Upcoming Resources
- 3/13/2026 Upcoming May 25, 2026 NIH Requirements Open Office Hours (April 30, 2026)
NOT-OD-26-079
The National Institutes of Health (NIH), in coordination with AHRQ, CDC, and the VA, has announced that the leniency period for the use of Common Forms for the Biographical Sketch and Current & Pending (Other) Support will end on May 7, 2026. Beginning May 8, 2026, all NIH submissions must use fully compliant Common Forms, as system warnings will be converted to errors, and non-compliant submissions will be rejected. This requirement applies broadly across submission types and is critical to avoid delays.
Key points:
- Effective May 8, 2026: Required use of Common Forms for:
- New grant applications
- Just-In-Time (JIT) submissions
- RPPRs and Prior Approval requests
- System enforcement:
- Before May 8: warnings only
- On/after May 8: errors will block submission
- Updated form capabilities (as of April 22, 2026):
- Ability to enter zero person months effort (version 2026-1)
- Reintroduction of Research Security Training (RST) certification
- Required for due dates on or after May 25, 2026
- If forms were prepared before April 22, 2026:
- Regenerate prior to submission if not yet submitted
- If Research Security Training Certification is not included in the Commons Forms, then it needs to be re-downloaded for May 25, 2026, and beyond.
Investigators must use SciENcv to generate compliant, digitally certified forms and ensure their ORCID iD is properly linked and consistent across SciENcv and eRA Commons personal profile. UCSF researchers are strongly encouraged to transition now to avoid submission issues.
Previous Announcements
- 2/6/2026 NIH Extends Leniency Period for Common Forms Implementation(includes past notices and links to presentations)