Office of Research and Project Administration

Effective August 8, 2009, Individual National Research Service Award (NRSA) Fellowships (F-series) applications must be submitted electronically through Grants.gov. 

Paper applications will not be accepted for submissions on or after the August 8 transition. 

Transition of these application types to Electronic submission has necessitated some changes in NH’s business practices (please see detailed information in NOT-OD-09-160 below and at http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-09-106.html

 In summary:

1. Reference letters – these must now be submitted via NIH Commons (they are no longer submitted with the application.

2. Resubmissions – resubmission are permitted but these resubmission applications must include an Introduction addressing the previous peer review critique (Summary Statement).

3. Review Criteria - Reviewers will provide an overall impact/priority score, and will consider each of the five criteria listed below in NOT-OD-09-106

Please contact your ORPA Research Administrator with any questions or concerns.

Donna Beyea - x5-8037

Anne Corriveau – x3-2137 

Gayle Elledge - x 5-1502

Brenda Kavanaugh - x5-1504

Tammie Martin - x3-3960

Jane Tolbert - x5-4210

Cheryl Williams - x5-1503

 

Announcing New Business Processes and Confirming the Transition of Individual National Research Service Award (NRSA) Fellowship (“F”) Applications to Electronic Submission

Notice Number: NOT-OD-09-106

Key Dates
Release Date: June 12, 2009

Issued by
National Institutes of Health (NIH), (http://www.nih.gov)

Effective with the August 8, 2009 submission date, all grant applications for the Individual National Research Service Award (NRSA) Fellowships (F-series) will require electronic submission through Grants.gov to eRA Commons.  Paper applications will not be accepted for submissions on or after the August 8 transition.  Funding Opportunity Announcements (FOAs) for F-series programs have been updated and will also be announced in the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts.  For a complete listing of Fellowship FOAs, see the F-Kiosk: http://grants1.nih.gov/training/F_files_nrsa.htm. 
Several new business processes are being implemented concurrent with the transition to electronic submission:

1. Reference Letters:  The electronic submission of reference letters is separate from the electronic submission of applications. Reference letters are submitted directly through the eRA Commons and do not use Grants.gov.  Therefore, fellowship applicants must follow the Reference Letter Instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Individual Fellowship Application Guide for specific directions (Part 1, Section 5.4). Letters of reference are an important component of the application for fellowship support.  Applicants must arrange to have at least three (but no more than five) letters of reference submitted on their behalf to the eRA Commons Web site at: https://commons.era.nih.gov/commons/reference/submitRefereeInformation.jsp. 

2. Resubmissions: Applicants may submit a resubmission application, but such application must include an Introduction addressing the previous peer review critique (Summary Statement). See new NIH policy on resubmission (amended) applications (NOT-OD-09-003, NOT-OD-09-016). Please note that when resubmitting an application electronically via Grants.gov, applicants must also resubmit their letters of reference through the eRA Commons as described above.

3. Review Criteria: Reviewers will provide an overall impact/priority score, and will consider each of the five criteria below in determining scientific and technical merit and will give a separate score for each:

• Fellowship Applicant
• Sponsor(s), Collaborator(s), and Consultant(s)
• Research Training Plan
• Training Potential
• Institutional Environment and Commitment to Training

Inquiries

Questions concerning this notice should be directed to:

Office of Extramural Programs
Office of Extramural Research
National Institutes of Health
Phone: 301-451-4225
Email: nihtrain@mail.nih.gov

**************************************************************

Jane Tolbert
Research Administrator
Office of Research & Project Administration
University of Rochester
503 Hylan Building
RC Box 270140
Rochester, NY 14627
Phone: 585-275-4210
Fax: 585-275-9492
Email: jtolbert@orpa.rochester.edu