Just-in-Time

Questions and Answers Table of Contents

What does "just-in-time" refer to?

Just-in-time (JIT) refers to information that we ask you to send us after your application goes through initial peer review and is within the range of possible funding. NIH will need this information but does not require it with your application.

In fact, if you send other support information before we request it, NIH may delay processing your application or return it without peer review. For basic instructions, see our Just-in-Time SOP.

For more information, see You Will Send Some Materials Just-in-Time and Prepare Your Just-in-Time Information in the NIH Grant Cycle: Application to Renewal.

How does NIH notify me of my JIT requirements?

• Standard automailers. Center for Scientific Review issues these JIT requests for R01 applications that get a percentile rank of 20 or below. See the sample JIT mailer, which links to JIT instructions describing what you need to send in.
• Personalized mailers: NIAID's Grants Management Program (GMP) issues personally tailored JIT requests for applications that are chosen for funding.
  • To learn more about the type of information GMP requests, see:
    • Sample Just-in-Time Request for Applicants Receiving Good Priority Scores.
    • Sample SBIR and STTR Just-in-Time Correspondence.
    • SBIR Verification Statement.
    • STTR Verification Statement.

How and when will I find out if I need to send information just-in-time?

• Standard automailers. Center for Scientific Review sends a JIT notification 15 days after releasing the percentile to the principal investigator, institutional business official, and program officer at NIH.
• Standard information on eRA Commons. You can access standard information and submission instructions in your eRA Commons account. Log on, go to the Status section, locate your NIH grant number, and click on the JIT link in the Action column of the Status page.
• Personalized mailers. NIAID's Grants Management Program sends you a JIT notification when your application is chosen for funding.

All mailers are usually sent by email.

Now that I have an eRA Commons Account, will I still receive a standard automailer?

Yes.

Will I get my summary statement before the JIT notification?

The timeline varies. NIH releases summary statements through the eRA Commons about eight weeks after your application is peer reviewed. So you could receive it before, simultaneously, or after your just-in-time notification.

Do the percentile criteria for distributing standard JIT automailers vary according to each IC's payline?

No. The 20 percent-or-less policy is NIH-wide for all PIs. Here's a hypothetical example of how it works: if NIAID's payline is at the 12 percentile and an application receives a percentile of 20, the Center for Scientific Review would send a standard automailer.

If I receive a JIT notification, does that mean I'll get an award?

A JIT notification is not a guarantee of award. It indicates that your application is being considered for an award. If you submit information that reveals an administrative issue that cannot be resolved, for example a human subjects problem, your grant may not be funded.

What information do I submit just-in-time?

We need four categories of JIT information from you to make an award. You must submit other support information just-in-time.

Send human subjects and research animals information if you did not include it with your application. Whether you send the certifications with your application or just-in-time, they should be sent together, not separately.

• Other support. See Prepare Your Other Support Submission in the NIH Grant Cycle: Application to Renewal.
• Institutional review board human subjects certification. If human subjects are involved, provide the Federalwide Assurance number (if changed from the initial submission) and the certification date of institutional review board review and approval. Pending or out-of-date approvals are not acceptable.
• Institutional animal care and use committee, vertebrate animals certification. If research animals are involved, please provide the assurance number (if changed from the initial submission), verification of institutional animal care and use committee (IACUC) approval with date, and any IACUC-imposed changes. Pending or out-of-date approvals are not acceptable.
• Human subjects education certification. For grants involving human subjects, provide certification that each person identified under key personnel involved in human subjects research has completed education in the protection of human subjects. See Other Reporting Requirements, Document Training in Research Conduct, and a Sample Letter to Document Training in the Protection of Human Subjects in All About Grants Tutorials.

Can I submit IACUC review or IRB review and training documentation with the original application?

Yes. See the Just-in-Time SOP for more information.

What's the deadline for submitting JIT information?

Read the Just-in-Time SOP.

How can I be sure I'm sending in all the necessary information?

Before you send in your JIT information, take another look at your JIT notification mailer to make sure you've responded to everything requested. To double check, compare the list of information you're sending to the just-in-time information in Checklist for Part 8. Assignment and Review of our Checklists for the NIH Grant Cycle.

How do I submit JIT information?

Give the information to your institutional business official. For further details, read the Just-in-Time SOP.

NIH prefers you submit documentation through the eRA Commons, but you may fax it to your grants management specialist.

If you're going to fund my application and I send my JIT information when requested, can you expedite my award?

Once we receive your JIT information, it's possible we will be able to expedite issuing your award.

If I don't send you the correct information or don't send it on time, will someone alert me?

Whom should I contact if I have additional questions?

Contact the program officer identified on the priority score mailer. You can also find contact information for the program officer and grants management specialist on Commons Status.

Wouldn't it be more effective to send everything with the original application?

No. A delay in sending some information benefits both you and NIH. It significantly relieves the administrative burden for the investigators who won't get awards. Also your JIT information will be current rather than several months old.

JIT makes peer review more fair by ensuring that peer reviewers do not see your other support information during review and cannot be influenced by that information.

Is JIT only used by NIAID?

No. JIT is an NIH initiative. In 1995, four institutes including NIAID issued a request for applications that incorporated JIT procedures. The results of that pilot convinced NIH to expand implementation of "just-in-time" procedures. For more information see the March 29, 1996, Guide notice.

Do JIT procedures apply to all investigators now?

Yes.

Is there a Web site for JIT?

NIAID provides information and advice in its All About Grants tutorials and Extramural SOPs. A good starting point is Prepare Your Just-in-Time Information in the NIH Grant Cycle: Application to Renewal. Also, check out You Will Send Some Materials Just-in-Time.

For staff only, NIH has a JIT Web site on its Grants Management Infonet.

If I need to adjust person months for my other support, would I do so to my pending application or to an active grant?

Generally, you would adjust person months to your pending application, though you can adjust effort for your active projects.

If you go the second route, note the following about approvals for changes to effort:

• For an active grant not funded by NIH -- your institutional business official must submit documentation (i.e., a letter or email) indicating that the funding organization has approved the change.
• For an active grant funded by NIAID -- the grants management specialist for your pending application must obtain written approval from the program officer of the active grant.
• For an active grant funded by another NIH institute -- the grants management specialist for your pending application must obtain written approval (email) from the other institute's grants management specialist, who must get approval from the program officer.

What if my question wasn't answered here, or I'd like to suggest a question?

Email deaweb@niaid.nih.gov with the title of this page or its URL and your question or comment. We answer questions by email and post them here. Thanks for helping us clarify and expand our knowledge base.