Interacting Electronically with NIH
From your ideas…
…into our systems…
…to advance medical discovery.
Megan Columbus
NIH Program Manager for Electronic
Receipt of Grant Applications
Scarlett Gibb
eRA Customer Relationship Manager
1
Electronic Interaction Points
Learn About Grants
at NIH
Find Opportunities
Download App
Package
NIH Grant
Web site
Check Review
Assignment
NIH Guide
Check Review
Outcome
Grants.gov
Submit Application
Check Submission
Status
View Assembled
Application Image
eRA
Commons
Submit
Pre-Award
Information
Prepare/Submit
Post-Award
Reports
Closeout Grants
2
Learn About Grants
http://grants.nih.gov/
BASICS
NIH GUIDE
INITIATIVES
eRA, Commons,
eSubmission
GET CONECTED
GLOSSARY, FAQS
POLICY
FORMS & INSTRUCTIONS,
SUBMISSION DATES
3
Electronic Submission Required!
Electronic submission via Grants.gov is now
required for ALL competing grant
applications with the exception of Complex,
Multi-project applications (Project/Centers)*
*These grant mechanisms will continue to use the paper PHS398 application
process until a transition to electronic submission is scheduled, announced
and implemented.
4
eSubmission Process
Prepare to Apply & Register
Find Opportunity and Download
Application Package
Prepare Application
Submit, Track and View
Application
Submission Complete!
5
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 – electronic Research
Administration system that allows applicants,
grantees and Federal staff to access, share and
transmit information related to their applications
and grants
– Used by NIH and a few other HHS components
IMPORTANT:
Each system has its own registration
and validations requirements
6
Registration
Grants.gov
• Applicant Organizations only
• Designate E-Business Point of Contact (E-Biz P
- Approves Authorized Organization Representatives (AORs)
providing authority to submit applications
• No registration needed to find opportunities or download
forms
eRA Commons
• Applicant Organization & PD/PI
• Designate Signing Official (SO)
- Registers or affiliates Project Director/Principal Investigator
(PD/PI)
Many organizations are already registered.
Check with your Office of Sponsored Projects.
7
Registration
Tips for Success:
1. Start early! The registration process can take up to 4
weeks (8 weeks or more for new or foreign businesses)
2. Register for Grants.gov & Commons simultaneously once
DUNS# is obtained
3. Update CCR information yearly to keep Grants.gov
credentials active
4. Do not combine SO and PI roles on single Commons
account
5. If PD/PI has a Commons account, affiliate them to your
organization rather than creating new account
6. PIs should update their Commons profile prior to
submitting (degree info used to determine Early Stage
Investigator eligibility)
8
Make a Submission Plan
Internal organization considerations…
• Submission method
- Downloadable forms
- System-to-System using XML data stream
- Services of a commercial service provider
http://era.nih.gov/ElectronicReceipt/sp.htm
•
•
•
•
Application preparation responsibilities
Sharing applications in progress
Internal review & approval process
Internal deadlines
Administrators and PIs must work together!
9
Obtain Software
Adobe Reader
• Only specific Adobe Reader versions
are compatible with Grants.gov forms
PDF conversion program
• Attachments must be converted to PDF
Grants.gov Download Software Web Page:
http://www.grants.gov/resources/download_software.jsp
10
eSubmission Process
Prepare to Apply & Register
Find Opportunity and Download
Application Package
Prepare Application
Submit, Track and View
Application
Submission Complete!
