What are the roles of various NIDA extramural staff?
There are four classes of professional staff that you are most likely to encounter in your interactions with NIDA. They are the Program Official (or Project Officer) (PO), the Scientific Review Official (SRO, recently changed from Scientific Review Administrator or SRA and there may be some use of the older term in some documents), and either the Grants Management (GM) Officer or Specialist if you are developing a grant application, and the Contracting Officer (or Contract Specialist) if you are developing a contract proposal. Their roles are complementary and interlocking, and each is typically more active at different stages of the research process. The PO is usually the primary contact during the time period in which the Principal Investigator plans, develops and submits the application or proposal. The SRO has primary responsibility for the review of the application. Funding decisions and transfer of funds involve the PO and a GM or CS specialist. Research oversight and management,
