NIH: Gearing Up for FORMS-C

Gearing Up for FORMS-C

Are you ready for our move to updated electronic application forms (FORMS-C)?

We've been busy preparing for our transition to updated application forms for most grant programs (NOT-OD-13-074).  Our FOAs now have FORMS-C application packages and old B1 and B2 packages have been set to expire.

Here are some updated resources you may want to check out:

• Updated FAQs for Application Forms Updates and Choosing the Correct Forms
• Pay special attention to the FAQs on choosing the appropriate forms for applications submitted for the September 9 AIDS deadline and under the continuous submission policy
• New Application Guides for Forms Version C in both Word and PDF format
• Annotated Form resources for C Series applications

Watch out for the dreaded 'The Closing Date of the grant opportunity for which you have applied has already passed and the grantor agency is no longer accepting applications.' message from Grants.gov. This message is sent under multiple conditions. In addition to being sent after an FOA has closed/expired, Grants.gov also gives this error when the FOA is still active but the application is submitted using a forms package attached to the FOA that has closed or not yet open. Basically, if you use B packages too late or C packages too early, you may get that message.

If you are submitting to one of the few NIH programs (Fellowship, Career Development, Training and Small Business) that aren't moving to FORMS-C yet, use the B package available with your FOA. Otherwise…please, please, please use B application packages for due dates before September 25, 2013 and C packages for due dates on/after September 25, 2013.