11
Find Opportunity & Download Package
• NIH posts Funding Opportunity
Announcements (FOAs) on:
– NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts
http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/index.html
• Announcements include button to download package
and instructions from Grants.gov
– Grants.gov
12
Investigator–Initiated Research
• All applications must be submitted in response
to a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA)
– Applicants can submit for funding opportunities
focused on specific programs/areas of science OR
in response to a general “parent” announcement
– Applicants MUST use the application package
specific to the FOA that they choose
13
Parent FOAs
NIH Office of Extramural Research
http://grants.nih.gov/grants/oer.htm
Parent Announcements for Unsolicited Applications
14
Finding FOAs in NIH Guide
NIH Guide for Grants & Contracts
http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/
Enter search string or click
Advanced Search
15
Finding FOAs in NIH Guide
Enter search parameters
Click Search
16
Finding FOAs in NIH Guide
• Review list of FOAs matching your criteria
and find FOA of interest
Click Announcement Number link to access FOA information
17
Announcement
• Read and follow
announcement instructions
• Pay special attention to Section
IV. Application and Submission
Information
– Includes any FOA-specific
submission instructions
– Instructions in FOA trump
instructions in the application
guide
18
Announcement Notes
• Pay attention to Key dates:
– Release/Posted Date: package and instructions available for
download
– Opening Date: application can be submitted
– Expiration Date: announcement closed
19
Announcement Notes
• FOAs in the NIH Guide include button to
download app from Grants.gov
Click Apply for Grant
Electronically found
within the NIH Guide
announcement.
Verify information
Click download
20
Download Package & Application Guide
Sign up for Agency updates to FOA
Download application instructions
and Application Package
21
Application Guide
• Read and follow
application
guide
instructions
• Agency-specific
instructions are
marked with the
HHS logo
22
eSubmission Process
Prepare to Apply
Find Opportunity and Download
Application Package
Prepare Application
Submit Track and View
Appilcation
Submission Complete!
23
Grant Application Package Screen
Save the package locally.
*Application Form Screen - Top*
Make sure you have the
correct application
package.
FOA information is
automatically populated
and not editable.
Mandatory Grants.gov fields highlighted yellow with red box.
24
Grant Application Package Screen
Mandatory Documents must be completed prior to submission.
Complete the SF424 (R&R) form first – info from this
form populates fields in other forms in the package.
*Application Form Screen - Bottom*
See application guide to determine which
Optional Documents you need to include.
25
Completing the Application
Tips for Success:
• Follow FOA-specific guidelines (e.g., special
attachments, specific section headings)
• Follow application guide requirements
• Follow guidelines for fonts, margins
• Do not include headers or footers
- Section headings as part of the text (i.e., Specific
Aims, Background & Significance) are encouraged
• Avoid 2-column format for text
• Avoid “landscape” format
26
Final Application Check
• Avoid Grants.gov & eRA Commons Errors:
– SF424 (R&R) cover
• Does the DUNS number on your application match the
DUNS used for Grants.gov & Commons registration?
• Did you include the Contact Email address?
• Did you provide correct Type of Application, Federal
Identifier, and Type of Submission information?
– Sr/Key Person Profile
• Did you include Commons ID in Credential field for all
PD/PIs?
• Did you include Organization name for all Sr/Key?
27
Final Application Check
• Avoid Grants.gov & eRA Commons Errors
(cont.):
– Did you use the correct Budget form?
– Did you include effort > 0 for all Sr/Key listed
on the R&R Budget form?
– Did you include all required attachments?
– Are all your attachments in PDF format?
– Are all attachment names 50 characters
or less and use only letters, numbers
and underscore (_)?
28
eSubmission Process
Prepare to Apply
Find Opportunity and Download
Application Package
Prepare Application
Submit, Track & View
Application
Submission Complete!
29
AOR - Submit Application
Save & Submit
button will not
become active
until:
•All fields marked
as mandatory on
the forms are
completed
•All Mandatory
Documents are
moved to
Mandatory
Documents for
Submission box
and completed
•The application is
Saved
Check Package for
Errors only checks
Grants.gov errors.
You MUST submit
the application for it
to go through the
NIH validation
process. NIH errors
will be shown in the
eRA Commons
30
AOR - Submit Application
Enter your
Grants.gov
username and
password – you
must be fully
registered to
successfully submit.
Only the AOR can
Submit application!
31
AOR - Submit Application
Click Sign and
Submit Application
button to record
electronic signature
and initiate
submission process
to Grants.gov
32
AOR - Submit Application
Print/Save your
Confirmation screen
info
Grants.gov Tracking #
Date/Time
Stamp - due 5
p.m. local time of
the applicant
org. on
submission
deadline date
33
On-time Submission
• On-time Submission
– All registrations must be completed
prior to initial submission
– Submission must be accepted by
Grants.gov with a timestamp on or
before 5:00 p.m. local time of submitting
organization on submission deadline date
– Errors/Warnings must be
corrected within the error
correction window
Track Application
•
AORs track application status at
Grants.gov
•
Signing Officials(SOs), Principal
Investigators (PIs) and Assistants
(ASSTs) track appilcation status in the
eRA Commons
35
Track – Grants.gov (AOR)
• Applicant interface
Grants.gov application status
You’re not done yet!
