Just-In-Time (JIT) Policy/Procedures

Just-In-Time (JIT) Concepts Used By The National Institutes Of Health (NIH)

The Just-in-Time (JIT) feature of the eRA Commons is available for applications that meet established business criteria and fall within a certain percentile or priority scoring range. The JIT feature allows a Signing Official to electronically submit additional grant application information that qualifies for submission and is requested by the grantor agency.

The additional information is requested after a peer review of a grant application has been completed and prior to funding. Requests may come in the form of eRA-system generated e-mails or contact made directly from the awarding agency via e-mail and/or phone. Applicants should not submit any JIT information until it is requested by the grantor agency.

Note: NIH is the only agency that uses the JIT concept as currently designed in Commons.

Who can use the Just-in-Time feature?

  • Signing Officials from applicant organizations can provide information and submit to the agency.
  • Principal Investigators can upload JIT information into Commons for the Signing Official to submit.

JIT Submission Procedures for the Health Sciences Division,
University of South Alabama (USA)

  • PI must have an NIH eRA Commons account to prepare and submit JIT (Just-in-Time) information. To request a Commons account, please contact the Health Systems Grants Administration and Development Office (460-6307) or the Office of Sponsored Programs (460-6456).
  • The PI logs into Commons at https://www.era.nih.gov/ and clicks on the STATUS tab at the top of the screen to see the listing of his applications and awards. The PI then clicks on the JIT hyperlink in the ACTION column.*
  • PI uploads JIT information in the format requested by NIH. PI notifies appropriate departmental/research administrator who reviews the uploaded information, he/she sends an e-mail to the Office of Health Systems Grants Administration and Development or the Office of Sponsored Programs (whichever is appropriate for the college the faculty is appointed to) indicating that the JIT information is correct and ready for submission. The email should include the PI's Name, the Project Title, and the NIH Grant Number.
  • If compliance (IRB, IACUC, Biosafety, etc.) approvals are required, they must be uploaded as part of the JIT documentation in the "Other Upload" section. Approvals will be verified before the JIT information is submitted.
  • If the grant application has a consortium/subcontract, JIT information will be required from that performance site including compliance (IRB, IACUC, Biosafety, etc) approvals if applicable. Approvals for the performance site must be submitted so the appropriate USA committee (IRB, IACUC, Biosafety) can certify review of the performance site. The PI must include documentation from the appropriate USA Committee as part of the JIT documentation submission. See IACUC Policy: USA IACUC Guidance for Foreign and Domestic Subcontracts
  • Once all of the information has been obtained and verified for USA and additional performance sites, the Office of Health Systems Grants Administration and Development or the Office of Sponsored programs (whichever is appropriate for the college the faculty is appointed to) will submit the information electronically after proper review.
  • Once submitted, Commons will send an e-mail confirmation to the PI and the single point of contact email for USA (awards@southalabama.edu) This email will be forwarded to the appropriate department administrator.

*Important: This is a standard notice of request for information to all principal investigators with applications receiving a percentile of 20% or less, regardless of the assigned Institute's pay line. This notice is a request for "Just in Time (JIT)" Information. NIH Institutes and Centers (ICs) have varying pay lines and funding strategies that determine which grants will be funded.

The NIH automatically populates the JIT (Just in Time) link in Commons for applications receiving a percentile of less than 30. Please await instructions from the NIH on whether to complete this information. Finally, JIT requires a Signing Official (SO) at your Institution to send the request to the NIH. Thank you for your cooperation.

Sources:

http://era.nih.gov/services_for_applicants/application_tracking_and_award/just_in_time.cfm

NIH Request for Just-in-Time Information Dated February 13, 2006