The National Institutes of Health (NIH) define Warnings and Errors differently. However, they can both cause NIH applications to be administratively withdrawn and thus should be carefully reviewed and addressed when they occur.
Warnings are notices that alert an applicant to pay particular attention to specific instructions in the funding opportunity announcement or the application guide. The applicant may choose whether or not they wish to correct the issue that prompted the warning; the application will move forward in the submission process even if the warning is not corrected. If the application does not comply with the instructions, the applicant may be notified of the problem later in the review process and the application may not be considered for review.
Errors are critical problems with the application such as significant inaccuracies, inconsistencies or omissions. Errors stop the application from processing and must be corrected by the submission deadline in order for the application to move forward in the submission process.
Please work with your assigned Grants and Contracts Officer or Analyst (see previously issued tip) to ensure that all Warnings and Errors are sufficiently addressed before final submission of NIH applications.