New NIH “FORMS-G” Grant Application Forms and Instructions Coming for Due Dates on or after January 25, 2022

Notice Number: NOT-OD-21-169

Release Date: August 5, 2021

Related Announcements

NOT-OD-21-073 – Upcoming Changes to the Biographical Sketch and Other Support Format Page for Due Dates on or after May 25, 2021

NOT-OD-21-109 – Expanding Requirement for eRA Commons IDs to All Senior/Key Personnel

NOT-OD-21-110 – Implementation of Changes to the Biographical Sketch and Other Support Format Page

NOT-OD-21-122 – Announcing New Inbox for Inquiries Related to Changes to Biographical Sketch and Other Support Format Page

NOT-OD-21-170 – Updates: Notification of Upcoming Change in Federal-wide Unique Entity Identifier Requirements

Issued by

NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH (NIH)

U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)

Purpose

This notice informs the applicant and recipient communities of changes to grant application forms and application guide instructions for due dates on or after January 25, 2022.

The following application forms include substantive form changes (i.e., new/deleted/modified fields). All other forms include only an OMB expiration date change.

• SF424 R&R
• R&R Senior/Key Person Profile (Expanded)
• R&R Budget and Associated Subaward Budget Attachment(s) Form
• Project/Performance Site Location(s)
• PHS 398 Training Budget and Associated Subaward Budget Attachment(s) Form
• PHS Additional Indirect Costs
• PHS Fellowship Supplemental Form
• PHS Human Subjects and Clinical Trials Information
• SBIR/STTR Information

Key changes:

• As part of the federal-wide transition from the DUN and Bradstreet (D&B) Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number to the new government-owned Unique Entity Identifier (UEI), applicants will be required to have a UEI to apply for federal grants or cooperative agreements. The System for Award Management (SAM) will become the central repository for the new UEI that will be incorporated into an institution’s SAM registration. Although agencies are not required to fully transition until April 2022, NIH, AHRQ, and FDA will transition for due dates on or after January 25, 2022 to align with standard application and review cycles. See NOT-OD-21-170 for more information.
• NIH will require the use of the updated Biographical Sketch and Other Support format pages for submissions on or after January 25, 2022. See NOT-OD-21-073, NOT-OD-21-110, and NOT-OD-21-122 for more information.
• Targeting due dates on or after January 25, 2022, all Senior/Key personnel listed on the R&R Senior/Key Person Profile (Expanded) form will be required to have an eRA Commons username (Commons ID). Extension of the existing eRA Commons ID requirement to include all senior/key personnel will facilitate better data collection for individuals contributing to federally funded research as well as assist in disambiguating data on applications and facilitating the identification of conflicts of interest in peer review. See NOT-OD-21-109 for more information.

See High-level Summary of Form Changes in FORMS-G Application Packages for a full list of form changes. Participating agencies will notify the community if it is determined additional changes are needed. These changes will be implemented with application form packages identified with a Competition ID of “FORMS-G” and associated application guide instructions. Additional guidance and confirmation ofimplementation plans will be provided in Fall 2021.

Effective Date
Applicants must use FORMS-G application packages for due dates on or after January 25, 2022 and must use FORMS-F application packages for due dates on or before January 24, 2022. Applications submitted using the wrong forms for their intended due date may be withdrawn and removed from funding consideration.

Availability of FORMS-G Application Guides
Application guides for FORMS-G application packages will be posted to the How to Apply – Application Guide page no later than October 25, 2021.

Availability of FORMS-G Application Packages
FORMS-G application packages will be posted as follows

• New funding opportunity announcements (FOAs) will be posted with FORMS-G application packages beginning October 25, 2021.
• New FOAs posted before October 25, 2021 with initial due dates on or after January 25, 2022 will be posted without application forms until updated forms are available. Application packages will be added to these FOAs by November 25, 2021.
• All active Parent and IC-issued FOAs with due dates on or after January 25, 2022 will be updated to add FORMS-G application packages between October 25, 2021 and November 25, 2021.

For a transition period, both FORMS-F and FORMS-G application packages will be active simultaneously. Applicants must choose the appropriate application package for their due date when presented with both FORMS-F and FORMS-G application packages on the same FOA (see table below).

Applications submitted using the incorrect application package for their due date may be withdrawn and removed from funding consideration.

Resources:

• High-level Summary of Form Changes in FORMS-G Application Packages
• Do I Have the Right Form Version For My Application?
• Application Forms, Form Updates, and Choosing the Correct Forms FAQs

Inquiries

Please direct all NIH inquiries to:
NIH Office of Policy for Extramural Research Administration (OPERA)
Systems Policy Branch
Email: OPERAsystemspolicy@nih.gov

Original post by NIH on August 6, 2021