Signing Officials (SOs), Principal
Investigators (PIs) and Assistants
(ASSTs) track application status
in the eRA Commons.
37
Track Your Application
•
Applications are picked up by eRA
Commons and checked against application
and opportunity instructions
•
•
•
Forms are owned by Grants.gov and used by many
agencies, so NIH cannot build agency-specific
business rules into the formProcessing result
available in eRA Commons Status
Processing result available in eRA
Commons Status
Email notifications sent to AOR/SO, PD/PI
and contact emails listed on the SF424
(R&R) form
Accessing eRA Commons
• Go to: https://commons.era.nih.gov/commons/
• Enter your Username and Password
Username
Password
Check Status in Commons – PD/PI
Select Recent/Pending eSubmissions
Or provide Grants.gov tracking
number from email notification
40
Status – eSub Errors/Warnings
Indicates eSubmission Error
Grants.gov
Tracking #
Grants.gov tracking #
and date are displayed
followed by the list of
errors/warnings for
each submission
attempt
41
Status – eSub Errors/Warnings
• Errors stop application processing and
must be corrected
• Warnings do not stop application
submission and are corrected at the
discretion of the applicant
Helpful Links
Avoiding Common Errors page:
http://era.nih.gov/ElectronicReceipt/avoiding_errors.htm
Full list of Commons Validations
http://era.nih.gov/ElectronicReceipt/files/SF424RR_Validation.pdf
42
Error Correction Window
• NIH currently allows applicants to
correct errors/warnings during the
temporary “Error Correction Window”
- Standard window: 2 business days after the submission
deadline (temporarily extended to 5 days through May
2010)
- Initial submission made “on time”
- All registrations completed before deadline
- Proof of “on time” submission and description of all
changes documented in Cover Letter
AOR is expected to enforce that appilcation changes are restricted to
those needed to fix indentified errors/warnings.
NIH may reject any application that includes additional changes.
43
Correcting eRA Errors/Warnings
Make changes to address error/warning messages
in local copy of application
1. Select Changed/Corrected on SF424 (R&R) cover (box
#1)
 Federal Identifier on SF424 (R&R) cover (box #4) is
a required field when Changed/Corrected is selected
• If New is selected in box #8, use Grants.gov tracking
number for original submission
• Otherwise, continue to use the Institute/Center and serial
number from original grant award (ex. CA123456)
2. Include cover letter if after submission deadline
3. AOR must submit the entire changed/corrected
application to Grants.gov
4. Track submission through to Commons
NOTE: Reviewers do not see applicant errors/warnings.
44
View Application Image
Once an error-free application is received, the
eRA system will:
– Assemble the grant application image
– Insert headers (PI name) & footers (page
numbers) on all pages
– Generate Table of Contents and bookmark
important sections
– Post the assembled application image in the PI’s
eRA Commons account
45
Application Viewing Window
• Applicants have two (2) business days to view
the assembled application before it automatically
moves forward to NIH for further processing
• SO can Reject application within viewing window
to address Warnings (if within error correction
window) or to address a system issue affecting
the application image
– If Rejected after deadline for any other reason,
application is subject to late policy
– PI will receive email notification if SO rejects
application
If you can’t VIEW it, we can’t REVIEW it!
46
Status – View Application Image
Status is Pending Verification
Follow link to detailed status info
Follow e-Application
link to view assembled
application image
View Appendices
and Cover Letter
47
Status – e-Application
TIP: Carefully review the entire application.
This is your first chance to view/print the same
application image that will be used by Reviewers!
48
Reject Application (SO)
PIs: If the application image in the eRA Commons
does not properly reflect the submitted material, work
with your SO to reject the application!
