Will NIH accept my late grant application?

If you are hoping to submit your NIH grant proposal late, I may have some bad news for you. Unless your reason for the late grant submission falls into a very small number of approved exceptions, you have likely missed your opportunity to submit the application.

Before attempting a late grant submission, whether it is minutes, hours, or days after the application deadline, be sure to review the NIH late application submission policy. This policy has remained largely unchanged since 2015. The policy clearly states that late applications will only be considered within two weeks of the original application deadline. 

As far as what is considered an acceptable excuse for a late proposal submission, I would liken it to the Reba McEntire song Why Haven’t I Heard From You. The lyrics include: 

There better been a flood, a landslide of mud, 
A fire that burns up the wires, 

And thunder so loud, with a black funnel cloud, 
A natural disaster I know nothin’ about

Along these lines, late NIH grant applications will only be considered for acceptance under the following circumstances:

• Death of an immediate family member of the PD/PI (or MPI)
• Sudden acute severe illness of the PD/PI (MPI) or immediate family member
• Temporary or ad hoc service by a PD/PI on an NIH advisory group during the two months preceding or the two months following the application due date. Examples of qualifying service include: participation in an NIH study section/special emphasis panel, NIH Board of Scientific Counselors, Program Advisory Committee, or an NIH Advisory Board/Council. Qualifying service does not include participation in NIH activities other than those involved in extramural/intramural peer review or NIH Advisory Council/Board service
• Delays due to weather, natural disasters, or other emergency situations, not to exceed the time the applicant organization is closed. 
• For PD/PIs who are eligible for continuous submission (https://grants.nih.gov/grants/peer/continuous_submission.htm), the late application policy applies to activities not covered under the continuous submission policy (i.e., other than R01, R21, and R34 funding opportunities that use standard due dates).

It is important to note that these circumstances must apply to the PI (or one of the MPIs if it is a multi-PI application). The late application policy does not allow exceptions when these factors affect other members of the research team. Additionally, late applications are not approved in advance.

If the reason your application is late does not align with one of the listed options, it is unlikely to be accepted. Exceptions are not made even if you attempted to submit your application 5 minutes after the deadline. Grants.gov provides no flexibility with deadline times. Your next step should be to plan to submit your proposal for a future deadline and modify it accordingly.

For more information about the NIH late application policy, visit the NIAID Late Applications SOP and NINDS list of potentially valid reasons for submission of a late application.