The National Institutes
of Health (NIH) continues towards its goal of a paperless grants process through
the elimination of the following notifications which are currently sent in hard
copy - Summary Statements and Peer Review Outcome Letters. Instead, investigators
are instructed to use the eRA Commons, a Web interface through which NIH and
the applicant organizations are able to conduct extramural research administration
business electronically.
Applicant Organizations must be registered in the eRA Commons before an account
may be established for its investigators. The NIH strongly encourages Principal
Investigators to contact their institution's Office of Sponsored Programs for
registration guidance. The following resources for the eRA Commons should be
of assistance in the process:
In addition to complying with a Congressional mandate to move from paper-based
to electronic systems, these new procedures will also improve consistency and
timeliness of communication between NIH, investigators, and institutions during
the grant application process.
Over the next two grant review cycles, the NIH will discontinue mailing the
following two kinds of documents:
Summary Statements: Beginning October 1, 2005, NIH will no longer send
hard copies of the Summary Statements to Principal Investigators (PIs) and Individual
Fellows Applicants. Summary Statements are accessible electronically to PIs
and Fellows in the eRA Commons within approximately 8 weeks of the Scientific
Review Group (SRG) meeting.
Review Outcome "Mailers": Beginning February 1, 2006, the NIH
will no longer send hard copies of the notification letter (also known as a
"mailer") to PIs and Fellows regarding the review outcome of an application
by the SRG. When the SRG rosters and meeting dates become available, they may
be accessed through http://www.csr.nih.gov/Committees/rosterindex.asp
(Center for Scientific Review [CSR] reviews) or http://era.nih.gov/roster/
(Institute/Center reviews). Scores will be posted in the eRA Commons approximately
5 working days after the SRG meeting.
At this time, the NIH will continue to send assignment and change of assignment
mailers. However, this information is also accessible on the eRA Commons.
In order to avoid delays in the e-notification process, it is vital that all
Grantee Organizations, Principal lnvestigators, and Individual Fellows are registered
in the eRA Commons and e-mail addresses are checked periodically for accuracy.
NOTE: This process does not apply to applications for the Agency for HealthCare
Research and Quality or the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Inquiries on this NIH Guide Notice may be directed to:
Division of Grants Policy
Office of Policy for Extramural Research Administration
National Institutes of Health
6705 Rockledge Drive, Suite 350
Bethesda, MD 20892
Telephone: (301) 435-0938
FAX: (301) 435-3059
Email: GrantsPolicy@od.nih.gov