Why does this keep giving me a null error?

Why does this keep giving me a null error?

form  Principle_Investigator_Registry
{
    displayname  =  "Principle Investigator Registry"
    success message  =  "Data Added Successfully!"
    field alignment = left
    PIReg=investigators.Investigator_Registration[];

I've also tried these iterations.

PIReg=investigators.Investigator_Registration;

PIReg=investigators.Investigator_Registration

It just gives me 'Error modifying the page null'.