Applications in response to program announcements, including some program announcements that identify location of peer review and some program announcements with set-aside funds.
All applications received in response to requests for applications, cooperative agreements, and center grants.
Certain investigator-initiated applications such as program projects, R34s, training, and career development awards.
Research and development contract proposals received in response to requests for proposals.

Are many investigator-initiated applications reviewed at NIAID?

A very small number are reviewed at NIAID, and they are primarily P01 applications and investigator-initiated clinical trial planning (R34) and implementation grants (U01). The majority of NIAID's peer review is for solicitations responding to requests for applications.

For more information, see NIAID Program Project (P01) Applications and Peer Review of Applications -- CSR questions and answers.

Is NIAID peer review similar to CSR peer review?

The process is essentially equivalent, with minor differences. See Do NIH CSR and NIAID conduct the same kind of peer review? in Peer Review of Applications -- CSR questions and answers.

Do NIAID staff check my application to make sure it's complete?

Yes. See SROs Assess Completeness, Assign Reviewers.

Is study section membership confidential?

No. You can find many NIAID rosters at Councils and Committees. However, not all are listed. For unlisted rosters, such as special emphasis panels, contact the scientific review officer.

After review, you will get a roster with your summary statement. It will not tell you which panel members were specifically assigned as primary, secondary, and tertiary reviewers, which is confidential information.

What happens if I respond to an RFA or RFP and one of the reviewers has a conflict of interest?

NIAID follows NIH policy for conflict of interest. Before serving on a review panel, all potential reviewers are required to disclose any conflict of interest. If a conflict is identified, that person may not be assigned to your application or the panel, depending on the type of conflict identified.

For each request for applications (RFA) or request for proposals (RFP), one panel reviews every response for that RFA or RFP. Only reviewers with no conflicts on a particular application or proposal are permitted to participate in the review of an application or proposal.

For more information, see the Conflict of Interest In Peer Review SOP.

Will NIAID review late applications?

See NIAID's Late Applications SOP.

If I'm serving on an NIH study section, am I eligible to apply at any time?

Possibly. Depending on your study section and application type, you may be able to apply at any time rather than wait for standard receipt dates.

Find eligibility requirements in the June 25, 2009, Guide notice . Also see NIH's Continuous Submission FAQ and NIAID's Late Applications SOP.

Additional Questions and Answers for Individual RFAs

We have specific questions and answers for the following RFAs:

RFA-AI-09-017 -- International Centers of Excellence for Malaria Research RFA questions and answers.

There are no other questions and answers for individual RFAs right now. When there are, we'll add them here.

Questions and Answers for Requests for Applications

Before Applying

Am I required to send a letter of intent if one is requested in the RFA?

No. A letter of intent is not required or binding and does not affect the review of a subsequent application. NIAID staff use letters of intent to estimate initial peer review workload, potential conflicts, and begin planning reviews.

How should I submit a letter of intent?

Follow instructions in the request for applications.

May I respond to an RFA with an application that's pending initial peer review?

No. NIH will not review an application in response to a request for applications that is essentially the same as a new, resubmission, or renewal application pending initial peer review unless you withdraw the pending application.

If my investigator-initiated application was not funded, may I resubmit it in response to an RFA?

Yes. However, it must be a new application, i.e., it should not include an introduction describing changes made to your previous submission. When you prepare the application, you should consider the peer review comments that you received and follow the format designated in the request for applications.

Also see Option 3: Create a New Application in the NIH Grant Cycle: Application to Renewal.

If my application was not funded under an RFA, may I resubmit it as an investigator-initiated application?

Yes. You can submit an application not funded under a request for applications as a new, investigator-initiated application. Follow the due date and instructions listed for your chosen funding opportunity announcement.

For more information, read If my R01 application does not get an award as part of an RFA, can I resubmit it as an investigator-initiated R01 application? in our RFAs, RFPs, and PAs questions and answers. Also see Option 3: Create a New Application in the NIH Grant Cycle: Application to Renewal.

Preparing the Application

The PHS 398 allows a budget request for only five years of funding. If an ICEMR is planned for six or seven years, how should the budget be requested?

Use Form Page 4 of the Budget Pages for the Initial Period of Support. Use Form Page 5 for years two, three, four, and five. Use a second Form Page 5 for the budgets of years six and seven.

Do I need to include a data sharing plan? If so, where does it go in the application?