Must have SO role
Enter Search Criteria
Click Search
Select Recent/ Pending eSubmissions
49
Reject Application (SO)
Select Reject
eApplication
Enter comment to
be sent with email
notification
Click Reject
50
eSubmission Process
Prepare to Apply
Find Opportunity and Download
Application Package
Prepare Application
Submit, Track & View
Application
Submission Complete!
51
Submission Complete!
• If no action is taken during the two business day
viewing window, the application automatically
moves forward to NIH for further processing
• Any subsequent application changes are
approved through and
at the discretion of the
Scientific Review
Officer in the form of
addenda
52
Finding Help
Applicant Resources
53
Finding Help: Web Site Links
Links to Applicant Resources
– NIH eSubmission Website:
http://era.nih.gov/electronicreceipt
– Grants Web site:
http://grants.nih.gov/
– electronic Research Administration:
http://era.nih.gov/
– eRA Commons:
https://commons.era.nih.gov/commons/
54
Finding Help
•
Grants.gov:
For help with the Grants.gov registration process, downloading forms,
form behavior or with technical aspects of submitting through the Grants.gov system:
–
Check the Grants.gov Website: www.grants.gov
–
Grants.gov Contact Center
•
Contact Center Phone: 1-800-518-4726
•
Business Hours 24 hours/day; 7 days/week (closed on Federal Holidays)
•
Email support@grants.gov
•
eRA Commons:
For help with eRA Commons registration or system validations after submission through Grants.gov:
–
Check the eRA Commons website: https://commons.era.nih.gov/commons/index.jsp
–
eRA Commons Help Desk
•
Web support: http://itservicedesk.nih.gov/era/
•
Phone: 301-402-7469
•
Toll Free: 866-504-9552
•
TTY:
301-451-5939
•
Business hours M-F, 7am-8pm ET
•
Grants Info:
For help with grant policy, application content requirements and other general inquiries:
–
Review the Application Instruction Guide
–
Review the FOA
–
Grants Info:
Phone: 301-435-0714
Email GrantsInfo@nih.gov
55
Grant Administration in eRA Commons
My application is submitted…
…now what?
Update Personal Profile
and Institutional
Profile Information
Check Review
Assignment
Additional
eRA Commons
Check Review
Outcome
Submit
Pre-award
Information
features
eRA
Commons
Prepare/Submit
Post-award
Reports
Closeout Grants
56
eRA Commons Applications:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Profiles (Personal and Institutional)
Application Tracking
Grant Status
Just In Time (JIT)
Electronic Streamlined Non-competing Award
Process (eSNAP)
Closeout
No-cost Extension (NCE)
Financial Status Report (FSR)
Internet Assisted Review (IAR)
xTrain
Financial Conflict of Interest (FCOI)
My BIB / My NCBI integration
57
Institutional Profile (IPF)
The Institutional Profile
– Contains information necessary to facilitate processing &
review of applications submitted by an institution
– Is a central repository of information for registered
organizations
– Is designed so each organization’s Signing Official (SO)
establishes & maintains his or her organization’s profile data
It includes information such as:
–
–
–
–
–
Preferred institution name & contact information
Signing Official’s name, e-mail, & phone number
Institutional DUNS number
Institutional Assurances
E-mail addresses to receive Notice of Award and other
notifications
58
Personal Profile (PPF)
Personal Profile maintenance
– You are responsible for keeping your information
accurate & up-to-date.
– Very few staff members at NIH have access to
change PPF information (emergencies only).
– Commons will require a change of password
every 90 days for security reasons.
TIP: Always keep your e-mail address up-to-date. E-mail
addresses are used to retrieve forgotten passwords and as
the primary source of communicating grants-related
information.
59
Uses of PPF Information
… display to the reviewer the status of eligibility for Continuous
Submission
… determine whether a PI is eligible for Early Stage Investigator
(ESI) status
… verify information submitted in grant applications
… populate specific forms (Trainee Appointment, etc.)
