Electronic Submission

1. Electronic Submission Applying for NIH Grants A “Hands-On” Guide NIH Electronic Submission Team December, 2006

2. Electronic Submission to NIH Through Grants.gov Prepare to Apply Find Opportunity and Download Application Package Prepare Application Submit Application to Grants.gov (AOR submits) CheckSubmissionStatusin Commons Check Assembled Application Submission Complete

3. Two Systems Working Together • Grants.gov – the Federal government’s single online portal to find and apply for Federal grant funding. • Used by all 26 Federal grant-making agencies. • eRA Commons – the NIH electronic Research Administration system that allows applicants/grantees to electronically receive and transmit application and award information. • Used by NIH and other HHS components. IMPORTANT: Each system has its own registration and validations requirements.

4. Prepare to Apply Registration – Grants.gov • Applicant Organization only (one time) • Register the Authorized Organization Reps (AORs) who can officially submit on behalf of your organization • There are several steps and entities in the process. Registration can take 2 – 4 weeks; up to 8 for newly established businesses

5. Prepare to Apply Registration eRA Commons - Organization • Register your organization/institution (one time) • Register your Signing Official (SO) • Register and create a separate account for your Project Director/Principal Investigator • Registration may be completed simultaneously with the Grants.gov registration (as soon as the DUNS # is obtained) • Allow 2 – 4 weeks to complete

6. Prepare to Apply Registration - PI • PIs do not register with Grants.gov • PIs need a single eRA Commons account with PI role (may also have IAR role if reviewer) • PIs have one account that follows them throughout their careers • PI account may not be combined with any other roles (i.e. SO, AO, AA etc.) • Account may be affiliated with multiple organizations • Allow 4 - 5 business days to complete

7. Prepare to Apply Obtain Software • PureEdge software is required for forms-based submission. • The software may be downloaded from Grants.gov:http://www.grants.gov/resources/download_software.jsp • Options for Mac users outlined at: http://era.nih.gov/ElectronicReceipt/files/mac_options.htm • Free Citrix service, PC Emulation, PureEdge viewer • PDF Conversion Programs – non-PureEdge application attachments must be converted to PDF documents. • List of programs: http://www.grants.gov/resources/download_software.jsp#pdf_conversion_programs

8. Find Opportunity & Download Package Office of Extramural Research home page:http://grants.nih.gov/grants/oer.htm Select Funding Opportunities in the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts.

9. Find Opportunity & Download Package The NIH Guide for Grants and Contractshttp://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/index.html Enter search criteria or Select Advanced Search

10. Find Opportunity & Download Package The Advanced Search feature provides a lot of options to narrow your search. Enter search criteria.

11. Find Opportunity & Download Package Identify an FOA of interest and download the application package. Select the FOA number to open the announcement.

12. Find Opportunity & Download Package Button added to the NIH Guide announcements allows access to the Grants.gov application package directly from the NIH Guide.

13. Download Application Package Download FOA instructions and application package from Grants.gov

14. Register to receive notification of changes. Download the application instructions and package from this location.

15. Prepare Your Application All mandatory Grants.gov fields are highlighted and denoted with an asterisk. See Application Guide for additional NIH requirements.

16. Prepare Your Application All Mandatory Documents must be completed in order to submit. Refer to the agency specific instructions for which Optional Documents are required. NIH will use agency-specific forms labeled PHS 398.

17. Prepare Your Application Select this icon to receive field-specific help. The DUNS Number in the application must match the one used for the institution's Grants.gov registration and the eRA Commons account.

18. R&R Budget Business process change from percent effort to person months. FAQs and a Calculator available at:http://grants.nih.gov/grants/policy/person_months_faqs.htm

19. Applicant sends the R&R budget component to the consortium grantee for completion; it is returned to the applicant; applicant attaches the PureEdge form to this component.

20. PI eRA Commons User ID must be supplied here for successful submission. This is one of the most common app errors. Enter PI Commons User ID

21. Expanded form allows for collection of up to 40 Senior/Key persons using structured fields. Each attachment contains 8 Senior/Key persons.

22. PHS 398 Cover Letter Required for all applications submitted after the receipt deadline. If revising the cover letter for a Changed/Corrected application, include all previous submitted cover letter text.

23. Separate attachments maximize benefit of system validations & accommodate image bookmarking. Appendix material.

24. Prepare Your Application Select “Save” to save the application package to your local hard drive. Application will be saved locally using this file name. If prepared by the PI, it must be routed to AOR for submission.

25. AOR Submit Application • Submit button will not become activated until: • All Mandatory Fields have been completed. • All Mandatory Documents have been completed and moved to the Completed box. • All applicable Optional Documents have been completed and moved to the Completed box. • Only an AOR/SO can submit a grant!

26. AOR Submit Application Enter your Grants.gov username and password – you must be fully registered to successfully submit.

