Notice Number: NOT-OD-15-095

Key Dates
Release Date: April 15, 2015

Issued by
National Institutes of Health (NIH)

Purpose

The purpose of this notice is to remind applicants, both investigators and grants office officials, that to be fair to all concerned the NIH needs to consistently apply standards for application compliance.

Policy

Be mindful that non-compliance can have serious consequences. NIH may withdraw any application identified during the receipt, referral and review process that is not compliant with the instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide, the Funding Opportunity Announcement, and relevant NIH Guide Notices.

Some examples of how this policy is applied to NIH applications include but are not limited to:

• Applications containing one or more biosketches that do not conform to the required format may be withdrawn (NOT-OD-15-032).
• Applications that do not conform to the page limit requirements because inappropriate materials have been included in other parts of the application may be withdrawn (NOT-OD-11-080).
• Applications submitted as new but containing elements of a resubmission or renewal application are noncompliant with the resubmission policy and may be withdrawn (NOT-OD-15-059).
• Applications submitted after 5 PM local (applicant organization) time on the application due date may be withdrawn (NOT-OD-15-039).

It is important to remember that these are just examples, and that all requirements specified in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide, the Funding Opportunity Announcement, and relevant NIH Guide Notices are to be followed. When in doubt about compliance policy, contact NIH "Grants Info" or the Division of Receipt and Referral as listed below.

If an application is withdrawn because it does not conform to the application preparation and submission instructions, a letter will be placed in the eRA Commons Status page for that application. The PD/PI and the AOR from the applicant organization will be notified by eRA Commons to access their account and view the explanatory letter.

Inquiries

Please direct all inquiries to:

Grants Info
Office of Extramural Research (OER)
National Institutes of Health
Telephone: 301-945-7573
Email: [email protected]

or

Division of Receipt and Referral
Center for Scientific Review (CSR)
National Institutes of Health
Telephone: 301-435-0715
Email: [email protected]