Many funding agencies measure project personnel effort in person or calendar months rather than percentage (%). The National Institutes of Health (NIH) define person months as:
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.
Example: A faculty member with a 12-month appointment committing 10% effort would be reflected as 1.2 person months in a proposal budget.
FEDERAL AGENCY ROUNDUP
Updates from federal agencies for the week of 09/08/2025
- NIH released NOT-OD-25-154: Implementation of NIH Research Security Policies outlining a series of requirements to strengthen transparency and accountability across NIH funded projects.
- The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) released its new strategic priorities, which can be viewed here.
- NIH released a statement outlining a comprehensive effort to modernize the biosafety framework.
- NIH released NIH NOT-OD-25-152 Preview of NIH Common Forms for Biographical Sketch and Current and Pending (Other) Support Coming Soon to SciENcv regarding preview versions of NIH Common Forms being visible on SciEncv.
Stay up-to-date and informed by visiting the Pitt Research Executive Orders and Federal Funding website.