Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS)/ National Institutes of Health (NIH)

Small Research Grants (R03) and Exploratory/Developmental Grants (R21) -- Required Submission through Grants.gov

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has announced that applications to the Small Research Grants (R03), Exploratory/Developmental Grants (R21), Phased Innovation Award (R21/R33), and the NIH Clinical Trial Planning Grant (R34) mechanisms must now be submitted through the Grants.gov system (http://www.grants.gov). Principal Investigators (PIs) will no longer use the PHS 398 forms to submit applications to these programs; instead, applications must be submitted using the new SF 424 Research and Related (R&R) forms set.

In order to apply, PIs must download the Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) and application package for the specific program to which they are applying. Only the forms package directly attached to a specific FOA can be used. The application package associated with a particular funding opportunity will include all forms, required and optional.

Small Research Grants (R03): NIH has issued a new “Parent R03” announcement (http://grants2.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PA-06-180.html). PIs planning to submit applications under the R03 mechanism will apply using this announcement and the accompanying application package unless an Institute or Center has issued a new FOA on or after March 2, 2006 soliciting R03 applications. When an Institute or Center has issued a new FOA, PIs will apply using the new announcement and the accompanying application package. A list of programs for which new announcements will be issued can be found at http://grants2.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-06-046.html. In some cases the new announcements may specify different application characteristics, review criteria, and receipt dates.

Exploratory/Developmental Grants (R21): NIH has issued a new “Parent R21” announcement (http://grants2.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PA-06-181.html). PIs planning to submit applications under the R21 mechanism will apply using this announcement and the accompanying application package unless an Institute or Center has issued a new FOA (on or after March 2, 2006) soliciting R21 applications. When an Institute or Center has issued a new FOA, PIs will apply using the new announcement and the accompanying application package. A list of programs for which new announcements will be issued can be found at http://grants2.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-06-046.html. In some cases the new announcements may specify different application characteristics, review criteria, and receipt dates.

NIH Clinical Trial Planning Grant (R34): NIH has not issued a Parent R34 FOA. Each Institute and Center will issue separate R34 announcements.

When preparing an application, PIs should consult not only the appropriate FOA issued by NIH but also the new NIH SF 424 (R&R) Application Guide, available at http://grants2.nih.gov/grants/funding/424/index.htm. The SF424 (R&R) Application Guide contains detailed, NIH-specific instructions for completing the SF 424 (R&R) forms set and is critical to submitting a complete and accurate application to NIH. There are fields within the SF424 (R&R) application components that, although not marked as mandatory by Grants.gov, are required by NIH. NIH Agency-specific instructions for such fields are clearly identified in the NIH SF424 (R&R) Application Guide.

Applications must be submitted to Grants.gov by Boston University's Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP). R03 and R21 applications may be submitted at anytime between May 2, 2006 and June 1, 2006 at 5:00pm. Investigators should contact the OSP Assistant Director assigned to their school or department as soon as possible to coordinate submission through Grants.gov.

After submission, applications will be transferred from Grants.gov to the NIH eRA Commons system for validation. Both the PI and the Signing Official for the University must verify the submission within 2 business days of the application’s availability in the eRA Commons system. If errors are found during the validation process, the application must be corrected and resubmitted through Grants.gov. Eventually, NIH will require that an error-free application be submitted to Grants.gov by the application deadline; however, NIH is providing some flexibility for the first submission dates of a transitioned mechanism. Applicant institutions can submit changed/corrected applications in the week following the submission deadline as long as the changes made are needed to address errors encountered during the NIH business rule validation process. If the one week correction window is used, the application must include the PHS 398 Cover Letter form component with an explanation for why the corrected application is required.

Investigators planning to submit an R03 or R21 application must be registered in the NIH eRA Commons system (https://commons.era.nih.gov/commons/). In addition, any individual appearing on the grant as a PI, Co-PI, senior or key personnel must also be registered in the Commons.

Please contact Kathleen Foster (kfoster@bu.edu) or Eleanor Greene (ergreene@bu.edu) in the Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP) with questions about electronic submission of NIH applications or to register as an eRA Commons user. Investigators who are already registered with the Commons as an NIH peer-reviewer will still need to contact OSP to affiliate their accounts with Boston University. Additional information about Grants.gov can be obtained through the OSP website at http://www.bu.edu/osp.