Notice Number: NOT-OD-17-041

Key Dates
Release Date: February 6, 2017

Issued by
National Institutes of Health (NIH)

Purpose

This notice describes the impact of Federal office closures on grant application due dates.

Although Grants.gov and eRA Commons systems are fully functional and many NIH employees telework in lieu of taking leave during office closures, we are unable to guarantee the same level of support from service desks and staff as provided when offices are open. For this reason, effective immediately, we will shift grant application due dates to the next business day under specific emergency conditions.

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) determines the operating status for Federal offices in the Washington, DC area and provides that status on their Snow and Dismissal Procedures site. Grant applicants should consult this site to determine NIH operating status.

Grant application due dates will move to the next business day when the OPM operating status on the original due date is:

• Federal offices are closed Emergency and telework-ready employees must follow their agency’s policies
  
• Open - Early departure
  
• Immediate departure Federal offices are closed
  
• Shelter-in-place

Important Notes

• NIH posts all funding opportunity announcements (FOAs) in a way that allows application submissions to continue for a short period of time following the FOA expiration date. This grace period provides NIH with the flexibility to institute contingency plans when needed and leaves the determination of on-time submission to NIH staff rather than systems.
  
• This policy also applies when the above OPM operating statuses fall on
  
  • the last day in a two week late window of consideration under the late policy
    
  • the last day in the receipt period for continuous submission applications
    
  • the due date for new investigator resubmission applications submitted for consecutive review cycles (New Investigator R01 Applications)
• This policy does NOT apply when the OPM operating status is
  • Open - Delayed arrival
    
  • Open with option for unscheduled leave or unscheduled telework
• This policy is not intended to cover NIH closures due to lapses in appropriation. In such cases, specific guidance will be issued, as appropriate.

No Change to Other Submission Policies

The following submission policies related to grant application due dates remain unchanged:

• Guidelines for Applicants Experiencing System Issues
• Due Dates on Holidays/Weekends
• Weather/Other Disasters (impacting applicant institutions)

Inquiries

Please direct all inquiries to:

NIH Grants Information
Email: [email protected] (preferred method of contact)
Telephone: 301-945-7573