How does NIH make decisions about the assignment of applications to institutes and centers?
After your application arrives at NIH, it is examined by the NIH Center for Scientific Review (CSR) for completeness and relevance to the NIH mission. If the application is relevant and complete, CSR determines how it “fits” within the programs of the various institutes and centers, and an assignment is made to one or more institutes or centers for funding consideration. When your application is submitted in response to a request for applications (RFA), it is examined for relevance by the sponsoring institute or center. Decisions about the primary assignment of applications in areas of overlapping research interests have been carefully negotiated among the NIH institutes and centers. When your application is assigned to two or more institutes or centers, the “primary” institute or center becomes your point of contact for following the progress of review and funding decisions. The “secondary” institutes or centers, which are potential alternative or collaborative sources of funding, als
