Application Receipt and Referral

Learn what happens once your application is received by NIH, including how we determine which study section it will go to for peer review and how we assign it to an NIH institute, center, or office for funding consideration.

Once your application is received by NIH, it is checked for completeness, and assigned both to an NIH institute, center, or office for funding consideration, and to a study section, also known as a scientific review group or review committee, where it will go to for peer review.

All grant applications submitted to the NIH go to the Division of Receipt and Referral (DRR) within the Center for Scientific Review (CSR).

After receiving the application, the Division of Receipt and Referral (DRR) within the Center for Scientific Review (CSR) then: During this time, applicants can use eRA Commons to:
  • Checks the application for completeness
  • Considers the area of research and determines which NIH Institute or Center to assign it to for possible funding
  • Assigns an application identification number
  • Assigns application to a specific study section, also known as a scientific review group (SRG) or review committee that has the expertise to evaluate the scientific and technical merit of the application
    • CSR coordinates the reviews for >75% of NIH grants, including most R01s, fellowships, and small business applications
    • Institutes and centers coordinate the review for applications that have institute-specific features such as program project grants, training grants, career development awards, and responses to Requests for Applications
  • Retrieve assignment information
  • Find contact information for the assigned program and scientific review officers
  • Find review meeting and council meeting dates
  • Withdraw submitted applications from consideration, see Withdraw Your Application
Tip
For more information on the Receipt and Referral process, see CSR: Submission and Assignment.

Contact

Have questions about the assignment of your application to a particular institute or center? Contact the CSR referral office at 301-435-0715 or or csrdrr@mail.nih.gov. Or if you have a question about the review assignment, you can contact the referral office or the specific scientific review officer (SRO) assigned to that application.

For questions during the peer review process, contact:

  • Scientific review officer (SRO) displayed in eRA Commons (while under peer review)
  • Program Official (PO) displayed in eRA Commons (after the summary statement is released)
This page last updated on: September 3, 2024
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