Prioritization and Approval Process
Sequencing projects will be selected by NIAID based on NIAID programmatic priorities, national priorities, cost considerations, available funds, sequencing capacities of the three centers, availability of source of DNA, and input from the Genome Sequencing Centers of Infectious Disease (GSC) Working Group. Levels of priority (high, medium, and low) for the sequencing project will be determined; the process will not involve the NIH peer review system.
It is anticipated that the review process will be completed within four to six weeks of the proposal receipt deadline. NIAID may revise this timeline if the number of proposals is more than expected or if other program priorities take precedence. Investigators will be notified electronically by NIAID or the sequencing center about the status of their sequencing projects.
Investigators wishing to apply for support to sequence an organism not described above must do so in the context of an investigator-initiated, hypothesis-driven, unsolicited research project application (R01), subject to standard NIH acceptance and peer-review procedures. NIAID will only accept such applications for review that contain a substantial research component beyond genome sequencing.
Post-Selection Process
Once the sequencing project is reviewed and selected, NIAID will select the NIAID GSC to perform the sequencing.
- The investigator or group of investigators must prepare a detailed Organization and Management plan for sequencing the organism or group of organisms in collaboration and consultation with the NIAID GSC and NIAID. The plan must include a detailed strategy for genotyping or sequencing and primary annotation and analysis, budget, specific information for acquiring the appropriate reagents, and a timeline with milestones for acquiring the appropriate reagents and determining the sequence and primary annotation.
- The NIAID GSC will develop a data and reagent sharing and release plan in consultation with the investigator or group of investigators and NIAID, prior to the actual sequencing, based on the data and reagent sharing and release plan for pre-publication of microbial genome sequence data developed by the Microbe Project Interagency Working Group.