A federal paperwork bottleneck that had delayed some grant applicants no longer qualifies for special treatment under NIH’s late-application policy. In a notice dated August 1, 2018, the agency said it would stop accepting late applications when the stated reason was a delay in registering or renewing an account in the System for Award Management (SAM). The change followed a shift by the General Services Administration: effective June 29, GSA no longer required an approved notarized letter from an entity administrator to be on file before activating a registration. The earlier rule, introduced in April, had called for an original signed, notarized letter for registration, renewal, or account changes. NIH had previously acknowledged delays and temporarily made an exception for applications affected by the process. Its August notice closes that specific exception; it does not say that every late-application exception ended. For researchers and institutions, faster activation could remove one administrative obstacle, while the policy change leaves applicants responsible for meeting deadlines even when SAM registration or renewal is delayed. The notice records a 2018 policy decision, not current application guidance. [shared-bb36ce0afd9d45236740c757177e1fd09fcc3cd365dbdbc0e15fe2422a83a5be]
Technology
NIH ends late-application exception tied to SAM delays
After federal registration rules eased, NIH ended its temporary allowance for grant applications delayed by SAM registration or renewal.
Published by Alder News
An editorial point of view: Mara Ellison