Important Links on the NIH Website Posted on January 20, 2009 RFAs, program announcements, and other information important to researchers can be found on the NIDA website, states Dr. Yonette Thomas.

Particularly for NIDA and many NIH institutes, going to look at their website and funding, there's a link that says "funding" and under that link it's all the program announcements, all the requests for proposals, requests for applications, RFAs and those kinds of things, they're all there. And looking to see what's relevant, there may be a program announcement that's looking at behavioral and social science research and within that, people may find "Ah, this kind of associates with what I'm doing."

For the epidemiology research branch, our standing program announcement and most groups have a standing program announcement that has a life for about five years and then the sun sets and then you reissue it. But for us that about has everything, most everything that we're interested in. It doesn't have everything, and if someone doesn't see a link there, it doesn't mean that we're not interested in it.

The other thing is I think for NIH, a lot of outside investigators who do behavioral and social science research don't realize that the Office of Behavioral and Social Science Research, OBSSR at the NIH level, it's out of the Office of the Director, wonderful place to connect with. They don't actually give money out themselves, but they are an important link to, trans-NIH link on behavioral and social science research.

And great group of people working there, always interested to brainstorm new ideas, new behavioral and social science questions, and they'll always say "We're interested in that. When you connect with the institute, go to such and such institute, and if you end up submitting an application, let us know." Because you could get some co-funding out of that office, and that's something that a lot of investigators don't know.