I know many of you have seen this but I thought that this was worth posting:

REVISION TO THE PHS GRANTS POLICY STATEMENT AND THE PHS 398 GRANT
APPLICATIONS INSTRUCTIONS

NIH GUIDE, Volume 25, Number 41, November 29, 1996

P.T. 34; K.W. 0404000, 0710030, 1014006

National Institutes of Health

As a part of ongoing efforts to reduce the administrative costs and
burden on applicants and grantees, the NIH has reviewed its policy
regarding the receipt date of competing applications (PHS 398).  In
the past, the NIH required that grant, fellowship, and cooperative
agreement applications be received on specific published "receipt
dates."  A consequence of this policy has been that many applicants
felt compelled to submit applications via express shipping or courier
service.  To simplify and minimize the cost associated with
application submission, the NIH is making the following policy
change:

Unsolicited Applications:  Effective January 2, 1997, an application
will be considered on time if it is received by or mailed on or
before the published receipt date and a proof of mailing is provided.
Proof of timely mailing consists of one of the following: a legibly
dated U.S. Postal Service postmark; or a dated receipt from a
commercial carrier or the U.S. Postal Service.  Private metered
postmarks are not acceptable.  The receipt dates for unsolicited
investigator-initiated applications as published in the competing
application kit (PHS 398) remain unchanged.  It is hoped that this
will lead to delivery methods that are timely but more economical in
practice.

Solicited Applications and Proposals:  Solicited applications and
proposals continue under the previous policy.  Applications must be
received by the specified dates.  However, an application received
after the deadline may be acceptable if it carries a legible proof-
of-mailing date assigned by the carrier and the proof-of-mailing is
not later than one week prior to the deadline date.  These include
Request for Applications (RFAs);  Program Announcements (PAs) with
specified receipt dates, such as Academic Research Enhancement Awards
(AREAs), Small Business Innovation Research applications (SBIRs), and
Small Business Technology Transfer applications (STTRs); and Request
for Proposals (RFPs).

Noncompeting Applications:  This new policy also applies to the
noncompeting continuation application (PHS 2590).  The receipt
submission dates identified in the noncompeting continuation
application remain unchanged.  Grantees are reminded that
noncompeting applications should be received in time for orderly
processing of noncompeting awards.  This is particularly critical
during peak workload times at Institute or Center grants management
offices

This policy announcement supersedes the PHS Grants Policy Statement
(rev. 5/95), section 4-14, and the competing application kit (PHS
398), page 22.

INQUIRIES

Questions regarding the receipt of competing applications procedures
may be directed to:

Referral Office
Division of Research Grants
Telephone:  (301) 435-0715

For issues relating to noncompeting applications, Institute or Center
grants management offices should be contacted.

*****************
Anthony M. Boccanfuso, Ph.D.
Director
Office of Sponsored Programs and Research
Bowling Green State University
Bowling Green, Ohio 43403
419-372-2481; 419-372-0304 (fax)
xxxxxx@bgnet.bgsu.edu
http://www.bgsu.edu/offices/spar/HomePage.html