What is a Research Congruency Review?

Grant congruency review is an evaluation of a grant award/proposal compared to the associated research protocol(s) to ensure consistency in the research activities that will be conducted.

At the University of Houston it is a one-way review grant/proposal-to-protocol(s) – i.e., everything described in the proposal must appear in the protocol(s), but the protocols can have additional experiments/procedures/etc.

Why is a Research Congruency Review needed?

Federal Regulations

Public Health Service (PHS) agencies and other federal sponsors

Congruency review is required for Public Health Serviece agencies and other Federal sponsors such as:

National Science Foundation

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Department of Veterans’ Affairs

Department of Defense

Department of Defense requires a side-by-side match and review of its awards and protocols, by the Animal Care and Use Review Office (ACURO) and Human Research Protection Office (HRPO), respectively. In order to assist the investigators with the DoD’s side-by-side review, the OARS congruency confirmation of DoD awards will be less flexible than for other awards. Please note: DoD agencies require that their ACURO approve University of Houston’s protocol before the work can begin. ACURO approval is the final requirement prior to DOD funding activities taking place.

NIH Grants Policy Statement

The NIH Grants Policy Statement (NIHGPS) makes available, in a single document, the policy requirements that serve as the terms and conditions of NIH grant awards. By accepting an award, grantees agree to comply with the requirements in the NIH Grants Policy Statement except where the notice of award states otherwise. Notices of policy changes published in the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts can supersede information in the NIH Grants Policy Statement. Compliance with these policy updates also becomes a term and condition of award. NIH incorporates these notices into the annual update of the NIH Grants Policy Statement.