Why Would NIH Withdraw an Application?

We understand it can be quite stressful to hear NIH has withdrawn your submitted grant application before it went to peer review. In this NIH All About Grants podcast episode, we will get into why and how applications may be administratively withdrawn. Dr. Ray Jacobson, the Acting Director of the Division of Receipt and Referral at the Center for Scientific Review, walks us through the process. He will go into the reasons for withdrawing an application, how often it happens, what you will hear from NIH staff, next steps you may take (including appealing a determination), the difference from when applicants request a withdrawal, and other advice to reduce the likelihood that your application may be withdrawn.

“We don't withdraw applications lightly at all…we actually will do quite a bit to try to avoid withdrawing an application because our primary intent is to…get applications to review.” – Dr. Ray Jacobson