Guidance for Applicants and Awardees

NIJ awards grants and agreements for:

• Research, development and evaluation (CFDA 16.560). NIJ funds physical and social science research, development and evaluation projects about criminal justice through competitive notices of funding opportunity. The focus of the notices varies from year-to-year based on research priorities and available funding.
• Research fellowships. NIJ strengthens and broadens the pool of researchers looking at criminal justice issues through fostering various fellowship programs which provide opportunities to the researcher community. Learn more about NIJ's fellowship programs.

NIJ does not fund proposals primarily to purchase equipment, materials or supplies, or to provide direct services.

Look for current funding opportunities:

• NIJ's open funding opportunities.
• OJP-wide open funding opportunities.

You also can:

• Review a list of forthcoming funding opportunities from NIJ.
• Sign up for an e-mail update whenever we release a new notice of funding opportunity.

Unsolicited Proposals. All proposed projects must be submitted through an applicable and posted notice of funding opportunity. The proposal must respond to the objectives and requirements in the notice of funding opportunity. We encourage you to review the current and forthcoming funding pages for notices of funding opportunity under which your idea might fit.

Get registered! If you are interested in receiving OJP funding, get registered on Grants.gov and in the System for Awards Management, and do it soon. You cannot submit any OJP applications until you do. Registration, especially with Grants.gov, may take approximately 3-5 business days. OJP strongly encourages applicants to start registration as soon as possible. Learn more from OJP's Grants 101.

Read the materials. Familiarize yourself with NIJ and OJP grants and related requirements. Read the notice of funding opportunity carefully for specific requirements and review:

• OJP Grant Application Resource Guide
• DOJ Grant Application Submission Checklist 
• NIJ's Frequently Asked Funding Questions
• The DOJ Financial Guide
• Human Subjects and Privacy Protection Information

Although Grants.gov and JustGrants require you to submit application packages online, which includes filling out several online forms, you will still need to write the bulk of your proposal in a word processing application.

Write the Program Narrative

The Program Narrative includes an abstract, table of contents, main body and appendixes that provide details about your proposed project. Each notice of funding opportunity defines the page limit for the main body of the program narrative.

For further guidance, see:

• NIJ Funding FAQs (see the About the Program Narrative section)
• Grants 101 — Write the Proposal

Develop Your Budget

Although the degree of specificity of any budget will vary depending on the nature of the project and OJP agency requirements, a complete, well-thought-out budget serves to reinforce your credibility and increase the likelihood of your proposal being funded. Your application must include both a budget narrative and a budget detail worksheet (we strongly recommend that you use the Budget Detail Worksheet).

For further information, review:

• The "Financial Guide" for allowable costs.
• NIJ's Funding FAQs (see the About the Budget section)
• Grants 101 — Develop a Budget

Sample Applications

View sample applications:

• Safe Transitions for Teens: Assessing the Impact of Intimate Partner Transitional Housing on Adolescent Residents (pdf, 29 pages)
• Expanding on Total Body Score with Use of Geographic Information Systems (pdf, 26 pages)
• Development and Validation of Two Innovative Quantitative Liquid Chromatography Tandem Mass Spectrometry Methods for Forensic Toxicology Laboratories (pdf, 63 pages)
• Population Genetics Issues for Forensic DNA Profiles (pdf, 15 pages)
  Download an accessible version (pdf, 16 pages)[1]
• Can Video Surveillance Reduce Crime? Quantifying the Size and Geographic Extent of CCTV's Impact (pdf, 48 pages)

Once you have written a grant proposal, you must complete the application package and submit it online.

In FY 2021, applications will be submitted to DOJ in a new two-step process.

Step 1: Applicants will submit an SF-424 and an SF-LLL in Grants.gov at https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/register.html. 

Step 2: Applicants will submit the full application including attachments in JustGrants at JustGrants.usdoj.gov.

• Program Narrative.
• Program Budget.
• Budget Narrative.
• Resumes or Curriculum Vitae of Key Personnel, if referred to in the notice of funding opportunity.
• Tribal Resolution, if applicable.

Learn more about how to submit your application from:

• OJP Grant Application Resource Guide
• Grants.gov Applicant Resource

How your application will be reviewed. All proposals are reviewed by independent peer review panels consisting of both researchers and practitioners. Panel members read each proposal, assess the technical merits and policy relevance of the proposed research, and typically meet to discuss their assessments. Panelists are asked to base their reviews on criteria set forth in the notice of funding opportunity. The panel assessments and any accompanying NIJ staff reports are submitted to the NIJ Director. All final grant award decisions are made by the Assistant Attorney General or the NIJ Director. Learn more about proposal review.

Interested in becoming a peer reviewer for NIJ? Learn how.

Award notification. If you are a successful applicant and your project is selected for funding, NIJ will notify you of the award no later than September 30 of the calendar year. If you are unsuccessful, NIJ will issue you a rejection letter by December 30 of the calendar year.

If your proposals is funded, you should carefully read each of the following:

• Award package and special conditions.
• Research, Development, and Evaluation Grant Award Requirements
• OJP Postaward Requirements (pdf, 32 pages), provides step-by-step guidance on what you must do and what you should review to successfully accept your award.
• The DOJ Grants Financial Guide, the primary reference manual for award recipients. Contains compilations of laws, rules and regulations that affect the financial and administrative management of awards.
• National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) regulations and implementation guidance.
• Data archiving requirements and guidance.

Managing Your Funding

Different NIJ grant programs have different post-award reporting requirements and special conditions. See Research, Development, and Evaluation Grant Award Requirements.

If you are unsure which deliverable requirements apply to your award, please contact the assigned grant manager. See also Grants: NIJ Grant Manager and Scientist Roles and Responsibilities.

We also recommend you review the available training on accepting and managing awards in JustGrants.

Communicating About Your Award: Notices, and Disclaimers

Requirements related to communicating about your award are included within your special conditions. Following are special conditions typically applied to each award. Note that the language and requirements of these conditions may change over time. Review the conditions applied to your award for specific guidance. 

If a proposal is not funded, NIJ will send a notification letter to the applicant’s official contact(s) of record in JustGrants and the Principal Investigator (PI). The letter will explain the peer review process, describe the composition of the peer review panel, and summarize the panel’s assessment of the proposal’s strengths and weaknesses. Applicants desiring a debrief, must submit a request within 14 calendar days of receiving the letter of notification. The request must include specific questions to be discussed during the debrief. It should also include the names, contact information, and roles of the individuals participating in the debrief. 

All requests must be submitted via tha NIJ Applicant Request for Debriefing form.