ALERT:

Applicants for March 5 Receipt Date,

We understand that application processing times through Grants.gov have been slower than usual. NIH uses the timestamp provided by Grants.gov at time of submission to document on-time application submission. Processing that occurs after getting that timestamp does not affect your on-time submission with NIH. Please resist the temptation to resubmit your application if you have not received a timely response from Grants.gov – this unnecessarily adds additional load to the systems. NIH is monitoring the situation closely.

If you did submit the same application more than once, there is a possibility that they were processed concurrently and the system did not recognize the duplicate application. If this occurs and you see duplicate applications in the eRA Commons, you should reject one of them. Duplicate applications slow down Receipt and Referral processing.

Note the following messages posted on the Grants.gov website:

“Alert: Due to high volume of submissions expected through Grants.gov due to multiple agency closings through March 9th, the response time for processing applications may be longer than usual.”

“Applicant Alert!

Applicants: Please try to submit your applications prior to the closing to avoid the times of peak volume. Remember that it may take up to 48 hours for your submission to be processed through Grants.gov. Please wait 48 hours before contacting the Contact Center if you do not receive email notifications. http://www.grants.gov/help/submit_application_faqs.jsp#25”

Remember NIH will ensure you are not penalized for Grants.gov and eRA Commons submission issues that prevent your on-time submission. If you have encountered an issue affecting your on-time submission, please open an eRA Commons web ticket at http://ithelpdesk.nih.gov/eRA/ and be sure to include your Grants.gov submission tracking number and support ticket number to document your issue.

Thank you for your patience,

NIH Electronic Submission Team