NOT-OD-26-025 National Institutes of Health is reminding applicants and sponsored programs offices that applications must be fully complete and compliant at the time of submission. NIH will consistently enforce long-standing policies on application completeness and compliance and may withdraw applications that do not meet requirements before peer review outlined in NIH Grants Policy Statement 2.3.2, Eligibility along with 2.4.4, Disposition of Applications, consistent with 2 CFR 200.204 and 200.205.
Key Reminders for Applications
- Applications must comply with all instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide, the NOFO, and relevant NIH Guide Notices by the submission deadline (5:00 PM local time).
- Placeholder attachments are not allowed. Even if an application passes system validations, placeholder content makes the application incomplete and subject to withdrawal.
- Applicants must review the assembled application in eRA Commons and fix any errors before the deadline.
- Changed/Corrected submissions overwrite prior versions; submissions made after the deadline, even during the viewing window, are considered late.
- Late applications are accepted only under limited NIH policy exceptions; correcting an on-time submission is not an acceptable reason for late submission.
- Do not rely solely on eRA validations, not all policy violations generate system warnings or errors.
- Budgets must be accurate and policy-compliant; applicants should verify totals, especially when subawards are included.
Important Note on Missing Materials
NIH will not accept unsolicited corrections or replacements after submission. Only in rare cases, at NIH’s discretion, may limited missing materials be requested by NIH as an alternative to withdrawal.
Notifications
If an application is withdrawn or action is required, notices will be posted in eRA Commons and emailed to the PD/PI and AOR.