PHS Assignment Request Form

2.5 Forms for an Application to NIH or Other PHS Agencies

The SF424 (R&R) form set comprises a number of forms, each listed in the table below as a separate “document.” In addition to these forms, NIH and other PHS agencies applicants will also complete the required supplemental forms listed as “PHS 398” forms in the table below.

Table 2.5-1. Forms for an NIH or Other PHS Agencies Application

Document	Individual Fellowship1	Institutional Training2 (including K12)	Career Development3	All Other4 (including Research)	Instructions
Assignment Request Form					Section 4.1.2
SF424 (R&R)					Section 4.2
SF424 (R&R) Other Project Information					Section 4.4
SF424 (R&R) Senior / Key Person Profile Expanded					Section 4.5
PHS 398 Cover Page Supplement					Section 5.3
PHS 398 Research Plan					Section 5.5
PHS 398 Fellowship Supplemental Form					Section 99.5
PHS 398 Research Training Program Plan					Section 8.5
PHS 398 Career Development Award Supplemental Form					Section 7.5
PHS Inclusion Enrollment Report					Section 5.8
SF424 (R&R) Budget	(Use when required or allowed by the FOA)				Section 4.7
SF424 (R&R) Subaward Budget Attachment Form	(Use when required or allowed by the FOA)				Section 4.8
PHS 398 Modular Budget	(Use when required or allowed by the FOA)				Section 5.4
PHS 398 Training Budget	(Use when required or allowed by the FOA)				Section 8.5
PHS 398 Training Subaward Budget Attachment	(Use when required or allowed by the FOA)				Section 8.6

¹ Individual Fellowship Applications (e.g., F30, F31, F32) must include the PHS 398 Fellowship Supplemental Form (see Section 99.5). Applicants must complete the budget information on this supplemental form and do not need to use additional forms. Applicants are required to include a cover letter with the application. (The cover letter must contain the list of referees (see SF424 (R&R) form, Item 21, Cover Letter Attachment for instructions). If the application is submitted late, the cover letter must also include an explanation for the late submission. In the cover letter, applicants are encouraged to request assignment to a particular NIH institute or Center and a specific SRG, which can be found in Section 1.4.

²Institutional Training Applications (e.g., T32, T34, T35, T90), including K12, must include the PHS 398 Research Training Program Plan Form (see Section 8.7). For application to most institutional training grant programs (e.g., T15, T32, T34, T35, T36), the PHS 398 Training Budget form pages are required (see Section 8.5). Other programs, including K12, D43, D71, must use the SF424 (R&R) Budget Form (see Section 4.7). T90/R90 applicants must use the PHS 398 Training Budget form pages for the T90 component, and the SF424 (R&R) Budget Form for the R90 component. For complete instructions on the required budget forms to use, applicants must consult their FOA.

³ Career Development Applications (e.g., K01, K99/R00) must include the PHS 398 Career Development Award Supplemental Form (see Section 7.5). Applicants must also use the SF424 (R&R) Budget Form (see Section 4.7) and refer to additional instructions in Section 7.4.6. Applicants are required to include a cover letter with the application. (The cover letter must contain the list of referees. If the application is submitted late, the cover letter must also include an explanation for the late submission. In the cover letter, applicants are encouraged to request assignment to a particular NIH institute or Center and a specific SRG, which can be found in Section 1.4.

⁴All Other Applications (e.g. R01, R21) must include the PHS 398 Research Plan (see Section 5.5). The application forms package associated with most NIH research grant funding opportunities includes two optional budget forms: (1) SF424 (R&R) Budget and (2) PHS 398 Modular Budget. NIH application submissions must include either the SF424 (R&R) Budget Form or the PHS 398 Modular Budget Form, but never both. (Note AHRQ does not accept modular budgets.) Unless otherwise stated in a funding announcement, an application must always be submitted with a budget form. For those programs where either form is a possibility, the budget forms will be considered “optional” by the Grants.gov package. Nonetheless, it is still required that you select and submit one of these budget forms for an application to be accepted by the NIH.

To determine which budget form to use for NIH applications, consult the modular budget guidelines found in Section 5.4. Additional guidance may also be provided in the specific funding opportunity announcement. Some funding opportunities will explicitly state the use of only one of the budget forms. In this case, the application package will only include the accepted budget form which will appear in the list of “mandatory” forms (not in the optional list). For a small number of programs (e.g., S10, DP1, DP2, DP3, X01, X02), neither budget form is included and the only budget information required is the Estimated Project Funding section of the SF424 (R&R).

All required and optional forms for electronic submission listed above are available through Grants.gov and should be downloaded from the FOA being applied to. Do not use any forms or format pages from other sources; these may include extraneous headers/footers or other information that could interfere with the electronic application process.