About the Office of Extramural Research (OER) at NIH

Our Mission

OER provides the corporate framework for NIH research administration, ensuring scientific integrity, public accountability, and effective stewardship of the NIH extramural research portfolio. It oversees activities related, but not limited to, high-profile digital platforms, grant compliance, peer review, communications with the extramural community, scientific misconduct, human subjects protection, and laboratory animal welfare.

Overview: 

The OER is an office within the NIH Office of the Director. OER supports the entire NIH extramural research community by providing policy, guidance, systems and other support to the recipient community as well as to the 24 NIH Institutes and Centers that award grants. OER serves as a vital interface for the biomedical research community by guiding investigators through the process of attaining grants funding and helping them understand and navigate through federal policies and procedures.

Responsibilities:

• Provide authoritative resources for the corporate framework for all phases of NIH extramural research funding (e.g., eRA, NIH Guide to Grants and Contracts, NIH Data Book)
• Implement and inform infrastructure, policies, processes, and procedures that enable the execution of NIH extramural research programs (e.g., Funding Opportunity Announcements (FOAs), staff training, Loan Repayment Program, SBIR/STTR)
• Ensure the integrity of and compliance with applicable laws, regulations, and policies that govern NIH extramural research funding. (e.g., awards oversight, research misconduct, peer review integrity, clinical trials, animal welfare)

Organization:

View full printable OER Organization Chart (PDF)
 

Key Successes and Trans-NIH Initiatives 2016-2019

Success Stories:

• Addressing integrity threats due to research misconduct, breaches of peer review confidentiality, inappropriate foreign influences, sexual harassment in the scientific workplace, and inappropriate behavior of NIH staff regarding grants stewardship 
• Enhancing electronic resources to improve automation and reduce burden, including modernization of the NIH Data Book, deployment of an internal analysis and reporting tool, and deployment of the new FOA system
• Providing new centralized services for the institutes and centers, such as creating guidelines for implementing Other Transaction Authority programs, streamlining grants closeout procedures, and ensuring compliance with the NIH public access policy

Trans-NIH Initiatives:

• Performing data analyses and communications activities to support the Next Generation Researchers Initiative and related ACD Working Group 
• Implementing NIH clinical trials policies, including clinical trials oversight, registration, and results dissemination
• Deploying a new system in eRA for managing review committees as part of Optimize NIH, Committee Management Next Generation