provides a subaward to a subrecipient to carry out part of a Federal program.

Payback

Requirement that the recipient of a NRSA postdoctoral fellowship engage in qualified research or teaching activities for a length of time equal to the period of NRSA support received. Only the first year of training incurs a payback obligation. In general, payback activity must involve at least 20 hours per week and be conducted over 12 consecutive months; special exceptions may be considered on a case-by-case basis. See Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Awards-Payback for additional information.

PCC

Program Classification Code

PECASE

Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers - The Presidential Award is the highest honor bestowed by the U.S. Government on outstanding scientists and engineers beginning their independent careers.

PECASE

Peer Review

The process that involves the consistent application of standards and procedures that produce fair, equitable, and objective examinations of applications based on an evaluation of scientific or technical merit or other relevant aspects of the application. The review is performed by experts (Peer Reviewers) in the field of endeavor for which support is requested. Peer review is intended to provide guidance and recommendations to the NIH individuals responsible for making award decisions.

Peer Review Criteria

The reviewers judge the overall impact for the project to exert a sustained, powerful influence on the research field(s) based on five criteria: Significance, Investigator(s), Innovation, Approach, and Environment.

perceptions

The ability to see, hear, or become aware of something through the senses.

Period of Performance

The time during which the non-Federal entity may incur new obligations to carry out the work authorized under the Federal award. The Federal awarding agency or pass-through entity must include start and end dates of the period of performance.

Permanent Resident Card

Status as a permanent resident with a right to live and work permanently in the U.S. Commonly known as Green Card.

Person Months

The metric for expressing the effort (amount of time) PD/PI(s), faculty and other senior/key personnel devote to a specific project. The effort is based on the type of appointment of the individual with the organization; e.g., calendar year, academic year, and/or summer term; and the organization's definition of such. For instance, some institutions define the academic year as a 9-month appointment while others define it as a 10-month appointment. See also Frequently Asked Questions Regarding the Usage of Person Months.

Personally Identifiable Information

Information that can be used to distinguish or trace an individual's identity, either alone or when combined with other personal or identifying information that is linked or linkable to a specific individual. Some information that is considered to be PII is available in public sources such as telephone books, public Web sites, and university listings. This type of information is considered to be Public PII and includes, for example, first and last name, address, work telephone number, email address, home telephone number, and general educational credentials. The definition of PII is not anchored to any single category of information or technology. Rather, it requires a case-by-case assessment of the specific risk that an individual can be identified. Non-PII can become PII whenever additional information is made publicly available, in any medium and from any source, that, when combined with other available information, could be used to identify an individual.

Phase IIB Competing Renewal

An application requiring competitive peer review and Institute/Center action to continue beyond the SBIR/STTR Phase II award.

Planned Enrollment Report

The Planned Enrollment Report is used when you are planning to conduct a study that meets the NIH definition for clinical research. It provides a breakdown of the planned sample by sex/gender, race, and ethnicity.

PMCID

PubMed Central Reference

PMCID

PubMed Central Reference

Portfolio Company

Company that is owned in whole or part by a venture capital operating company, hedge fund, or private equity firm

Postdoctoral Scholar

An individual who has received a doctoral degree (or equivalent) and is engaged in a temporary and defined period of mentored advanced training.

Pre-application

A statement in summary form of the intent of the applicant to request funds. It is used to determine the applicant's eligibility and how well the project can compete with other applications and eliminate proposals that are unlikely to be funded.

Pre-Award Costs

Any cost incurred prior to the beginning date of the project period or the initial budget period of a competitive segment (under a multi-year award), in anticipation of the award and at the applicant's own risk, for otherwise allowable costs.

Prior Approval

Written approval by an authorized HHS official, e.g., a designated IC GMO, evidencing prior consent before a recipient undertakes certain activities or incurs specific costs

Private Equity Firm

For purposes of the SBIR/STTR programs, private equity firm has the meaning given the term ‚private equity fund‚ in section 13(h)(2) of the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956 (12 U.S.C. 1851(h)(2)).

Program Announcement

A PA is a formal statement about a new or ongoing extramural activity or program. It may serve as a reminder of continuing interest in a research area, describe modification in an activity or program, and/or invite applications for grant support. Most applications in response to PAs may be submitted to a standing submission date and are reviewed with all other applications received at that time using standard peer review processes. NIH may also make funds available through PARs (PAs with special receipt, referral, and/or review considerations) and PASs (PAs with set-aside funds).

PAs may be used for any support mechanism other than construction awards. Unless otherwise specified in the PA, new applications (and associated renewal and revision applications) submitted in response to PAs are treated as investigator-initiated. PAs also are used to annually solicit applications for the SBIR and STTR programs. Those applications must be received by the dates specified in the PA.

Program Announcements (PA) are published in the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts. Go to Program Announcements. Learn more about types of funding opportunity announcements.

Program Balance

The need to balance an Institute's support of research in all its programmatic areas with its high-quality applications eligible for funding.

Programmatic Reduction

The dollar amount a grant award is reduced from the amount recommended by the study section (scientific review group).

Progress Report

Periodic, report submitted by the grantee and used by NIH to assess progress and, except for the final progress report of a project period, to determine whether to provide funding for the budget period subsequent to that covered by the report.

Project Number

Commonly referred to as the application number or grant number, depending upon its processing status. This unique identification number for the grant is composed of the type code, activity code, Institute code, serial number, support year, and/or suffix.

Project Performance Site

Location(s) of where the work described in the research plan will be conducted.

PROMIS

Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information Systems

Protected Personally Identifiable Information

PII - An individual's first name or first initial and last name in combination with any one or more of types of information, including, but not limited to, social security number, etc.

Public Access Policy

The NIH policy designed to ensure that the public has access to the published results of NIH-funded research.

PubMed

PubMed provides access to citations from biomedical literature. It includes over 17 million citations from MEDLINE and other life science journals for biomedical articles back to the 1950s, along with links to full text articles and other resources.