NOT-OD-06-066: NIH Announces Plans to Eliminate Mailing of Paper Assignment and Change of Assignment Letters

NIH Announces Plans to Eliminate Mailing of Paper Assignment and Change of Assignment Letters

Notice Number: NOT-OD-06-066

Key Dates
Release Date: May 3, 2006

Issued by
National Institutes of Health (NIH), (http://www.nih.gov/)

The purpose of this Notice is to inform the research community of a change, effective June 1, 2006 in business process concerning assignment and change of assignment notification letters.

In September 2005, NIH announced the elimination of the mailing of Peer Review Outcome Letters and Summary Statements (see NOT-OD-05-075; http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-05-075.html). As the NIH continues towards its goal of a paperless grants process, effective June 1, 2006 NIH will no longer send paper notification of assignment and change of assignment letters.

A major motivation for this change is that effective May 10, 2006 all applications submitted to NIH must include the eRA Commons User name for all Project Directors/Principal Investigators (PD/PIs). This applies to paper applications as well as electronic applications. For additional information see the following sites:

NIH Announces Interim Changes to the PHS 398 Application and Instructions : http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-06-056.html)
SF424RR Application Guide: http://grants1.nih.gov/grants/funding/424/index.htm).

Therefore, investigators will need to use the eRA Commons, a Web interface where NIH and the applicant organizations are able to conduct extramural research administration business electronically, to obtain this information.

Applicant Organizations must be registered in the eRA Commons before an account may be established for its investigators. The NIH strongly encourages Principal Investigators to contact their institution's Office of Sponsored Programs for registration guidance. The following resources for the eRA Commons should be of assistance in the process:

Home Page for registration and updates: https://commons.era.nih.gov/commons/
Frequently Asked Questions: https://commons.era.nih.gov/commons/faq.jsp
Commons Helpdesk at 1-866-504-9552 or via e-mail at [email protected]

In addition to complying with a Congressional mandate to move from paper-based to electronic systems, these new procedures will also improve consistency and timeliness of communication between NIH, investigators, and institutions during the grant application process.

In order to avoid delays in the e-notification process, it is vital that all Grantee Organizations, Principal lnvestigators , and Individual Fellows are registered in the eRA Commons and e-mail addresses are checked periodically for accuracy.

NOTE: This change in business process does not apply to applications for the Agency for HealthCare Research and Quality or the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Inquiries

Inquiries on this NIH Guide Notice may be directed to:

Division of Grants Policy
Office of Policy for Extramural Research Administration
National Institutes of Health
6705 Rockledge Drive, Suite 350
Bethesda, MD 20892
Telephone: (301) 435-0938
FAX: (301) 435-3059
Email: [email protected]