Last Modified: Dec. 19, 2025 10:45 AM
Updates and Frequently Asked Questions
We are sending this update to keep you all informed, to provide clarity to the exact problems that are occurring, and to answer some general, reoccurring questions that we've been receiving.
Context
Last week, we began seeing eRA validations in the testing environments requiring SciENcv generated attachments for biosketch and current and pending support fields. When we went to SciENcv to generate the appropriate attachments, we found that we could generate a downloadable version of the biosketch, but we could not generate a downloadable version of the current and pending support attachment because the template was not available to do so in SciENcv. We uploaded the biosketch that was generated by SciENcv to the biosketch field in the Research & Related Senior/Key Person Profile (Expanded) form for the PD/PI and ran the validations again. This time we were met with a Huron SF424 validation error that prevented the eRA validations from coming through since all Huron SF424 validation errors must be cleared before the eRA validations can be received.
This meant that we were dealing with a couple different issues. One being that we were unable to generate a current and pending support attachment in SciENcv to clear the eRA validation error that we were seeing in SF424 because a downloadable version was not available. The other issue was that when we did attempt to upload a SciENcv attachment to clear the biosketch warning, we were presented with a Huron SF424 validation that blocked the eRA validations.
At this point, we reached out to the eRA help desk to ask how we could get around the current and pending support validation error since we were unable to obtain the appropriate attachment for current and pending support and we began work on our end to address the Huron SF424 validation error that we were throwing once a SciENcv attachment was uploaded. eRA indicated that they were still finalizing the templates in SciENcv this week and that the biosketch validation had been downgraded to a warning until the templates were finalized, but the current and pending support validation was not downgraded because the current and pending support field is not required so the workaround is to not upload an attachment to that field until the finalized template is available. On our end, we determined that we need to provide an immediate fix by downgrading our validation to a warning and excluding PDFs with signature fields from being flattened when generating the PDF of the SF424 application. This fix will be available in SF424 10.9.1, which is scheduled for release on 12/29/2025.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: When will SF424 10.9.1 be available?
A: SF424 10.9.1 is scheduled to be released 12/29/2025. This release will only include the fix to better handle PDFs with signature fields so that we don't block eRA validations.
Q: Will this affect my submissions that are due before the January 25th deadline?
A: This will not affect your submissions that are due before the January 25th deadline as long as you are not using SciENcv attachments for the biosketch or current and pending support fields. If you do upload SciENcv attachments or any attachment that has signature fields, you will run into the Huron SF424 validation error.
Q: What does this mean for my NIH applications that are due on or after January 25th?
A: This means that you will encounter the Huron SF424 validation error until SF424 10.9.1 is applied to your site. There are now templates in SciENcv for the biosketch and the current and pending support attachments that produce downloadable files so the issue where the template was not available is no longer a problem on the eRA and SciENcv side.
Q: Is there a workaround to the Huron SF424 validation until the SF424 10.9.1 hotfix is released.
A: It's not a pretty workaround but there is one. You can bypass the validation from the SF424 workspace to submit your application but because the eRA validations were blocked, you could be presented with eRA validation errors that need to be cleared once your submission reaches the eRA system. This would mean that you need to withdraw the application, correct it in SF424, then submit it again. There is a chance that you might have to go through this for multiple rounds depending on the eRA errors that come up and need to be cleared each time the application is submitted. Other options would be to submit through Grants.gov directly or through ASSIST.