NIH New Forms Package…FORMS-C

NIH is transitioning to updated electronic application forms packages. For due dates on or after September 25, 2013, all applicants will be required to use FORMS-C packages, (except for K, T, D, or F).

The requirement includes electronic applications submitted under the continuous submission policy, administrative supplement requests (Type 3), change of organization requests (Type 6) and change of grantee/training institution requests (Type 7) submitted September 25, 2013 and beyond. Multi-project applications that are transitioning to electronic submission beginning with the September 25, 2013 due dates (see NOT-OD-13-075) will also use FORMS-C packages.

Cayuse is updated so that it can build FORMS-C applications, but the applicant can still choose B1 or B2 packages (they are still in the Opportunities list), so there may be some confusion with this transition. It is up to the PI to make sure he/she is using the new parent announcement and/or picking the right form set per the opportunity instructions.

NIH closed many of the parent announcements and issued replacement announcements for the FORM-C versions. These are not automatically in Cayuse, but OSP has downloaded those that we are aware of (PIs/admins can always use the "Retrieve Opportunities" function to pull down revised opportunities, if one is missing).

For the non-parent announcements, Grants.gov did not expire and re-issue these opportunities, but just added the FORMS-C version as an application option. If the opportunity was downloaded into Cayuse before the update then the user did not have the option of choosing the FORMS-C version and will need to re-retrieve the opportunity to pull in the new record to Cayuse, and select the C forms of the two options. PIs/admins will need to be careful to choose the C version, because both will be in the Opportunity list. The forms type is listed in the Competition ID field in the opportunity record, right after the title.

It is worth noting that AHRQ did not expire its parent announcements, it has just issued a FORMS-C version and just put a note in the opportunity announcement that FORMS-C apps are required after September 25, 2013.