… allow for automatic population of publications in National Library
of Medicine systems
… contact you via Agency notifications
… used in aggregate reporting
…monitor submission of reference letters
60
Accommodating Your Work Flow
Commons allows many functions to be
delegated to other users
• Delegate PI
– Delegation can be made to any other eRA Commons
user at the institution
– Provides ability to complete eSNAP information for the
PI’s grants (cannot Route or Recall)
• Delegate PPF Edit
– Delegation can be made to any other eRA Commons
user at the institution
– Provides ability to edit Personal Profile (PPF)
61
Accommodating Your Work Flow
• Delegate Status
– Delegation can be made to any eRA Commons user
at the PI’s institution with the Assistant (ASST) role
– Provides access to PI’s Status information, including
the ability to check for submission errors/warnings and
to view the assembled application image
– DOES NOT provide access to application summary
statement or priority score
• Delegate xTrain Authority
– Delegation can be made to any eRA Commons user
at the PI’s institution with the Assistant (ASST) role
– Provides same xTrain authority as the PI, except the
ability to Submit appointments to the Agency
62
Delegation to PI
• Signing Official (SO) can “Delegate Submit” authority to
a PI
– Allows a PI to submit his or her own eSNAP
information to Agency
Delegate Submit
63
Tracking Application Status as a PI
Note: There is a separate SO-tailored view of the Status page.
64
Status Hit List
Click App ID
for detailed
Status info
Action links:
JIT, eSNAP,
Closeout,
NCE (SO
only), Reject
eApplication
(SO only)
STATUS is your LINK to the Action!
65
Track Assignment Info. in Status Details
Primary Institute Assignment
Study Section
Assignment
Key Contact Information
66
Track Review Outcome
Only the PI can view
Summary Statement,
Priority Score and
Percentile information.
67
Just In Time Submission (JIT)
• Allows PIs, AOs, & SOs to prepare and SOs to
submit additional grant application information
requested by NIH prior to an award decision
– Other Support, IRB and/or IACUC Approval Dates,
Human Subjects Education info
• Not an indication that application will be awarded
• Wait for a request from NIH to submit the
information
– System-generated email or contact from the Grants
Management Specialist (GMS)
• You may now submit JITs piece by piece!
68
Just In Time
Click on the JIT link in the Action
column of the Status hit list.
69
eSNAP
Electronic Streamlined Non-competing Award
Process (eSNAP)
• Electronic submission of annual SNAP Progress
Reports
– Most non-competing grants at NIH are
streamlined
• SO can enable the organization to submit
eSNAPs
• Benefits:
– Submission deadline is 45 days prior to start date
instead of 60 days
– Reduces duplicate data entry
70
eSNAP
Electronic Streamlined Non-competing Award
Process (eSNAP)
• PI or PI Delegate can initiate the process,
upload progress report, and enter the
administrative data
• eSNAP can be routed to staff for approval
• SO submits the completed eSNAP to NIH
– SO can delegate submit privileges to PI(s)
71
eSNAP
Begin the eSNAP either from the Action column of the
Status Hit List or the eSNAP item on the menu bar.
72
eSNAP Hit List
PI hit list shows all grants and applications with the Grant
Number of eSNAP-eligible grants hyperlinked.
73
My BIB Publications in eSNAP
Upload Science screen shows My BIB publications that can be
associated with an eSNAP report.
For more My BIB & My NCBI info:
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/pubs/techbull/jf10/jf10_myncbi_redesign.html
74
My BIB / My NCBI Integration
From the new Awards View in My NCBI, eRA Commons
users can:
– See whether their publications are compliant with the
NIH Public Access Policy
– Start the manuscript submission process
– Associate their NIH extramural grants awards with
their publications
– Designate delegates to manage their bibliography via
My NCBI
Note: The Awards View is only available to Commons users with active
grants in their portfolios who have linked their My NCBI account with their
Commons account.
