Clarification on Timing and Page Limits for Restructured Application Forms

Please note the clarification provided by NIH regarding the timing and page limits for the new NIH forms and instructions (please see NOT-OD-10-002 below or http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-10-002.html)

The use of new forms and instructions to submit applications for NIH funding will be determined strictly by application due date:

Applications intended for due dates before January 25, 2010 must use the current application packages and instructions.
Applications intended for due dates on or after January 25, 2010 must use the new application packages and instructions.
Applicant eligible for continuous submission have until February 7, 2010 to submit R01, R21, and R34 AIDS applications that would otherwise have been due on January 7, 2010, using the current form version.

For a period of time between late October and the beginning of February, applicants must carefully select which version of the FOA and application package they should be using. Anyone submitting an application for due dates before January 25, 2010 (or before February 7, 2010 for those eligible for continuous submission on AIDS R01, R21, and R34 applications) must use the application package and instructions provided with the archived version of the FOA.

Please see the following notes regarding page length for certain types of applications (more information is available below in NOT-OD-10-002):

For individual Career Development (K) applications, the Research Strategy does not include the Candidate Information section. The combined page limit for the Research Strategy and items 2-5 of the Career Development (K) Award Supplemental Form will be 12 pages.
For institutional Career Development (K12), Ruth L. Kirschstein NRSA Institutional Training (T), and International Training (D43, D71) applications, the page limit for items 2-5 of the Research Training Program Plan will remain at 25 pages.
For Research Education Projects (R25), the Research Strategy section will be used for attaching the Research Education Program Plan, which will be limited to 25 pages.

Please contact your ORPA Research Administrator if you have questions.

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

Clarification on Timing and Page Limits for Restructured Application Forms and Instructions that are required for Due Dates on or after January 25, 2010

Notice Number: NOT-OD-10-002

Key Dates
Release Date: October 8, 2009

Other Relevant Notices
NOT-OD-09-149 – Restructured Application Forms and Instructions for Submissions for FY2011 Funding

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

Purpose

This notice updates NOT-OD-09-149 to:

Clarify when to use the new application packages and instructions; and
Clarify page limits and changes to Career Development (K), Ruth L. Kirschstein NRSA Institutional Research Training (T), International Research Training (D43, D71), and Research Education (R25) applications.

Timing

The use of new forms and instructions to submit applications for NIH funding will be determined strictly by due date, not by fiscal year of funding.

Applications intended for due dates before January 25, 2010 must use the current application packages and instructions.
Applications intended for due dates on or after January 25, 2010 must use the new application packages and instructions.
Applicants eligible for continuous submission have until February 7, 2010 to submit R01, R21, and R34 AIDS applications that would otherwise have been due on January 7, 2010, using the current form version.

As stated in NOT-OD-09-149, NIH will be issuing new parent announcements that should be used for applications intended for due dates on or after January 25, 2010. NIH will be updating all other Funding Opportunity Announcements (FOAs) that have due dates on or after January 25, 2010 with new language and new application packages. Each updated FOA will include a link to the archived version of the current FOA.

As stated in NOT-OD-09-149, most of the FOAs will be updated with language changes and new application packages by December 2009. For a small number of FOAs with non-standard due dates between the end of November and December, updated forms and associated FOA changes will be made available approximately 10 days after the last due date in 2009.

Some FOAs will be terminated instead of updated, at the discretion of the lead NIH Institute or Center. In these cases, the FOA will be updated to reflect the new expiration date. Before submitting an application, the applicant should be sure to verify that the FOA is still active.

NOTE: To ensure equitable reviews, applications of the same Activity Code submitted using different application packages and instructions will not be reviewed together.

New Application Structure and Length

For individual Career Development (K) applications, the Research Strategy does not include the Candidate Information section. The combined page limit for the Research Strategy and items 2-5 of the Career Development (K) Award Supplemental Form will be 12 pages. Items 2-5 are:

Candidate’s Background
Career Goals & Objectives
Career Development/Training Activities During Award Period
Training in the Responsible Conduct of Research

For institutional Career Development (K12), Ruth L. Kirschstein NRSA Institutional Training (T), and International Training (D43, D71) applications, the page limit for items 2-5 of the Research Training Program Plan will remain at 25 pages. Items 2-5 will be:

Background
Program Plan
Recruitment and Retention to Enhance Diversity
Plan for Instruction in the Responsible Conduct of Research

The K12 and Training programs are also transitioning to an electronic submission process for due dates on or after January 25, 2010 (NOT-OD-09-113).

For Research Education Projects (R25), the Research Strategy section will be used for attaching the Research Education Program Plan, which will be limited to 25 pages.

Additional details on changes to the application packages and instructions, as well as details on the alignment of the application with review criteria for Career Development (K), Training (T), and Research Education (R25) applications may be found at the Enhancing Peer Review Web site.

Inquiries

Questions should be directed to grantsinfo@od.nih.gov.

For more information on NIH’s Enhancing Peer Review effort, visit http://enhancing-peer-review.nih.gov/.

Office of Research and Project Administration