Sponsored Research Winter Recess Deadlines and Office Closures
December 4, 2025
SR Winter Recess Deadlines
In observance of Northwestern's Winter Recess, Sponsored Research (SR) will be closed Wednesday, December 24, 2025, through Thursday, January 1, 2026. Regular operations will be suspended during this time. All transactions that require SR action before Winter Recess as well as transactions with a sponsor deadline that falls December 24, 2025, through January 1, 2026, must be submitted to SR by Monday, December 15, 2025. This includes endorsements required by December 31, 2025. Transactions received after this deadline may not be processed until January 2, 2026.
Additional information on specific transaction types is included below:
Research Performance Progress Reports (RPPR) Due January 1, 2026
NIH progress reports due January 1, 2026, which is a designated Federal holiday, will automatically move to a sponsor deadline of January 2, 2026. To ensure on time submission, all Continuation records should be completed and routed to Sponsored Research in CERES by Monday, December 15. Be sure to route the RPPR to the Signing Official in Commons at the same time so it can be submitted immediately if there are no concerns. Read more about Progress Reports, including instructions for routing Interim and Final RPPRs.
Proposals Due During Winter Recess or Immediately Thereafter
SR staff will not be working during Winter Recess, so any proposal with a deadline that falls during winter recess needs to be submitted to our office by Monday, December 15 for guaranteed review and submission by December 23, 2025. If you have a proposal with a due date that falls during the first week of January and want to ensure you receive review comments before the recess, the record must also be received in SR by Monday, December 15.
Proposals due January 2 – 9, 2026, must follow the 5-day deadline policy. For example, a proposal due January 2 is due to SR on December 17; a proposal due January 5 is due to SR on December 18.
Award Modification Requests
Time sensitive AMRs that must be submitted prior to the recess must also be received in SR by Monday, December 15. Be sure to identify any deadlines in the request title to assist staff in identifying these items.
Sponsored Research Closed on December 17
Sponsored Research (SR) will be closed on Wednesday, December 17, 2025, for the Office for Research Town Hall and an SR staff holiday event. Most SR staff will be unavailable that day, but SR leadership will be monitoring email, including central office accounts, for any urgent issues that may arise. SR will reopen with normal business hours on Thursday, December 18. This office closure does not impact the internal five (5) day proposal submission deadline for any proposals being submitted on or after December 17. Please plan accordingly for proposal submissions and other activities that require SR action.