Change in Standing Receipt Dates for NIH/AHRQ/NIOSH

PI Signature Requirement

Effective with competing applications submitted for submission/receipt dates May 10, 2006 and thereafter (and submission/receipt dates June 1, 2006 and thereafter for non-competing continuations), the signature of the Principal Investigator is no longer required as a part of a submitted application. Instead, a new compliance requirement is now implemented whereby the applicant organization agrees to secure and retain a written assurance from the PI prior to submitting an application to the PHS. This assurance must be available to the sponsoring agency or other authorized HHS or Federal officials upon request. (From NIH Guide Notice NOT-OD-06-054)

For most scenarios (except the SNAP PHS 2590 Progress Report), the University of Arizona will meet this new compliance requirement with the Proposal Routing Sheet (PRS). The PRS has been updated to include the NIH compliance language in the certifications section (page 2 of the PRS).

Grants.gov/eRA Commons Submission Changes

Effective for submissions with open dates May 10, 2006 and thereafter, the PI verification step in the eRA Commons is being eliminated. Instead, once an application package has been successfully submitted through Grants.gov, all errors corrected, and the application assembled by the eRA Commons, PD/PIs (and AOR/SOs) will have two business days to review the application. If everything is acceptable, no further action is necessary.

If it is determined that some part of the application was lost or didn't transfer correctly during the submission process, the AOR/SO (Sponsored Projects) will have the option to "Reject" the image and submit a Changed/Corrected application. (From NIH Guide NOT-OD-06-057)

UA Sponsored Projects personnel will only "Reject" an application if requested by the Principal Investigator. We will review the grant image, and will contact the PI to ensure the image is acceptable, prior to the two business day deadline.

Form Changes

Measuring Effort Devoted to Projects

Transitioning to the SF424 Research and Related (R&R) has introduced a new business practice for measuring effort devoted to a project - person months (instead of % effort). Personnel working on projects now indicate effort by indicating the number of calendar, academic, and/or summer months. (From NIH Guide Notice NOT-OD-06-056)

This change will be implemented across NIH forms where effort is listed (PHS 398, PHS 2590, SF 424 R&R): Other Support pages, budget pages (both detailed and modular), the personnel report, and the budget justification. This change is effective for submissions/receipt dates May 10, 2006 and beyond (using the SF 424 R&R form set, PHS 398 04/06 version, and PHS 2590 04/06 version).

To calculate person-months, you'll need to know the person's percent (%) effort and type of appointment. Examples:

For a fiscal employee, multiply the % effort by the number of months in the appointment, for example:

For an academic employee, multiply the % effort by the number of months in the appointment. For AY employees, you'll need to know the % effort for the Academic period, and the % effort for the Summer period.

You will never display calendar months for AY appointees (including graduate students with AY appointments). You will never display academic or summer months for FY appointees (including wage employees with FY appointments).

The number of person-months indicated will be affected if the grant year is less than 12 months, or the employee is at less than 1.0 FTE. When the grant year is less than 12 months, or an employee's appointment is less than 1.0 FTE, include an explanation in the budget justification.

Implementing Multiple PI Submissions

NIH Guide Notice NOT-OD-06-36 announced NIH's preliminary plans to incorporate multiple PIs into the application business process. This initiative is still in a pilot phase. Only applications in response to specific funding opportunity announcements that included multiple PIs as an option should be following the multiple PI instructions at this time. (From NIH Guide Notice NOT-OD-06-056)

In the 04/06 PHS 398 form kit, Face Page (Form Page 1, continued) has been added to accommodate the collection of PI information for all individuals designated as PI by the applicant organization. Form Page 1 (continued) is only required when multiple PIs are being proposed. All applications proposing a single PI will use only Form Page 1. The eRA Commons username is required for all persons named as PI. Instructions for Form Page 2 (Key Personnel), the Table of Contents, and the Research Plan have all been revised to reflect the collection of data for multiple PIs.

On the SF 424 R&R form set, the Senior/Key Person Profile can accommodate multiple PIs.

Including Publications as Appendix Material

**Please be aware of the change in Appendix Material submission requirements. All Appendices must be submitted on CD, in PDF format. See the NIH Guide notice at: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-08-031.html

Effective for applications for submission/receipt dates of May 10, 2006 and beyond, the instructions for including actual publications as PDF attachments in the Appendix material has changed. The new process is:

Publications in Press: include only a publication list with a link to the on-line journal article or the NIH PubMed Central submission identification number. Do not include the entire article.

Manuscripts accepted for publication, but not yet published: The entire article may be submitted as a PDF attachment as part of the Appendix material.

Manuscripts published but an online journal is not available: The entire article may be submitted as a PDF attachment as part of the Appendix material. (From NIH Guide NOT-OD-06-057)

Eliminating Bio Sketch Subsection Limits

The requirements for the Biographical Sketch have been changed to eliminate the 2-page subsection limit for sections A&B. The entire biographical sketch continues to have a 4-page limit (including the table at the top of the first page). (From NIH Guide Notice NOT-OD-06-058)

Revised Requirements for Select Agent Research

The requirements of the Research Plan have been revised to include a new section dedicated specifically to Select Agent Research. This new section (G. Select Agent Research) is only required when applicable. The Resource format page instructions have been revised to request specific information on the biocontainment resources available when applicable.