27. AOR Submit Application • Scroll to the bottom of the confirmation screen to receive: • Grants.gov Tracking Number • Date/Time Stamp - grants are due 5 p.m. local time of the applicant org. on day of submission deadline.

28. Email Notifications – Grants.gov • AOR receives emails • Submission Receipt – app received and is being validated • Rejection Notice – app is not validated because of Grants.gov errors • Submission Validation Receipt – app has been validated • Grantor Agency Retrieval Receipt – app has been retrieved by the agency • Agency Tracking Number – app has been assigned a tracking number by the grantor agency (only for error-free applications that result in an image)

29. Email Notifications – eRA Commons • AOR/SO, PI and contact receives emails • Validation complete, check assembled application • Validation complete, check assembled application – Warnings only • Action required – Errors and/or Warnings • Action required – Missing or invalid eRA Commons Username (only sent to AOR/SO) • Action required – System Error • SO has refused electronic application (rejected) • NIH has auto-verified the application (after 2-day viewing window)

30. Correction Window Limited Time Only • As everyone is learning the new process, NIH will allow changed/corrected applications to be submitted to address errors/warnings in the five business days after the receipt date. • All registrations must be completed prior to initial submission • Initial application submission to Grants.gov must have been made by 5:00 p.m. local time on receipt date • Changes must be made in response to identified errors/warnings • Cover letter required

31. eRA Commons After the AOR submits… What’s Next?

32. Advice From Experience Most common problems with applications to date: • The credential field on the R&R Senior/Key Person Profile component MUST contain the PI’s assigned eRA Commons User ID. • When entering the PD/PI name on the SF424 (R&R) form, box #15, remember not to enter a SPACE after the last letter in the first name and last name. • All non-PureEdge attachments MUST be in PDF format – Most problems with the final assembled application image are because of PDFs not converting as anticipated.Check your PDF conversions before attaching them to the application. • When submitting or resending a corrected application, please be aware that the “type of application” box #8 will never change throughout the submission.

33. eSubmission in Commons • Check Application Status • View Errors/Warnings • Check Assembled Application The PI and AOR/SO Perspectives

34. PI PI View – Check Errors/Warnings From the Status screen use the Grants.gov tracking number to identify the submission and follow the link to view errors/ warnings. Application Status shows eSubmission Error

35. PI Errors and warnings listed at the top of the status screen.

36. Errors & Warnings • Errors stop the submission process and must be addressed before the application can move on to Receipt & Referral. • Warnings may be fixed at the applicant’s discretion but do not require action for the application to move on. • If the PI corrects any Warnings or Errors, they should contact the AOR/SO. The AOR/SO must submit the entire changed/corrected application again through Grants.gov.

37. PI PI View – Check Assembled Application Error-free applications result in an assembled application image – Accession Number assigned. Follow link to view image. Application Status shows Received

38. PI Check Assembled Application The application image, appendices and cover letter can be found in Other Relevant Documents. Click links to access documents.

39. PI Check Assembled Application Applicants have two weekdays to view the assembled application. PIs must work through SO to reject application if system issue found.

40. SO AOR/SO View-Querying for Applications Since AOR/ SOs have access to all institutional applications, their view provides the ability to limit the list of applications they see.

41. SO AOR/SO View-Querying for Applications 1 2 3 4 5 • Click on the Status Tab 3. Select Show Prior eSub Errors • Click on eApplications on the left menu 4. Remove “From” & “To” Received Dates • 5. Click Search

42. SO AOR/SO View – Check Errors/Warnings Use the Grants.gov tracking number to identify the submission and follow the link to view errors/ warnings. Application Status shows eSubmission Error

43. SO Viewing Errors/Warnings Depending on the errors found, the system may not be able to list all errors at once (e.g. DUNS error prevents further processing). AOR/SO must ensure all errors are corrected and submit the entire changed/ corrected application to Grants.gov.

44. SO Checking the Assembled Application Accession number assigned when application image is generated. Follow link to view image. eApplication Status shows “Pending Verification” within 2-day viewing window, “Submission Complete” after it moves forward and “Refused” if Rejected by AOR/SO.

45. SO Check Assembled Application The application image, appendices and cover letter can be found in Other Relevant Documents. Click links to access documents.

47. SO Rejecting an Application The AOR/SO can reject an application from the hit list if system issue has affected the image.

48. SO Rejecting an Application Comment required to complete the rejection process – comment sent in notification to AOR/SO and PI of rejection.

49. Additional Resources Electronic Submission Assistance

50. Finding Help Grants.gov Grants.gov – registration, submission & PureEdge questions: http://www.grants.gov/CustomerSupport Grants.gov Customer Service • E-mail: support@grants.gov • Phone: 1-800-518-4726 eRA Commons eRA Commons – registration and post submission questions: Support Page: http://era.nih.gov/commons/index.cfm eRA Commons Help Desk • Web support: http://ithelpdesk.nih.gov/eRA/ • Phone: 1-866-504-9552 or 301-402-7469 Enter your own support ticket!