Standard Due Dates for Competing Applications
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Standard Due Dates for Competing Applications

On This Page:   [General Information]   [Application Due Dates]   [Review & Award Cycles]   [Submission Policies]

General Information

  • Check the funding opportunity announcement (FOA) for due date information. If the FOA says “standard dates apply”, refer to table below.
  • All applications must be submitted in response to a FOA. Use Parent Announcements for “unsolicited” or "investigator-initiated" applications.
  • Submit AIDS and AIDS-related applications for all activity codes on the AIDS and AIDS-related dates.
  • For recent changes policies, including those affecting submission of grant applications see Selected NIH Policy Notices.
  • An active Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) must be cited for all paper and electronic submissions.
  • Activity Codes listed below may not always be in use.
Application Due Dates

Activity Codes
Program Description
Application
Form
Cycle I
Due Date
Cycle II
Due Date
Cycle III
Due Date

P Series
All - new, renewal, resubmission, revision

Program Project Grants and Center Grants

NOTE: Applicants should check with the relevant Institute or Center (IC), since some do not accept P series applications for all three receipt/review/award cycles.

Transition to SF424 (R&R): On Hold

January 25
May 25
September 25
R18/U18
R25

All - new, renewal, resubmission, revision

Research Demonstration
Education Projects

January 25
May 25
September 25

T Series

D Series
All - new, renewal, resubmission, revision

Institutional National Research
   Service Awards

Other Training Grants

NOTE: Applicants should check with the relevant Institute or Center (IC), since some do not accept T series applications for all three receipt/review/award cycles. Applicants should refer to the IC Table of Contacts for information for each IC’s scientific/research contact for the NRSA T32 program.

January 25
May 25
September 25

C06/UC6
All - new, renewal, resubmission, revision

Construction Grants
January 25
May 25
September 25

G07, G08, G11, G13, G20, S11, S21, S22, SC1, SC2, SC3
All - new, renewal, resubmission, revision

Other Activity Codes

January 25
May 25
September 25

D71/U2R, G12, M01, R10/U10, R24, R24/U24, S06, U19, U45, U54, U56
All - new, renewal, resubmission, revision

Other Activity Codes

Transition to SF424 (R&R): On Hold
January 25
May 25
September 25
R01
new
Research Grants

February 5
June 5
October 5
U01
new

Research Grants - Cooperative Agreements

February 5
June 5
October 5
UM1
new

Research Grants - Multi-Component Cooperative Agreements

February 5
June 5
October 5
K series
new
Research Career Development
February 12
June 12
October 12
R03, R21, R33, R21/R33, R34, R36
new
Other Research Grants

February 16
June 16
October 16
R15
All - new, renewal, resubmission, revision
Academic Research Enhancement Award (AREA)
February 25
June 25
October 25
R01
renewal, resubmission, revision
Research Grants
March 5
July 5
November 5
U01
renewal, resubmission, revision

Research Grants - Cooperative Agreements

March 5
July 5
November 5
UM1
renewal, resubmission, revision

Research Grants - Multi-Component Cooperative Agreements

March 5
July 5
November 5
K series
renewal, resubmission, revision
Research Career Development
March 12
July 12
November 12

R03, R21, R33, R21/R33, R34, R36
renewal, resubmission, revision

Other Research Grants
March 16
July 16
November 16

R41, R42

R43, R44, U43, U44,
All - new, renewal, resubmission, revision

Small Business Technology
   Transfer (STTR)

Small Business Innovation
   Research (SBIR)
April 5
August 5
December 5
F Series Fellowships
new, renewal, resubmission

Individual National Research Service Awards (Standard)

(see NRSA Training Page)

April 8
August 8
December 8
R13, U13
All - new, renewal, resubmission, revision
Conference Grants and Conference Cooperative Agreements
April 12
August 12
December 12
F31 Diversity Fellowships
new, renewal, resubmission

Individual Predoctoral Fellowships (F31) to Promote Diversity in Health-Related Research  (see NRSA Training Page)

April 13
August 13
December 13
     
 
 
 
All Activity Codes Cited Above
new, renewal, resubmission, revision

AIDS and AIDS-Related Applications

 

Based on Activity Code 

May 7

September 7

January 7


Review and Award Cycles


Cycle I
Cycle II
Cycle III
Scientific Merit Review
June - July
October - November
February - March
Advisory Council Round
August or October *
January
May
Earliest Project Start Date
September or December *
April
July

NOTES: The actual date of the Advisory Council may occur in the month before or after the month listed.  For example, some ICs may actually hold the January Advisory Council meeting in February or the October Advisory Council meeting in September.

Awarding components may not always be able to honor the requested start date of an application.  Before incurring any pre-award obligations or expenditures applicants should be aware of NIH policy governing pre-award costs prior to receiving a Notice of Award.  See the NIH Grants Policy Statement.

* Advisory Council Round for Cycle I applications may be August or October, and their earliest project start date may be September or December respectively.


