Frequently Asked Questions
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Submission Deadline
- What is the submission deadline — the date/time the application
is stamped as received by Grants.gov or the date/time the data is received
by NIH?
Applications must be submitted to Grants.gov by 5 p.m. local time (of the applicant institution/organization) on the submission/receipt date. If the submission/receipt date falls on a weekend or Federal holiday, the date will be extended to the next business day.
- What is on-time submission?
- For an application to be on time, ultimately it will need to be a completely error-free application (i.e., passed Grants.gov and eRA Commons validations without errors) submitted to Grants.gov by 5:00 p.m. local time of the applicant organization on the receipt date. If the submission deadline falls on a weekend or Federal holiday, the date will be extended to the next business day.
- However, during the transition from paper to electronic applications, NIH is allowing a correction window of two business days to help applicant organizations adjust to the new process. NIH expects that all registration requirements are met prior to the initial application submission and that the initial application is submitted to Grants.gov on or before the submission deadline. Further, any errors must be corrected and an application image generated within the two business days following the submission deadline.
- This two business day correction window is for correcting errors and/or warnings that were identified by the electronic eRA system. This window is not for tweaking the content of the research plan or other parts of the application, but for working through specific errors on the forms identified during the submission process.
- Please remember that NIH will not maintain this correction window for the long term. NIH strongly recommends that applicant organizations target an error-free application to Grants.gov by the deadline now, so that when the correction window shrinks or goes away, they will be prepared.
- Note: If the correction window of two business days is used to correct an application after the receipt deadline, the application must include a cover letter including the Grants.gov tracking number for the original submission and an explanation for why the corrected application is required. If a cover letter is already included with the application, this information should be added to the original cover letter. Use the PHS 398 Cover Letter form component found with the optional documents in the application package to attach a cover letter to the application.
- What is NIH's policy for late applications?
The late policy remains in effect regardless of mode of delivery (paper or electronic). See the following NIH Guide Notices:- NIH Policy on Late Submission of Grant Applications (Jan. 4, 2008)
- Clarification of NIH Policy on Late Submission of Grant Applications (Sept. 2, 2008)
System problems
- What contingency plans are in place in case the Grants.gov and
eRA Commons systems have technical problems on a submission/receipt date?
If an application has to be submitted again because of Grants.gov system
problems, will these be considered "late"?
NIH will not penalize the applicant for Grants.gov or eRA Commons system issues. If you encounter a system problem, immediately contact the eRA Commons Help Desk to report the issue. As soon as the help desk staff confirms a system issue, they will document the issue and continue to work with you until the problem is resolved.NIH's contingencies provide for extending submission dates when Grants.gov is unavailable for a significant period of time leading up to a deadline. The NIH Guide, Electronic Submission Program email lists and Electronic Submission Web site will be the primary vehicles used to communicate any deadline extensions. If eRA Commons experiences a significant interruption in service just after a submission deadline, the error-correction window may be extended to provide applicants with the necessary time to check submission status, address errors and view their corrected applications. The Electronic Submission email lists and Electronic Submission website will be the primary vehicle used to communicate error-correction window extensions.
Please be aware that if your submission failed to complete because you did not follow all the instructions, NIH is under no obligation to accept your late application.