Applicants must share their final research data for some program announcements and request for applications, as well as for all applications that seek $500,000 or more in direct costs in any year of a grant.

Final research data is defined as the recorded factual material commonly accepted by the scientific community as necessary to document, support, and validate research findings.

Regardless of cost, all applications that are genome-wide association studies (GWAS) also need a plan to share data.

Describe your plan -- or justify its absence -- in a brief paragraph in your Research Plan. Put the plan in the PHS 398 Resource Sharing Plan Section for a paper application or the Resource Sharing Plan attachment to the PHS 398 Research Plan form for an electronic application. It does not count toward the page limit.

You may include additional information on data sharing in other sections if appropriate. Find more information about data sharing on the NIH Data Sharing Policy Web page.

Also see our Data Sharing for Grants: Final Research Data SOP, Data Sharing for Grants: Genome-Wide Association Studies SOP, and a Sample Data Sharing Plan.

Some items required by the RFA do not agree with the generic form instructions. Which should I follow?

Special request for applications requirements always take precedence over generic form instructions. Multiproject applications may also have special requirements that take precedence -- see "Instructions for Preparing a Multiproject Research Application" for details.

What type of materials can I include in the Appendix?

For details, go to If You Need an Appendix in the NIH Grant Cycle: Application to Renewal.

How should I cite references? Should I cite all names for a large multi-author paper?

Give complete citations, including titles and authors. Read more on Other Project Information Form: Bibliography and References Cited in the NIH Grant Cycle: Application to Renewal.

When is my paper application due to NIH, by the receipt date or postmarked by the receipt date? What about electronic applications?

For paper applications, your application, copies, and other materials must be at NIH by the receipt date.

For electronic applications, the application deadline to Grants.gov is 5:00 p.m. your institution's local time on the submission date, and you can correct it because of validation issues up to two business days after that date. Learn How to Submit Electronically on Time in the NIH Grant Cycle: Application to Renewal.

For both paper and electronic applications, if a deadline lands on a weekend or federal holiday, it moves to the next business day. Read more of NIH's Submission Policies.

How should I submit a paper application?

Follow the instructions in the NIH Guide notice for your funding opportunity.

After Applying

If I'm sending a paper submission, how do I know if my application was assigned to the correct initiative?

You can see this information in the Commons along with other assignment information. Check periodically and the information will appear.

May I send addenda and supplementary materials to NIH after the receipt date?

Contact the scientific review officer to find out what materials will be accepted following the receipt date and the deadline. It is up to the SRO whether and when to accept supplementary materials after the receipt date.

Can I correct mistakes after I submitted the application?

If you have submitted an application and realize it contains incorrect information, notify the scientific review officer (SRO) immediately and explain the situation. At the discretion of the SRO, you may be able to submit a short document, such as a letter, that identifies the mistakes and provides a correction. The SRO will not remove pages from your original application -- the new material is simply added to your application.

For electronic applications, get more details in the Corrected or Late Electronic Applications questions and answers.

When should I contact the reviewers?

Never! You should discuss your application only with the scientific review officer from receipt until the peer review. After that, talk to the program officer.

I cannot find the roster on the Web site for the review meeting for my application. Where is it?

A roster for most NIAID requests for applications (RFA) is located at NIAID Special Emphasis Panels. In most cases, the roster will be posted approximately one month before the review meeting. Check the site again closer to the meeting date; the RFA may identify the month the review meeting is scheduled to take place. If you can't find the roster, contact the scientific review officer.

Can I find out the number of applications submitted for an RFA?

No. That information is confidential.

Who will handle proprietary rights and materials needed for the proposed research, and what will happen to inventions?

Applicants are solely responsible for obtaining the proprietary rights and materials needed to perform their research. The U.S. government is not required to obtain intellectual property rights or materials for applicants.

Applicants must report to the government any inventions made while conducting an NIH-supported project, as specified at 35 U.S.C. Sect. 202, the Bayh-Dole Act. Please refer to the request for applications for more details on intellectual property.

To learn more about invention reporting, see Invention Reporting Has Four Parts in the NIH Grant Cycle: Application to Renewal.

What if I can't find the answer to my question in the opportunity announcement or on this page?

Contact the staff person listed in the request for applications. See Section VII, Agency Contacts.

Where can I find more questions and answers about funding opportunities?

See RFAs, RFPs, and PAs and NIAID Program Project (P01) Applications.

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.

Look It Up

See the Glossary for terms.