Notice Number: NOT-OD-13-121

Key Dates
Release Date: September 26, 2013

Issued by
National Institutes of Health (NIH)

Purpose

The purpose of this Guide Notice is to remind applicants that NIH requires the use of updated application forms (Grants.gov application form packages with a Competition ID of ‘FORMS-C’) for most NIH grant programs. Individual Research Career Development Award Programs (Ks), Institutional Training and Career Development Programs (Ts and Ds), Individual National Research Service Awards (Fs) and small business applications will transition to updated forms at a later date. All other programs transition to FORMS-C application forms for due dates on or after September 25, 2013.

Old forms packages (with Competition IDs of ‘ADOBE-FORMS-B1’ or ‘ADOBE-FORMS-B2’) have been closed. If you attempt to submit an application with an old forms package, you may get the following message from Grants.gov:

'The Closing Date of the grant opportunity for which you have applied has already passed and the grantor agency is no longer accepting applications.'

Grants.gov gives this error under multiple conditions. In addition to being sent after an FOA has closed/expired, Grants.gov also gives this error when the grant opportunity is still active but the application is submitted using a forms package that is closed. If you receive this message, check the dates on the announcement and verify you have used the correct forms package (FORMS-C). The Do I have the Right Electronic Forms for My Application? resource describes how to identify the Competition ID throughout the application process.

Applicants are expected to submit their applications using the correct forms package by the due date/time. As always, NIH encourages applicants to submit early to allow time to address any unforeseen issues.

Inquiries

Please direct all inquiries to:

Grants Information
Office of Extramural Research
National Institutes of Health
Phone: 301-945-7573
Email: GrantsInfo@nih.gov
Website: https://grants.nih.gov/grants/oer.htm