Overview of the ARRA
Congress passed and President Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), also known as the Stimulus Package, in February 2009. Contained within this act is the allocation of billions of dollars for research at the nation's universities, funded through the federal funding agencies.
Through the agencies there will be funding opportunities, although most funds will be distributed to those who are currently funded or have proposals reviewed recently. These opportunities will vary depending upon the agency.
As of February 26, 2009, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has not yet approved plans submitted by agencies for the spending of ARRA funds. Thus, information from the agencies is not yet well defined.
A prime ARRA priority is the creation and retention of jobs.
ARRA funding will come with an additional reporting burden. All faculty who receive ARRA funding will need to spend time fulfilling the reporting burden which is likely to happen on a time scale of weeks to months - i.e., faster than the usual annual reports. We do not yet know the scale of this burden.
Actions faculty and staff can take:
Keep in close contact with their program officers at the funding agencies.
- Inquire if recently reviewed but not funded proposals will be considered for ARRA funding. (Note: one may need to limit the project scope (e.g., the specific aims) to meet short time lines for project completion; one may also need to indicate how the project will create/retain jobs).
- Inquire if supplemental funding of currently funded proposals is a possibility. (Again: you will likely need a limited scope and jobs creation/retention)
(Not all agencies will have either of these mechanisms.)