Guidance for Applicants Preparing Applications for Summer 2022 Due Dates During the COVID-19 Pandemic

For applicants preparing applications for the summer 2022 due dates, NIH recently extended the guidance that while grant applications should not include contingency or recovery plans for problems resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, investigators may address effects due to the pandemic on productivity or other scoreable issues in the personal statement of the biosketch.

Reviewers will be instructed to take these pandemic-related circumstances into account when assessing applicants’ productivity and other score-driving factors. If needed, NIH staff will request and assess plans to resolve specific problems arising from the COVID-19 pandemic prior to funding.

For a visualization of the peer review process and timelines during COVID-19, see this infographic.