NIH R01 Grant Applications Go Electronic
Training to be Held December 5
Beginning with the February 5, 2007 standard receipt date and
beyond, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) will require applicants
to submit all Research Project Grant R01 applications electronically — no
paper applications will be accepted. This change marks a major
milestone in the NIH’s transition to receive all grant applications
electronically, which began with the electronic submission of Small
Business Innovation Research applications in December 2005. Since
that time, NIH has received over 18,000 unique grant applications
and has engaged in a multi-pronged outreach effort to ensure that
its applicant community adjusts successfully to the new process.
“NIH has been committed to using information technology to improve
the grants administration process for many years,” said Dr. Norka
Ruiz Bravo, NIH Deputy Director for Extramural Research. “We look
forward to applicants benefiting from a single federal interface
for finding opportunities and submitting applications online; reviewers
having access to crisp, clear, color applications; and staff processing
of applications with a consistency that can be achieved only through
electronic processes.”
The transition to electronic submission is complex. It requires
that two systems with their own registration and validation processes
work together — Grants.gov,
the federal government’s single on-line portal to find and apply
for federal funding, and eRA Commons, the system that allows applicants
to interact electronically with NIH. The transition also involves
the simultaneous shift from the long-used PHS 398 application form
to a new trans-agency standard form, and fundamentally changes
the process by which investigators and grant applicant institutions
manage their grant submissions.
NIH expects that the R01 transition will set new application submission
records both at Grants.gov and
within the NIH eRA Commons. NIH recently made performance and capacity
improvements in its systems and helpdesks and is positioned to
handle the expected increased load. In addition, NIH has developed
contingency plans to ensure that any issues that do arise can be
addressed quickly and that applicants are not penalized for system
problems.
To ensure a smooth transition, NIH is strongly encouraging all
potential principal investigators to contact their central grants
offices immediately to learn how their institutions are handling
these application form and process changes. NIH will also host
a training event on Tuesday, December 5 to assist applicants and
organizations through this transition. The training is available
in-person and via Web cast and will be archived for later viewing
(see: http://era.nih.gov/training/esub_120506/).
Information on the submission process and additional training
and promotional resources are available on the NIH Electronic Submission
of Grant Application Web site: http://era.nih.gov/ElectronicReceipt/.
The Office of Extramural Research (OER), within the NIH Office
of the Director, serves as the focal point for policies and guidelines
for extramural research grants administration. This office has
primary responsibility for the development and implementation
of NIH Grants Policy, monitoring of compliance with PHS policy
on Humane Use and Care of Laboratory Animals, coordination of
program guidelines, and development and maintenance of the information
systems for grants administration. For more information about
OER, visit http://grants2.nih.gov/grants/oer.htm.
The Office of the Director, the central office at NIH, is
responsible for setting policy for NIH, which includes 27 Institutes
and Centers. This involves planning, managing, and coordinating
the programs and activities of all NIH components. The Office
of the Director also includes program offices which are responsible
for stimulating specific areas of research throughout NIH. Additional
information is available at http://www.nih.gov/icd/od/.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) — The Nation's
Medical Research Agency — includes 27 Institutes and
Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services. It is the primary federal agency for conducting
and supporting basic, clinical and translational medical research,
and it investigates the causes, treatments, and cures for both
common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and
its programs, visit www.nih.gov. |