Submission Policies (Electronic & Paper Applications)

Due Dates on Holidays/Weekends
When a standard postmark/submission date falls on a weekend or Federal holiday, the application deadline is automatically extended to the next business day.
Note: if the submission deadline shifts beyond the expiration date of the FOA, applicants submitting electronically may receive a warning message from Grants.gov. This warning will not keep your application from processing through Grants.gov. As always, applicants must check the eRA Commons to view their application and to ensure they have addressed any errors (instances of non-compliance with NIH business rules) identified by NIH systems.

Late Applications
Permission is not granted in advance for submission of a late application. Late applications are accepted only in extenuating circumstances. If an application is submitted late, a cover letter explaining the reasons for the delay must be included with the signed, completed application. Late applications are evaluated on an individual basis considering the reasons provided. Contacting the Division of Receipt and Referral in advance will not influence the acceptance of a late application. See NIH Guide Notice dated January 13, 2011 - NIH Policy on Late Submission of Grant Applications.

Continuous Submission Policy
An alternative submission policy is available for certain applications submitted listing as PD/PI individuals serving as appointed members of NIH chartered standing study sections, NIH Boards of Scientific Counselors, NIH Advisory Boards or Councils, NIH Program Advisory Committees, and/or peer reviewers who have served as regular or temporary members six times in 18 months. This policy applies to R01, R21, and R34 applications that would normally be received on standard application submission dates (not special receipt dates). See Continuous Submission.

Prior Agreement Required for $500,000+ Direct Costs
For applications requesting $500,000 or more direct costs for any year, applicants must seek agreement to accept assignment from Institute/Center staff at least 6 weeks prior to the anticipated submission of any application. See NIH Guide Notice dated October 16, 2001. This policy does not apply to applications submitted in response to RFAs or in response to other Announcements that include specific budgetary limits.

New Investigator R01 Applications
See NOT-OD-07-083 for special conditions and due dates for new investigator resubmission applications submitted for consecutive review cycles. Note these applies only to new investigator R01s submitted for standard receipt dates and reviewed in recurring study sections in CSR.

Post Submission Application Materials
NIH accepts limited information between the time of initial submission of the application and the time of initial peer review. See NOT-OD-10-115.

Time Limit for Resubmission Applications
The NIH will not accept a Resubmission that is submitted later than thirty-seven months after the date of receipt of the initial New, Renewal, or Revision application. See NOT-OD-12-128

Evaluation of Unallowable Resubmission and Overlapping Applications
NIH limits the number of times you can resubmit an application with essentially the same content and scope as an earlier application. See NOT-OD-10-080 and NOT-OD-09-100 for detailed guidance about the standards and limitations used by NIH to evaluate potential duplicate and overlapping applications. NIH’s Center of Scientific Review also has a web page that can help you understand how NIH determines if an application is new.

Weather/Other Disasters
In case of severe weather or other disasters that result in the closure of institutions, NIH will often issue a notice in the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts.  These Notices routinely state that NIH understands the problems caused by the closures and that it is reasonable for applications to have an extension of time for the number of days the institution is closed; the reason for the delay must be documented in a cover letter.  Even if NIH does not issue such a Notice, the practice will apply for such institutional closings. See NIH Extramural Response to Natural Disasters and Other Emergencies.


Submission Policies (Paper Applications)

Paper applications may only be submitted if required by the funding opportunity announcement.

Mailing

  • Mailing labels in:
  • Send all applications and other deliveries to the Center for Scientific Review via courier or the USPS
  • Applications may not be delivered by individuals. See NIH Guide Notice dated April 22, 2003
  • The ZIP code used for courier deliveries is different from the one used for the United States Postal Service (USPS). See NIH Guide Notice dated April 22, 2003.
  • Proof of Mailing consists of either:
    1. legibly dated U.S. Postal Service postmark, or
    2. dated receipt from a commercial carrier or the USPS
  • Private metered postmarks are not acceptable

Dates

Standard Postmark/Submission Dates ("send by")

  • Includes the following applications submitted for the dates listed in the Paper Applications - PHS398 table above:
    • Investigator-Initiated Applications (not in response to a particular announcement)
    • Program Announcements (PAs)
  • On time if the application is postmarked/courier-dated by the date listed in the Paper Applications - PHS398 table above
Special Receipt Dates ("arrive by")
  • Includes the following applications in response to announcements with unique receipt dates specified in the announcement:
    • Requests for Applications (RFAs)
    • Program Announcements with special Referral guidelines (PARs).
  • On time if the application is either:
    1. Received by ("arrived by") the specified date, or
    2. Received after the specified date if it has a legible proof-of-mailing dated not later than one week prior to the specified date. If the announcement indicates resubmissions/renewals/revisions are allowed, then these are made on the special receipt dates, not the Standard Receipt Dates.

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This page last updated on October 19, 2012
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