Cover Letter

 Cover Letter Attachment (must include list of referees (including name, departmental affiliation, and institution). Do NOT request Study Section HERE    

 

The cover letter is for internal use only and will not be shared with peer reviewers.

Refer to the “content” list below for items that are permitted, as well as for specific situations in which a cover letter must be included.

A cover letter must not be included with post-award submissions, such as administrative supplements, change of grantee institution, or successor-in-interest.

Format:

Attach the cover letter, addressed to the Division of Receipt and Referral, in accordance with the FOA and/or these instructions.

Attach the cover letter in the correct location, specifically verifying that the cover letter has not been uploaded to the “20. Pre-application” field which is directly above the “21. Cover

Letter Attachment” field. This will ensure the cover letter attachment is kept separate from the assembled application in the eRA Commons and made available only to appropriate staff.

Content:

The letter should contain any of the following information, as applicable:

  1. Application
  2. Title of FOA (PA or RFA).
  3. For late applications (see Late Application policy on NIH’s Application Submission Policies) includespecific information about the timing and nature of the
  4. For changed/corrected applications submitted after the due date, a cover letter is required, and it must explain the reason for late submission of the changed/corrected applications. If you already submitted a cover letter with a previous submission and are now submitting a late change/corrected application, you must include all previous cover letter text in the revised cover letter The system does not retain any previously submitted cover letters; therefore, you must repeat all information previously submitted in the cover letter as well as any additional information.
  5. Explanation of any subaward budget components that are not active for all budget periods of theproposed grant (see 310 – R&R Subaward Budget Attachment(s) Form).
  6. Statement that you have attached any required agency approval documentation for the type ofapplication This may include approval for applications that request

$500,000 or more, approval for Conference Grant or Cooperative Agreement (R13 or U13), etc. It is recommended that you include the official communication from an NIH official as part of your cover letter attachment.

  1. When intending to submit a video as part of the application, the cover letter must includeinformation about the intent to submit it; if this is not done, the video will not be accepted. See NIH Grants Policy Statement, Section 2.3.7.7: Post Submission Grant Application Materials for additional
  2. Include a statement in the cover letter if the proposed studies will generate large-scale human ornon-human genomic data as detailed in the NIH Genomic Data Sharing Policy (see the NIH Grants Policy Statement, Section 2.3.7.10: NIH Genomic Data Sharing and Section 8.2.3.3: Genomic Data Sharing (GDS) Policy/Policy for Genome-Wide Association Studies (GWAS).

 

Additional Instructions for Career Development:

Mentored Career Development Award (CDA) applicants must include a cover letter that contains a list of referees (including name, departmental affiliation, and institution).

Non-mentored CDA applicants are encouraged, but not required, to include a cover letter.

 

SAMPLE:

March,02.2020

Dear NIH Staff,

This is an initial submission of a K01 Mentored Career Development Award Application

in response to Parent FOA PA-20-190, entitled “Early Alzheimer’s Disease-Related

Dysfunction in the Hippocampus”. My long-term research goal is to improve the outcome

for individuals in the prodromal stages of Alzheimer’s disease. Therefore, I am

requesting assignment of this grant application to the National Institute of Aging.

The following individuals have agreed to write letters of reference in support of my

application:

  1.  Smith West, Ph.D. Professor of Psychiatry, Member of the Department of

Neurology and Neurosurgery, Faculty of Medicine, Tufts University

  1. George Smith, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Radiology, Harvard Medical School,

Assistant in Neuroscience, Massachusetts General Hospital

3. West George, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Psychology, Faculty of Arts & Sciences,

University of Michigan.

Thank you very much for handling my submission. Please let me know if I can be of any

assistance during this process.

 

Sincerely,

Name:

Title:

Institution/department

Address