Financial Status Report
Financial Status Report (FSR)
• Statement of expenditures usually due within
90 days from end of budget period or project
period
• Schedule for submitting FSRs is normally
specified in the Notice of Grant Award
• Can be searched by individual grant number,
FSRs for the institution or status of the FSR
• Must have an account with the FSR role to
create/submit the FSR
76
FSR Search Screen
To view Financial Status Report status code definitions, visit:
http://era.nih.gov/virtualschool/external/class_fsr_statuscode_faq.htm
77
Financial Conflict of Interest (FCOI)
FCOI Institutional Functionality
• Allows grantee institutions to:
– Initiate and prepare a FCOI notification
• Multiple FCOI officials and delegates can access and edit a
notification while in Work In Progress (WIP) status
– Submit the FCOI notification and supporting
documents electronically to Agency
• Can provide comments at time of submission that are included
in e-mail notification to Agency
– Search and View FCOI notifications previously
submitted through Commons
• Does not provide visibility to any notifications previously
submitted on paper
– Edit or rescind submitted notifications (requires Agency
involvement)
– Access history of actions
78
Commons FCOI & Internal FCOI
Commons FCOI integration with internal FCOI
tracking system
• Commons FCOI and Internal FCOI systems will
share information once daily
• Internal FCOI users can request additional
information and rescind notifications
– Notification to Institution made from Internal
FCOI system and also is reflected in
Commons FCOI history
79
FCOI Flexible Account Admin
• Commons account must have FCOI role to
submit FCOI notifications to Agency
– Only SOs can add this role to an account
– FCOI role can be added to multiple accounts at
institution’s discretion
• Ability to prepare and/or view FCOI notifications
can be delegated, but not ability to submit to
Agency
– FCOI ASST
– FCOI View-only
80
xTrain
xTrain
• Allows users to electronically process the
required paperwork associated with awarded
training grants
• Grantee institution staff can use xTrain to:
– Create, route and submit Appointments, ReAppointments, Amendments and Termination Notices
– Track the status and timing of training actions
• NIH’s goal is to mandate xTrain use by Jan.
2011. Gain experience now!
81
xTrain – New Commons Roles
xTrain introduces two new eRA Commons roles
• Trainee
– Person appointed to training grant
– Currently, account set-up done through xTrain
• Business Official (BO)
– Has signature or other authority related to
administering training grants
– Authorized to submit Termination Notices on behalf of
the institution
82
xTrain
http://era.nih.gov/services_for_applicants/other/xTrain.cfm
83
No-cost Extension
No-cost Extension (NCE)
• Electronically submit a notification to exercise one-time
authority to extend without funds the final budget period
of a project period of a grant
• NCE link appears 90 days before the end of the project
period
• SO (only) can extend project period by 6, 9 or 12
months
• E-mail notification sent to NIH Grants Management staff
when SO processes the extension
84
No-cost Extension Link
Status Result - General Search screen shows grants that
may be extended via a No-cost Extension (see Extension
hyperlink in Action column).
85
Closeout
Closeout
• Electronically submit required Closeout
documents for grants in Closeout status
• NIH GM Specialist must mark the grant “ready
for close out” for link to appear in Commons
– contact assigned GMS if records are not appearing
• Required Closeout items include:
– Financial Status Report (FSR)
- Final Progress Report
- Final Invention Statement
86
Closeout Link
Status Result - Closeout Search screen shows grants that
are Closed or Requires Closeout.
87
Finding Help
Applicant Resources
88
Finding Help: Web Site Links
• Links to Applicant & Grantee Resources
– NIH Grants Web site:
http://grants.nih.gov/
– Electronic Research Administration:
http://era.nih.gov/
– eRA Commons:
https://commons.era.nih.gov/commons/
89
Finding Help
•
Grants.gov:
For help with the Grants.gov registration process, downloading forms,
form behavior or with technical aspects of submitting through the Grants.gov system:
–
Check the Grants.gov Web site: www.grants.gov
–
Grants.gov Contact Center
•
Contact Center Phone: 1-800-518-4726
•
Business Hours: 24 hours/day; 7 days/week (closed on Federal Holidays)
•
E-mail: support@grants.gov
•
eRA Commons:
For help with eRA Commons registration or system validations after submission through Grants.gov:
–
Check the eRA Commons Web site: https://commons.era.nih.gov/commons/index.jsp
–
eRA Commons Help Desk
•
Web support: http://itservicedesk.nih.gov/era/
•
Phone: 301-402-7469
•
Toll Free: 866-504-9552
•
TTY:
301-451-5939
•
Business hours M-F, 7am-8pm ET
•
Grants Info:
For help with grant policy, application content requirements and other general inquiries:
–
Review the Application Instruction Guide
–
Review the FOA
–
Grants Info
Phone: 301-435-0714
E-mail: GrantsInfo@nih.gov
90
Thank You!
91