Interim Guidance on Reopening of NIH Extramural Activities
Dear Colleagues,
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) recently released guidance on reopening of the agency’s extramural activities. The main takeaways have been summarized below; the full notice can be viewed on the NIH website.
- The NIH is working to reestablish dates for grant and contract submissions, determine how to communicate details related to missed review meetings, reschedule dates for training, and restart other activities that were scheduled to occur during and immediately following the period of the government shutdown (Oct. 1-Nov. 14, 2025).
- The agency will be rescheduling all October and November grant application submission deadlines (specific dates to be announced in a future notice). By delaying due dates that occurred both during the government shutdown and in the week following, applicants will have access to NIH staff and the help desks as they develop their applications.
- Peer review meetings and council meetings scheduled to take place between Oct. 1 and Nov. 14 were canceled and will be rescheduled, with details to come.
- During the shutdown, the eRA system remained open and available to accept application submissions. As such, eRA is currently reviewing service desk ticket requests from entities and individuals that needed assistance with login and passwords. eRA staff will address the tickets on a first-come, first-served basis. Please note that due to the volume, the response time may be longer than usual.
- The eRA system was also available for recipients to submit Research Performance and Progress Reports, Federal Financial Reports, etc. The email reminders and submission confirmations were held and will be sent out in the coming weeks. If you submitted any reports during this time, no additional action is required unless you are contacted by NIH staff.
- The NIH will provide additional information, including a notice on NIH operations during a continuing resolution, as soon as it is available.
Unless notified by the University of Maryland, Baltimore’s (UMB) Sponsored Programs Administration or the federal sponsor, UMB researchers should not need to take any action if they submitted notifications, prior approval requests, proposals, or other actions during the shutdown. In the event a notification, request, or proposal needs to be resubmitted, UMB’s Sponsored Programs Administration will contact you.
Sincerely,
Patrick O’Shea, PhD, MS
Vice President for Research