Re-posted from NIH: National Institutes of Health, April 30th, 2016
NIH applicants have the opportunity to suggest information to help NIH refer and review their grant application. When applying with the new FORMS-D application package, applicants will include their requests in the new assignment request form, rather than in the cover letter has has been done in the past.
Applicants should use the new assignment request form if they choose to:
- request assignment to an institute/center for funding consideration
- request assignment to a particular study section for initial peer review
- identify individuals they do not think should review their application
- identify scientific areas of expertise needed to review their application
Applicants should still use the cover letter attachment for information not captured on the assignment form, such as to provide information about a late application. Just like the cover letter, the assignment request form is only for internal use by receipt and referral staff and scientific review officers involved in handling the application’s review – we do not share the assignment request form or cover letter with reviewers or other NIH staff.
For more information, read these related NIH Guide notices: